Sand Springs wrestling wins Regional Championship, qualifies eleven for State Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Team Scores: 

1. Sand Springs (268)
2. Broken Arrow (241.5)
3. Ponca City (186)
4. Stillwater (157)
5. Owasso (126)
6. Norman North (186)
7. Sapulpa (86.5)
8. Jenks (83)
9. Union (79)
10. Bixby (53.5)
11. Bartlesville (53)
12. Enid (37.5)
13. Southmoore (37)
14. Muskogee (31.5)
15. Booker T. Washington (4)
16. Capitol Hill (3)

Regional Champions

106 Riley Weir (Sand Springs)
113 Brandon Blose (Sapulpa)
120 Tyler Lawley (Broken Arrow)
126 Spencer Schickram (Ponca City)
132 Daton Fix (Sand Springs)
138 Jack Karstetter (Sand Springs)
145 Kendon Lee (Stillwater)
152 Zeke Rubio (Ponca City)
160 Caleb Wise (Broken Arrow)
170 Christian Bahl (Stillwater)
182 Gavin Potter (Broken Arrow)
195 Zach Marcheselli (Broken Arrow)
220 Delvin Jordan (Sand Springs)
285 Gage Johnson (Norman North)

The top-ranked Charles Page High School wrestling team won their second-straight 6A-East Regional Championship Saturday evening at the Ed Dubie Field House, qualifying eleven wrestlers for State. This is their third tournament win this season.

The Sandites had a great start to the Regional Friday, sending nine wrestlers to the finals—one more than the previous year. They had a rough time Saturday, however, losing several toss-up matches and crowning only four champions compared to the seven they had last year. Last year they sent only eight wrestlers to State and took third place as a team, so with eleven qualifiers this year they’re in good shape to make a run at their first State Championship since 1971.

The OSSAA State Tournament will held next weekend at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City. The first rounds will be wrestled Friday at 10:30 a.m., followed by the semifinals and first round of consolations at 5:00 p.m. The consolation semifinals will be Saturday at 10:30 a.m., followed by consolation finals at 12:45 p.m. and finals at 5:45 p.m.

Sophomore Riley Weir (38-6 season, 59-18 career) qualified for State for the second-straight year, winning his bracket at Regionals with four-straight pins. He recorded the fastest pin of his career against Capitol Hill’s Chrisma Collins in only twelve seconds, the pinned Stillwater’s Henry Warren and Broken Arrow’s Jackson Cockrell. In the finals he was pitted against Union sophomore TJ Long. Long was briefly featured in FloWrestling’s top-twenty national rankings earlier this season after winning the Geary Invitational, but the Sandite had little difficulty in securing his nineteenth pin of the season in 4:33. Weir placed third at last year’s Regional but didn’t place at State.

Oklahoma State University-signed senior Daton Fix (44-0, 162-0) had zero difficulty in securing his fourth-straight Regional Championship. He continued his undefeated career with two falls and two technical falls. He pinned Stillwater’s John Ritchey in 2:14 then worked up a 22-7 tech fall against Southmoore’s Joe Reynolds in 2:38. In the semifinals he pinned Owasso’s two-time State Qualifier Baylor Smith in 3:46, then scored another 22-7 tech fall against two-time State Qualifier Sam Avant of Norman North in 3:53. Fix is aiming to be the first four-time State Champion in Sand Springs history.

Senior Jack Karstetter (29-1, 102-16) won his third-straight Regional Championship, qualifying for State for the third time. He pinned Norman North Conner Mares-Ballard in the quarterfinal, then served up an 11-3 major decision against Ponca City senior Dawson Hunt. In the finals he was pitted against three-time State Qualifier Tyler Dieringer of Stillwater. The two were equally matched throughout and neither was able to score a takedown. After neither took a lead through the sudden victory round or the tie breaker period, Karstetter won with an escape in the first ultimate tie-breaker period. He failed to place at State as a sophomore, but came in Runner-Up last year.

Senior Delvin Jordan (42-2, 73-14) won his second-straight Regional Championship, qualifying for State for the third time. He breezed through his first three foes, pinning Booker T. Washington’s Cameron Douglass in 1:22, Enid’s Brock Anderson in 0:42, and Ponca City’s Austin Fry in 2:34. In the finals he took on defending State Champion Skyler Haynes, of Broken Arrow, and prevailed 3-2 in tie-breaker overtime. He was a Regional Runner-Up as a freshman, but didn’t place at State. He missed most of his sophomore year with an injury. Last year he won the Regional Championship by pinning the defending State Champion from Bixby, but was unable to compete at State.

