Memorial’s Cruz Aguilar wins 6A 106 State Championship

Edmond Memorial’s lightweight Cruz Aguilar won the Class 6A 106-pound state wrestling championship Saturday evening, dropping Sand Springs’ Brendon Wiseley midway through the second period. Aguilar’s state title is the first individual wrestling title Edmond Memorial has seen since 2002. According to his head coach, Memorial’s second-year head man Albert White, Cruz’s win could have long-lasting effects on the direction of the Bulldogs’ wrestling program. “I don’t know if Cruz recognizes it or not, but he’s set something in motion for this program,” White said after Cruz’s title. “It’s been so long that guys might have been wondering ‘Oh man, can they do that?” Aguilar’s victory — only the second Memorial Bulldog to ever win a wrestling individual state title after Johnny Hendricks won three in 2000, 2001 and 2002 — proved that it was indeed possible. “He’s really set something in motion for the guys after him,” White said. “I think that Cruz brings a lot of energy to the program,” White said. “He accepts the big moments, he looks forward to the big moments, he embraces things that can be tough and he’s okay with that. He brings a certain energy that the team can feed off of.” Aguilar’s title claim continues Edmond Memorial’s resurgence. Since White’s hire to start the 2017-2018 season, Memorial’s wrestling program has advanced significantly. This season alone the Bulldogs threatened to dethrone long-time city champion Edmond North in one of the closest Three Dog Night’s in recent memory; They posted their highest finish ever at the famed Geary Invitational; and, now an individual state title and the school’s first-ever top-5 team finish at the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Athletic Association’s state wrestling tournament. Last season, only one Edmond wrestler — Memorial’s Peter Rolle — made it to the final go-around. But Aguilar’s victory Saturday night gave the area high schools their first individual championship since 2017 — and, more specifically, Edmond Memorial’s first wrestling state title in 17 years. Joining Aguilar in the Saturday finals were Deer Creek’s Micah Lugafet and Carson Savage, and Edmond North’s Jake McCoy. All three finished state runner-up in their respective weight brackets at the tournament. Lugafet was the next Edmond-area name to hit the mat Saturday directly following Aguilar’s win. Lugafet came from the middle of the 145-bracket to earn the championship appearance. Falling Enid’s Chance Davis in Friday’s first round, the third-seeded Lugafet then upset Union’s Ja’len Hernandez in the semifinals. Lugafet bested Hernandez in a 15-4, major decision in that semifinal bout, despite Hernandez (37-7) having 17 more, regular-season bout wins than Lugafet (23-4). Lugafet then fell on a minor, 9-4 decision to top-seeded Gabe Johnson (40-2). Johnson is from Choctaw High School. Carson Savage was the next to try for a title for Deer Creek. Wrestling at 195, Savage had amassed a 37-3 record this season to earn the bracket’s top-seed. And, it looked like his season-wide dominance would carry into this weekend’s state tournament. Savage fell Yukon’s Conner Columbus in the first period of Friday’s preliminary rounds, before picking up a second pin-fall — this time against Sand Springs’ Kaden Glass — in the semifinals. But the trend didn’t continue, and Savage would fall in a close, 11-10 decision in Saturday’s championships against Mustang’s Judson Rowland. Edmond North’s 220-pound standout Jake McCoy also garnished a state runner-up appearance at the event. Like Savage, McCoy fell both of his preliminary opponents during the run. He dropped Mustang’s Jack Kitchingham in 2:55 before finding a semifinal win in 4:18 against Jenks’ Jared Gill. McCoy then fell to top-seeded Zach Marcheselli (Broken Arrow) in a minor, 10-4 loss that earned him a runner-up finish.

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MEMORIAL’S CRUZ AGUILAR WINS 6A 106 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

AARON ALBERTSON

Edmond Sun | 2/25/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Drew Harmon