Dalton Ferguson is going to get the chance to live out a dream.
Ferguson, who has been a cheerleader the past two seasons at Siloam Springs High School, signed a letter of intent Tuesday to join the cheerleading squad at Oklahoma State University in a signing ceremony held at Elite Cheer.
"It's been a dream of mine to be an Oklahoma State athlete," said Ferguson, who became the third male athlete at Siloam Springs to sign with a Division I cheer squad this spring. Matthew Avery and Kaiden Thrailkill signed with the University of Arkansas earlier this month.
"Three signings in one year," said head cheer coach Jackie Clement. "That's been a huge accomplishment for us."
Ferguson will join the ultra-successful large co-ed cheer team at OSU, which has won seven national championships, including the 2015 title. Ferguson said the small co-ed team also recently won the 2019 national title.
"It's a huge program," he said.
Ferguson was a part of the state runner-up cheer squad at Siloam Springs for his senior season.
He originally joined the cheer squad as a junior after football season.
"I didn't think I would make it this far, but I kept going day by day just trying to get better," Ferguson said. "I had so much support from coaches, friends, family, and just the motivation by myself."
Clement said Ferguson was originally going to doth both football and cheer, but he decided to focus on cheer his senior year.
"He came into the gym and quickly found out how good he was at cheerleading," Clement said. "I think that's what kept his interest in it. He came in, tried it and was really athletic and really able to pick up on everything super quick. It really became a natural for him."
Clement said Ferguson has all the traits needed in a male cheerleader at the college level, including strength and dedication and a calming influence.
"For a male cheerleader, they have to make their flyers feel very safe in order to throw them and toss them as high as they do," Clement said. "Dalton has a very calming and confident presence that makes him make those flyers feel safe with him. The relationship he builds with those flyers allows them to trust him, and he's able to really work on his skills and they trust him and it's a good partnership."
Sports on 05/26/2019