CPHS Wrestling: Carter Young wins Perry Tournament of Champions, Sandites place 8th

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The Class 6A No. 5 ranked defending State Champion wrestling team from Sand Springs traveled to storied Perry, Oklahoma this weekend for the 42nd Annual Tournament of Champions and placed eighth with a depleted roster, claiming one individual title.

Last year the Sandites won the tournament with three champions after placing second the year before. The Sandites graduated all three of those champions, including four-time winner Daton Fix, but crowned a new champion in freshman Carter Young, who is 5-0 since starting his varsity career last week.

Young breezed through the competition at 106 pounds, scoring a 20-5 technical fall over Martezz Carnes in 2:59. Next to fall was Ethan Kemble, who was pinned in 1:14. In the semifinals Young scored a 19-5 major decision against Choctaw’s Caleb Williams, and in the finals he majored Perry sophomore Ryan Smith 15-7. Young is currently ranked 20th nationally by FloWrestling. 

Also making the finals was senior Gage Fain (4-1 season, 43-39 career) at 220 pounds. He pinned Marlon Welty in 3:25 and Raven Soap in 1:15, then scored a 6-5 decision against Matt Woods before getting pinned in 4:53 by Kansas State Qualifier Qualin Powell.

Defending State Champion Riley Weir (4-2, 66-20) took third place at 120 pounds with a 2-0 decision over Perry freshman and U.S. Junior Open Champion Cade Nicholas. He started the tournament off by pinning Bryce Hawk in seventeen seconds, then scored a 7-2 decision over Choctaw senior Andrew Schlaepfer before falling 3-1 to Kansas State Runner-Up Gabe Buckbee. In consolation he majored Billy Gonzales 11-2. Owasso junior Zeke Washington, who stunned the crowd in the Sandites’ season-opening dual by defeating Weir, followed up that success with a first-place finish, defeating Buckbee 3-1.

Sophomore Seth Jones (4-2, 6-5) also competed at 120, wrestling unattached, and took fifth place. He pinned Trenton Harding in 45 seconds before being defeated 11-3 by Buckbee. In consolation he pinned Kristopher Humble in 2:11 and defeated Kaden Stanley 8-1 before falling 6-3 to Nicholas. In the placement round he majored Gonzales 12-4.

Irwin Portillo (3-3, 9-8) placed sixth at 132 pounds. He lost his opening match 3-1 to Edmond Memorial senior Ty Lutze but worked his way up through consolation by defeating Kansas State Qualifier Logan McDonald 8-5 and Marcus Slater 3-2 before once again meeting Lutze in the semifinals. This time he was defeated 5-1 and he lost his placement match 7-5 to State Qualifier Jaylon Otero. Ponca City senior Dylan Schickram won the division.

Scott Patton (4-4, 11-6) placed sixth at 138 pounds. He lost his opening match 11-4 to two-time State Finalist Connor Holman but worked his way through consolation by teching Landis Scoon 18-3 in 3:29, pinning Logan Patton in 2:44, and majoring Kansas State Qualifier Brady McDonald 12-1. In the semifinals he was defeated 9-1 by three-time Kansas State Champion Marcus Robinson and in the placement round he was defeated 11-10 by Pryor senior State Qualifier Bennett Sherrer. Ponca City junior Spencer Schickram won the division.

Dayvon Taylor (3-4) placed sixth at 170 pounds. He started hot, defeating Edmond Memorial senior Ben Parkhurst 13-3, Kansas State Qualifier Mason Manning 5-3, and Kingfisher senior Jameson Hale 12-11 before being pinned in 5:14 by two-time State Champion Jaryn Curry in the semifinals. In consolation he was pinned in 3:53 by Yukon’s Waylon Heger and was defeated 6-5 by Harrah sophomore Hunter Mauldin in placement. Curry won the bracket.

Josh Fincannon (2-3) placed sixth at 195 pounds. He lost his first match 6-2 to Ponca City junior Abram Arechiga, defeated Braden Thomas 2-1 and Owen Vincent 7-2 in consolation, then fell 7-2 to Arkansas City senior Dalton Collins in the semifinals. In the placement round he was defeated 5-2 by Arechiga. Choctaw senior Easton Rendleman won the bracket.

