By Byron Beers/Staff Writer

There isn’t a better time for the El Reno wrestling team to be peaking.

The Class 4A, second-ranked Indians got the best of two teams ranked right behind them in a one week span and are building steam for the postseason.

They continued an ongoing trend and locked up another No. 1 seed in the west, which makes it the 11th time out of the last 12 years El Reno has done that.

First-year head coach Bobby Miller’s squad overcame a 27-25 deficit with four matches remaining against third-ranked Noble to capture a 34-27 victory over the Bears and clinch the Suburban Conference championship last Tuesday in Chickasha.

The Indians then landed a 45-20 win over fourth-ranked Lawton MacArthur Thursday night on homecoming and senior night at Jenks Simmons Field House.

“Tuesday was very big for us,” Miller said. “Especially with Noble being ranked third right behind us. It secured the No. 1 seed from the west at dual state.”

Senior Adam DeLong and freshman Cory Dauphin started the comeback against the Bears. DeLong pinned Dario Reyes at 3:36 in the 135-pound bout, and Dauphin dominated against Mitchell Rose to secure a 16-1 win at 140.

Nathan Dewberry followed with an 11-5 win over Randy Bridges at 145 pounds and the Indians never looked back.

“I was pleased with the way we finished the match,” Miller added. “Dewberry came up big for us again and that was the turning point for us. He has continued to step up.”

Senior Chris Hacker completed the task and was up on Patrick Fern 4-1 when the match was forfeited within the first 45 seconds after Fern pulled out with an injury.

Hacker, who also pinned Lawton MacArthur’s Dion Schuler at 1:49, ran his unbeaten streak to 25 straight this year.

“I felt really positive coming out of it, but we have to keep plowing away and can’t overlook anybody,” Miller said.

El Reno dropped the opening two matches to Noble as Brown defeated Caanon Cooper 6-1 at 160 pounds and Josh Johns got past Brandon Hileman 11-3 at 171.

But the Indians responded with consecutive wins from Derek Thompson and Cody Dauphin. Thompson outlasted Ryan Doyle 11-3 at 189 pounds, while Dauphin blanked John Boren at 215.

Freshman Hannah Martin defeated Kaleb Cradduck 2-0 at 103 pounds and Colton Gallo defeated D.J. Villanueva 6-2 at 125.

The Indians didn’t allow pre-match ceremonies keep them from being focused against the Highlanders.

El Reno won nine of the 14 matches, including a stretch of four straight that saw Cody Dauphin, Roy Aragon, Martin and Austin Mogg nail down victories.

Dauphin defeated Trey Caldwell 19-2 at 215 pounds, Aragon followed with a 7-5 win over Quinton Mason, Martin defeated Jonathan Monderson 12-1 and Mogg pinned Tyler Sang at the 1:00 mark.

“I wanted to make sure that the kids took care of business,” Miller said. “We were able to stay focused with it being senior night and homecoming.

“I feel real positive about the way our kids are coming together at this time of the season. We’re wrestling better at this point then we have all year and that’s what we want. But we haven’t maxed out to our potential.

“The younger kids keep improving and they’ve responded well for us.”

Thompson captured the first win for El Reno at 171 pounds when he pinned Travis Armstrong at 1:15.

Gallo earned a pin at 3:06 against Cody Carter at 125 pounds. DeLong pinned Jeff Adams at 1:44 in the 135-pound weight class, and Cory Dauphin defeated T.J. Traylor 4-3 at 140.

Miller was especially pleased with the way his team wrestled last week after a lengthy layoff due to inclement weather.

“We’ve needed to get some matches under our belt after the layoff,” Miller said. “We have the highest expectations here and we won’t accept anything less than that.”