Historic falls on the mat

There is a wall of names at the northwest end of the Kingfisher APB that lists every Yellowjacket wrestler who has ever qualified for state.

It’s time to add a new one…the first female name, to be more specific.

Junior Rylee Hamil made history Monday when she pinned Elk City’s Melodie Martinez at 5:25 of their 115-pound fifth place match at the Class 5A girls wrestling regional in Cache.

The win qualified Hamil for next weekend’s state wrestling tournament in Oklahoma City, making her the first female from Kingfisher to earn that distinction.

“It feels great,” said Hamil of the fact she had a groundbreaking win for the KHS program. “I am proud of myself.”

She wasn’t the only one in Kingfisher County to make history.

Earlier in the afternoon, Cashion junior Roman Davis became her school’s first female qualifier.

She earned her spot when she pinned Anna Toumbs of Marlow at 1:44 of their 190-pound consolation semifinal.

That put her in the third-place match and with the top five wrestlers from each weight class qualifying for state, Davis’ spot at state was secure.

“It’s good when we are able to make history,” said Cashion wrestling coach Fay Barnett. “Last year we were able to put the first two boys in state and this year we got our first girl.”

Davis lost her very first match of the day when she was pinned at 1:11 by Tuttle’s Evan Cody.

With her season on the line, Davis won two straight consolation bouts as she pinned Valeria Chavez of Lexington/ Purcell in 48 seconds and then Lauren Stell of Tecumseh in 1:44.

That placed her in the consolation semifinal, meaning she needed one win in two tries to reach state.

Making the task seemingly more difficult was the fact her upcoming opponent - Marlow’s Anna Toumbs was coming off a victory via fall over Cody, the wrestler who had already beaten Davis.

Then, seemingly making it even more difficult, Toumbs scored a takedown on Davis early in the first period.

But Davis recovered, reversed Toumbs and then was able to work her shoulders to the mat for a fall at 1:44.

She eventually settled for fourth place as Davis was defeated by Harrah’s Laycee Johnson in the third place match, but history was already made.

Davis entered the regional unseeded.

“She definitely wrestled above what the expectations were of her based on her seeding,” Barnett said. “But she’s done a tremendous job of putting in the extra work, getting in extra practices and she did a great job of bouncing back after that early loss.”

Hamil also had an early loss in the tournament.

She won her first match when she pinned Cache’s Nanaseia Daniels in just 49 seconds to place her in the championship quarterfi nals.

There, she was beating Elk City’s Martinez.

“Then I got in a bad spot,” Hamil said.

Martinez took advantage and pinned Hamil at 4:34.

Like Davis, Hamil had to win a pair of elimination matches to keep her dreams of state alive.

She did just that with a 10-4 decision over Tecumseh’s Evelyn Schlottman and then a fall at 2:37 of her match with Lone Grove’s Alissa Williams.

That put her in the consolation semifinal for the second straight year. It meant Hamil needed just one win in two tries to reach state.

Last year’s bid ended in heartbreak.

As a sophomore, Hamil not only lost the consolation semifinal, but then was defeated in double-overtime of her fifth place match.

That came a year after getting within one match of being a regional placer.

That’s two narrow misses.

“It pushed me a lot,” Hamil said of her return for her junior campaign.

“I was always told I had the ability to do it. I came close last year and said ‘we’re going to take it all the way this year.’” But history repeated itself in that consolation semifinal when Hamil lost a 1-0 decision to Newkirk’s Teagyn Beliel.

“After that one, I felt really down because I had beaten her before,” Hamil said. “It got under my skin that I didn’t score any points and I felt like I let my coaches down.”

The KHS girls are coached by Stan Blundell and his son, Dylan Blundell.

“We weren’t disappointed at all,” said the elder Blundell. “We knew she still had a chance and that she needed to collect herself and get ready for that next match.

“We had a lot of confidence in her.”

Standing across from Hamil for that final spot at state was a familiar foe in Elk City’s Martinez.

Not only had Hamil wrestled her earlier in the day, but also earlier this season in a dual.

Hamil beat her in that first showdown.

Hamil fell behind early this go-around, but managed to find some clarity in the chaos of the wrestling mat.

“I looked at the points and said, ‘I’m still in this… I’ve beaten her before and I’ve still got a chance to beat her now,’” Hamil said.

“I fixed how I was seeing the match.”

She added that she thought back to their first match and how she beat her then.

She turned the match in her favor, grabbed the lead, but then got the pin in the third period.

After having her arm raised, Hamil jumped in the arms of her proud father, Jeremy Hamil.

“It was a great moment,” Blundell said. “To see how close she’s been the last two years, especially last year, and to know how badly she wanted to qualify…it was a lot of fun seeing her realize a dream.

“And it didn’t hurt that she made history.”

Both Davis and Hamil will take part in wrestle- in matches at state. They’ll need wins to get into the double-elimination brackets of their respective weight classes.

Davis will square off against Tori Dobbins of Skiatook, who placed fifth in the east regional.

Hamil will take on Sydney Harris of Little Axe, who was fourth in the east regional.

“I know the girl I have to wrestle and it should be a good match,” Hamil said. “Hopefully I can beat her and get myself into the bracket.”