Caleb Phillips (2-2) competed at 145 pounds was defeated one round short of placement, going 2-2. In the opening round he was pinned in 1:15 by State Champion Jaxen Gilmore, who went on to win the bracket. In consolation he defeated Kailieb Ruff 6-4 and pinned Kansas State Qualifier Huntyr Schwegman in 2:01 before falling in 2:14 to State Qualifier Connor Simpson.

Chris Kirby (2-2) won his first match at 152 by pinning Kingfisher senior Mike Callente in 5:16, but was pinned in 3:14 by Perry senior Parker Nicholas and in 0:58 by Catoosa junior Trenton Blair. MacArthur senior Nick Mahan won the bracket.

Sophomore Brendon Wiseley (1-2, 2-2) competed at 113 pounds and fell to State Qualifier Studd Morris 16-3 in the first round. In consolations Wiseley was pinned in 0:42 by State Qualifier Fabian Huerta. Edmond Memorial sophomore Jackson Oplotnik won the division.

Colten Roberts (0-2) competed at 126 pounds and was pinned in 3:00 by Arkansas City’s Trig Tennant and in 4:22 by Stillwater’s Tanner Robinson. Choctaw junior Colt Newton won the division.

Defending State Champion Payton Scott and State Qualifier Blake Sargent were both absent. The Sandites didn’t wrestle anyone at 160, 182, or heavyweight. Lawton MacArthur junior Hunter Jump won 160, Choctaw junior Zane Coleman won 182, and MacArthur junior Montana Phillips won 285.

6A No. 2 ranked Choctaw won the tournament by a 61.5 point margin over 3A No. 1 Perry. Sand Springs will take the week off from duals to prepare for the 12th Annual Kansas City Stampede this Friday. 5A No. 2 Collinsville, 5A No. 3 Coweta, 6A No. 3 Edmond North, Perry, 6A No. 6 Ponca City, Southmoore, 6A No. 11 Stillwater, and 4A No. 1 Tuttle will all be competing at the tournament, as will nationally-ranked No. 11 Park Hill, No. 24 Christian Brothers College Prep, and No. 49 Goddard.

No. 2 Sandite Wrestling wins Perry Tournament with 3 champions, hammers Owasso 62-6

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity wrestling team (1-0) is on a roll to start the season, and may slip past No. 1 Choctaw (1-0) in the rankings soon. The OSSAA has two separate rankings for High School wrestling, one for tournaments and one for duals. Sand Springs is ranked second in both, but took first place this weekend at the prestigious Perry Tournament of Champions by a 27-point margin over the defending State Champions. They also won their first dual of the season last Tuesday without losing a single match.

Oklahoma State University-signed senior Daton Fix (5-0), a three-time undefeated State Champion, was name the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament after becoming only the sixth wrestler in the tournament's history to win it all four years. Seniors Beau Bratcher (5-0) and Delvin Jordan (5-0) also picked up first-place wins. Bratcher was the State Runner-Up last season, while Jordan was a Regional Champion and defeated the previously undefeated State Champion Nic Roller, but was unable to compete at State. 

Seniors Michael Ritchey (4-1) and Zane Basma (4-1) both took second place. Sophomore Riley Weir (5-1), senior Tanner Ward (5-1), senior Jack Karstetter (5-1), junior Payton Scott (5-1), and junior Gage Fain (5-1) placed third. Junior Blake Sargent (5-2) took fourth place and sophomore Noah Almy (5-3) took sixth place.

Weir, a State qualifier, made his season debut with the No. 2 ranking at 106 pounds and pinned Union's Cooper Gibson in 2:17. He scored a close 7-6 decision over Choctaw's No. 5 Gabe Johnson, but was majored 9-1 by Lawton MacArthur's Wyatt Adams, a two-time 5A State Champion. In the consolation bracket Weir won a 10-8 decision over Perry's 3A State Runner-Up Alex Valencia, then edged out Johnson 1-0 in a rematch for third-place.

