Carter Young wins Kids Freestyle National Championship without giving up a single point

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Carter Young is at it again. The Clyde Boyd Middle School eighth grader traveled to Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin this past week to compete at the 2016 ASICS USA Wrestling Kids Nationals and handily defended his Freestyle National Title for the third-straight year.

Young first laid claim to the Freestyle national title in 2014 while coming in Runner-Up in Greco-Roman. He achieved the same results in 2015: first in Freestyle, second in Greco.

Young recently achieved All-American status in both styles after going undefeated in the Schoolboy Dual Nationals this summer and entered the Greco tournament riding a twenty-two-straight win streak.

In the first round he defeated Joe Natarcola of Delaware with a 14-4 tech fall, and followed it up with a 10-0 tech over Illinois Greco State Runner-Up Kai Neumark.

In the third round he finally met his match in Northern Plains Regional Champion and USAW Freestyle National Runner– Up Draka Ayala of Iowa.

Despite the 10-0 loss, Young wasted no time in rebounding with six-straight wins.

In the consolation bracket he defeated Natarcola once again, this time 14-3 to make the finals.

Young faced a tough opponent in Virginia Triple Crown State Champion Zachary Espalin, but dealt him a 10-0 tech fall for a third place finish.

Moving to the Freestyle tournament, Young was pitted against Illinois State Runner-Up Benjamin Aranda in the opening round and prevailed 10-0.

In the quarterfinals he pulled off another 10-0 tech fall over Wisconsin Novice State Champion Sam Smith, then did the same to Northern Plains Regional Champion, USAW Preseason National Champion, and defending National Runner-Up Carter Fousek.

In the finals Young got to avenge his loss to Ayala with a fifth-straight shutout tech fall to claim his third-straight National Freestyle Championship with a 73-6 record for 2016.

 

Jack Karstetter takes Silver Medal at Pan American Championship in Peru

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School senior Jack Karstetter continues to show the world how deep the talent runs in Sand Springs. The 2016 OSSAA 6A State Runner-Up finished his junior year with a 39-8 record in high school folkstyle wrestling and is preparing for his senior year with some international competition.

In April Karstetter won the USA Oklahoma East Regional Freestyle Championship at Broken Arrow and advanced to the Junior Freestyle State Tournament in Cushing in May. After going 2-2 at Freestyle State he headed to Akron, Ohio for the United World of Wrestling National Championships where he won Silver in Greco-Roman. 

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Medaling at Akron qualified Karstetter for the Pan-American Championships this past weekend in Lima Peru.

In Greco-Roman he defeated Argentina's Lautaro Pereyra with an 8-0 tech fall, then scored a 3-0 decision over Jose Davila Cabello of Peru before falling to Gerardo Oliva Montes 10-0 in the finals. Claiming a Silver Medal, Karstetter helped his team to a first place finish over Peru for the Pan American Team Championship.

Team USA also claimed the first place trophy in Freestyle where Karstetter took ninth place after a close 11-8 decision to Oscar Calvopina of Ecuador.

Next up for Karstetter is the USA Wrestling Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota from July 16th through the 23rd.

 

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 pulls off several upsets in dual with New Jersey

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Oklahoma got off to a great start against the heavily favored New Jersey Friday morning at the Cox Business Center in Tulsa, but Jersey came from behind to win it in the third-to-last match. 

Jersey brought an incredible roster featuring twelve wrestlers nationally ranked by Flowrestling, but that didn't phase the two-time Junior National Champions from Oklahoma.  

Sand Springs's National Champion Daton Fix had tough competition in No. 20 Zachary Sherman, but scored a 10-0 tech fall shortly into the second period in the first match. Jaxen Gilmore followed it up with a 4:15 pin of Nicholas Farro.

Jersey got on the board with a 10-0 tech fall by No. 11 Requir Van Der Merwe over Beau Guffey, but Oklahoma returned the favor with an 8-3 decision from Wyatt Sheets over No. 19 Andrew Merola. 

No. 7 Kyle Bierdumpfel handed Dayton Garrett a 13-2 tech fall, Christian Bahl put up a good fight against No. 4 Brandon Dallavia before going down 9-3, and No. 12 Joseph Grello teched Bear Hughes 13-3. Brandon Kui took down Zach Marcheselli 13-0 and No. 5 Kevin Mulligan pinned Gunner Cash in 0:44. Trenton Lieurance went the distance with No. 1 Chase Singletary and lost 6-1 for a 28-16 Jersey lead. 

