Kingfisher’s first new head wrestling coach since 1986 was the recent guest speaker of the Kingfisher Lions Club.

“I’m very excited to be in Kingfisher and be a part of the program,” said Bryan Dutton when he addressed the local civic group.

Dutton replaced Ed Evey, who retired after last year.

Evey had been with the wrestling program since 1981 and was named head coach prior to the 1986-87 season.

He was just the third head coach since the program had been revamped in 1979.

Dutton, a Guthrie native, is the fourth.

“We are very green right now,” said Dutton of the current crop of Yellowjackets.

Dutton inherited a team that had four wrestlers – Gant Browning, Rhylee Toepfer, Isaac Long and Braxton Shellstrom – qualify for state last year.

There are currently 22 boys out for the high school team.

“About 80 percent of them” are underclassmen, he said.

“But that can be a good thing,” Dutton said. “It gives us time to mold them and if you take your lumps, it’s better to take them early.”

This is also the first year Kingfisher has female wrestlers.

Dutton said five are currently wrestling at the high school level and four in the junior high.

Wrestling is now a sanctioned, recognized sport by the OSSAA for females and has seen a stark upward trend in participation not only in Oklahoma, but nationally.

“I’m glad to be a part of that here,” Dutton said in helping the girls program get off the ground.

KHS hosts a variety of tournaments throughout the season, but has just two home duals.

The first was Tuesday, Dec. 14, against Guthrie (after press time).

The Jackets will host Clinton Jan. 6, 2022, which will be homecoming and senior night.

“One thing I’m looking to do is add more home duals,” Dutton said. “It makes for a better atmosphere and gets more community involvement.”

As for the future behind the current crop of underclassmen, Dutton noted the junior high team recently placed fifth in a 26-team tournament hosted at the APB.

“The junior high is very good and that’s our future,” Dutton said. “We’ve got a handful of guys in that group who are legit.”

Dutton came to Kingfisher from Newkirk where he served the last three years as that program’s head wrestling coach.

At Kingfisher, he is also an assistant on the football and baseball teams.

His fiancé, Morgan Marks, also teaches and coaches at Kingfisher.

“She’s from Seiling and I’m from Guthrie, so this was a great place sort of in the middle for us,” Dutton said.