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.

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.