CROWNING GLORY

Veloz, Meyer earn state titles at Class 5A meet;  Owls finish third as team

  • Two-time state champion Symphony Veloz is congratulated by her coach, Cody Rowell, after she won the Class 6A state title at 170 pounds. HUGH SCOTT JR. | SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE
    Two-time state champion Symphony Veloz is congratulated by her coach, Cody Rowell, after she won the Class 6A state title at 170 pounds. HUGH SCOTT JR. | SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE
  • Ritson Meyer is proclaimed the champion of the 190-pound weight class during last week’s state meet. HUGH SCOTT JR. | SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE
    Ritson Meyer is proclaimed the champion of the 190-pound weight class during last week’s state meet. HUGH SCOTT JR. | SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE
  • Elgin’s Hunter Jackson dominates Coweta’s Toby Shipman in the first round of the Class 5A 113-pound title match at last Saturday’s state tournament. However, Shipman prevailed 3-2 to win the state crown. HUGH SCOTT JR. | SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE
    Elgin’s Hunter Jackson dominates Coweta’s Toby Shipman in the first round of the Class 5A 113-pound title match at last Saturday’s state tournament. However, Shipman prevailed 3-2 to win the state crown. HUGH SCOTT JR. | SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE
  • Elgin freshman Ritson Meyer (top) takes control of the 190-pound match against Glenpool’s Kevin Lund during last week’s Class 5A state meet. Meyer defeated Lund 3-0 to win the state championship. HUGH SCOTT JR. | SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE
    Elgin freshman Ritson Meyer (top) takes control of the 190-pound match against Glenpool’s Kevin Lund during last week’s Class 5A state meet. Meyer defeated Lund 3-0 to win the state championship. HUGH SCOTT JR. | SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE
  • Elgin junior Symphony Veloz puts Fort Gibson’s Peighton Mullins in an arm lock during their 170-pound match during the girls Class 6A state championship match last week at the Jim Norick Arena in Oklahoma City. Veloz won on a one-point escape with 15 seconds remaining in the match. HUGH SCOTT JR. | SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE
    Elgin junior Symphony Veloz puts Fort Gibson’s Peighton Mullins in an arm lock during their 170-pound match during the girls Class 6A state championship match last week at the Jim Norick Arena in Oklahoma City. Veloz won on a one-point escape with 15 seconds remaining in the match. HUGH SCOTT JR. | SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE
  • Elgin’s Symphony Veloz jumps into the arms of her dad and assistant coach, Robert Veloz, after winning the 170-pound state title match last Saturday. This was Robert Veloz’ first time to witness his daughter’s performance at a state meet. In the two previous years, he was serving overseas in the U.S. military when Symphony Veloz competed. Last year, his daughter won the state title at 165 pounds. HUGH SCOTT JR | SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE
    Elgin’s Symphony Veloz jumps into the arms of her dad and assistant coach, Robert Veloz, after winning the 170-pound state title match last Saturday. This was Robert Veloz’ first time to witness his daughter’s performance at a state meet. In the two previous years, he was serving overseas in the U.S. military when Symphony Veloz competed. Last year, his daughter won the state title at 165 pounds. HUGH SCOTT JR | SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE

OKLAHOMA CITY — Elgin wrestlers Symphony Veloz and Ritson Meyer were favored to win, and they did.

Veloz, a junior, and Meyer, a freshman, were crowned state champions and the Owl mat team finished third in the Class 5A state meet held last week at Jim Norick Arena. 

Veloz, now a two-time state champ, captured the first-place medal at 170 pounds in the girls division, and Meyer earned the top prize at 190 pounds.

Veloz, who won the state title last year at 165 pounds, was forced to overcome a late rally by Fort Gibson’s Peighton Mullins and then needed a one-point escape with 15 seconds left to win the crown. Veloz won a 7-6 decision.

“It felt amazing. It was great,” Veloz said after she left the mat. “It started off a little slow, but she’s very strong.”

Elgin head coach Cody Rowell said he was confident in Veloz and her drive to win the state title.

“I knew it would be an extremely close match,” he said. “I knew she would rely on her training, and it was good to see that.”

Meyer, who won the junior high state mat title earlier this season, outsmarted his finals opponent, Kevin Lund from Glenpool, who was penalized a point for unsportsmanlike conduct as he pushed and shoved Meyer when the pair were out of the wrestling circle.

“He (Lund) had a game plan to throw Ritson off his game, but Ritson stayed strong,” Rowell said. “He outwrestled the kid. He (Meyer) is still a young kid mentally, but he saw an opportunity in front of him, and he elevated his game. He’s pretty special and had a chance to do something not a lot of people get to do.”

Meyer also plays running back on Elgin’s varsity football team and is a starter for the Owls’ baseball squad.

As a team, Elgin finished third with 70 points behind second-place Collinsville and team champion Carl Albert.

“We wanted to win the tournament, but it didn’t turn out for us. We had some highs and lows during the weekend,” Rowell said. “Hunter Jackson’s loss stung, but we’ll take the lows and highs and build for next season.”

Jackson lost a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to Coweta’s Toby Shipman in the 113-pound weight class. The match went into three overtimes before Shipman scored an escape point to win the title. Jackson had been ranked No. 1 in the state for most of the season.

Other state tournament placers included Brice Martin, who finished third at 106 points, and Dominick Bennedetto with a fourth-place finish at 144 pounds. Martin defeated Evan Colbert of Del City 5-2 in the third-place match, and Bennedetto dropped a 6-4 decision to Lawton MacArthur’s Calvin Moon in his third place match.

On the girls side, Elgin finished fifth as a team with 41 points. Elgin’s Chenelle Brown finished third at 145 pounds by pinning Ponca City’s Adyson Ivers at the 1:28 mark. Lady Owl Abigail Anglley made it to the consolation semifinals but was pinned by Lexington’s Cilee Turner at the 1:40 mark.