Harrah boys steal show…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
If it was 100 degrees outside, then it had to be at least 110 degrees inside the Harrah gym Saturday night for the Harrah Fight Night.
It was the elephant in the room during what was a great night for the fund-raiser for the Harrah wrestling team and a solid night of MMA action.
My shirt was drenched with sweat, water and a little blood, but it was a great event with a great, enthusiastic crowd.
There ended up being 13 bouts and nobody quite stood out more than the Harrah kids, Tony Quintero and Levi Queen.
Quintero took on Jessie Haugen of Claremore and actually had to feel his way out in the first 15 seconds or so.
However, he landed a big right hand that sent Haugen retreating from one side of the cage to the other, and it was over about 10 seconds later.
The other Harrah boy, Levi Queen, is a beast. Or should I say machine as is his moniker? At 215, he is cut up. He looks in fantastic shape and had little problem in taking out Jonas Malone of Cushing.
Queen got him down and a solid ground-and-pound game had it over in the first 30 seconds, much to the delight of the hometown crowd.
Other notes
- What a way to start the show with a highlight-reel kick from Steven Gibson that left Jeff Davis down and out for a good couple of minutes. It showed right away that this wasn’t just going to be a charity event. There would be real fights with real consequences.
- I wrote about Gary Frazier, a former Shawnee High star. He had little problem in disposing of Jessie Sinks in round 1, but he was upset the fight was called.
Frazier opened up a nasty cut over the left eye of Sinks. There was no way he could continue, but Frazier was livid about it.
It took him a couple of minutes to calm down, and then he realized what was up and showed good sportsmanship.
That’s Frazier, for ya. He’s a nice kid outside the cage. But get him in there and lookout is all I’m going to tell you.
- The best fight was the semi-main event between Edmond’s Timothy Elliot (with Jared Hess in his corner) against Norman’s Shane Howell (with the Shawnee crew I know in his corner).
With about 5 seconds left in the third round, Howell got the TKO victory as both men were just exhausted, had nothing left in the tank.
I had Howell winning bout anyway, but the TKO victory put away any doubt there might have been.
When it comes to these events, sometimes it’s more fun for me to watch the corners and their strategy and trying to keep their fighter in the game.
- In the main event, a steady dose of leg kicks led Ryan McCurdy of Choctaw to a victory against Matt Bean of Mustang. Bean was a four-time state champion at Mustang but had no answer to the leg attack.
It took him out of his game, and he was forced to back pedal most of the night. Scores (mine, too) were 30-27 across the board.
Harrah coach Bryan Miller said the event was a tremendous success, and he was thrilled with the quality of the fights.
I had a good time in my first trip to Harrah, wouldn’t mind going back.
Quickie Results
Steven Gibson, Yale, TKO 1 Jeff Davis, El Reno (big leg kick)
Robert Blackstone, Midwest City, Submission 1 Jacob Johnson, Norman (guillotine)
Scotty Taylor, Shawnee, UD 3 Donald Parenzan, MWC (30-27, Boneman had it 29-28)
Edwin Coleman, Del City, Submission 1 Richard McDonald (Coleman overcame nasty cut and wore out McDonald)
Rocky Cranford, Sallisaw, TKO 2 Drew Hill, MWC
Tony Quintero, Harrah, TKO 1 Jessie Haugen, Claremore
Gary Frazier, Shawnee, TKO 1 Jessie Sinks, Norman
Jeremiah Haynes, Cushing, Submission 2 Aaron Radcliff, Choctaw
Jeremy Spoon, Chickasha, Submission 1 Chris Barnes, Sapulpa (rear-naked choke)
Levi Queen, Harrah, TKO 1 Jonas Malone, Cushing
Ronnie Douglas, Edmond, Submission 1 Kyle Sjafiroeddin (armbar)
Shane Howell, Norman, TKO 3 Timothy Elliot, Edmond
Ryan McCurdy, Choctaw, UD 3 Matt Bean, Mustang
Back tomorrow with an update on some of the local products from the Harrah show.
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Comments
It was a great night of fighting but no one should have had to put up with the heat we had to endure, especially the fighters no matter how good of shape they are in. I can’t beleive the Athletic Commission even allowed it to go on. I heard more complaints about the temperature inside the gym and so many people said that would be the last time they would do that. I know the schools are trying to save money but the promoters should have stepped up and picked up the tab.
[...] a more detailed account of the Harrah event, check out this Boneman’s Bout Blog entry as I stayed for the whole event and watched every fight. yahooBuzzArticleId = [...]
Thanks to everyone who fought the heat. Thank you for supporting these young athelets and the Harrah Wrestling team.