All-American Jack Karstetter places eighth at USAW National Championship

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Two Sandites competed at the 2016 USAW Junior Men's Greco-Roman Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota this week. Charles Page High School senior Jack Karstetter placed eighth in the tournament. Class of 2016 graduate Sage Singleton also competed, but didn't place.

The USA Wrestling event is considered by many to be the most prestigious national tournament a Cadet or Junior-aged wrestler can compete in. 

Karstetter rode an impressive wave of victories into the event. In February he came in Runner-Up at the Oklahoma High School State Championship, then came in Runner-Up at the United World of Wrestling Cadet Greco Nationals in June. Earlier this month he competed at the Cadet Pan-American Championship in Lima, Peru and took Silver.

At Fargo Karstetter stepped up to a higher age-division and competed at the Junior level in the 126 pounds bracket.

The Sandite got off to a great start with back-to-back 10-0 technical falls. The first opponent to fall was two-time Arizona State-Placer Tanner Borneman, followed by Kyle Clough of Illinois. He had a tough quarterfinal matchup in former Flonationals Champion Cole Manley, but prevailed with a 6-2 decision over the Pennsylvanian. 

Karstetter finally met his match in the semifinals against West Virginia University freshman Matthew Schmitt. The two-time Fargo Runner-Up and three-time Missouri State Champion defeated the Sandite by decision and went on to win the tournament. 

Moving to the consolation quarterfinals, Karstetter won a close 10-9 decision over three-time Montana State Champion Clayton Currier. From there he was defeated 7-1 by UWW National Champion Paul Bianchi and 12-8 by four-time Kansas State Qualifier Taylor Jokerst, but secured eighth place and All-American status for the second year in a row. 

Singleton competed at 120 pounds and was eliminated after two matches. In the first round he was pinned in 0:34 by former Fargo Runner-Up Brandon Meikel of Utah. In the consolations he was teched 10-0 by Marquel Parks of Washington. The winner of the 120 bracket was fellow Oklahoma Dalton Duffield of Westmoore High School.

Greatest Ever? Daton Fix reaches #1 ranking in the USA

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Flowrestling released their first updated national rankings since the last high school season concluded. After removing graduates and factoring summer Freestyle and Greco-Roman competitions, several Oklahomans have moved up or entered the rankings for the first time. Sand Springs's Daton Fix is now the top wrestler in the nation at 120 pounds.

Fix spent the entirety of last season in the number two spot behind New Jersey's Nick Suriano, who will be headed to Penn State in the fall. Fix and Suriano have a split record with one win each. Suriano won the most recent match, which also happens to be the longest match ever. Hopefully we'll get to see a rematch one day at the collegiate level.

Speaking of college, Fix recently release his college shortlist. The soon-to-be senior is currently considering offers from Oklahoma State, North Carolina, Penn State, Ohio State, and Nebraska.

Here's a look at Fix's wrestling record.

Before ever reaching the High School level in 2013, Fix already had quite the impressive resume. In 2011 he won the USA Wrestling Kids Schoolboy National Championship in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman, amassing a 58-2 record for the year. His only losses were to Hunter Marko and Eric Hong, both of which he defeated in best-of-three rounds. Marko is now at the University of Minnesota and Hong will be at the University of Pennsylvania this fall.

In 2012 Fix placed Runner-Up in the USA Wrestling Kids Folkstyle Schoolboy Nationals after a 2-1 loss to Chad Red. Red finished his high school career ranked #1 and is headed to Nebraska this fall. That would be the only loss of the year for Fix, who went on to finish 79-1 with USAW National Championships in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman, as well as the Cliff Keen USAW Preseason National Middle School Championship. 

2013 was the summer before Fix's freshman year and he continued to rack up the hardware. He came in Runner-Up at the FILA Cadet Freestyle Nationals after a 13-2 loss to Spencer Lee who is a multi-time World Champion at both the Cadet and Junior levels. Fix got payback on Lee with a pair of victories in 2015. Fix won the USAW Cadet Nationals in both Freestyle and Greco Roman and finished the summer 37-2. His other loss was 15-11 to Kyle Bierdumpfel who is headed to Harvard this fall.

In the fall of 2013, Fix embarked on one of the most impressive high school careers in State history. He finished the season 33-0, an undefeated State Champion for CPHS.

Springboarding from the High School success, Fix traveled the world in the summer of 2014. He swept the USAW Cadet Folkstyle Nationals, then traveled to Brazil for the Pan American Championships, which he won in both Freestyle and Greco. Returning to America, Fix won the FILA Freestyle Nationals with a 1-1 decision over Suriano. At the Junior Freestyle Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota, Fix won yet another National Championship to earn his way to the World Championships in Slovakia, where he placed tenth. At the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, Fix won a silver medal with his only loss being a 7-6 decision to Mukhambet Kuatbek of Kazakhstan. 

