Former Cougar Wrestler Inducted Into Hall of Fame!

It is with great pleasure the family of Coach Buzzy Mann would like to announce Coach Mann has been selected by the committee from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as an Outstanding High School Wrestling Coach from the state of Tennessee.  

On October 9^th in Knoxville, TN he will be inducted to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame which is located in Stillwater, OK.  For one year a display of Coach Mann will be housed in the Hall of Fame.  His credentials will remain in the archives at the completion of the year.  His name will remain permanently on the Tennessee Wall at the National Hall of Fame.

George "Buzzy" Mann is a 1980 graduate of Ada High School.  While attending Ada High School, "Buzzy" played football and wrestled.  After graduation and completing his college degree, he chose to invest his life in efforts to positively impact the lives of young students.  "Buzzy" is currently a high school teacher and wrestling coach in Tennessee.

Anyone who might desire to pass on their congratulations to Mr. Mann can do so by e-mailing at mannclan@mounet.com.

All-State Wrestling Team Announced!

David Seeley Guest Sports Writer Ada Evening News

Ada — ADA — The motto of the United States Marines says, “The Few. The Proud. The Marines.” The few part of that motto could apply for those lucky high school athletes who make All-State. Ada Cougar wrestler Justin Todd can now say he’s in that elite group.

The 160-pound senior matman was named to the All-State East Wrestling Team for the All-State Games this summer. The All-State Wrestling Dual will take place at 8 p.m. July 27 at Tulsa Union High School’s Multipurpose Activities Center.

“He’s a great kid who has worked hard in every sport he played,” Ada coach Kyle Bohannon said. “For him to get into wrestling, and knowing Justin, it’s a great honor for him. I’m proud of him. I’m glad to get to see him wrestle one more time.”

The All-State honor for Todd could not have come at a better time, since Bohannon believes the Cougar senior had his best season on the mat.

“He’s been a (state) qualifier ever since he was a sophomore,” Bohannon said. “He had his best season as a senior at 31-7, and he placed first or second in every tournament he was in up through regionals. He had a good state tournament, but he just faced some tough kids. He wrestled hard, but he just came up a little short (going 1-2 at state). I wanted him to place, and he wanted it. But this (making All-State) right here is a great way to end his career in high school wrestling — with another chance to wrestle. He’s going to get the kid who beat him at regionals (Deer Creek-Edmond’s Heath Boyd).”

Todd broke a drought of All-State wrestling for Ada High School.

“It hadn’t been done in a while,” Bohannon said. “I guess it’s been about eight years since Ada has had an All-State wrestler (the last one was J.D. Case in 2002). For him to represent the school, he’s done a great job. He’s done it (represented Ada High School) well, and now he gets one more opportunity to do it (wrestle). We’re all excited for him. He’s excited to get this chance.”

But Bohannon said that now Todd has given the underclassmen a good measuring stick to use to try to achieve the same feat, or even more.

“Those guys who are up and coming have known him since they were in seventh grade,” Bohannon said. “They know how hard a worker he is, and the talent he has. That’s someone I want to be like, and want to wrestle like him. He’s kind of set the bar for people to get to, and surpass. That’s what you want in a program — to have kids like that. He’s a kid who will honor that, and then even be able to come back to help the younger kids out. That’s what so great about this.”

Cougar Wrestlers Compete At The State Meet!

Oklahoma City — Sophomore Jamie Copeland capped an outstanding season with a third-place finish at 103 pounds at the Class 5A state wrestling tournament Friday and Saturday at State Fair Arena.

Copeland, who had finished first or second in each of the Cougars’ tournaments leading up to the state tournament, easily handled Kurrey Harmon of Skiatook, 8-2, in the third-place match Saturday, after edging Trey Smillie of El Reno, 3-2, in the consolation semifinals.

“Jamie had a great tournament,” Ada coach Kyle Bohannon said. “You can’t be too upset about third place at the state tournament. All that hard work this season really paid off for him.”

The other two Ada wrestlers who reached the state tournament — seniors Eddie Brown and Justin Todd — wound up fifth in their respective weight classes after losses in the consolation semifinals.

Todd, making his third consecutive state tournament appearance, was pinned by Corey Delk of Skiatook at 152 pounds, and Brown, who also qualified for the state tournament in 2009, lost a 4-2 decision to Bryan Dutton of Guthrie.

All three Ada wrestlers won their first-round matches Friday.

“We had a really good first round,” Bohannon said. “In the matches we lost, we didn’t wrestle bad — we just faced some tough kids and came up a little bit short.

