CPHS Wrestling: Sandites place third at State Tournament with five placers

In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, the Charles Page High School wrestling team finished the season with ten State Qualifiers, five placers, three finalists, and two champions for a third place performance in the OSSAA 6A State Tournament.

Of the ten Sandites to qualify for State, only two had previously qualified. Four had zero varsity experience before this season, one is a freshman, and three came from the JV squad.

Typically when you graduate four State finalists, lose a fifth to injury, and have a pair of starters quit the team, you spend a few seasons rebuilding before you’re a legitimate contender again. Instead, Sand Springs made a legitimate run at the title.

106-pound freshman Carter Young (40-1) completed a near-perfect debut season to become the thirtieth State Champion in Sand Springs history. 

SEE RELATED: CPHS Wrestling: Freshman Carter Young wins State Championship

113-pound junior Riley Weir (29-7, 91-25) became the tenth wrestler in Sandite history to win two State titles. 

SEE RELATED: CPHS Wrestling: Riley Weir wins second State Championship

152-pound junior Kaleb Tabor (26-12, 66-19) pinned Landis Scoon in 1:34 and Richie Lee in 3:49 before falling 5-3 to Drake Vannoy in the finals. Vannoy scored takedowns in each of the first two periods for a 4-1 lead to start the third. Tabor got a takedown and cut the Trojan loose, then took him down once again. The only problem was, time had already expired. The clear takedown was clearly half a second too late. Tabor concluded his first season on Sandite varsity as a State Runner-Up.

Senior Blake Sargent (15-8, 104-33) finished his high school career by coming in third at 126 pounds. He fell 12-3 to eventual champion Reece Witcraft in the opening round, but defeated Kyri Beasley, Cameron Picklo, and Cade Manion in consolation. He defeated Picklo 9-6 and went into sudden victory overtime against Beasley and Manion for 2-1 and 7-5 decisions, respectively.  

Sophomore Chris Kirby (22-10) placed fourth at 145, pinning Anthony DesVigne in 3:53 before falling to eventual champion Jaxen Gilmore. In consolation he pinned Hunter Skaggs in 3:26 but fell 11-0 to Micah Lugafet in the finals.  

Junior Irwin Portillo (31-19, 37-24) qualified at 132. He fell 4-2 to Trent Higginbotham, defeated Roarke Simpson 8-6, then fell 3-1 to Blake Gonzalez in sudden victory. 

Junior Scott Patton (27-20, 34-22) qualified at 138 and defeated Brett Pinkston 1-0 before falling 7-2 to Peter Rolle and 2-0 to Parker Wright.

Sophomore Seth Jones (26-16, 28-19) qualified at 120, falling 7-4 to Garrett Johnson and 12-4 to Caron Watson.

Senior Gage Fain (20-10, 59-48) finished his career as a first-time qualifier at 220. He fell 12-4 to Blake Minnick and 2-1 to Jared Galli.

Junior Dayvon Taylor (20-21) qualified at 170 but fell 3-2 to Rene Martinez in the first round wrestle-in. 

Choctaw won their sixth State Tournament Championship after picking up their fifth Dual State title two weeks prior. The Yellowjackets edged out Broken Arrow 138 to 129.5. The Sandites came in third with 78 points, topping Mustang with 69. They will return eight of their ten qualifiers next season. 

2018 6A State Champions

106 - Carter Young (Sand Springs)
113 - Riley Weir (Sand Springs)
120 - Laif Jones (Bartlesville)
126 - Reece Witcraft (Broken Arrow)
132 - Dylan Schickram (Ponca City)
138 - Connor Holman (Choctaw)
145 - Jaxen Gilmore (Yukon)
152 - Drake Vannoy (Jenks)
160 - Jaryn Curry (Choctaw)
170 - Zane Coleman (Choctaw)
182 - J.D. Johnson (Owasso)
195 - Gavin Potter (Broken Arrow)
220 - Zach Marcheselli (Broken Arrow)
285 - Christian Arriola (Putnam City)

2018 OSSAA 6A State Team Scores

138 - Choctaw
129.5 - Broken Arrow
78 - Sand Springs
69 - Mustang
56.5 - Owasso
44 - Jenks
38 - Ponca City
38 - Yukon
34.5 - Edmond North
33 - Putnam City
31 - Bartlesville
27 - Edmond Memorial
23 - Union
20 - Deer Creek
12 - Norman North
12 - Stillwater
11 - Putnam City North
7 - Westmoore
3 - Southmoore
2 - Midwest City
1 - Shawnee
0 - Moore
0 - Norman
(-2) - Muskogee
(-3) - Sapulpa

Sand Springs State Champions

Alonzo Elder (1925)
Tremont Scruggs (1929)
Oscar Baker (1934)
Ralph Parrish (1936, 1940)
David McGuire (1963-1965)
Bill Burcham (1963)
Steve Randall (1965)
Frank Peck (1971-1972)
Rick Warren (1971)
Eddie Sullivan (1971)
John Phillips (1972-1973)
Hall Williams (1974)
Wayne Sutterfield (1974)
Ronnie Luce (1974)
Kevin Newport (1976, 1978)
Brad Bridges (1977)
Craig Sanders (1978-1979)
Billy Boyd (1978)
Jay Fleischman (1988)
Brett Pennington (1991-1992)
Gabe Hodges (1994)
Josh Nicholson (2002)
David Jones (2005)
Znick Ferrell (2008-2009)
Daton Fix (2014-2017)
Riley Weir (2017-2018)
Jack Karstetter (2017)
Beau Bratcher (2017)
Payton Scott (2017)
Carter Young (2018)