Senior Tanner Ward (32-10, 108-22) qualified for State for the fourth-straight year, coming in Runner-Up at Regionals. He pinned Jenks’s Jared Miller in 1:52 in the quarterfinals and Norman North’s Yves Worou in the semis before falling 11-8 to three-time State Qualifier Brandon Blose, of Sapulpa. A transfer from Berryhill, Ward placed third at 3A State as a freshman and was a State Runner-Up the past two years.

Senior Michael Ritchey (35-10, 64-34) qualified for State for the second-straight year, coming in Runner-Up at Regionals. He pinned Bixby’s Ainslie Lane and Enid’s Hunter McGee in the first two rounds, then prevailed 5-1 over Laif Jones of Bartlesville in the semifinals. In the final round he was pitted against Broken Arrow two-time State Qualifier Tyler Lawley in a rematch of their Dual State bout. The two were perfectly matched throughout and finished the third period without a single point scored. They went through the sudden victory round still neutral, but Lawley got the upper hand in the first tie-breaker period and prevailed by 2-0 decision. Ritchey won Regionals last year but didn’t place at State.

Senior Beau Bratcher (43-6, 134-29) qualified for State for the fourth-straight year, coming in Runner-Up at Regionals. He pinned Bartlesville senior Jeremy Wingate in 0:33 and Sapulpa sophomore Colton Konell in 1:32, then topped Broken Arrow freshman Brady Mattioda 8-1. In the finals he was pitted against three-time State Qualifier and former Louisiana State Champion Kendon Lee of Stillwater. Neither scored a takedown in regulation, but Lee got the upper hand in sudden victory overtime and prevailed 3-1. Bratcher placed third at Regionals as a freshman and took first place the past two years. He failed to place at State the first two years, but was last year’s Runner-Up.

Junior Payton Scott (38-2, 59-10) qualified for State for the second-straight year, coming in Runner-Up at Regionals. He pinned Stillwater’s Parker Nicholas in 0:33, Jenks’s Colt Freeman in 0:55, and Owasso’s Richie Lee in 0:56. In the finals he was pitted against Ezequiel Rubio of Ponca City, but was upset 7-5 in sudden victory overtime. Scott won Regionals as a sophomore and placed fourth at State.

Senior Zane Basma (26-3, 88-28) qualified for State for the third-straight year, coming in Runner-Up at Regionals. He made quick work of his first three opponents, pinning Bixby’s Christian Shubert in 0:49, Owasso’s Brandon Dugan in 1:38, and Union’s Darius Boone in 1:51. In the finals he took on defending State Champion Christian Bahl, of Stillwater. The Pioneer got the upper hand with a 3-0 decision. Basma also placed second at last year’s Regional and placed third at State.

Junior Blake Sargent (37-9, 89-23) qualified for State for the second-straight year, placing third at Regionals. He won his first two matches by fall, pinning Enid’s Logan Herell in 1:23 and Booker T. Washington’s Elijah Harrigan in 1:19, before falling 3-1 in sudden victory overtime to Bixby’s two-time State Qualifier Easton Hudson. In the consolations he defeated Owasso senior Wyatt Johnson by 4-3 decision, then topped Broken Arrow sophomore Blake Gonzalez 7-3. Last year he won his bracket at Regionals and placed third at State.

Sophomore Noah Almy (24-18) qualified for State for the first time, placing fourth at Regionals. He won his first two matches by fall, pinning Bixby’s Owen DeWoody in 0:38 and Bartlesville’s Austin Manley in 2:40. In the quarterfinals he was forced to forfeit to Broken Arrow’s Caleb Wise with a minor injury, but he came back on day two and topped Owasso junior Nolan Miller 12-10 in sudden victory overtime to make the consolation finals. Already guaranteed a spot at State, he forfeited his final match against Stillwater’s Connor Wilcoxen to avoid aggravating his injury.

Sophomore Luke Bratcher (5-4) won his first match by fall, taking down Jenks’s Naimul Islam in 1:49, but suffered a concussion against Broken Arrow’s Gavin Potter and forfeited his remaining match.

Junior Kris Edwards (5-6) fell to Muskogee’s Jacob Wood in 3:57 in his first round match, but rebounded with a pin of Southmoore’s Jose Ruiz in 1:50. He lost his third match in a close 4-3 decision to Sam Smith of Stillwater.

Junior Gage Fain (26-15, 39-37) went the distance in both of his matches, falling 8-6 to Southmoore’s Jordan Reel in sudden victory overtime, and 4-3 to Stillwater’s Aaron Veselak in the tie-breaker period.

