Five Pioneers will have a chance to battle for the state championship this weekend. 

Zerek Keel was sectional champ on his home mat Saturday to punch his ticket to state, while PJ Truax, JR Mares, Brayden McKinley and Jakoby Odineal all finished in the top four at the 2-AA Sectionals. 

"Huge day for our kids and a huge day for our program," said coach Matt Turner. "It was some of the finest wrestling you'll see outside of the state tournament and we had great support. I'm proud of our guys for continuing to push and get to the state. Now we'll be looking to bring back medals."

Keel, now up to 41 victories this year after his latest triumphs, ran through the 175-pound weight class. He topped Martin Campos (9-5) and Mike Hinton (12-5) on points to reach the finals. In the last match against Cleveland senior Dylan Harrold, Keel was able to work a quick escape to start the third, go right back in for a takedown and then finish the match with a pin.

Truax took a difficult route to state, losing his first match 1-0 before rolling to three straight wins and a third-place finish. 

Mares nearly made it two sectional winners as he made it all the way to the finals in the heavyweight division before falling 3-1 in the finals. The sophomore won his first match with a second-round pin before outlasting Blackman senior Sam Isip in a 1-0 clash in the semifinals.

McKinley was a three-time winner Saturday at home while finishing third in the 144-pound bracket. The Pioneer senior, who has come on strong in the final month, topped Roman York to start the day, winning by pin in the third. A loss put McKinley one more defeat away from the end of his career, but he came back stronger than ever in wins over Daniel Loizeaux (10-5) and York again in the consolation finals. The last battle went to OT, where McKinley was able to get a takedown in just eight seconds to earn the winning points (9-7).  

Odineal, one of the top freshmen in the Midstate, battled his way to a fourth-place finish in the 106-pound weight class. He won his first match 14-4 before falling into the consolation bracket. In a must-win battle, Odineal earned his spot to state by taking down Siegel's Cooper Stout 9-2.

A preview of the state tournament set for Feb. 23-24 will follow in Friday's paper.