2015 All-State wrestling teams

Large East

113: Cody Randall (Sand Springs)

120: Christian Moody (Collinsville)

126: Markus Simmons (Broken Arrow)

132: Kaid Brock (Stillwater)

138: Cody Karstetter (Sand Springs)

145: Justin McGinnes (Glenpool)

152: Wyatt Jordan (Collinsville)

160: Paden Bailey (Broken Arrow)

170: Joe Smith (Stillwater)

182: Thomas Shepard (Shawnee)

195: Walker Smith (Shawnee)

220: Blaine Gorges (Durant)

Hwt: Que Overton (Jenks)

Large West

113: AJ Draper (Noble)

120: Kalani Gradle (Yukon)

126: Malik Slater (Lawton Mac)

132: Cy Trindle (Edmond North)

138: Boo Lewallen (Yukon)

145: Alex Nelson (Guthrie)

152: Jake Thornton (Norman North)

160: Cameron Loving (Altus)

170: Hayden Hansen (Norman North)

182: Colton Jump (Lawton Mac)

195: Brody Largent (Piedmont)

220: Evan Hudson (PC North)

HWT: Korey Walker (Midwest City)

Still waiting on small school All-Staters....

ORU vs. North Dakota State — the good, the bad and the reality (Summit League tourney edition)

Well, Oral Roberts' 60-56 loss in the semifinals of the Summit League Tournament was about what you'd expect from the Golden Eagles.

Signs of promise early dashed by missed opportunities and lack of options late.

Same song, different verse for the Golden Eagles this season. (That's assuming the season is officially done and a CIT tourney berth doesn't land in ORU's lap.)

This will be one of many final thoughts on the Golden Eagles' season, but we'll start with the traditional good/bad/reality stuff first...

The good: Obi Emegano, of course. The dude had no choice but to be good ever since Korey Billbury was suspended. Otherwise, ORU was probably going to score about 36 points per game.

Also, Emegano is probably already licking his chops to get after North Dakota State again next season. The former Edmond Memorial guard averaged 28 points against the Bison in three games this season. Impressive.

Not to get lost in the scuffle should be Emegano's eight rebounds. I guess if no one else in an ORU uniform is going to get the basketball, it might as well be Emegano.

The three assists and two steals in 40 minutes made an impressive stat line by the end of the night.

- Only six turnovers for the Golden Eagles. They had to play a clean game to have a shot at beating NDSU, and they did just that.

- ORU made 14 of 18 free throws and you can't stick your nose up at that. The Golden Eagles made 539 of their 754 foul shots (71.5 percent) this season, and that's a number you'd like to see much higher.

- Brandon Conley's eight points and six rebounds. Where was that all season long?

Conley's problem all year long was foul trouble, and Monday night against the Bison displayed Conley's poor fouling tendencies. (More on that in a second.)

- Lawrence Alexander didn't completely go off and have a monster game against the Golden Eagles, thanks in large part to Emegano and Aaron Young teaming up in the last couple of weeks to become a formidable defensive duo. Aside from Alexander's 31 points in the first meeting between ORU and North Dakota State, the Golden Eagles really did a fine job of bottling up Alexander in the final two showdowns.

The bad: ORU's shooting woes — a constant in this category. Putting the ball in the basket was a season-long problem, and it's one that needs a strict dissection of in the offseason. I know coaches will often say, "well, he makes those shots in practice." OK, cool. But if a player isn't making those shots consistently during games, tell them to stop shooting and drive to the basket.

The Golden Eagles shot 38.5 percent (20 of 52) from the field to wrap up the season. That's just about right for a team that shot 42.6 percent (743 of 1,743) for the season. ORU connected on 183 of 529 3-point attempts (34.6 percent), and take away Bobby Word's 49 treys and no one else made more than 28. Not having several long-range threats allows a defense to pack it in, and the Golden Eagles need some quality members added to the long-range firing squad.

- I figured the suspension of Billbury would force Denell Henderson to become a wrecking ball on the low post. Thought that ORU would transform from a guard-oriented team to a high-low team with an emphasis on getting Henderson involved.

It never happened.

Henderson's final scoring outputs were: 8, 13, 9 and 4 points. His collegiate career ended with a four-point, one-rebound effort against North Dakota State. That's rough.