“I would have liked to have seen the other guys place in the tournament, but we’re a young team (Brown, Todd and heavyweight Josh Nail were the Cougars’ only three seniors) and we had a little success this year,” he said. 

“We can build on that into next year.”

Cougar Wrestlers Compete For State Tournament Berths!

Ada — EDMOND — Ada finished fourth in a field of 16, and qualified three wrestlers for this weekend’s Class 5A state tournament at the west regional tournament this past weekend at Deer Creek High School.

The Cougars, who finished in the bottom half of their regional in 2009 but qualified four for the state tournament, were no threat to the top three at the regional — Altus (210), Carl Albert (164) and host Deer Creek (133) — in the team standings, but their 100 points put them just ahead of Ardmore and Southeast, who finished tied for fifth with 99.

Two of Ada’s state qualifiers, seniors Eddie Brown (at 140 pounds) and Justin Todd (152), also competed at last year’s state tournament, and the third, Jamie Copeland (103), has been the team’s most consistent wrestler during a breakout sophomore campaign.

Jake Todd, who reached the state tournament as a freshman in 2009, and the squad’s third senior, Josh Nail, just missed in their bids for a state-tournament berth, finishing fifth at 112 and 215 pounds, respectively. The top four wrestlers in each class advanced.

“The guys who made the finals all had a great tournament,” Ada coach Kyle Bohannon said of Brown, Todd and Copeland, who were all second in their weight classes. “We had a great first day with five guys making it to the semifinals, and the kids wrestled hard and wrestled tough both days. The good thing is that a lot of the guys who didn’t make it this year will be back next year.”

The 5A state tournament will be held Friday and Saturday at State Fair Arena, with each session beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Ada Wrestlers Handle Ardmore On Senior Night!

ADA — No sports team likes it more than to come out victorious in its final regular-season outing. The Ada Cougars wrestling team did just that.

The Cougars celebrated Senior Night by winning their final wrestling dual of the season, posting a 44-27 victory over the rival Ardmore Tigers Thursday night at Cougar Activity Center.

For four seniors — Eddie Brown, Justin Todd, Dean Doolen and Josh Nail — they were honored prior to the dual. Three of them — Brown, Todd and Doolen — got wins. Brown pinned Ardmore’s Devin Coleman in 2:48 in their match at 140 pounds.

Todd got a technical fall with an 18-3 victory over Julian Withers at 160. Albeit an exhibition match since he got a forfeit win in his 215-pound match, Doolan pinned Stephen York, but unfortunately Nail was unable to wrestle — thus giving Ardmore heavyweight Evan McGee a forfeit win.

“(Josh) wasn’t feeling well,” Ada coach Kyle Bohannon said. “I didn’t want to put him out there. I just thought it was best for him to sit this one out.”

Still, Bohannon said the seasons the senior quartet has had is good.

“I’m very happy with those guys,” he said. “I was glad to see them have a good win like that in front of the home crowd. They’re all having great seasons.”

As for the other weight classes, the Cougars (7-4 in duals this season) got pinfalls from two other wrestlers — Jeb Todd at 130 pounds and Derrick Brown at 152.

Ada won three other matches by decisions. Jamie Copeland defeated Oscar Balderama 9-5 at 103 pounds, Jake Todd blanked Seth Langford 4-0 in the 119 match and Chase Cummins beat Elijah Cary 9-4 at 135.

Besides Doolen’s forfeited win, the Cougars got one other forfeit win — Madison Thornhill at 112 pounds.

With this being the final regular-season tune-up for the Class 5A regional tournament — and subsequent Class 5A state tournament — later this month, Bohannon likes where his team is at as well as the preparation time which the Cougars will have.

“We’re happy,” said Bohannon, who expected to find out by the end of the day where the Cougars will go for their regional tournament. “Anytime you can come out on Senior Night, and you can get a win over a team like Ardmore, we’re always happy. Any time we’re able to have some momentum (a three-dual winning streak after beating McAlester last week and Madill Tuesday night) going into the regional tournament, we’re happy.”

The Cougars will now take an extended break and prepare for 5A Regional action.

“We’re fixing to have some time off. We’ll have about two weeks, so we’ve got to get into the wrestling room and work on the things we have to work on. This time between this (Ardmore) dual and the regional tournament is really going to allow us to do just that. It’s going to give us the time to rest, and heal those little bumps and bruises we have,” he said. “It’s very important for us to wrestle good once we get there.”