After returning to America, Fix accepted an invitation to the Who's #1 event where he got a rematch against Suriano. This time the Jersey wrestler came out on top with a 3-1 sudden victory decision after wrestling the longest match in history. The Who's #1 event had no overtime-limit and Suriano didn't get the victory till 32 minutes and 12 seconds in. Fix came in second at the Super 32 event that year with a 5-0 loss to Yianni Diakomihalis, who is currently ranked number one at 138 pounds.

In his sophomore year at Charles Page, Fix went undefeated once again with a 40-0 record for his second-straight 6A State Championship.

Summer of 2015 saw a Junior Folkstyle National Championship, a Junior Freestyle National Championship, a Cadet Freestyle National Championship, and an undefeated streak at the Junior Freestyle Duals where he helped Team Oklahoma to a National Title. At the United World of Wrestling Junior World Team Trials, Fix lost twice to Northwestern University freshman Stevan Micic, whom he had just defeated 10-0 for his Junior Freestyle Title a month earlier. Despite the losses to Micic, Fix didn't slow down in rebuilding a massive streak that didn't come to an end till the Cadet World Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia where he took bronze.

Fix's junior year placed him in the most elite club of Sand Springs wrestlers as the first wrestler since, and only wrestler besides, David McGuire to win three State Championships. For the third straight year, he did it undefeated with a 45-0 record.

Since the school session ended, Fix's winning streak hasn't. Twenty-three straight summer wins brings his overall streak to 68-straight with a 46-0 record for 2016. He won the UWW Junior Freestyle Nationals and went undefeated with the Oklahoma Junior Freestyle Dual team. 

On the horizon for Fix now is a senior level competition in the Spanish Grand Prix, followed by the Fargo Nationals and the UWW World Championship in Macon, France.

Fix has already earned his way into the annals of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, and even USA wrestling history, and he hasn't even started his senior year of high school. The young stud claims the Twitter handle "Greatest Ever," and needless to say, all of Sand Springs is rooting for it to be true.

Overall, Oklahoma boasts a roster of thirteen nationally ranked high schoolers.

Canon Randall of Westmoore is ranked #14 in 106.
Colt Newton of Choctaw is ranked #16 in 113.
Paxton Rosen of Edmond North and Jet Taylor of Sallisaw are ranked #9 and #18 respectively in 120.
Roderick Mosley of Heritage Hall is ranked #16 in 132.
Kaden Gfeller of Heritage Hall and Tanner Litterell of Tuttle are ranked #2 and #13 respectively in 138.
Brik Filippo of Tuttle and Ty Lucas of Plainview are ranked #14 and #15 respectively in 145.
Jaryn Curry of Choctaw is ranked #15 in 152.
Dan Baker of Sulphure is ranked #16 in 182.
Brey Walker of Southmoore is ranked #2 in 285.

Oklahoma routs Iowa 41-29 to remain undefeated after day one

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Oklahoma Outlaws are sitting pretty after day one at the Junior Greco-Roman Dual Nationals. The host team destroyed Georgia in round one 68-2, pushed past a scrappy Pennsylvania team 38-30 in the semis, and handled Iowa with surprising ease in the Pool D finals Wednesday night to advance to the Gold/Silver Pool Thursday morning.

Team Iowa entered the dual as the top seed in the Pool, but that didn't deter an ambitious Oklahoma team. The Outlaws are the defending National Champions in Freestyle, and they're clearly on a warpath to add Greco to the resume this year. 

The dual started off with a 14-3 tech fall from Brik Filippo, the State Champ from Tuttle, over Nelson Brands. Iowa rebounded with a 22-9 tech fall by Matt Malcomb over Payton Scott of Sand Springs, but Jaryn Curry got the Outlaws back on track with a huge upset. The State Champion from Choctaw came down hard on No. 9 nationally ranked Fargo All-American Colton Clingenpeel for a 10-0 tech fall.

Brandon Haas returned the favor with an 8-0 upset over State Champ Nick Mahan of Lawton MacArthur, but Oklahoma swept the next three straight matches. State Champ Dan Baker of Sulphur teched Bailey Chyma 18-8, State Champ Bear Hughes of Coweta pinned Isaac Bartel in 1:25, and Tanner Hawkins of Weatherford pinned Caleb Ring in 4:50 for a 23-9 lead.