Henderson could have easily been a guy who averaged 11 points and eight rebounds a game, but he instead finished at 8.8 and 5.2, respectively.

I'm sure the effort was there, but there were plenty of times this season when I noticed Henderson going full-throttle. It just didn't translate into stuffing the stat sheets.

ORU now has to hope that Albert Owens is capable of filling Henderson's void next season.

- Another sour night for ORU's supporting cast around Emegano. Bobby Word had 10 points but needed 12 field goals (and four makes) to get there. Darian Harris, zero points. Adrion Webber, five points. Albert Owens, zero points. Conley's eight points saved an almost non-existent effort from the bench.

Only Henderson and Webber are seniors for ORU, so the Golden Eagles need to figure out a solid bench rotation and who can actually help, because bench production was mostly horrific this season.

Will it be some incoming freshmen? Maybe. Javan White and Chris Crawford can hoop it up. Will it be a JUCO signee? Possibly. Who knows? Playing time should be up for grabs at this point.

- ORU ended up tying the game eventually, but Conley fouling North Dakota State's A.J. Jacobson on a 3-point attempt with 5:28 left was not a wise move. Conley was merely trying to the contest the shot, but his aggressiveness got the best of him, sending Jacobson sprawling on the hardwood. Jacobson made all three and the Bison went up four.

Conley got bailed out a minute later while fouling Carlin Dupree on a shot attempt. NDSU could have gone up six, but Dupree missed both. Conley had to breath a sigh of relief, for sure.

The reality: A season that featured such promise resulted in ORU's second straight season without a postseason game of any kind. (Again, a CIT tourney berth is possible, but I'd give the chances of that happening somewhere in the zero to 3 percent range.)

The Golden Eagles entered the season with two of the better talents in the league (Emegano and Billbury) and a solid supporting cast. Problem was that Emegano had to do too much, Billbury was hot and cold and the supporting cast didn't support consistently.

End result: a lost season for the Golden Eagles, who let plenty of games get away from there. (We'll get more into that as the week plays out.)

Time will tell if there was an unevenness in the locker room, but I get a sense that there was. The chemistry just wasn't there for most games. It'll be interesting to see how the roster looks as the offseason rolls along.

Now, only eight months until the next basketball season is underway.

Class 2A through 6A state tournament schedules

Class 6A

Boys

Thursday - at Skiatook

Union vs. Edmond Memorial, 2 p.m.

Putnam City West vs. Owasso, 3:30 p.m.

Mustang vs. Broken Arrow, 7 p.m.

Jenks vs. Edmond Santa Fe, 8:30 p.m.

Friday - Mabee Center

Jenks/Edmond Santa Fe winner vs. PC West/Owasso winner, 4:30 p.m.

Union/Edmond Memorial winner vs. Mustang/Broken Arrow winner, 9 p.m.

Saturday - Mabee Center

Championship, 7:45 p.m.

Girls

Thursday - at Webster HS

Edmond Santa Fe vs. Broken Arrow, 2 p.m.

Sapulpa vs. Southmoore, 3:30 p.m.

Muskogee vs. Edmond Memorial, 7 p.m.

Choctaw vs. Midwest City, 8:30 p.m.

Friday - Mabee Center

Sapulpa/Southmoore winner vs. Edmond Santa Fe/Broken Arrow winner, 9 a.m.

Muskogee/Edmond Memorial winner vs. Choctaw/Midwest City winner, noon

Saturday - Mabee Center

Championship, noon

Class 5A

Boys

Thursday - at Sapulpa

Edison vs. Deer Creek, 2 p.m.

Eisenhower vs. Pryor, 3:30 p.m.

Memorial vs. Ardmore, 7 p.m.

Carl Albert vs. Coweta, 8:30 p.m.

Friday - Mabee Center

Edison/Deer Creek winner vs. Eisenhower/Pryor winner, 10:30 a.m.

Memorial/Ardmore winner vs. Carl Albert/Coweta winner, 8:30 p.m.

Saturday - Mabee Center

Championship, 1:45 p.m.

Girls

Thursday - Mabee Center

Collinsville vs. Ardmore, 2 p.m.

East Central vs. Altus, 3:30 p.m.

Deer Creek vs. Grove, 7 p.m.

Piedmont vs. Edison, 8:30 p.m.

Friday - Mabee Center

East Central/Altus winner vs. Piedmont/Edison winner, 6 p.m.

Collinsville/Ardmore winner vs. Deer Creek/Grove winner, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday - Mabee Center

Championship, 6 p.m.

Class 4A

Boys

Thursday - at Oklahoma City Univ.

Tuttle vs. Fort Gibson, 2 p.m.

McLain vs. Anadarko, 3:30 p.m.

Harrah vs. Stilwell, 7 p.m.

Central vs. Victory Christian, 8:30 p.m.

Friday - State fairgrounds

Tuttle/Fort Gibson winner vs. McLain/Anadarko winner, noon

Central/Victory Christian winner vs. Harrah/Stilwell winner, 1:30 p.m.

Saturday - State fairgrounds

Championship, 10:30 a.m.

Girls

Thursday - at Southern Nazarene Univ. (Bethany)

Harrah vs. Locust Grove, 2 p.m.

Elgin vs. Vinita, 3:30 p.m.

Newcastle vs. Fort Gibson, 7 p.m.

Anadarko vs. Hilldale, 8:30 p.m.

Friday - at Southern Nazarene Univ. (Bethany)

Anadarko/Hilldale winner vs. Elgin/Vinita winner, 6 p.m.

Harrah/Locust Grove winner vs. Newcastle/Fort Gibson winner, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday - State fairgrounds

Championship, 7:30 p.m.

Class 3A

Boys

Thursday - State fairgrounds

Hennessey vs. Oklahoma Centennial, 2 p.m.

Verdigris vs. Tahlequah-Sequoyah, 3:30 p.m.

Marlow vs. Heritage Hall, 7 p.m.

Atoka vs. Sperry, 8:30 p.m.

Friday - State fairgrounds

Verdigris/Sequoyah winner vs. Hennessey/Centennial winner, 9 a.m.

Atoka/Sperry winner vs. Marlow/Heritage Hall winner, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday - State fairgrounds

Championship, 5:45 p.m.

Girls

Thursday - at Carl Albert

Washington vs. Metro Christian, 2 p.m.

Vian vs. Chisholm, 3:30 p.m.

Bethel vs. Adair, 7 p.m.

Tahlequah-Sequoyah vs. Millwood, 8:30 p.m.

Friday - State fairgrounds

Washington/Metro Christian winner vs. Vian/Chisholm winner, 4:30 p.m.

Sequoyah/Millwood winner vs. Bethel/Adair winner, 6 p.m.

Saturday - State fairgrounds

Championship, 12:15 p.m.

Class 2A

Boys

Thursday - at Yukon

Oklahoma Bible Academy vs. Wewoka, 2 p.m.

Talihina vs. Merritt, 3:30 p.m.

Preston vs. Hollis, 7 p.m.

Chouteau vs. Kiefer, 8:30 p.m.

Friday - at Yukon

Chouteau/Kiefer winner vs. Preston/Hollis winner, 6 p.m.

Talihina/Merritt winner vs. OBA/Wewoka winner, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday - State fairgrounds

Championship, 9 p.m.

Girls

Thursday - at Moore

Cashion vs. Preston, 2 p.m.

Kiefer vs. Fairview, 3:30 p.m.

Latta vs. Dale, 7 p.m.

Alva vs. Quinton, 8:30 p.m.

Friday - State fairgrounds

Latta/Dale winner vs. Cashion/Preston winner, 10:30 a.m.

Alva/Quinton winner vs. Kiefer/Fairview winner, 9:15 p.m.

Saturday - State fairgrounds

Championship, 2 p.m.

Summit League postseason awards

Men
Player of the Year: Lawrence Alexander (North Dakota State)

Coach of the Year: David Richman (North Dakota State)

Newcomer of the Year: Deondre Parks (South Dakota State)

Defensive Player of the Year: Cody Larson (South Dakota State)

Sixth Man of the Year: Dexter Werner (North Dakota State)

First Team

G Lawrence Alexander (North Dakota State, Sr.)

G Obi Emegano (Oral Roberts, Jr.)

F Steve Forbes (IPFW, Sr.)

