by Ben Johnson (@BenJohnsonTUL)2/26/2019 4:21:49 PM
posted in: Articles | 4,522 views
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Time had not completely elapsed off the clock. Yet, Cody Hicks didn’t care.
As the final seconds ticked down, Hicks exploded off the mat and ran toward his coaches. One just so happened to be his brother, Colby, standing alongside Durant head coach Jim Taylor in the coaches corner.
“I was just so excited,” Cody Hicks said. “I just wanted to get to my brother and my coach, just as fast as I could.”
Time expired right as the Hicks brothers shared an embrace, and it marked the first individual state championship for Durant. From now until the end of time, Cody Hicks’ name will be listed first when it comes to state champions at Durant.
He etched his name into the Durant record books with a 6-4 victory over Glenpool’s Gage Hight in the 145-pound finals of the Class 5A state tournament at Jim Norick Arena.
“It was an amazing moment,” said Cody Hicks, a junior who failed to place at 145 pounds at the 2018 state tournament. “I’ve envisioned that for 12 years now. This is my 12th year of wrestling, and that’s what I’ve dreamt about forever.”
Same for Durant coach Jim Taylor, who has been coaching Lion wrestlers for 15 years as the head coach. And tack on an additional 11 years as an assistant.
“Absolutely unbelievable,” said Taylor, sporting a tie with wrestlers on it to mark the special occasion. “It couldn’t happen to a better kid. He’s put in the extra time, and I’m speechless.”
After a scoreless first period, Hight led Hicks 1-0 after a quick escape early in the second period. Hicks scored the first takedown with 21 seconds left in the second frame, but Hight answered with a reversal right before the match’s first four minutes had ticked away.
“My goal going into the match was to push him as hard as I could,” Hicks said. “I wanted to see if I could gas him out and see who had the better shape. It paid off for me in the third period.”
It didn’t take long for Hicks to reclaim control in the final two-minute stanza. Hicks was credited with a penalty point to knot the match at 3-3, and Hicks took the lead for good with an escape with 1:07 left. Then it was Hicks’ takedown with two seconds left that sealed the deal.
Hight managed an escape with a second left, but that’s because Hicks had made a mad dash to leap into his brother’s arms.
“We’ve had four kids in the finals in my 15 years (as head coach), Taylor said. “I’m always telling kids, ‘crazy things happen at the state tournament. You have to be good, you have to be lucky and things have to happen just right.’ We knew we just had to keep hammering away at it.”
It all culminated in Cody Hicks standing atop the podium with the 145-pound wrestlers in Class 5A being recognized.
“I never knew how I would celebrate,” Hicks said. “But when the match ended and I saw the countdown of ‘3..2..1,’ I had to go celebrate with my brother, because he’s the person who has put into me so much.”