High school wrestler prepare for Dual State

The Comanche wrestling team took some time off from duals and tournaments to work in the practice room the past couple of weeks.

Head coach Casy Rowell liked what he saw as his team prepares for the upcoming Dual State Tournament this weekend at the Stride Bank Center in Enid. The first matches will be at noon on Friday.

Comanche, the No. 7 seed will face No. 2 seed Jay. Other matches include: No. 1 Marlow vs. No. 8 Pawnee/Hominy; No. 4 Bridge Creek vs. No. 5 Vinita; and No. 3 Blackwell vs. No. 6 Salina.

“I feel like the preparation has been going great,” Rowell said. “We’ve done some unique things with our training. We’ve been able to train with some other teams and we’ve been able to do some two-a-day type stuff where we’ve taken them to the Simmons Center to do the treadmills, ellipticals, lifting weights and getting in the pool. We’re just trying to mix things up a bit.”

Because of them not getting bogged down in the usual routine and doing something different, Rowell said the team’s spirits are high as they go into Dual State.

The Indians will be in the underdog role, but that does not matter to Rowell.

“We are starting to believe that we can win,” Rowell said. “We think we can do something special and upset some people. There are a lot of people who don’t expect us to go and do that but it doesn’t make any difference what everyone else thinks. It just matters what these kids think and what us coaches think and we believe we can do it. So, we’re going to go out there and give them the best we got.”

The semifinals will be held Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and the finals at 7:30 p.m.