BHS SOCCER: Bruins come up just shy of playing for state title
Bartlesville High School’s James Wehmeyer (11) controls the ball during an earlier season game. The Bruins fell one game shy of playing for the Class 6A state championship with a 1-0 loss to Broken Arrow on Tuesday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Bartlesville High School’s David Fries (23) sends the ball upfield during an earlier season game. The Bruins fell one game shy of playing for the Class 6A state championship with a 1-0 loss to Broken Arrow on Tuesday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
May 15, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
For just the third time in its history, Bartlesville High School finished within one win of playing for the boys soccer state championship.
A powerful Broken Arrow High School squad squeezed past the Bruins in Tuesday’s semifinal, 1-0, to end the golden quest.
Even so, Bartlesville earned a glow of respect from around the state. The Bruins finished the regular season with a deceptive 6-6 record before mounting an unforgettable playoff run.
The Bruins (8-7) were the lone unranked team to advance to the semifinals, where they faced a nearly-unbeaten Broken Arrow foe (16-2). During the regular season Broken Arrow edged Bartlesville in overtime, 2-1.
Broken Arrow scored less than 15 minutes into Tuesday’s Final Four match and had to hold on by the tips of its fingertips to survive the upset-determined Bartlesville battlers.
“It was a great game for the boys,” said Bruin head coach Cedric Muteshi.
Bartlesville’s defense scrapped hard all night to try to shut down strong Broken Arrow scoring opportunities.
“They were sending a lot of numbers,” noted Muteshi.
Meanwhile, Bartlesville's offense just couldn’t put together that magic sequence that could have tied the match and sent it to overtime.
“We had five chances that we could have possibly converted into a goal,” Muteshi said. “But there was nothing very, very close.”
He credited Broken Arrow’s back line for blunting the Bruin attack.
But beyond the disappointment of the loss — Broken Arrow will meet Norman North on Friday for the championship, the Bruins — led by six starting seniors — made believers of any doubters.
They overcame starts of 0-3 and 2-4 to run off four-straight district wins, three of them in overtime. After dropping to one-goal losses to end the regular season, they knocked off Tulsa Union, 2-1 (overtime) in the playoff opener and Northwest Classen, 1-0 (overtime) in the quarterfinals.
With just an additional break they might have leap-frogged past Broken Arrow.
But the Bruins were winners all the way in maximizing their opportunities.
“We had a couple of injuries during the season … but they just built each other up,” said Muteshi. “They worked really, really hard. They believed in each other. The older boys tried to lift the younger guys up, which made it possible for them to play well.”
He also praised the team’s positive response to adversity.
The championship game will have to wait until another season. But this year’s team boasted a championship heart.
Bartlesville High School’s Austin Bastings (13) flies over the goalie during an earlier season game. The Bruins fell one game shy of playing for the Class 6A state championship with a 1-0 loss to Broken Arrow on Tuesday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Bartlesville High School soccer seniors celebrate senior night. The Bruins fell one game shy of playing for the Class 6A state championship with a 1-0 loss to Broken Arrow on Tuesday.
BECKY BURCH/BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS