Durant — Three Durant Independent School District students won the Oklahoma Kids Wrestling Association (OKWA) Novice State Championship in Lawton, Feb. 7, 2009. Layton Tubbs, 11; Chandler Fernandez, 11; and Cooper McCoy, 6, all brought home championship medals in their division and weight class.

“Durant wrestling is on the map. The future of Durant wrestling looks bright”, commented Durant MatCats coach Walt Dorman.

Tubbs, who wrestled in the Novice Division III, 110-pound weight class, won two other OKWA tournaments in Del City and Berryhill, placed second at Choctaw and finished with a dual record of 15-1 in his division this season. At the state duals, Tubbs won five matches with three decisions and two falls. Tubbs earned a 13-0 decision in the state championship finals.

Fernandez won the state title and OKWA tournaments in Choctaw and Berryhill in the Novice Division III, 73-pound weight class.

He occasionally wrestled in Novice Division IV during the season, placing first at Choctaw and second at Owasso and Del City tournaments in that division. Fernandez finished the season with a novice dual record of 24-3 and won his final match for the state championship with a 9-3 decision.

McCoy, wrestling in the Novice Division I, heavyweight class, won OKWA tournaments at Midwest City, Moore and Berryhill, in addition to his state title. At novice state, he won his first dual 6-3, pinned his opponent in the first period of his second dual, and wrestled to a 4-0 decision victory in the finals. McCoy’s novice dual record on the season was 12-0.