Clayton Giddens and Kaden Glass bring home Battle of the Belt titles

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Seven Sand Springs elementary and junior high wrestlers competed at the Battle for the Belt tournament this past weekend at the Oklahoma City Cox Pavilion and two took first place in their divisions.

Clayton Giddens (9-1) picked up his second first-place finish this season at 64 pounds in Division 1. He won a 12-0 major decision over Lawson Knox (Marlow), defeated Matthew Patton (Sperry) by 16-0 tech fall, and recorded two pins. He took down Andrew Havens (Sperry) in 1:23 and Krystian Moore (C4 WC) in 1:15.

Kaden Glass (6-0) competed in Division 5 at Heavyweight and took first place for his second-straight tournament. He defeated Colin Naney (Tiger WC) 3-0 and pinned Tony Davidson (Geary) in 0:27 to remain undefeated for the season.

Grady Mittasch (10-1) was just one win shy of his fourth-straight first place victory, instead settling for third place after a close 4-2 decision to OKUSA State Champion Camden Webb (Muskogee). He snapped back with a 4-1 decision over Wesley Madden (OWA), then pinned Legend Yates (Marlow) in 1:23 and Bo Ware (Cleveland) in 1:05 for yet another stellar performance. He competed in Division 3 at 70 pounds.

Carter Young (5-1) competed in Division 5 at 100 pounds and took second place. He majored Kolbe Madron (Premier WC) 9-0 and decisioned Caleb Williams (Tironook) 6-3, but was pinned in 2:29 by State Champion and Dual National team member Tucker Owens (Matrix).

Ethan White (2-1) wrestled his first tournament of the season and drew only one competitor. He was defeated 10-1 by Harley Andrews (Tiger WC), but received a pair of forfeits for second place. He competed in Division 4 at 120 pounds. 

Sam Harris (5-6) competed in Division 5 at 120 pounds and took fourth place. He lost 13-5 to Cody Hicks (Durant) and was pinned in 0:58 by Parrish Terry (Tiger WC), but received a forfeit from Luke McCain and defeated Brayden Early (Harrah) 6-4. 

Jaxon Trotter (8-5) competed in Division 3 at 85 pounds. He pinned Kenison Rodgers (StandFast WC) in 3:27 and Trey Linam (Marlow) in 0:43, but fell in 1:25 to Ladarion Lockett (Cowboy WC) and was defeated 6-0 by Tyler McCall (Catoosa).