This year Sapulpa sports has added six women wrestlers to their list of athletes.
As a sophomore Buckner has a 27-5 record so for this season in tournaments and duals. Her goal for the season is to stand on the podium at Women’s State.
“Kassie definitely has a future in wrestling, if she chooses to wrestle at the next level,” Sapulpa Head Wrestling Coach Kyle Blevins said. “With women’s wrestling growing at a rapid rate, she should have the opportunity to wrestle either out of state or in state.”
She first became interested in wrestling at the age of 10 while watching her father coach her younger brother in Sapulpa Youth Wrestling. Bucker said seeing them in the wrestling room made her want to try it out.
“Every time I take the mat there is a new move to learn and perfect,” Buckner said, “and there is something else to work on after every match.”
Blevins said Kassie is still pretty new to the sport. She began wrestling as a 6th or 7th grader, took a year off and came back to the sport in her freshman year.
Last year she qualified for the State Tournament and she was one match away from placing.
“I think she fits well into the weight class that she is wrestling,” he said.
Compared to boys, there still aren’t very many opportunities for girls wrestling in Oklahoma, Blevins said, but it is growing at a rapid pace.
To prepare for the college level, Buckner will need to become familiar with “freestyle” now so it’s an easier transition from “folkstyle”, he said, which is what high school wrestling is. “Freestyle” is more aggressive and where the male wrestlers compete during the summer.
Her next big competition is State Regionals Feb. 13-14 in Jay, Ok.
Currently, there are 3 Junior High and 3 High School females wrestling on the team in Sapulpa and the sport grows each year. She invites any girls who are interested in wrestling to come and tryout with Coach Morris.
Follow Sapulpa Wrestling on Facebook as the entire team completes in the season’s final High School duals and works toward the state competitions.
