Mark Kirk
It’s time to crown our first state champions for 2023. Dual State will take place this weekend for all classes at the Stride Bank Center in Enid. All four champions return to defend their titles (Stillwater, Collinsville, Tuttle and Marlow), but 28 other teams also have their sights on capturing this year’s title.
The quarterfinals take place on Friday, with the semifinals Saturday afternoon and all four championship finals running together starting at 6:30. The schedule is listed below.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10
Class 6A Quarterfinals at 12:00 p.m.
Edmond North vs. Mustang
Yukon vs. Broken Arrow
Bixby vs. Sand Springs
Stillwater vs. Choctaw
Class 3A Quarterfinals at 2:00 p.m.
Blackwell vs. Hinton
Perry vs. Sperry
Jay vs. Sulphur
Berryhill vs. Marlow
Class 5A Quarterfinals at 4:00 p.m.
Elgin vs. Pryor
Collinsville vs. Duncan
Lawton Mac vs. Glenpool
Piedmont vs. Coweta
Class 4A Quarterfinals at 6:00 p.m.
Tuttle vs. Bristow
Wagoner vs. Chickasha
Cushing vs. Ft. Gibson
Clinton vs. Catoosa
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11
3A and 6A Semifinals at 12:00 p.m.
4A and 5A Semifinals at 2:00 p.m.
3A, 4A, 5A and 6A Finals at 6:30 p.m.
CLASS 4A
Class 4A appears to once again be a battle for 2nd as Tuttle has won Dual State every year since 2010 and will look to extend their ongoing state record streak to 14 years in a row. Last year Tuttle beat Wagoner 66-12 in the finals. Tuttle is the number one seed and in addition to the wins over Dual State qualifiers Mustang and Blackwell, own a 51-15 win over El Reno. Catoosa dropped their opening dual of the season to Claremore (33-32), but has reeled off nine straight wins, including a 42-19 win over Cushing and is the number two seed.
Cushing finished the regular season with a 9-1 record, including wins over Dual State teams Pryor, Sperry and Perry. Chickasha is the number four seed, and used victories over Harrah and Blanchard to earn the district title and their first trip to Dual State since 2016. Following a state championship in football, Wagoner has had an abbreviated dual schedule, but won the district title and are making their 9th straight appearance at Dual State.
Ft. Gibson has a win over Class 5A Dual State qualifier Pryor and won the district title with a 45-36 win over Poteau. Bristow ended the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record and won the district title with a 39-37 win over Skiatook, ending Skiatook’s streak of six straight district titles. Clinton is making their 12th appearance at Dual State (1st since 2019) and won the district title with wins over Cache (37-36), Weatherford (33-32) and Elk City (48-24).
| SEED | TEAM | RECORD | WINS AGAINST DUAL STATE TEAMS | DUAL STATE HISTORY |
| 1 | Tuttle | 9-1 | Mustang (59-9), Blackwell (38-30) | 19 titles, 5 2nd, 17th straight appearance and 31st overall |
| 2 | Catoosa | 9-1 | Cushing (42-19) | 2 titles, 2 runner-up, 24th appearance |
| 3 | Chickasha | 8-1 | 6th appearance | |
| 4 | Cushing | 9-1 | Pryor (45-27), Sperry (43-18), Perry (54-16) | 6 titles, 3 2nd, 5th straight appearance and 20th overall |
| 5 | Wagoner | 3-1 | 2 runner-up, 9th straight appearance and 20th overall | |
| 6 | Ft. Gibson | 7-2 | Pryor (42-27) | 1 runner-up, 10th appearance |
| 7 | Bristow | 8-0 | Berryhill (42-39) | 6 titles, 2 runner-up, 22nd appearance |
| 8 | Clinton | 6-4 | 2 runner-up, 12th appearance |
CLASS 3A
Blackwell and 2X defending Dual State champion Marlow appear to be on a collision course for the finals, but Jay, Sulphur and the other teams disagree with that prediction. In 2021, most predicted a Marlow-Jay battle in the finals, but Blackwell advanced to the finals with a semifinal win over Jay. In 2022, most expected Marlow and Blackwell in the finals, but Jay returned the favor, beating Blackwell 51-30 in the semifinals.
Blackwell finished the season 14-3, winning the district title with a 45-24 win over Cascia Hall and also had wins over Guthrie, Perry, Ponca City, and Texas power Arlington Martin. Their only losses were to nationally ranked teams at the Hall of Fame Duals, including a close 38-30 loss to Tuttle. Marlow has been in the last five Dual State finals, including winning the last two titles. Marlow comes in with an 11-0 record including wins over Class 5A and 4A Dual State qualifiers Elgin (49-19) and Chickasha (46-18).
Jay finished the season with a perfect 12-0 record including a 51-27 win over defending 5A champion Collinsville. Sulphur also finished the season undefeated, going 14-0, including a 49-24 win over Dual State qualifier Clinton. Sulphur is making their first appearance in Dual State since 2007 as they ended Comanche’s streak of seven straight district titles with a 41-31 win. Sperry went 10-1, and won the district title with wins over Salina (37-33) and Inola (37-30).
Perry had a streak of 28 straight Dual State appearances broken last year by Pawnee, but won this year’s district title with a 57-19 win over Pawnee. Berryhill won their district title with a 36-33 win over Vinita while Hinton beat Bridge Creek (54-23) and Heritage Hall (55-23) to earn their first Dual State appearance since 2012.
