Escareno Placed Sixth • Koop Claimed State Title Two area wrestlers claimed hardware at the State Wrestling Tournaments, held in Salina on Feb. 22-24.
Creyo Koop, a junior at West Elk, capped off his undefeated season with a State Championship title in the 165-pound weight class. Koop finished the season with a 43-0 record, increasing his career record to 129-3. This is his third state appearance and his third state medal. He placed third last year, in the 165-pound class, suffering his only loss to Drew Bretz of Hoxie, who went on to claim the state title and was state runner- up in the 145-pound class his freshman year.
Lady Tornado senior Lyndsey Escareno claimed her fourth state title, the first Lady Tornado in school history to record the honor. She claimed sixth place in the 140-pound weight class. She placed fourth at the 4-1A State Tournament last year, in the 140-pound weight class, placed fourth during her sophomore year and sixth during her freshman year, both in the 143-pound weight class. She concluded her career with a 110-27 overall record, with 96 of those wins being recorded as pins.
Also representing the Patriots at the state tournament, for the fourth year was Evan Coble. Senior Kayla Wright and sophomore Edward Metcalf made their first state appearances.
Also representing the Tornadoes were senior Makyla Gore, making her second state appearance and freshman Mason Hughes.
Additional details, including photos, from this year’s state wrestling tournaments can be found elsewhere in this week’s edition.