Alex Fields got Oklahoma back in the race with a 10-0 tech fall over Thomas Fierro in only 0:41 but No. 7 Michael Colaiocco won a 16-6 tech fall over Colt Newton to clinch the dual. Oklahoma came up big with a Jet Taylor 14-3 tech fall over No. 3 Sebastian Rivera and Jersey wrapped things up with a 15-4 tech fall from No. 8 Ty Agaisse over Dalton Duffield for a final score of 41-27. 

Oklahoma will be wrestling for seventh place against Michigan Blue which features four nationally ranked wrestlers in Ben Freeman, Jelani Embree, Brandon Whitman, and Trent Hillger. 

Oklahoma out of contention for the title, but still impressing at Freestyle Nationals

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Oklahome Outlaws got off to a great start Friday morning at the Junior Freestyle Duals, but saw their shot at threepeating for the Title fall short. The back-to-back defending National Champions had no problem blowing past South Dakota 55-11, Iowa Blue 52-17, and Utah Blue 47-18, but met their match in the top-seeded Minnesota Red team.

Beginning at 106 pounds, Oklahoma went on a run in the low weights taking a 16-1 lead with wins from Wyatt Adams, Colt Newton, Dalton Duffield, and Daton Fix. Minnesota battled back, however, as Brent Jones teched Jacob Butler 13-2 and Mitchell Mckee won a huge victory in taking down nationally ranked No. 4 Kaden Gfeller with a 7-4 decision. Alex Crowe also overcame one of Oklahoma’s biggest contenders in a 4-3 decision over Beau Guffey.

Jaryn Curry broke up the win streak with a 12-2 tech fall over Ryan Epps, but Minnesota got right back on the horse with a huge 11-7 win over Wyatt Sheets from Jake Allar. Lucas Jeske got the upper end of a 24-20 shootout with Dayton Garrett, Taylor Venz teched Bear Hughes 12-2, Owen Webster teched Zach Marcheselli 14-3, and Keegan Moore teched Gunner Cash 10-0.

Trenton Lieurance won a 4-4 decision over Sam Erckenbrack, but Matthew Peterson finished up the battle for Minnesota with a 13-2 tech fall over Riley Weir and Oklahoma was defeated 35-31.

In the first round of the Gold/Silver pool, the Outlaws were trumped once again, this time by Illinois.

Louie Hayes won a high-scoring 16-12 decision over Jet Taylor to start the dual. Duffield took the lead for Oklahoma with a 12-1 tech over Travis Piotrowski and Fix added to it with a 10-0 defeat of Gabriel Townsell.

Illinois surged right back to the top with a 7-2 decision from Jaime Hernandez over Jaxen Gilmore and A.J. Jaffe teched Guffey 10-0. Wyatt Sheets took down Shayne Oster 10-10 to reclaim the one-point lead but Illinois went on a run with wins over Curry, Baker, Marcheselli, Matt Smith, and Gage Johnson. With the dual clinched, Illinois forfeited the final three weights for a 37-31 victory.

Oklahoma Freestyle breezes through South Dakota at Nationals

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Oklahoma Outlaws put the whole arena on high notice that they were on a warpath in the opening round of Freestyle Friday morning. The back-to-back Junior Dual National Champions have every intention of threepeating this weekend at the Cox Business Center in Tulsa. 

South Dakota's Nick Casperson won the first round with a back-and-forth 20-10 tech fall over Dan Baker, but Zach Marcheselli got Oklahoma in the win column with a 12-2 tech against Payson Dirk. 

The Outlaws got the lead with a forfeit at 220 and never looked back. Trenton Leiurance had little difficulty running up an 11-0 tech fall over Truman Ashes in 5:34. 

Kellyn March won a 10-0 tech over Alex Fields for South Dakota, but Oklahoma went on a run from there. Wyatt Adams received a forfeit at 106, Colt Newton teched Trevor Klinnert 10-0, and Jet Taylor did the same to Caden Lamer. 

Brandon Carroll put up a solid attempt on Daton Fix, but the National Champ prevailed 11-0 in 2:33. Jacob Butler continued the undefeated streak he began in Greco with an 8-4 decision over Jebben Keyes, Jaxen Gilmore teched Bailey Mennis 14-4, and Beau Guffey teched Josh Cid 10-0. 

Wyatt Sheets received a forfeit at 152, Dayton Garrett teched Blake Beitz 10-0, and Drew Hinkle wrapped the dual up with a 10-0 tech fall over Jesse Mikrut for a final score of 55-11. Up next for the Outlaws will be an untested Iowa Blue team who received a bye in the first round.