No. 1 Sandite Wrestling sends eight contenders to finals matches at Sapulpa

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The No. 1 ranked Charles Page High School varsity wrestling team is currently sitting in first place at the Jerry Billings Invitational in Sapulpa, by a significant margin. The tournament began Friday morning and Sand Springs entered wrestlers in only ten of fourteen weight classes while resting several athletes with minor injuries.

The Sandites currently lead No. 3 Broken Arrow 194 points to 142, with 5A No. 3 Collinsville holding 133 points. The Sandites' massive lead is made even more impressive considering they didn't wrestle anybody at 152, 182, 195, or 285 pounds. Eight Sand Springs wrestlers will be competing for first place in their brackets, while six others have the possibility of placing as high as third place.

The consolation matches will begin Saturday at noon and the finals matches will be wrestled at 4:00 p.m. in the Sapulpa Chieftain Center at 1201 East Lincoln Avenue.

106 Riley Weir (Sand Springs) vs Rocky Stevens (Collinsville) - 1st Place
113 Tanner Ward (Sand Springs) vs Caleb Tanner (Collinsville) - 1st Place
120 Michael Ritchey (Sand Springs) vs Gunner Hamm (Collinsville) - 1st Place
126 Irwin Portillo (Sand Springs) vs Bennett Sherrer (Pryor) - Consolation Quarterfinals
126 Blake Sargent (Sand Springs) vs (Sherrer/Portillo) - Consolation Semifinals
132 Daton Fix (Sand Springs) vs TaJuan Daniels (Broken Arrow) - 1st Place
138 Jack Karstetter (Sand Springs) vs Louden Akin (Sperry) - 1st Place
145 Derek Davis (Sand Springs) vs Braden Roller (Bixby) - Consolation Quarterfinals
145 Beau Bratcher (Sand Springs) vs Nate Keim (Collinsville) - 1st Place
160 Mikey Burns (Sand Springs) vs Skylar Johnson (Union) - Consolation Quarterfinals
160 Noah Almy (Sand Springs) vs (Burns/Johnson) - Consolation Semifinals
170 Zane Basma (Sand Springs) vs Dalton Abney (Cascia Hall) - 1st Place
220 Gage Fain (Sand Springs) vs Noah Cortes (Broken Arrow) - Consolation Quarterfinals
220 Delvin Jordan (Sand Springs) vs Cody Adams (Bixby) - 1st Place

No. 1 Sandites remain undefeated with 46-21 victory at No. 3 Broken Arrow

Delvin Jordan and Zach Marcheselli are both ranked No. 1 in their weight classes. Marcheselli moved up a division and lost a 4-3 decision to Jordan Thursday night in Broken Arrow.

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

CPHS 46 BAHS 21

106 #3 Riley Weir t.f. #7 Jackson Cockrell 16-1
113 #3 Tanner Ward t.f. #4 Andrew Police 15-0
120 #4 Michael Ritchey d. Blake Gonzalez 1-0
126 #5 Blake Sargent p. James Phares 0:55
132 #1 Daton Fix p. Matt Police 1:33
138 #3 Jack Karstetter d. #5 TaJuan Daniels 5-2
145 #2 Beau Bratcher p. #7 Bryce Mattioda 1:15
152 #1 Payton Scott p. Aedan Cottle 3:20
160 #10 Brady Mattioda d. #8 Noah Almy 7-3
170 #2 Zane Basma d. #3 Caleb Wise 4-2
182 #1 Gavin Potter inj. Luke Bratcher
195 Noah Cortes p. #10 Gage Fain 5:59
220 #1 Delvin Jordan d. #1 Zach Marcheselli 4-3
285 #3 Trenton Lieurance p. Dominique Pipes 2:28

The No. 1 ranked Charles Page High School varsity wrestling team (5-0) traveled to No. 3 Broken Arrow (2-2) Thursday night and won ten out of fourteen matches to continue their undefeated start to the season. Only two other undefeated teams remain and Sand Springs won't meet either in the regular season.

Sand Springs has held the No. 1 spot in the tournament rankings since winning the Perry Tournament a month ago, and they have been tied for first in the dual rankings with Choctaw (3-0) for two weeks now. Both teams received nine first-place votes this past week and neither will get the chance to knock each other off till Dual State. No. 4 Edmond North (5-0) is also undefeated, but they will end their regular season at Choctaw in early February. 

The Sandites will return to action Friday and Saturday at Sapulpa High School for the Jerry Billings Invitational against a tough field that includes No. 3 Broken Arrow, No. 6 Union, No. 8 Ponca City, 4A No. 6 Cascia Hall, 5A No. 3 Collinsville, and 3A No. 4 Plainview.

