Sandite Wrestling Wins Glenpool Warrior Classic with 4 Champions
/The Charles Page High School wrestling team earned its first tournament title of the Ty Bowling era Saturday, crowning four champions at the 5th Annual Glenpool Warrior Classic.
The Sandites went 4-3 in the finals with Kase Skaggs, Mitchell Smith, Jaxon Trotter, and Mason Harris earning gold. No. 7 Sand Springs earned 219 team points to beat out No. 9 Owasso with 179.
“I think we finished the regular season strong,” said Bowling.
“We really wanted to go to (the Yukon tournament two weeks ago) but we were kind of beat up and we’d been going for a few weeks in a row so I felt like we needed to take that off and we really needed to get this one in right before the postseason started.”
Coincidentally, Bowling was previously the head coach at Glenpool, though this was the first time one of his teams would win the tournament
Skaggs breezed through the 106 bracket with three pins and 10-1 major decision in the finals against Owasso’s Elijah Cherry.
Smith won at 150 with five pins and a tech fall, outscoring his foes 45-8. He pinned Glenpool’s Michael Lohr in the finals and also reached a big milestone in the quarterfinals when he pinned Glenpool freshman Kevin Gruse for his 100th career victory.
“I watched all these other guys grow up and do it so it feels nice,” said Smith.
The senior has been battling a knee injury since the Jenks tournament but doesn’t see that slowing him down in the postseason.
“I’m feeling good, healthier, a lot better now. I’m excited about that too.”
Trotter didn’t give up a single point till the 157-pound finals, where he earned a 5-3 decision over Sapulpa’s Blake Hurt.
Harris was equally dominant at heavyweight, only giving up one point in the whole tournament before winning a 6-0 decision against Enid’s Seth Melvin.
David Ritchey, Jayden Pait, and Ethan White finished as runners-up. Colt Hood, Ali McCoy, and Connor Diaz placed fourth. Landon Castro and Jaden Allen placed fifth. Luke McGehee placed sixth.
The Sandites were also missing several starters in Hudson Sheppard, Zander Grigsby, Jesse Moore, and Matthew Moore, making the team title even more remarkable.
“The ones we brought, they were the ones who stepped up and wrestled hard,” said Bowling.
“Coach (Earl) Shockley does a good job of setting up JV duals and JV tournaments, so those guys are constantly wrestling. It’s a next-man-up mentality.”
Smith says the team spirits are high and feels confident going into Dual State and Regionals.
“We’re a lot happier than we have been in the past, more of a team than anything else.”
“He’s a great team leader,” Bowling said of Smith. “How he goes, that’s how the rest of the team’s gonna go. He sets the tone for us. He’s the leader in the room and out of the room so he’s a good one to have.”
Junior High
The Sand Springs boys placed seventh at the Junior High Allstate Tournament in Oklahoma City.
Ryley Kester and Kaden Pope placed third, Isaac Sensintaffar placed fourth, and Jaxon Grigsby and Kasen McAffrey placed sixth.
For the girls: Rylee Allen placed fourth and Stefanie Ortiz placed sixth.
