The Newkirk Takedown Club Girls team attended the third annual OKWA Girls State Champions on February 15-16 and returned home to Newkirk as State Runners Up.
The wrestling members for the Lady Tigers were Teagan Morton, Ryelie Mangrum, Brittnee Hasselbring, Brinlea Weant and and Sierra Hasselbring. Not only was this the first state tournament for first-year wrestler Teagon Morton, but this was a tournament where Morton made the comeback victory after fighting tiger tough after trailing in the first period 5-3. Morton would become a state finalist.
Rylie Mangrum not only won two matches to become another state finalist for the Lady Tigers, but she dominated her two matches against worthy opponents. The bracket for Brittnee Hasselbring was small, but extremely tough. She won a tough first match that she showed her toughness and grit through.
During the Semi-finals that Saturday, Hasselbring lost by getting caught in a tough move, yet she fought hard throughout the match where she finished the season taking third place as a state finalist. Brinlea Weant went lights out with a 5-0 victory to be the third Lady Tiger to be a state finalist. Sierra Hasselbring fought a tough match against a top-notch opponent in the semi-finals, but came up short on the losing end where she was placed in the consolation finals.
In the consolation finals, Hasselbring had her eyes set on a revenge match from last year’s state tournament match that ended in a loss. Sierra would go to dominate with a 11-0 win for a third place state finish. Moving to finals matches, Morton came up short against an opponent who not only was tough, but known nationally. Mangrum had a tough finals match as she fell too far behind early on which led to a loss, but all was not over yet as the third place girl was seeking a challenge against Mangrum. For Mangrum, it was a hard-fought match, but a close loss in the end.
In the end, it was quite the weekend for the Newkirk Takedown Club as the Lady Tigers fought hard and walked away as the 2019 OKWA Girls Team State Runner Up!