Iowa broke the streak as No. 11 Carter Isley took out State Runner-Up Gage Johnson of Norman North with an 8-0 decision at heavy weight, but Oklahoma continued to push the lead in the lower weights. 

Crescent's Alex Fields picked up a 16-4 tech fall over Cobe Siebrecht and MacArthur's State Champ Wyatt Adams pinned Carter Weeks in 1:53 before Iowa found another win. Drew Bennett pinned Alec McDoulett in 4:35, but Fargo National Champ Dalton Duffield of Westmoore clinched the dual with an 11-0 tech fall over Brenden Baker. Sallisaw State Champ Jett Taylor tacked on the exclamation point with a 0:45 pin of Dante Tacchia to make the score 41-19 and the Okies forfeited the last two weights to finish 41-29.

The Outlaws will return to action Thursday morning against California, Florida, and Minnesota Blue before the placement match. California placed second in Pool C after falling to Michigan Blue in a close 34-33 knockdown drag-out. Florida placed second in Pool B after going down 42-25 to Illinois. Minnesota Blue is the top-seeded favorite and didn't even blink as they bulldozed through the A Pool by a minimum of 38 points per dual. 

Oklahoma dominates Georgia 68-2 in Dual Nationals round one

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Team Oklahoma got off to a fast start against Team Georgia Blue in the first round of the Junior Greco-Roman Dual Nationals Wednesday morning, building up a massive lead before the wrestling even started.

Jet Taylor, Jacob Butler, and Jaxen Gilmore received forfeits for 126 to 138. Tuttle's Brik Filippo wasted no time in putting points on the board with a 10-0 tech fall over Khyree Alexander, then Sand Springs's Payton Scott took down Dustin Berry 10-0 in thirty seconds flat. Ezequiel Rubio pinned Cole White in a quick twenty then Nick Mahan teched Chandler Miele 13-2.

Bear Hughes continued the winning streak with an 11-0 tech over Devyn Villafane. Zach Marcheselli received a forfeit, Tanner Hawkins picked up a 16-6 tech fall over Richard Walker, then Trenton Lieutance, Alex Fields, and Wyatt Adams all received forfeits.  Alec McDoulett teched Brandon Foster 11-0 and Westmoore's Dalton Duffield wrapped things up with a 12-0 tech of Alex Cain for a final score of 68-2 with no matches lost.

Up next for Oklahoma is Team Pennsylvania who solidly defeated Team Kansas Red 49-12 in round one. 

Four Sandites will represent Oklahoma at Jr Dual Nationals

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Junior Dual Nationals will return to the Cox Business Center in Tulsa on June 22nd. The Tournament will last through the 25th and will feature four Charles Page High School wrestlers.

Last year Team Oklahoma bulldozed their way through both styles, placing fourth in Greco and first in Freestyle. That talented team included three Sandites. Cody Karstetter and Kyler Childers had just graduated that year and are now wrestling the collegiate circuit. Daton Fix is back to help his State defend its title.

Riley Weir just finished his Freshman year with a 21-12 record at the 106 pound class and a State Championship appearance. Weir placed fourth at the Perry Tournament of Champions and ninth at the highly prestigious Kansas City Stampede. He came in third at the Regional Championship to qualify for State, but was eliminated after losing his first two matches. Weir nursed an injured elbow throughout the final weeks of the high school season and wasn’t even close to full strength in the post-season. This event will be a great demonstration of his true potential in the upcoming high school season.

Jack Karstetter finished his Junior year with a 39-8 record and placed second at 132 pounds in the State Championship after giving up a heart-breaker 3-2 decision to Kruz Simons of Edmond North. Throughout the high school season he placed fourth at Perry, ninth at Kansas City, second at the Geary Invitational, first at the Sand Springs Invitational, first at the Jay Hancock Memorial, and secured the Regional Championship.

Since school let out he came in Runner-Up at the UWW Cadet Greco-Roman Nationals and secured his spot on Team USA for the Pan-American Championships in Lima, Peru this July.

Daton Fix is earning his way into the history books after completing his third straight undefeated high school season. He’s currently sitting at an overall record of 118-0 with three-straight State Championships. He’s only the second Sandite in school history to win three State Championships, the first being David McGuire from 1963-1965. No Sandite has won four.

Since the high school season ended, Fix won the UWW Junior Freestyle National Championship, defeated the Iranian Champion Kheyrollah Gharamani at the Beat The Streets Gala in Times Square, and scored a pair of 10-0 tech falls over National Champion Austin Gomez to earn his way onto the USA World Team.

