Sixteen Sand Springs wrestlers take first-place at Sapulpa Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Forty three members of the Sand Springs Team Big elementary wrestling crew competed at the USA Oklahoma Wrestling Tournament at Sapulpa this past weekend, and sixteen took first place in their division. 

Zander Grigsby (8-1) competed in Division 3 at 61 pounds and took first place. He pinned Mason Lapham (Owasso) in 0:18, received a forfeit in the quarterfinal, then pinned Gunner Murray (Claremore) in 2:22 before posting a 9-2 decision over Isaiah Jones (Glenpool) in the finals. 

Cael Knight (4-0) competed in Division 1 Novice at 60 pounds and took first place with four pins. He defeated Preston Hollis (Claremore) in 1:22, Axl Branham (Vian) in 1:21, Josiah Moss (Berryhill) in 2:23, and Preston Hollis (Claremore) in 2:55. 

Skyler Wood (6-0) competed in Division 2 Novice at 64 pounds and took first place. He pinned Drake Blue (Sperry) in 0:45, then won a close 8-6 sudden victory round against Seth Inso (Berryhill). He defeated Brody Stevenson (Glenpool) 5-0 and Payson Robinson (Sapulpa) 6-1 for his second first-place finish this season. 

Jaxon Grigsby (7-0) competed in Division 2 at 49 pounds and won his second-straight tournament with three pins. He defeated Donnie Burgett (Sapulpa) in 0:58, Malaki Venetoff (Berryhill) in 2:33, and Naoh Neal (Glenpool) in 1:30.

Kaden Pope (3-0) competed in Division 2 at 55 pounds and won all three matches by pin. He defeated Bodie Elam (Pryor) in 3:00, teammate Daxton Smith in 1:30, and Kasen Whiteley (Stilwell) in 2:07 for first place. 

Abraham Flores (7-1) competed in Division 4 at 100 pounds and won all three matches by pin. He defeated Kylar Bearpaw (Sapulpa) in 4:22, Kevin Lund (Glenpool) in 1:25, and Jesse Lichtenberger (OWA) in 4:11. This is his second first-place finish this season.

Matthew Moore (4-3) competed in Division 3 Novice at 58 pounds and took first place. He pinned Luis Flores (Sapulpa) in 1:51 and teammate Joshua Spurgeon in 0:48, then scored a 16-9 decision over Elijah Montgomery (Sapulpa).

Landyn Barnes (5-0) competed in Division 3 Novice at 67 pounds and took first place for the second time this season. He pinned Andrew Winkle (Coweta) in 1:31 and Kursten Burns (Bristow) in 0:22 and scored a 15-0 tech fall over Mavrick Aunko (Collinsville).

Jesse Moore (5-1) competed in Division 3 Novice at 76 pounds and took first place with three pins. He defeated Braylen Miller (Sapulpa) in 2:39, Karleigh Blankenship (Owasso) in 2:28, and Mia Fruits (Bristow) in 0:20.

Tabor Reiss (7-1) competed in Division 1 at 37 pounds and took first place with three pins. He defeated Tennessee James (Sapulpa) in 0:27, Ivy Mullin (Stilwell) in 0:19, and teammate Bentley Cole in 1:11 for his second first-place finish this season. 

Robert Burke (7-2) competed in Division 3 at 64 pounds and took first place. He defeated Michael Blendowski (Catoosa) by 11-3 major decision and pinned Mason Moore (Owasso) in 1:09. This is his second first-place finish this season. 

Dariuz Black (5-1) competed in Division 3 at 73 pounds and took first place with a pair of technical falls. He defeated Andrew Haynes (Glenpool) 15-0 and Aiden Wolfe (Pryor) 18-2. 

Jayden Pait (2-0) competed in Division 4 Novice at 64 pounds and drew only one competitor. He pinned Justin Kendall (Sapulpa) in 0:36 and 0:34 in a best-of-three series for first place. 

Ryder Barnes (5-0) competed in Division 4 Novice at 100 pounds and drew only one competitor. He pinned Kaleb Simmers (Sapulpa) in 0:27 and 1:44 for his second first-place finish this season. 

