Eight Sandites take first place at Gage Underwood Memorial Wrestling Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Thirty-one members of the Sand Springs elementary and junior high wrestling teams competed at the Gage Underwood Memorial Tournament recently in Pryor. Twenty-nine placed in the top four in their divisions and eight took first place. 

Dariuz Black (17-12) competed in both Division Three and Division Four Open at 73 pounds. He took first in Division Three and second in the older division. In Division three he pinned Aidan Wolfe (Pryor) in 2:06, received a forfeit from Kenyon Encinas (Pryor), then scored a 23-8 technical fall over Andrew Haynes (Glenpool). In Division Four he pinned Riley Kuder (Broken Arrow) in 0:40 and scored a 22-7 tech fall over Encinas, but was pinned in 1:06 by Corban Zugelder (Catoosa). 

Jaxon Trotter (18-15) competed in both Division Three and Division Four Open at 85 pounds. He took first place in Division three, majoring Jaxon Turner (Vinita) 10-1 and defeating Jake Miller (Threestyle) 4-2. In Division Four he majored Dakota Allphin (Glenpool) 12-0, but was pinned in 2:23 by Lane Wheeler (Glenpool). 

Jaxon Grigsby (18-3) competed in Division Two Open at 49 pounds and took first place. He received a forfeit from Ethan Boyd (Claremore) then pinned his next three opponents. He pinned Tommy Parker (Pryor) in 0:36, Malaki Venetoff (Berryhill) in 3:55, and Parker Lapham (Owasso) in 0:45.

Grady Mittasch (32-7) competed in Division Three Open at 70 pounds and took first place. He defeated Jaxson Humphries (Catoosa) 4-0 and Logan Hargrove (Catoosa) 6-0, then pinned teammate Hunter Jewell in 0:36. 

Clayton Giddens (27-1) competed in Division Four Open at 67 pounds and took first place. He pinned Andrew Havens (Sperry) in 1:11, Caydon Miller (Sapulpa) in 1:06, and Jackson Willingham (Glenpool) in 3:28. 

Abraham Flores (13-7) competed in Division Four Open at 96 pounds and took first place. He defeated Chad Herbert (Owasso) 12-7 in sudden victory overtime, then teched Kevin Lund (Glenpool) 16-0.

London McGinnis (14-7) competed in both Division One Novice and Division One Open at 46 pounds and took second place in each. In Novice he defeated Corde Williams (Bristow) 12-5 and pinned Cash Pope (Glenpool) in 0:56 before falling 5-4 to Blake Ketcher (Pryor). In Open he lost his opening match 7-4 to Braylon Freeman (Cleveland), but rebounded with a 9-0 major decision over Ketcher, then topped Aiyden Robertson (Claremore) 8-2.

Hunter Spencer (13-6) competed in Division Two Open at 61 pounds and took second. He lost his opening match 9-2 to Javon Freeman (Cleveland), but won his next two handily. He majored Gunner Murray (Claremore) 10-0 and Seth Kysar (Cleveland) 9-0.

Zander Grigsby (18-5) competed in Division Three Open at 61 pounds and took second. He defeated Isaiah Jones (Glenpool) 11-1 and Jagen Jones (Sperry) 4-0 before falling 1-0 to Gage Walker (Jay) in the finals. 

Adrian Flores (14-11) competed in Division Three Open at 100 pounds and took second place. He pinned Kole Lamont (Broken Arrow) in 2:31, but was pinned in 1:06 by Bryson Kelley (Cushing). 

Carter Wood (11-5) competed in Division Two Open at 70 pounds and took third place. He lost his opening match 0-0 to Jake Wassom (Pryor), but scored a 20-4 tech fall over Eli Warer (Pryor) and received a forfeit from Jackson Vaught (Threestyle).

Robert Burke (15-5) competed in Division Three Open at 67 pounds and took third place. He was pinned in 1:20 by Bryson Humphries (Catoosa), but received a forfeit from teammate David Ritchey and defeated Elijah Green (Broken Arrow) 9-7. 

Asher Giddens (8-7) competed in Division One Open at 43 pounds and took fourth place. He defeated Daxen Delacerda (Bristow) 9-7 in the opening round, but was pinned in 0:28 by Roman Tyler (Berryhill). In the consolations he pinned Camden Reid (Pryor) in 0:19, but lost a rematch in the final 6-4 to Delacerda in sudden victory overtime. 

Matthew Moore (14-3) competed in Division Three Novice at 61 pounds and took first place. He scored a 10-2 major decision over Wiley Welch (Glenpool), pinned Justin Kendall (Sapulpa) in 0:28, and teched Jarrett Graves (Pryor) 16-0.

Skyler Wood (10-1) competed in Division Two Novice at 64 pounds and took first place. He scored a 1-0 decision over Jase Loftis (Pryor) and a 10-2 major decision over Ethan Oglesbee (Coweta). 

Jesse Moore (9-5) competed in Division Three Novice at 76 pounds and took second place. He pinned Eli Phemister (Glenpool) in 1:56 and Teryn Kegley (Pryor) in 1:59, but lost a close 5-4 decision to Clay McKiddy (Cushing). 

Jeziah Boatman (4-5) competed in Division Four Novice at 76 pounds and took second place. He was pinned in 1:51 in his first match by Xavier Wolfe (Pryor), but snapped back with a 6-4 sudden victory decision over Hudson Sams (Collinsville) and decisioned Jacob Taylor (Cleveland) 5-2.

Samuel Moore (18-8) competed in Division One Novice at 49 pounds and took third place. He pinned Jordyn Garrett (Owasso) in 0:21 and Isaiah Wilkerson (Claremore) in 1:59, and received a forfeit from Karson Johnson (Berryhill). He was pinned in 2:35 by Bentley Mefford (Pryor), but majored Ryker Eichelberger (Pryor) 15-2 in the consolation finals.

Dayne Ficken (8-5) competed in Division Two Novice at 55 pounds and took third place. He defeated Jameson Allen (Sperry) 6-0, but was sent to the consolation bracket after an 18-2 tech fall loss to Josiah Hall (Oologah). He bounced back with a pin of Hayden Smith (Blackwell) in 0:42 and majored Carter Williams (Pryor) 10-1.

Jareb Boatman (9-2) competed in Division Two Novice at 52 pounds and took third place. He pinned Dylan Cook (Coweta) in 0:15 and scored a 1-0 decision over Slade Theriot (Berryhill), but was pinned in 1:50 by Jonas Howell (Oologah) and in 2:23 by Caleb Kendall (Sapulpa).