F Cody Larson (South Dakota State, Sr.)

G Tyler Larson (South Dakotaa, Sr.)

G Deondre Parks (South Dakota State, Jr.)

Second Team

G Korey Billbury (Oral Roberts, Jr.)

G CJ Carter (Omaha, Sr.)

G Garret Covington (Western Illinois, Soph.)

G George Marshall (South Dakota State, Jr.)

G Brett Olson (Denver, Sr.)

Honorable mention

G Marcellus Barksdale (IUPUI, Jr.)

G Jake Bittle (South Dakota State, Jr.)

G Joe Edwards (IPFW, Sr.)

F A.J. Jacobson (North Dakota State, Fr.)

F Mike Rostampour (Omaha, Sr.)

All-Newcomer Team

G Tre Burnette (South Dakota, Jr.)

F A.J. Jacobson (North Dakota State, Fr.)

G Max Landis (IPFW, Jr.)

G George Marshall (South Dakota State, Jr.)

G Deondre Parks (South Dakota State, Jr.)


Women

Player of the Year: Ashley Luke (Western Illinois)

Coach of the Year: Amy Williams (South Dakota)

Newcomer of the Year: Vicky McIntyre (Oral Roberts)

Defensive Player of the Year: Vicky McIntyre (Oral Roberts)

Sixth Women of the Year: Mikale Rogers (IUPUI)

First team

G Raeshel Contreras (South Dakota, Sr.)

G Brooke LeMar (North Dakota State, Sr.)

F Ashley Luke (Western Illinois, Jr.)

C Vicky McIntyre (Oral Roberts, Sr.)

G Nicole Seekamp (South Dakota, Sr.)

G Megan Waytashek (South Dakota State, Sr.)

Second team

F Mariah Clarin (South Dakota State, Sr.)

G Macy Miller (South Dakota State, Fr.)

G Haley Seibert (IPFW, Sr.)

G Mikaela Shaw (Omaha, Soph.)

F Akilah Sims (IUPUI, Jr.)

Honorable mention

G Paige Bradley (Denver, Jr.)

G Tia Hemiller (South Dakota, Jr.)

F Holly Johnson (North Dakota State, Jr.)

C Nevena Markovic (IUPUI, Sr.)

G Tori Niemann (Western Illinois, Sr.)

All-Newcomer team

C Vikcy McIntyre (Oral Roberts, Sr.)

G Macy Miller (South Dakota State, Fr.)

G Shaquira Scott (IUPUI, Jr.)

F Ellie Thompson (South Dakota State, Fr.)

G Taylor Thunstedt (North Dakota State, Fr.)

My Summit League postseason ballot

All eyes in the Summit League will shift to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, this weekend when the league begins its postseason hoops tournament. On Thursday, the league will announce its postseason awards, including Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

Here's my ballot for this year's awards:

Men

All-League Team

1. Lawrence Alexander (NDSU) - League's best scorer at 19.1 points a game, and a terrific team leader. He put NDSU on his back after the Bison lost Taylor Braun, TrayVonn Wright and Marshall Bjorklund. MVP honors in the league have been his for a while now.

2. Obi Emegano (ORU) - Right there with Alexander for MVP honors midway through the conference season, Emegano trailed off a little bit when ORU went through a brief slump. He's averaging 19.4 points per conference game, which is second to Alexander, and Emegano is first during conference play in free throws made (92) and second in steals (27).

3. Cody Larson (SDSU) - Hard to discern the Jackrabbits' best player since they display quality balance. But without Larson's 6-foot-9 frame in the middle, South Dakota State would just be a team chucking it up from anywhere. Larson is now first in the league in rebounding (7.7 per game) while third in blocks (16), fourth in field goal percentage (54.3) and fifth in scoring (15.4).

4. Tyler Larson (SD) - A different kind of Larson, compared to Cody at SDSU. A wiry guard at 6-3, Tyler Larson is still one of the Summit League's best rebounders, averaging 7.7 in all games this year (first in the league) and 7.4 in Summit League contests (fourth in the conference).

5. Deondre Parks (SDSU) - Like Emegano at ORU, Parks will be a key piece to his team's roster again next season. Parks transferred to SDSU from Iowa Lakes Community College, and he had an immediate impact with 14 points a game.