Freshman Seth Jones (2-2) made an impressive varsity debut while wrestling unattached at 106. He pinned Kingfisher's Eric Gallupe in 2:27, then defeated Alex Valencia 5-2 before falling 6-3 to Edmond Memorial's Garrett Steidley. In the consolations he was defeated 9-5 by Gabe Johnson and got a rematch against Valencia. This time the Perry wrestler prevailed 4-3 and Jones took sixth place.

Tanner Ward is a State Runner-Up at the 3A level, and made his Sandite debut after transferring from Berryhill. He pinned Ark City's Christian Robinson in 3:18 and Yukon's Noah Hanscom in 0:39 before being edged out 8-7 by Perry freshman Dylan Avery. In the consolation bracket he scored back-to-back 5-2 decisions over Catoosa 4A State-placer Fabian Huerta and Union's No. 3 ranked TJ Long. 

120 State-placer No. 3 ranked Michael Ritchey won his first four matches of the tournament before falling to 3A State Champion Cale Betchan of Perry. He won a close 2-1 decision over Kylon Burgert of Yukon and a 3-0 decision over Karson Bellmard of Ponca City, then majored Lawton MacArthur's Billy Gonzalez 10-0 before going down 4-1 to Betchan in the finals. 

126 State-placer No. 3 ranked Blake Sargent won his first match 10-4 over No. 4 Jacob Swenson of Ponca City, but fell 7-1 in the semi-finals to 132 No. 3 Drew Wilson of Midwest City. In the consolations he defeated 113 No. 4 Wyatt Johnson of Owasso 6-3, then majored Pryor's 5A State-placer Von Gray 12-4. In the semi-finals he won a 9-3 decision over Perry's 3A State Runner-Up Brycen Justus before falling 7-1 to Choctaw State Runner-Up Conner Holman.

No. 1 Daton Fix worked his way through the 132 bracket with relative ease, winning two matches by pin and two by fall. Ponca City's No. 5 Dawson Hunt was pinned in 2:35 and Muskogee's Kyri Beasley was teched 18-3. He then pinned Ponca City No. 9 Dylan Schickram in 2:32 and teched Ark City's Montez Robinson 27-11 in 4:04.

138 No. 1 State Runner-Up Jack Karstetter pinned Chanute freshman Dalton Misener in 1:43, then edged out No. 8 Baylor Smith 3-2 before falling 3-1 to Kansas State Runner-Up Jake Beeson of Ark City. Beeson went on to defeated 145 No. 1 Jaxen Gilmore of Yukon 8-7 in the finals. Karstetter headed to the consolations where he put away No. 4 State-qualifier Seth Graves of Edmond Memorial 6-0. In the finals he once more defeated Baylor Smith, this time 6-2 for third place.

145 No. 2 Beau Bratcher handily worked his way through some tough competition for first place. He defeated Choctaw's Blake Muse 3-0, then pinned Blackwell's Braden Kincaid in 1:02. In the semifinals he scored a 5-1 decision over No. 8 Brandon Conrad, then he edged out Claremore 5A State Qualifier Trace Reeder 2-1 for the title.

Junior Cody Mathis competed at 152 and won his first match 12-8 over Owasso's Wyatt Wilson before falling 7-5 to Ark City's Colton Watters in a sudden victory overtime round. In the consolations he pinned Blackwell's Kris Lanman in 1:31 and defeated No. 8 Nenebah Biggoose of Ponca City 12-9 before getting pinned in 1:34 by Edmond Memorial's Kyle Knowles.

152 No. 2 State-placer Payton Scott wrestled up to 160 and won his first two matches before falling 3-2 to Choctaw State Champion Jaryn Curry. He pinned Owasso's Nolan Miller in 1:32 and scored a 22-8 major decision over Kingfisher's Austin Neal. In the consolation bracket he pinned No. 8 State qualifier Ezequiel Rubio of Ponca City in 0:59, then edged out Lawton MacArthur 5A State Runner-Up Hunter Jump 6-5 for third place.