Fix will compete at the Grand Prix of Spain, a Senior level tournament in Madrid from July 9-10, then will travel to Fargo, North Dakota for the Junior Freestyle Nationals from July 16-23 where he is a defending Champion. From August 30th through September 4th he will compete at the UWW World Championship in Macon, France.

Payton Scott finished his Sophomore year with a 19-6 record at 152 pounds and placed fourth in the State Championship. He missed the first half of the season while getting back in shape after a long and grueling football post-season, but placed fourth at Geary, second at Sand Springs, and first at the Regional Championship.

Scott was also a member of last year’s Cadet National Dual Team that finished seventh in Freestyle and second in Greco. Overall he went 13-3 between the two styles.

Other Team Oklahoma members include:

  • Alex Fields of Guthrie, 2016 Southern Plains Regional Champion in both styles.
  • Rhett Golowenski of Tuttle, two-time OSSAA 4A State Champion.
  • Mason Naifeh of Tulsa Union, two-time OSSAA 6A State Placer.
  • Wyatt Adams of Lawton MacArthur, 2015 OSSAA 5A State Champion.
  • Dalton Duffield of Westmoore, three-time OSSAA 6A finalist, 2015 Fargo National Champion.
  • Jacob Butler of Elgin, 2016 OSSAA 4A State Champion.
  • Kaden Gfeller of Heritage Hall, three-time undefeated OSSAA 3A State Champion.
  • Brik Filippo of Tuttle, 2016 OSSAA 4A State Champion, two-time finalist.
  • Beau Guffey of Tuttle, three-time OSSAA 4A State Champion.
  • Jaryn Curry of Choctaw, 2016 OSSAA 6A State Champion, 2015 USAW Cadet National Runner-Up.
  • Dayton Garrett of Tuttle, three-time OSSAA 4A State Finalist, 2015 State Champion.
  • Wyatt Sheets of Stilwell, four-time OSSAA 4A State Champion, Oklahoma State commit.
  • Christian Bahl of Stillwater, 2016 OSSAA 6A State Champion.
  • Dan Baker of Sulphur, 2016 OSSAA 3A State Champion.
  • Drew Hinkle of Jenks, 2016 OSSAA 6A State Runner-Up.
  • Zach Marcheselli of Broken Arrow, 2016 OSSAA 6A State Champion.
  • Bear Hughes of Coweta, 2016 OSSAA 5A State Champion.
  • Gunner Cash of Tecumseh, two-time OSSAA 4A State Qualifier.
  • Gage Johnson of Norman North, 2016 OSSAA 6A State Runner-Up.
  • Trenton Lieurance of Broken Arrow, two-time OSSAA 6A State Placer.

Daton Fix qualifies for World Championship in France

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School junior Daton Fix has been in three states in the last month competing in summer Freestyle wrestling, and the three-time undefeated OSSAA State Champion hasn't slowed down a bit since the high school wrestling season concluded.

Last month in Las Vegas, Nevada, Fix won his sixteenth National Tournament. Two weeks later he won the OK USA Junior Freestyle State Tournament in Cushing, and just last Thursday he wrestled Iranian Champion Kheyrollah Ghahramani in an outdoor exhibition in the middle of Times Square in New York City. Sunday he traveled to Irving, Texas for the United World of Wrestling Junior Freestyle World Team Trials. 

Illinois State Champion Austin Gomez is one of the biggest names in wrestling and is currently ranked fifth in the nation at 120 pounds. At the World Team Trials he breezed through the competition with multiple shutout tech falls to make the finals, where he would go up against Fix. Fix got a free ride to the finals after winning the UWW National Championship in Vegas.

Fix and Gomez had already met in the Vegas quarterfinals where Fix, who is ranked second in 120 nationally, didn't allow even a single point in his dominating 10-0 tech fall victory over the Iowa State University bound three-time Fargo National Champ.

Needless to say, Gomez was looking for a different outcome in Irving, but he would be disappointed. Not only did Fix get the win, but he did it twice. The two battled in a best-of-three series for the ticket to Worlds and Fix dominated with a pair of 10-0 tech falls. 

This will be far from Fix's first international voyage. In May of 2014 he won the Pan American Championships in Recife, Brazil. That July he made his World Championship debut in Slovakia where he placed tenth, and in August he won a Silver medal at the Youth Olympics in China. Last summer he found himself in Sarajevo, Bosnia where he defeated Uzbekistan's Abbos Rakhmonov for a Bronze medal at Worlds. 

If you would like to support Fix's "Quest for Gold" you can donate at this LINK.

To see Fix's 14-3 tech fall victory over Iranian Champion Kheyrollah Ghahramani click HERE.