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Boomer wrestlers ready for regionals

By Johnny McMahan/Senior Editor 2/17/05

Joey Miller (left) battles in a recent match.

Greg Johnson admits to being tired of the number two. It's one he's seen several times pertaining to state tournament qualifiers from the Boomer wrestling team.

For the past eight years, the Boomers have been represented at state, but never by more than two wrestlers in a single season.

Of course, there are circumstances where he would accept the number such as, "if it was two state champions at the same time," the veteran Woodward coach said.

Woodward's wrestlers start their bid for state tournament berths Friday in the Class 4A regional at Chickasha. The top four wrestlers in each regional advance to state.

The Boomers have four wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in Class 4A, led by top-ranked Matt Johnson who enters the post-season as the favorite at 160 pounds. Joey Miller (103), Kevin Branine (135) and Michael Comstock (152) also appear in the rankings.

"Matt should be seeded one," Greg Johnson said. "Michael Comstock should be three and Kevin Branine and Joey Miller should be three or four seeds.

"Other than that, we've got a couple of guys that might be seeded sixth."

Matt Johnson, 33-2, is already a three-time state qualifier and two-time medalist. He took the next step at the Chickasha Tournament in late January with a 4-3 victory over Cody Rowell, the two-time state champion from Duncan. Johnson has not lost since the Perry Tournament in December.

"Matt has wrestled pretty good the last couple of matches," Greg Johnson said. "He's got to face Rowell again this weekend and probably each other again next week. Unless one of them has a bad day, it should be those two."

The No. 3 seed is likely Chris McNeil from Lawton MacArthur who lost badly to Rowell at the dual state tournament.

Miller will be attempting to qualify for state and probably also make some history. As far as anyone can tell, she could become the first girl to qualify for the state wrestling championships.

The road isn't an easy one. Five top 10 wrestlers are in the regional.

"Justin Dill from Duncan should be the No. 1 seed and Lawton MacArthur (Jerald Jenkins) should be two," Greg Johnson said. "Joey beat him in summer freestyle.

"Joey should be three or four. The kid from Noble beat the El Reno kid at dual state and Joey lost to the El Reno kid. But in preseason , Joey beat the kid from Noble 15-2."

Miller is 30-5 in high school matches this season.

Comstock is 26-7 but only three of the losses came at his 152-pound weight class.

J. R. Harris, a state champion at 145 pounds last year for Lawton MacArthur, is the regional favorite and Chickasha's Dallas Smith is ranked second. Comstock, though, lost just 1-0 to Smith in a match that could have gone either way.

George Thompson of Duncan is ranked third, but hasn't wrestled Comstock.

"We've watched the tape of the match with Smith several times and I think Michael can beat him," Johnson said. "He's been wrestling real well and improved every week during the course of the year."

Branine has turned in a big year at 135 pounds, going 27-6 and getting over the tournament hurdle. After coming up short in tournaments earlier in his career, Branine has placed in three tourneys this year including an impressive second place at Chickasha.

"He's got 61 takedowns this year and that's pretty decent," Johnson said. "He's kind of turned it on."

With El Reno sent to the eastern regional, the class looks relatively open.

Johnson believes Terry Acker from Chickasha will be the top seed. Acker beat Branine in the Chickasha Tournament finals. Taylor Matthews from Lawton Mac is the probable second seed. Branine and four others from the western regional are also ranked.

The Boomers will also challenge at others weight, though they're likely to start out unseeded.

Heavyweight Derrek Branson has enjoyed some success.

"If he stays out of headlocks and wrestles smart, he's top four in the region," Johnson said.

At 215 pounds, Jacob Morgan has battled injuries, but was second in the only tournament where he was healthy.

"If he's prepared, and it looks like he is, he could have a good tournament too," Johnson said.

The coach said his team also has some potential at several other weights.

While El Reno and Shawnee were sent to the east regional, the west is still a tough deal, Johnson said.

"I still think we have eight of the top 10 teams in the west," he said. "The way I see it most of the weights the top four from the west and the El Reno qualifier will be the five fighting for the medals. That's not the case in every weight, but in a majority of them."

Teamwise, the Boomers are looking to get above 10th place, which is their best finish at a regional.

Lawton MacArthur and Duncan are the team favorites followed by Noble and Chickasha. After that, "it could be anyone, including us," Johnson said.

Notes: Miller isn't the only girl with a chance to qualify for state. East Central has a 125-pounder who won a match against Lawton MacArthur at dual state. Woodward has never won an individual state champion, but Matt Johnson could break that streak this season. Jamie Johnson and D. J. Henderson were state runnerups.