160 No. 10 Noah Almy wrestled unattached and won his first two matches before falling to Jaryn Curry. He scored a 20-9 major decision over Muskogee's Mason Seth, then edged out Blackwell's Quinton Bolts 5-2 before getting pinned in 1:11 by Curry. In the consolations he defeated Edmond Memorial's Ben Parkhurst 7-1 and Austin Neal 12-5 before getting pinned in 4:57 by Hunter Jump. In the fifth-place match he was pinned in 2:50 by Ezequiel Rubio.

170 No. 2 State-placer Zane Basma defeated Harrah's Trey Winstead 6-3, then pinned Edmond Memorial's No. 7 State-qualifier Sam Hensley in 4:49. He scored a huge victory in an 8-2 upset of No. 1 State Champion Zane Coleman, but was in turn upset 9-6 by Claremore State-qualifier Austin Short.

While the Sandites are stacked at the lower weights and have several JV wrestlers who would be varsity at many 6A schools, they are limited at the upper weights and didn't wrestle anybody at 182 or 195. 

At 220, No. 1 Delvin Jordan pinned all four of his opponents in only three minutes. He took down Blackwell's Todd Grey in only 18 seconds, Chanute's Qualin Powell in 26 seconds, Ponca City's No. 4 State-qualifier Austin Fry in 38 seconds, and Perry's State-qualifier Bailey Burdik in 1:42.

At Heavyweight, Gage Fain scored a 4-2 decision over Lawton MacArthur's Brandon Lawton, then defeated Ark City's State Champion Tyler Shannon 5-2, before being pinned in 1:06 by Choctaw's No. 4 State-placer Zach Austin. In the consolations he majored Ponca City's Brett Bridges 12-2, then defeated Shannon 1-0 in a rematch for third place. 

Overall the Sandites had thirteen placers, more than any other team. Both Choctaw and Sand Springs had three Champions, but the Yellowjackets had four finalists to the Sandites' five, and only ten total placers. The host team, 3A No. 1 Perry (2-0) came in third with two champions, four finalists, and nine total placers. 

The Sandites took on No. 15 Owasso (1-1) last week and only gave up six points on a forfeit at 195 pounds. Owasso forfeited the 106 and 113 weight classes and started with a 12-0 deficit before the wrestling even started. Michael Ritchey handily worked over Tristan Herrera with an 11-0 major decision at 120, and 126 Blake Sargent edged out 113 No. 4 Wyatt Johnson with a 3-2 decision to make it 19-0.

Fix picked up a pin in 3:20 over Jesse Gomez. 138 Jack Karstetter won a 12-6 decision over No. 8 Baylor Smith and 145 Beau Bratcher edged No. 8 Brandon Conrad with a 4-1 decision for a 31-0 advantage. 

Cody Mathis scored a 16-5 major decision over Wyatt Wilson at 152, and Payton Scott stepped up to 160 and pinned Nolan Miller in 1:07. Noah Almy moved up to 170 and won a close 9-8 decision over Jared McLaughlin and Zane Basma moved up to 182 for a 3:44 pin of 170 No. 8 Kaleb Mertz.

Owasso finally got on the board with a forfeit at 195, then forfeited 220 to the Sandites. In the heavyweight class junior Gage Fain (5-1), ranked fifth in 195, pinned 220 No. 10 Cameron Harizal in 2:43 to wrap things up.

The Sandites will return to action this Friday when they travel to the prestigious Kansas City Stampede. Several Oklahoma teams will be at the tournament, including 4A No. 1 Tuttle, 3A No. 1 Perry, 5A No. 2 Collinsville, No. 4 Edmond North, No. 8 Stillwater, No. 12 Ponca City, and unranked Southmoore. The Sandites are ranked No. 26 in the nation by InterMat Wrestling, but they won't be the only nationally ranked team present. Tuttle is ranked No. 22 in the nation, and No. 25 Goddard High, and No. 44 Park Hill will also be competing. 

Daton Fix is a three-time champion at the event, and will have the opportunity to become only the third wrestler in the tournament's history to sweep all four years. 

Four Sandites will represent Oklahoma at Jr Dual Nationals

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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.