Guthrie wrestling picked up its first home dual victory of 2025 Thursday, winning 41-33 over the sixth-ranked Duncan Demons on senior night.
The Bluejays honored three senior boys’ wrestlers, three senior girls’ wrestlers and a senior trainer before the match kicked off from GHS. Matt Mihalik, Kaedin Herendeen and Bryson Hall were joined by family and honored by head coach Jadon Davenport for their spectacular careers.
The girls’ wrestlers to be honored were Laila Griffin, Mackenzie Hardesty and Brynlea Frick, who are the first group of seniors in Guthrie’s girls’ wrestling program.
Thursday’s dual started with Joel Landry defeating Duncan’s Jesse Chastain in the 106-pound match by major decision, 15-3, to give Guthrie the early advantage. The Demons responded with a fall in the following match as Steven Harris pinned Urijah Sisk in the 113 to give Duncan a 6-4 lead.
Kaedin Herendeen snatched the lead right back for Guthrie with a tech fall victory (19-4) over Jack Ensey in the 120, making it 9-6, Bluejays. Herendeen is now 9-3 in matches this season and is the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the 5A 120.
Once again, the lead flipped back to Duncan after Guthrie’s Ayden Smith was pinned by Felipe Villarreal, who came in as the fifth-ranked wrestler in the 5A 126. The Demons went up 12-9, then 17-9 after Bryson Burton picked up a tech fall (17-0) win in the 132 over Matt Mihalik.
The turning point in Thursday’s dual came in the 138-pound match when, down 9-3 to Duncan’s Blayden Harper in the second period, Luke Lyons reversed a cradle to force Harper’s shoulders onto the mat for the pin, bringing the score to 17-15, Duncan. Lyons’ come-from-behind win prevented the Bluejays from being in a major hole the rest of the dual, making the deficit two points rather than 12, 13 or 14 points.
Colton Stevens gave the lead back to Guthrie with a 11-1 decision win in the 144 over Trey Thomas, then Aiden Hardin pinned Deacon Clark in the 150 after trailing 3-0 early on. Rowan McHone gave up a fall at 157 pounds, but Clayton Carey matched it with a pin of his own in just a minute and 14 seconds in the 165.
Guthrie held a 31-23 lead when Bryson Hall took the mat in the 175 against No. 8-ranked Izaya Elix. Hall, who was just recently elevated to No. 1 in the 175-pound weight class, kept his undefeated season alive with an 11-2 decision win to give the Jays a 35-23 lead. Hall sits at a perfect 15-0 in matches this season.
Head coach Jadon Davenport talked after the dual about Hall and how much he’s grown as a wrestler from when he began coaching him, to now as a senior.
“As a freshman, he was already a good wrestler,” said Davenport. “And now he’s one of the most complete wrestlers that’s ever come through Guthrie. From neutral, to top, to bottom, that kid is probably one of the best in that state when it comes to a full, complete wrestler. He works his butt off, he’s dedicated, he’s committed, he wants to be great and he’s not going to be satisfied with anything other than a gold medal.”
Guthrie made it three-straight after Roston Uselton pinned Bryson Poindexter in the 190 despite being down eight points early on. Wyatt Silvis and Sir William Morgan suffered falls in the final two matches, but it was not enough to catch up to the Bluejays’ lead as Guthrie won 41-33 to bring their dual record this season to 4-4.
“I liked the way they battled,” said Davenport about what he saw from his team in the win. “Every single one of them wrestled with a lot of heart and went out and competed from start to finish. Even the ones that took L’s, they battled their butts off from the first whistle to the last, which is all you can ask for. Those guys went out and did exactly what we needed them to do, and that’s just compete and compete their hardest.”
Guthrie has little time to rest as they make the trip to Midwest City on Friday and Saturday for the Carl Albert Tournament, then will compete in district duals next week on Tuesday, Jan. 21.