IF Blackwell and Marlow meet, there are potential fireworks in the first seven weights with top ranked wrestlers from both teams possibly facing each other.
| Weight | Blackwell | Marlow |
| 106 | #2 | #1 |
| 113 | #2 | #3 |
| 120 | #4 | #3 |
| 126 | #2 | #4 |
| 132 | #2 | #1 |
| 138 | #3 | #1 |
| 144 | #3 | #1 |
| SEED | TEAM | RECORD | WINS AGAINST DUAL STATE TEAMS | DUAL STATE HISTORY |
| 1 | Blackwell | 14-3 | Perry (61-6) | 1 title, 6 runner-up, 4th straight appearance and 27th overall |
| 2 | Marlow | 11-0 | Elgin (49-19), Chickasha (46-18) | 5 titles, 8 runner-up, 5th straight appearance and 23rd overall |
| 3 | Jay | 12-0 | Collinsville (51-27) | 1 runner-up, 3rd straight appearance and 7th overall |
| 4 | Sperry | 10-1 | Berryhill (44-36) | 2 titles, 1 runner-up, 17th appearance |
| 5 | Perry | 6-4 | 20 titles, 4 runner-up, 33rd appearance | |
| 6 | Sulphur | 14-0 | Clinton (49-24) | 1st appearance since 2007 and 4th overall appearance |
| 7 | Berryhill | 9-3 | 1 title, 1 runner-up, 1st appearance since 2013 and 14th overall | |
| 8 | Hinton | 10-3 | Clinton (40-39) | 1 title, 1st appearance since 2012 and 6th overall |
DUAL STATE HISTORY AND RECORDS
Listed below is an abbreviated list of just a few of the Dual State records from a “book” this writer has compiled listing the Dual State records and results since Dual State started in 1989. Please email me at [email protected] if you are interested in a pdf copy of this “book.”
MOST TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Perry – 20
- Tuttle – 19
- El Reno – 11
MOST FINALS APPEARANCES
- Perry – 24
- Tuttle – 24
- Broken Arrow – 15
MOST TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES
- Perry – 33
- Broken Arrow – 31
- Tuttle – 31
MOST CONSECUTIVE TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES
- Perry – 28 (1994-2021)
- Tuttle – 17 (2007-2023)
- El Reno – 16 (1994-2009)
- Broken Arrow – 16 (2008-2023)
MOST TOURNAMENT POINTS SCORED
- Perry – 223 (2018)
- Tuttle – 209 (2019)
- Tuttle – 206 (2018 and 2020)
FEWEST POINTS ALLOWED – TOURNAMENT
- Tuttle – 0 (2019) (Tuttle didn’t lose one match in three duals, winning by scores of 75-0, 71-0 and 63-0)
- Perry – 12 (2018)
- Perry – 15 (2009)
3. Tuttle – 15 (2020)
Listed below are summaries of this year’s Dual State qualifiers from the “book.” The “Class” lists the class a school has qualified for Dual State in the 35-year history of the tournament.
| School | Class | Qualified | 1st | 2nd | Semis | Won | Lost | 1st Year to Qualify | Last Year to Qualify | Last Title | Qualified Streak | Streak Years |
| Bristow | 3A & 4A | 21 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 27 | 15 | 1992 | 2021 | 2002 | 12 | 1992-2003 |
| Catoosa | 4A & 5A | 23 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 21 | 1990 | 2022 | 2008 | 8 | 2005-2012 |
| Chickasha | 4A & 5A | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1999 | 2016 | N.A. | 2 | 2006-2007 |
| Clinton | 4A | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 1991 | 2019 | N.A. | 4 | 2014-2017 |
| Cushing | 4A | 19 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 31 | 13 | 1989 | 2022 | 2009 | 11 | 2002-2012 |
| Ft Gibson | 4A | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 2005 | 2022 | N.A. | 3 | 2015-2017 |
| Tuttle | 3A & 4A | 30 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 68 | 11 | 1989 | 2022 | 2022 | 16 | 2007-2022 |
| Wagoner | 4A | 19 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 1989 | 2022 | N.A. | 8 | 2015-2022 |
| School | Class | Qualified | 1st | 2nd | Semis | Won | Lost | 1st Year to Qualify | Last Year to Qualify | Last Title | Qualified Streak | Streak Years |
| Berryhill | 3A | 13 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 1990 | 2013 | 1995 | 6 | 1990-1995 |
| Blackwell | 3A & 4A | 26 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 26 | 25 | 1991 | 2022 | 1991 | 11 | 2008-2018 |
| Jay | 3A & 4A | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2004 | 2022 | N.A. | 2 | 2021-2022 |
| Marlow | 3A & 4A | 22 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 37 | 17 | 1989 | 2022 | 2022 | 8 | 2002-2009 |
| Perry | 3A & 4A | 32 | 20 | 4 | 7 | 75 | 12 | 1989 | 2021 | 2019 | 28 | 1994-2021 |
| Sperry | 3A | 16 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 14 | 1989 | 2021 | 1992 | 5 | 1997-2001 |
| Sulphur | 3A & 4A | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1989 | 2007 | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. |
| Hinton | 3A | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1993 | 2012 | 1994 | 2 | 2011-2012 |