The dual started off at 106 with State Qualifier Riley Weir (16-6 season, 37-18 career) versus freshman Jackson Cockrell. It took Weir less than twenty seconds to take down his opponent and he worked him over for back points with half a minute left in the period. Weir started the second period neutral with a 5-0 lead and doubled it going into the final stretch. He start the third period on bottom and quickly reversed for nearfall points before cutting his opponent loose. He ended things with a takedown for a 16-1 tech fall in 5:20.

Senior State-placer Tanner Ward (14-7, 90-19) and Andrew Police came out fast and aggressive, and it was the Sandite who took the early 5-0 lead with nearfall points. He added two more back points soon after and started the second period on bottom with a 7-0 advantage. A quick reversal and nearfall points finished it off 15-0 in 3:44. 

Senior State-placer Michael Ritchey (16-7, 45-31) met Blake Gonzalez in a well-matched bout that ended the first period 0-0. Ritchey got the first and only point after escaping to start the second period, and once again neither contender could secure a takedown. Ritchey never allowed his opponent to break free and secured the 1-0 decision for a 13-0 team lead.

Junior State-placer Blake Sargent (16-6, 68-20) came out jacked for the Sandites and phinned James Phares in 0:55 after taking an early 2-0 lead. Senior three-time State Champion Daton Fix (21-0, 139-0) worked his typical mayhem against Matt Police at 132 pounds and built an 8-3 lead before getting the pin in 1:33 to give his team a 25-0 advantage. 

State Qualifier TaJuan Daniels put up a tough match against State Runner-Up Jack Karstetter (7-1, 80-16), but the Sandite was resilient despite having wrestled only one match in the last month. The match was tied 2-2 going into the third period when Karstetter took the lead with an escape. His Broken Arrow counterpart was looking desperately for an open shot, but the Sandite came out on top to end things 5-2.

State Runner-Up Beau Bratcher (18-5, 109-28) wasted no time in taking down Bryce Mattioda and pinned his foe in 1:15. State-placer Payton Scott (20-1, 41-8) wrestled a page out of the Daton Fix playbook, working up a quick 8-4 lead by taking down his opponent just to cut him loose repeatedly. He eventually pinned Aedan Cottle in 3:20 to officially secure the dual as a Sandite victory with a 40-0 lead.

Sophomore Noah Almy (9-10) was equally matched against State-qualifier Brady Mattioda throughout the first period and started the second 0-0. Almy scored first on an escape, then gave up a takedown, but escaped again to tie it up at 2-2. Mattioda started the third period down, escaped, scored, and led 5-2. Almy escaped, but Mattioda came out on top once again to end things 7-3 and officially put points on the board for Broken Arrow. 

Zane Basma (6-1, 64-25) and Caleb Wise both took third in State last year and were very close for the entirety of their match. Wise struck first, but Basma didn't stay under for long. He trailed 2-1 starting the second on top, but never let his opponent loose and added nearfall points to make it 3-2. He cushioned his lead with a third period escape and stayed up through the remainder for a 4-2 decision.

Luke Bratcher (3-1) suffered an unfortunate loss after a great start to a tough match. The Sophomore took on top-ranked Gavin Potter at 182 and the two were all knotted up early on, leaving a literal blood trail in their wake. After a timeout for cleanup, Bratcher quickly put points on the board for a 2-0 lead before giving up the match on an injury default. 

Gage Fain (13-7, 26-29) wrestled against Noah Cortes and suffered a literal last-second pin. The Tiger scored first, but Fain reversed almost immediately before letting Cortes out with seconds to go in the first period. Cortes started the second with another escape, gave up a point on an illegal hold, then added a takedown with twenty seconds to go. Trailing 6-3 to start the third, Fain scored an escape and picked up another caution point to cut it to a one point deficit before giving up another takedown. This time Cortes added nearfall points before Fain was saved by yet another illegal hold to make it 11-7. Cortes added another takedown, cut Fain loose, took him down again, cut him loose again, then got the pin with a single second left.

The marquee match-up of the evening was State Qualifier Delvin Jordan (20-2, 51-14) against State Champion Zach Marcheselli. Jordan is ranked first in the State in 220 after winning the Perry and Geary Championships, while Marcheselli is ranked first in 195 with Geary, Cascia Hall, and Gardner-Edgerton Championships this season. The two top-dogs of their divisions put on one of the most intense matches of the night. Jordan led 2-0 after a wild first period and added an escape to start the second. Marcheselli tied it up immediately to start the third with an escape and a takedown, but Jordan cut loose to make it 4-3, which he held till the end.