Ayreson Reiss (3-4) competed in Division 3 at 52 pounds and took first place. He pinned Parker Warren (Collinsville) in 3:18 and Cavin Peper (Sapulpa) in 2:14. 

Jacob Lewis (2-2) competed in Division 4 Novice at 88 pounds and took first place. He pinned Cameron Smith (Bristow) in 0:34 and Ashlyn Estes (Sapulpa) in 2:12.

Ryder Flores (7-1) competed in Division 1 Novice at 40 pounds and took third place. He lost his opening match in a 4-1 decision to Noah Thompson (Coweta), but rebounded with four-straight pins. He defeated Noah White (Pryor) in 0:55, Camden Reid (Pryor) in 0:16, Rylan Sams (Sapulpa) in 1:45, and Rowden Benavidez (Sperry) in 0:29.

Daxton Smith (3-1) competed in Division 2 at 55 pounds and took third place. He won his opening match with a 6-4 sudden-victory overtime decision over Kale Fruits (Bristow), but was pinned in 1:30 in the next round by teammate Kaden Pope. In the consolations he pinned Bodie Elam (Pryor) in 1:14.

Bentley Cole (2-1) competed in Division 1 at 37 pounds and took second place. He won his first two matches by pin, taking down William Thompson (Sapulpa) in 0:07 and teammate Wyatt Stott in 0:23, before falling in 1:11 to teammate Tabor Reiss. 

Adrian Flores (7-5) competed in Division 3 at 100 pounds and took second place. He pinned Brennan Watkins (Sapulpa) in 1:30 and scored a 5-2 decision over Kylar Bearpaw (Sapulpa) before falling 13-2 to Jacob Cook (Sperry). 

Dawsen Briscoe (2-1) competed in Division 3 at 58 pounds and took second place. He lost his first match in an 18-7 major decision to Cole Vaughan (Cushing), but rebounded with a 9-2 decision over teammate Colt Cothran and pinned Camden Whitby (Collinsville) in 2:03.

Brody Wofford (2-1) competed in Division 1 Novice at 55 pounds and took second place. He pinned Kelly Tabor (Berryhill) in 0:37 and defeated teammate Hayden Luce by 7-2 decision before falling 15-5 to Sheldin Kelly (Owasso).

Joshua Spurgeon (9-2) competed in Division 3 Novice at 58 pounds and took second place. He won a 16-14 sudden victory round over Elijah Montgomery (Sapulpa) and pinned Luis Flores (Sapulpa) in 1:21, but was pinned in 0:48 by teammate Matthew Moore.

Hunter Spencer (2-1) competed in Division 2 at 61 pounds and took third place. He lost his first match 11-6 to Seth Kysar (Cleveland), but won out with an 0:34 pin of Mack Powell (Bristow) and a 6-3 decision over Tohmi Carney (Broken Arrow).

Carter Wood (2-3) competed in Division 2 at 67 pounds and took third place. He lost his first match in a 9-7 sudden victory round against Dane Jensen (Claremore), but won out with pins of 0:59 and 2:33 against Cooper Barrington (Berryhill) and William Cade (Coweta), respectively. 

Evan Williams (8-3) competed in Division 3 Novice at 90 pounds and took second place. He pinned Cain Clay (Bristow) in 0:34 and scored a 12-5 decision over Christopher Harris (Owasso) before falling 4-0 to Jack White (Berryhill).

Dallas Flores (2-2) competed in Division 2 at 67 pounds and took second place. He pinned Cooper Barrington (Berryhill) in 0:50, but lost a 6-5 decision to Dane Jensen (Claremore).

David Cline (2-3) competed in Division 2 Novice at 70 pounds and took second place. He was pinned in 0:33 by Hudson Claggett (Bristow) and in-turn pinned Braden Cook (Sapulpa) in 0:30.

Chase Kelley (1-1) competed in Division 4 Novice at 130 pounds and took second place. He was pinned in 0:35 by Caleb Turner (Sapulpa) and he won a 7-5 decision over Brady Rodgers (Coweta). 

