Four (or More) Time State Champions in College = Oklahoma

 Depending on who you ask, some people claim that there are 7 wonders of the world, while others claim that there are 9. As far as I'm concerned there are 10.  I have never understood why the richness of wrestling in the state of Oklahoma never bled east into Arkansas, south into Texas or southeast into Louisiana. The wrestling in Oklahoma at both the High School & College level is so abundant and rich with talent, you would have thought that it would have spread like wildfire into these other surrounding states. I suppose it's not fair to say that it didn't at all, but it is fair to say that it sure took a Hell of a long time to do so. While there was a bit of collegiate wrestling in Arkansas back in the 1950's, it'd be another 60 years before we'd see wrestling sanctioned at the High School level. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for how much wrestling we have in Arkansas today, but with Oklahoma producing the amount of wrestling that it has since the early 1920's should it really have taken that long? I guess being an Iowa boy, maybe I'm being unfair. It's easy to see with the influence of Frank Gotch, then with Harold Nichols & later especially with Dan Gable how that love, passion & knowledge spread not only all over the state, but in the states that surround Iowa as well. I don't get why this didn't happen with Oklahoma. Maybe it was a pushback from states that overvalue football & saw wrestling as a threat. All I know is that when it comes to wrestling and the state of Oklahoma, the word that always comes to my mind is contained. 

Even only taking a look at their four time state champions, it is clear to see that the state where "work conquers all" has produced some phenomenal talent. 

Leonard Shelton 

Oklahoma's first four time state champion was Leonard Shelton of Ponca City who won titles from 37'-40'.  He wrestled collegiately for Oklahoma. 

Cecil "Woody" Beisel 

Woody Beisel won four Oklahoma High School State titles for Perry from 75'-78'. Collegiately he decided to go the baseball route, playing for both Oklahoma & Southwestern Oklahoma State. 

Kenny Monday 

A representative of Booker T Washington High School, Kenny Monday won four Oklahoma State titles from 77'-80'.  Wrestling collegiately for Oklahoma State, Monday made the NCAA finals his final three seasons of eligibility, winning the NCAA title as a senior in 1984. 

Todd Chesbro 

Todd Chesbro of Stillwater won four Oklahoma High School State Crowns from 84'-87'. He wrestled for Oklahoma State in College where he was a three time All American.  Placing 5th in 1989 as a freshman, he would earn an 8th place finish in 1991 as a junior, capping off his career as an NCAA runner-up in 1992.  

Kyle Rosebure 

Winning titles from 84'-87' for McAlester, Kyle Rosebure competed for one season at Oklahoma. He then decided that college wrestling was no longer for him. 

T.J. Jaworsky 

T.J. Jaworsky won four Oklahoma High School State titles for Edmond from 87'-90'.  He had a phenomenal collegiate career representing the North Carolina Tar Heels.  He won NCAA titles in 93', 94' & 95'. 

Jerry Best 

Living up to his name, Jerry Best proved he was the best four times at the Oklahoma State High School State championships from 88'-91'.  He would then do so three times at the NCAA DII tournament for Central Oklahoma in 94', 95' & 96'. 

Steve Elkins 

Steve Elkins won four Oklahoma High School State championships for Madill from 92'-95'. He competed collegiately for Oklahoma. 

Michael Lightner

Representing Marlow, Michael Lightner won four Oklahoma High School State titles from 93'-96'. Collegiately he wrestled for Oklahoma where he was a four time All American. After placing 5th in 1998 as a freshman, he would make the next three NCAA finals, winning a title in 2001. He was also a four time BIG 12 champion. 

Jeff Henning 

A four time Oklahoma state champion for Tuttle, Jeff Henning won titles from 95'-98'.  In college he competed for the Central Oklahoma Broncos where he was a two time All American. He took back to back 3rd place finishes at the 2002 & 2003 NCAA DII tournaments. 

Shane Roller 

Representing Bixby, Shane Roller won four Oklahoma High School State championships from 95'-98'.  Collegiately he wrestled for Oklahoma State where he was a three time All American.  Finishing 3rd in both his sophomore season of 2001 & his senior season of 2003, he was 4th in 2002. 

Matt Bean 

Matt Bean who won four Oklahoma High School State Crowns for Mustang from 96'-99', to my knowledge did not wrestle in college. 

Matt Grice 

Matt Grice won four Oklahoma High School State titles from 97'-00' for Harrah.  He went to Oklahoma to wrestle collegiately but between injuries and a serious auto accident, never got to compete. 

Clark Shouse

Clark Shouse won four Oklahoma State High School Championships for Morrison from 97'-00'.  Collegiately he competed for Oklahoma State.

Teyon Ware 

Representing Edmond North, Teyon Ware won four Oklahoma High School State titles from 99'-02'.  Competing for Oklahoma while in college, Ware was a two time NCAA champion, winning titles in his freshman & junior seasons of 2003 & 2005.  6th in 2004 as a freshman, he ended his career the NCAA runner-up in 2006. 

Derrick Fleenor 

Representing El Reno, Derrick Fleenor won four Oklahoma High School State titles from 99'-02'. Collegiately he wrestled for Oklahoma State. 

