CPHS junior Blake Sargent goes undefeated in Greco-Roman Nationals Day One
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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief
Last week the Schoolboy (ages 13-14) National Duals came to a close with Team Oklahoma placing ninth in Greco-Roman and seventh in Freestyle with four undefeated All Americans, including Clyde Boyd Middle School's Carter Young. The young Sandite was one of only sixteen wrestlers in the country to make the All-Tournament team in both styles.
Wednesday began the Cadet (ages 15-16) National Duals in York, Pennsylvania, and once again Sand Springs is representing well on Team Oklahoma. Charles Page High School junior Blake Sargent is currently undefeated after day one in Greco Roman and the team placed second in their pool.
Sargent finished his sophomore year with a 39-12 record and placed third in the State Championship. Since then, he's won the Team Big Freestyle Tournament and came in Runner-Up in the OKUSA Freestyle State Tournament in Cushing.
Oklahoma was pitted against North Carolina in the first round of pool play and devastated their opponents, giving up only one match for a 73-5 victory, the second-largest win of any team in the tournament. Sargent kicked things off with the first match of the dual and pinned his opponent in the first period. North Carolina Greco State Runner-Up Phifer Ozimek went down in 2:11, setting the tone for the rest of the dual. Team Oklahoma won the next thirteen straight matches with nothing but pins and tech falls.
The next dual wasn't quite as big of a blowout as the first, but it was a clear and dominating victory, nonetheless. The Okies won twelve of seventeen matches over Florida for a final score of 55-25. Sargent put the icing on the cake, pinning Florida Greco State Champion Emauni Smithson in 1:27 for the final match of the dual.
Oklahoma finally met its match in the pool finals. Minnesota Storm raised off to a quick advantage with four-straight victories before Oklahoma evened it out with four of their own. The back and forth affair continued right down to the end, but Minnesota got the 39-33 edge. Sargent remained undefeated with a close 12-8 decision over Northern Plains Regional Champion Sebas Swiggum.
Team Oklahoma will return to action Thursday morning in the Gold Pool against a tough team from Illinois who breezed through their first pool with dominating victories over Kansas Red, Pennsylvania Red, and Missouri Red. From there the Okies will battle Pennsylvania Blue, and New Jersey Red before the placement matches.