Samuel Moore (8-4) competed in Division 1 Novice at 46 pounds and took fourth place. He pinned Jonathan Valadez (Sperry) in 0:44 and Hudson Williams (Pryor) in 0:24 before giving up a 9-0 major decision to Luke Boren (Claremore). In the consolation bracket he pinned teammate Aaerick Collins in 2:18 before falling in 1:41 to Blake Ketcher (Pryor) in the third-place match. 

Aaerick Collins (7-6) competed in Division 1 Novice at 46 pounds. He pinned Jerzy Wren (Claremore) in 1:48, but was sent to the consolation bracket after a 12-6 decision to Blake Ketcher (Pryor). He snapped back with an 18-10 major decision over Julian Keys (Catoosa) and pinned Liam Kunkle (Catoosa) in 2:36 before falling in 2:18 to teammate Samuel Moore.

Bennett Mikles (3-2) competed in Division 1 Novice at 49 pounds. He pinned John Draffin (Sapulpa) in 0:32, but was defeated 8-6 in the next round by Karson Johnson (Berryhill). He scored a 7-2 win over Isaiah Wilderson (Claremore) and an 11-4 decision over Liam Chism (Coweta) before falling in 1:44 to Kayson Graham (Pryor).

Dayne Ficken (2-2) competed in Division 2 Novice at 55 pounds and took fourth place. He defeated teammate Blayton Collins 7-0 and pinned Axton Stevenson (Glenpool) in 0:34, but fell in 0:52 to Colten Smith (Vian) and 1:43 to Landyn Smith (Berryhill). 

Colt Cothran (2-5) competed in Division 3 at 58 pounds and took third place. He won his opening match with a 6-5 decision over Camden Whitby (Collinsville), but was defeated 9-2 by teammate Dawsen Briscoe and 7-4 by Cole Vaughan (Cushing). 

Hayden Luce (3-3) competed in Division 1 Novice at 55 pounds and took third place. He lost a 16-4 major decision to Sheldin Kelly (Owasso) and a 7-2 decision to teammate Brody Wofford, but pinned Kelly Tabor (Berryhill) in 0:17.

Wyatt Stott (1-2) competed in Division 1 at 37 pounds and took fourth place. He pinned Tennessee James (Sapulpa) in 0:43, but was in-turn pinned in 0:23 and 0:47 by teammate Bentley Cole and Ivy Mullin (Stilwell), respectively.

Easton Tanner (1-4) competed in Division 1 Novice at 40 pounds. He was pinned in 0:33 by Noah White (Pryor), but rebounded with a 17-0 tech fall over Wyatt Woodson (Owasso) before falling 27-16 to Knox Lopez (Pryor).

Jaxton Grundy (6-5) competed in Division 1 Novice at 43 pounds. He won his opening match 16-10 over Max Dunkelberger (Sapulpa) before falling in 1:25 to Aiyden Robertson (Claremore) and 0:40 to Kyson Buckner (Sapulpa).

Blayton Collins (3-8) competed in Division 2 Novice at 55 pounds. He was defeated 7-0 by teammate Dayne Ficken and gave up a close 6-4 decision to DJ Colley (Glenpool). 

Brody Wilson (0-2) competed in Division 2 at 61 pounds. He was pinned in 0:58 by Jase Loftis (Pryor) and lost a 7-2 decision to Mack Powell (Bristow).

Bryher Collins (1-4) competed in Division 1 Novice at 37 pounds. He was pinned in 0:32 by Mekko Stites (Berryhill) and 0:29 by Rocco Tyler (Berryhill).

Ivan Barham (0-3) competed in Division 3 Novice at 85 pounds. He was pinned in 1:53 by Mathew Franklin (Owasso) and 0:54 by Garritt Hunt (Vian), and gave up a 9-0 major decision to Couper Daniels (Pryor). 

Trey Scott (0-4) competed in Division 3 at 61 pounds. He was pinned in 0:43 by Isaiah Jones (Glenpool) and 3:37 by Gunner Murray (Claremore) and forfeited two rounds.