CPHS Wrestling: Sandites hammer No. 6 Ponca City 47-25

After losing their Head Coach, a handful of seniors, and one State Champion, the Charles Page High School wrestling team was supposed to be in a rebuilding year. Instead, for the second dual in a row, they beat their opponent by a wider margin than the year before.

Fresh off a fourth-place finish at the Perry Tournament of Champions (also a better finish than the prior year), the No. 5 ranked Sandites (2-0) breezed past No. 6 Ponca City (2-1) Thursday evening at the Ed Dubie Field House with eight match wins and a forfeit, losing only five bouts for a final score of 47-25.

Sand Springs recorded six pins against the perennial Ponca powerhouse, but the Wildcats had three and didn’t drop out of contention till they forfeited at 195. First-year Head Coach Jarrod Patterson remains undefeated alongside his Sandites.

Freshman Christian Forbes (6-2) scored two takedowns in each of the three periods against Joel Crossland and added a reversal in the third for a 14-5 major decision.

Brendan Wiseley (5-2, 19-10) scored takedowns in the first and third periods against Martez Cranes, added a reversal in the second, and nearfall points in the third for an 8-2 decision.

Dylan Luker (0-1) took down State Qualifier Shayden Trant immediately with some help from a Charlie Horse, but after a quick stretching session the Wildcat was ready to battle, reversing for multiple sets of back points for a 10-2 lead. Luker got a reversal, Trant had another cramp, and the Wildcat started the second period on top before pinning his foe in 2:20.

Seth Jones (5-2, 27-16) had his way with Chase Linder, scoring four takedowns in the first period, an escape and takedown in the second, and recorded the first Sand Springs pin at 2:26.

Freshman Blake Jones (6-1) took down Carlos Archiga for back points midway through the first period and made it 6-0 with a second period escape. Jones started the third period on top and made it a major decision with back points shortly before the buzzer.

Joseph Mattison (0-1) made his varsity debut at 138 against Tacoma Tipton and suffered a 1:30 fall. Then Preston Medlin (0-4) went down against State Qualifier Spencer Schickram in 2:51, bringing the Poncans with a single point at 17-16.

Scott Patton (7-1, 42-23) got the Sandites back on track, pinning Tristan Tracy in only 39 seconds, then Chris Kirby (5-2, 27-12) outdid his teammate with a pin of Spencer Shook in only 21 seconds.

Dayvon Taylor (6-2, 29-22) had little difficulty with Landon Newlin, taking an 8-1 lead with back points into the second period, where he immediately escaped and scored for an 11-1 lead before felling his foe in 2:58.

State Qualifier Abram Arechiga kept the visitors alive with a 14-5 major decision against Santana Naugle (0-1), but the 195-pound forfeit to Riley Magee (3-2, 8-7) clinched the dual for Sand Springs.

Freshman standout Kaden Glass (2-0) pinned HB Bowers in eleven seconds for the fastest Sandite fall of the season. It also ranks as the third-fastest all-time at the 220-weight class for Sand Springs. Delvin Jordan Jr. holds the record for that weight class at nine seconds.

Ponca ended on a strong note with a 5-1 decision by Luke Kirchenbauer over Josh Fincannon (3-3, 17-18).

Sand Springs Wrestling will return to action Tuesday when they host No. 10 Stillwater (2-1). Fans could see a familiar face in former Sandite freshman State Champion Carter Young, who transferred to Pioneer town during the off season.