YUKON — Putnam City is sending five wrestlers to the 6A State Championships following a strong showing at the West Regional Friday and Saturday (Feb. 20-21).

“I was very pleased with our wrestlers performances at regionals,” Putnam City coach Mike Walkup said via text. “6A is always a dog fight just to qualify and the fact that Putnam City has qualified five or more in back-to-back years just shows how seriously we take wrestling and how committed our wrestlers are.”

Leading the way for the Pirates are senior standouts and captains Mike Hernandez (138 lbs) and Frank Arriola (150 lbs), both of whom finished fourth in their weight classes. Joining the senior duo is junior Jordan Walker, who claimed fourth place in a competitive 175-pound bracket, and senior Blake Stephenson, who clinched fifth place and a state berth at 215 pounds.

Junior Austin Samman (113 lbs) finished sixth and was an alternate but it was announced Monday that he will compete in the tournament after another wrestler was unable to compete.

Senior Daniel Samayoa (120 lbs) is an alternate for PC.

Walkup said he was expecting one or two more qualifiers, but they fell just short.

He also praised senior Talon Hall, one of the wrestler in the group that missed out on a berth.

“(Hall) had a great season and fought all year with a serious injury. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

As a team, the Pirates finished seventh out of 16 teams in the regional.

“Our guys have worked their tails off to qualify for state and the guys who didn’t qualify were all very competitive at regionals,” Walkup said. “We are ready to make some noise at the state tournament!”

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The qualifying wrestlers will compete in the State Championships Thursday through Saturday (Feb. 26-28) at the OG&E Coliseum .

Putnam City State Championship Matchups
(Opening Round)

113: Austin Samman (Jr.) vs. Cayden Scott (Bixby)
138: Mike Hernandez (Sr) vs. Teaguen Simpson (Stillwater)
175: Jordan Walker (Jr) vs. Wura Yinusa (Union)
150: Frank Arriola (Sr) vs. Cooper Zickefoose (Bixby)
215: Blake Stephenson (Sr) vs. Gunner Wilson (Broken Arrow)
Alternate: Daniel Samayoa (120).