Brandon Tucker 

Brandon Tucker won four Oklahoma High School State titles for Broken Arrow from 00'-03'. He wrestled collegiately for Purdue. In my opinion he is one of the best wrestlers to never qualify for the NCAA championships. Among notable wins, he defeated Joe Dubuque of Indiana in the year he won his first NCAA title. 

Ryan Henning 

Ryan Henning won four Oklahoma High School State titles for Tuttle from 01'-04'.  He began his collegiate career at Central Oklahoma & then finished up at McKendree. 

Mike Bizzle 

Representing Cascia Hall, Mike Bizzle won four Oklahoma High School State titles from 02'-05'. He wrestled in college for Oklahoma State. 

Dallas Bailey 

Dallas Bailey won four Oklahoma High School State titles for Catoosa from 06'-09'.  He began his collegiate career at Oklahoma State and then transferred to Wyoming. He was a two time NCAA qualifier. 

Jarrod Patterson

Representing Cushing, Jarrod Patterson won four Oklahoma High School State titles from 06'-09'. In college he wrestled for Oklahoma. An All American in 2011 as a sophomore with a 7th place finish, he  finished one match away from placing in both his junior & senior seasons. A four time BIG 12 finalist, he won titles his freshman and senior seasons. He was also a two time CKLV finalist in his sophomore & senior seasons & his junior season he was 5th at the Midlands. 

Ladd Rupp 

A Four time Oklahoma High School State champion for Perry from 06'-09', Ladd Rupp wrestled collegiately for Oklahoma State. 

Chris Perry 

Representing Stillwater, Chris Perry won four Oklahoma High School State crowns from 06'-09'. Collegiately he had an outstanding career for Oklahoma State.  After finishing in 3rd place as a sophomore in 2012, he won back to back NCAA titles in 2013 & 2014. Along with these accomplishments he was also a four time BIG 12 champion, a two time Southern Scuffle champion & a Reno champion. 

Ian Fisher 

Ian Fisher won four Oklahoma State High School crowns from 07'-10' for Perry.  Collegiately he wrestled for Oklahoma. 

Cory Dauphin 

A four time Oklahoma State champion from 07'-10' for El Reno, Cory Dauphin competed for Central Oklahoma in college.  After finishing 6th at the NCAA DII championships in 2011, he'd finish off his career with a DII National title & a DII runner-up finish in 2013 & 2014 respectively.  He went 124-22 during his time as a Bronco. 

Jeromy Davenport 

Jeromy Davenport won four Oklahoma High School State titles for Sallisaw from 08'-11'.  He began his collegiate career at Labette where he was a two time NJCAA All American taking back to back 5th place finishes in 2012 & 2013.  He would then transfer to Central Oklahoma, where after taking a redshirt he'd place twice in the conference tournament. Taking 3rd in 2015, he was champion in 2016. 

Calib Freeman 

Calib Freeman won four Oklahoma High School State titles from 09'-12' for Claremore. Collegiately he competed for Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. 

Kyle Garcia 

Kyle Garcia won four Oklahoma High School State championships for Choctaw from 09'-12'. He began his collegiate career at Oklahoma State and then transferred to Oklahoma. 

Davey Dolan 

Davey Dolan won four Oklahoma High School State titles for Berryhill from 10'-13'.  He wrestled for Oklahoma State collegiately where he placed twice at Reno, taking 4th in 2015 & 3rd in 2017. 

Zach Beard 

Zach Beard won four Oklahoma High School State titles from 10'-13' for Tuttle. He wrestled collegiately for Wyoming. 

Gary Wayne Harding 

Representing Collinsville, Gary Wayne Harding won four Oklahoma High School State crowns from 11'-14'. He began his collegiate career at Oklahoma State, then transferring to North Carolina. All in All he was a three time NCAA qualifier. 

Will Steltzlen 

Another representative of Collinsville, Will Steltzlen won four Oklahoma High School State titles from 11'-14'.  Collegiately he wrestled for Central Oklahoma where he had conference finishes of 3rd in 2017 & 4th in 2018. 

Wyatt Sheets 

Representing Stillwell, Wyatt Sheets won four Oklahoma High School State titles from 13'-16'. He competed for Oklahoma State where in 2021 he became the first wrestler in the history of NCAA Division I wrestling to earn All American honors as an alternate. He was not one of the original 33 to qualify for the NCAA's & was chosen as a replacement when Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado was unable to compete due to injury. Sheets took 8th. Along with this accomplishment he was BIG 12 runner-up in 2020. 

Tanner Litterell 

Tanner Litterell won four Oklahoma High School State titles for Tuttle from 14'-17'. I believe he wrestled for Oklahoma in college but I am not 100% certain. 

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Daton Fix of Sand Springs is at Oklahoma State. A three time NCAA runner-up, he was two years left on the clock. 

Kaden Gfeller of Heritage Hall is at Oklahoma State, heard he may be transferring but haven't heard much else. 

Zach Marcheselli of Broken Arrow is playing football at Texas Christian 

Zane Coleman of Choctaw is at Arizona State 

Konner Doucet of Comanche is at Oklahoma State

Caleb Tanner of Collinsville is at Oklahoma 

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I was pleasantly surprised to see how many four timers did end up wrestling in college. While not as "Football = God" as some of the other southern states, some of these wrestlers did have pretty good high school gridiron careers as well. Was surprised that the only one I found that went the football route over wrestling was Zach Marcheselli.