C-Love Wrestling just finished up its 2025–2026 season, and if you were not paying attention, you missed a lot. The team finished with six state placers, including a state champion. As a team, they finished in the top four at Dual State with a dual record of 21–5. They also placed third at the team state tournament this past weekend.
Some people might look at that and say it was a pretty good year. But the people who are part of this program understand it was way more than pretty good — it was unbelievable. So for everyone else, let me take you back to the beginning so you can celebrate these kids the way they deserve to be celebrated.
In February 2025, 365 days ago, the Zebras were finishing the best two-year run they had experienced since 2011 and 2012. They came home with five state placers, a Dual State runner-up finish, and eight seniors who had completed remarkable careers. Looking at the team on paper, many people thought C-Love Wrestling was headed for a rebuild. How was the 2025–2026 team going to match the bar that had been set?
The team as a whole said, “Hold my drink and watch what we can do.”
This group, with many new faces and names, went to work over the summer and rolled into August preparing for the season.
The season arrived, and on December 2nd the team lost to Owasso for the first time in four years, 36–33. That night, people spoke to me with concern because the previous two years had made everyone used to winning. My response was simple: Take a breath. We will be just fine.
A few nights later, the boys put a beating on Bartlesville, and we were off and running. By Christmas break, the team had compiled 13 wins and only two losses. They were finding their groove.
The thing about high school wrestling is that the heart of the season does not start until January. That’s when everyone is down to weight, conditioning is where it needs to be, and the postseason picture starts taking shape. This group was ready for the challenge as we prepared to compete in district duals on January 13th to qualify for Dual State.
The day came and went, and the Zebras dominated, winning every dual by 28 or more points and punching their ticket to Dual State for the third straight year. The doubts began to fade as people started talking about what the coaches already knew — this was not a rebuild. This was a team ready to make noise and build its own legacy.
Dual State week arrived, and we drew Elgin in the first round. Elgin was ranked higher than the Zebras, and it was the second year in a row we would wrestle them at Dual State. Just like the year before, kids stepped up. Raul Perez earned a huge win in the second-to-last match to give us a chance at the upset. Then Gunner Murray sealed it with a technical fall, giving us our first-round win for the third year in a row.
The team eventually fell in the semifinals to the Coweta Tigers, the eventual Dual State champions.
The following weekend, the boys put it all on the line at regionals to qualify individually for the state tournament. Going in, I felt qualifying seven would be good, eight would be great, and nine would be impossible. After placing four in the finals and five in the top five, we reached that “impossible” mark. We finished a half point behind Elgin for third place at regionals. That part was hard to swallow.
One kid in particular stood out in helping us reach nine qualifiers — Ethan Boyd. Ethan had been hurt for the first half of the season and had not found his footing heading into regionals. That changed quickly. Ethan made a run to the third-place match, where he faced a kid who had beaten him 19–4 just a month earlier. That did not matter. Ethan was a different wrestler. He secured a second-period takedown to take the lead, then locked up the dreaded Boydster chicken wing. The match ended shortly after with a pin, a third-place finish, and Ethan qualifying for state for the first time in his career.
Regionals also featured a great showing from Mycka Duncan. If you know anything about Vegas odds, you would say they were stacked against him. That did not matter. Mycka secured a come-from-behind pin in the consolation semifinals to punch his ticket to state. He finished fourth overall and performed even better than I could have hoped.
Now onto the state tournament. With high expectations and plenty of nerves, we began our uphill journey where records and seeds no longer matter. The only questions that matter are: Are you physically tough? And more importantly, are you mentally tough?
For the Zebras who qualified and showed up in OKC to help secure our third-place team finish, the answer was a resounding yes.
Noah and Dawson Back are like David from the Bible. Everyone is bigger than them, but they do not care and they are not afraid. If you put your foot on the line against them, you might win on the scoreboard, but you will know you were in a fight. Both finished third at the state tournament — and they are only sophomores. Everyone better watch out for the Back twins over the next two years.
Tristan Peters also finished third at state, and it required more toughness than most will ever know. Have you ever tried to function with the flu? It is terrible. Now imagine wrestling in the state tournament with the flu while your coach tells you, “You can use this as an excuse and take the easy way out, or you can take this moment and be a man and reach your goal.” Tristan chose the hard path. He battled through it, found something inside himself he did not know was there, and finished third at state. He is also only a sophomore. I could not be more proud of him.
Kale Shultz answered the call as well. When I think of Kale now, I think of him as a moment killer — and that may sound bad, but it is a compliment. He has an innate ability to take a huge moment and never let it become too big. His heart rate stays steady. You cannot teach that; I believe you are born with it. His mental toughness really showed when he won his final match, beating a wrestler he had previously gone 0–3 against to secure his third-place finish. Kale just a junior.
Jackson Roach was not given much of a chance to place at state after finishing fifth at regionals and landing in the wrestle-in match on Thursday night. That meant weighing in three days in a row and wrestling on three separate days — all while facing an opponent who, on paper, was favored over him. In the consolation semifinals, Jackson gave up the first takedown and trailed 3–1 after the first period. By the end of the second, the match was tied, but his opponent had choice and elected to go down. Jackson put on a ride that required pure determination, scoring a crucial two-point near fall and earning his way to the podium with a fourth-place finish.
Hayden Lee came up one win short of the podium, but it was not due to a lack of toughness — it was experience. Hayden wrestled until he was around nine years old, then stepped away to play another winter sport. He did not return to wrestling until his junior year. That year, he qualified for state but went 0–1. This season, he qualified again and made it to the blood round before falling to a very talented opponent. Imagine qualifying for state two years in a row after not wrestling for nearly a decade. Now imagine if he had never stepped away. We will never know — but I do know in his short time with us, he exceeded my expectations.
Then there was Gunner Murray. We knew he would be in the finals Saturday night, and we knew he would be facing Toby Shipman for the second week in a row. Toby is a phenomenal wrestler, and the two had battled many times over the past four years.
After regionals, Gunner went to work with Coach Williams on how to beat him again. The key was scoring an offensive takedown in the first period. Gunner wasted no time, recording that takedown just 18 seconds into the match. It proved to be enough, as he won 4–3. Gunner had been preparing for this moment for a long time, and when things get hard, he thrives.
Congratulations to Gunner Murray on becoming the next Zebra to get his name on the wall.
Now I go back to the beginning. Rebuild is what everyone was saying. Maybe now everyone understands — it was never a rebuild. It was a reload.
For programs to do that, it takes athletes willing to wait their turn, serve as training partners, trust the process, and fully buy into what C-Love Wrestling is all about.