6. Steve Forbes (IPFW) - Hard to nitpick at 13.9 points and 6.1 rebounds a game, but at 6 feet, 9 inches, it seems like Forbes should be more involved for IPFW. The Mastodons started league play by losing their first two games, a result of Forbes totaling 11 points combined in setbacks against Western Illinois and IUPUI.

7. Brett Olson (Denver) - Picked as the preseason player of the year, Olson never quite took the reins as the league's best player. Also didn't help that while Olson was averaging 13.6 points per game and in the top 10 in 3-point and free-throw percentage, the Pioneers still didn't win much. Plus Olson was held to single-digit scoring efforts five teams in conference plays.

8. George Marshall (SDSU) - A transfer from Wisconsin, Marshall became eligible in late December after semester tests were over. It was clear from the start that Marshall was a scorer, finishing the regular season at 13.1 points per game. If he improves in other areas, Marshall could campaign for next year's most valuable player.

9. Korey Billbury (ORU) - Went through periodic scoring droughts this season, but his rebounding was pretty constant. Despite getting suspended for violating team rules, Billbury still was one of the league's best 11 players this season.

10. Garret Covington (WIU) - Western Illinois just isn't a great team right now, and the injuries to don't help. One constant, though, was Covington on the offensive end (outside of a three-point game at North Dakota State where he went 1 of 12 from the field). Covington is still young and will almost certainly be one of the better scorers in the league next year.

11. A.J. Jacobson (NDSU) - Jacobson will be a mainstay in the league for years to come. As a freshman, he averaged 11.5 points per game. More impressive, though, is he's already established himself as a 42 percent 3-pointer shooter and an 84.1 percent free throw shooter. 

All-newcomer team

1. George Marshall (S. Dakota State)

2. A.J. Jacobson (N. Dakota State)

3. Deondre Parks (S. Dakota State)

4. Max Landis (IPFW)

5. Tre Burnette (South Dakota)

Defensive Player of the year

1. Devin Patterson (Omaha)

2. Chris Kading (N. Dakota State)

3. Cody Larson (S. Dakota State)

Sixth Man

1. J.C. Fuller (W. Illinois)

2. Dexter Werner (North Dakota State)

3. Trey Norris (South Dakota)

Coach of the Year

1. Dave Richman (North Dakota State) - It was a widespread belief that North Dakota State would taper off after such an impressive run last year. The Bison lost a lot of talent to graduation and coach Saul Phillips left to take a job at Ohio U. The Bison, though, never skipped a beat with Richman being elevated from assistant coach to head coach. Just an overall impressive job by Richman this season.

2. Scott Nagy (South Dakota State) - Nagy did a great job of meshing returning talent with transferred-in talent. And now he has set himself up for success again for years to come.

3. Jason Gardner (IUPUI) - Don't get hung up looking at IUPUI's record. The Jaguars are an offensively-challenged team, but Gardner found a way to work around that and collect six conference wins and 10 victories overall. Really like what Gardner is capable of moving forward.

Women

All-league team

1. Vicky McIntyre (Oral Roberts)

2. Brooke LeMar (N. Dakota St.)

3. Ashley Luke (Western Illinois)

4. Raeshel Contreras (South Dakota)

5. Megan Waytashek (South Dakota State)

6. Haley Seibert (IPFW)

7. Macy Miller (South Dakota State)

8. Mikaela Shaw (Omaha)

9. Nicole Seekamp (South Dakota) 

10. Akilah Sims (IUPUI)

11. Paige Bradley (Denver)

All-newcomer team

1. Vicky McIntyre (ORU)

2. Macy Miller (SDSU)

3. Shaquira Scott (IUPUI)

4. Taylor Thunstdt (NDSU)

5. Remy Davenport (Omaha)

Defensive Player of the year

1. Vicky McIntyre (ORU)

2. Nicole Seekamp (South Dakota)

Sixth Woman

1. Taylor Thunstedt (NDSU)

2. Mikale Rogers (IUPUI)

3. Ellie Thompson (SDSU)

Coach of the Year

1. Amy Williams (South Dakota)

2. Aaron Johnston (South Dakota State)

3. Misti Cussen (ORU)