Sophomore Dominique Pipes (0-2, 0-4) wrestled his second dual of his career, and for the second time was pitted against a State-qualifier. He took on Senior Trenton Lieurance and trailed 8-1 before getting pinned in 2:28.

CPHS senior Michael Ritchey takes first place at Joe Zamora Open

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Several members of the Sand Springs wrestling team traveled to Broken Arrow this past weekend for the Joe Zamora/Skyler Holman Open, and seven wrestlers took first place.

Charles Page High School senior Michael Ritchey competed in the high school division at 126 pounds and took first place with a 4-0 record. He won his first match 3-0 over Ernie Chavez of Jenks, then majored Garrett Jarvis of Broken Arrow 8-0. In the semifinals he won another 3-0 decision, this time over Owasso's Tristan Herrera, and wrapped it up with a close 3-2 win over Chase Slatton of Jenks.

Rhett Peak competed in the sixth-seventh grade division at 80 pounds and finished 4-1 for third place. He lost his opening round in a 6-0 decision to Aiden Boyd (Claremore), but finished strong with a 20-10 major decision over Jaden Mathis (Pryor), then pinned his next three opponents in a cumulative 1:27. Kaleb Burns (Sallisaw) went down in 0:12, Denton Degner (Bristow) fell in 0:36, and Bradley Vanblaricom (McAlester) lost in 0:39.

Ryder Barnes competed in the sixth-seventh grade division at 98 pounds and finished 3-0 for first place. He won his opening match with a 10-5 decision over Bradley Saucedo (Broken Arrow), then pinned Rashaud Morgan (Vinita) in 3:26. His final match was a close 2-0 decision over Brock Mattioda (Broken Arrow).

Chase White competed in the sixth-seventh grade division at 113 pounds and finished 2-1 for second place. He won his opening bout with a 1:13 pin over Drake Norfleet (Broken Arrow), then defeated Carson Young (Claremore) by 5-0 decision before falling in 3:56 to Isaac Xiong (Oologah) in the finals. 

Luke Burdette competed in the sixth-seventh grade division at 126 pounds and finished 5-1 for third place. He won his opening match with an 1:21 before falling in 1:53 to Gustabo Ramirez (Bixby). He won out with a 9-3 decision over Jarahmy Blakely (Oologah) and a 2-1 decision over Connor Linam (Oologah), before pinning Jon Lane (Muskogee) in 2:41 and Daltyn Jory (Jay) in 1:21. 

Carter Young competed in the junior high division at 89 pounds and finished 3-0 for first place. He won his opening match 9-3 over Blazik Perez (Broken Arrow) then pinned Grant Edwards (Oologah) in 3:00. The final match was won with a 16-4 major decision over Garett Strickland (Collinsville).

Caden Vaughn competed in the junior high division at 113 pounds and finished 3-1 for third place. He won his opening match with a 1:16 pin of Dayton Hill (Broken Arrow) before giving up a 9-0 major decision to teammate Josh Taylor. He rebounded with a 2-0 decision over Christian Knight (Broken Arrow) and wrapped the tournament up with a 6-1 decision over Kolby Encinas (Pryor).

Josh Taylor competed in the junior high division at 113 pounds and finished 4-0 for first place. He won his opening match with a 2:57 pin of Kaelan Drake (Broken Arrow), then majored Blake Salt (Oologah) 11-1 and Caden Vaughn 9-0 before pinning Pason Dotson (Sallisaw) in 1:38. 

Tyler Rush competed in the junior high division at 126 pounds and finished 4-1 for third place. He was pinned in 2:33 in his opening match by Kohlin Garriott (Jenks), but rebounded with a 1:00 pin over Gunnar Spence (McAlester) and a 1:34 pin of teammate Jared Jenkins. From there he won a close 4-1 decision over Jared Douglas (Cascia Hall) and a 5-2 decision over Christian McIntosh (Pryor).

Caleb Phillips competed in the junior high division at 126 pounds and finished 3-0 for first place. He won his opening match with a 1:02 pin of Eric Wilson, then majored Nate Shaw (Metro Christian Academy) 11-0. In the finals he took down Garrett Weis (Jenks) 8-4.

Christopher Kirby competed in the junior high division at 140 pounds and finished 3-0 for first place. He won his opening match with an 0:31 pin of James Cothran (Bixby), then pinned Devon Vazquez (Broken Arrow) in 0:36. In the finals he majored Caleb Buzzard (Jay) 16-6.

Teagan Campbell competed in the junior high division at 175 pounds and finished 3-1 for third place. He won his opening match with an 0:28 pin of Jonathan Navarro (Broken Arrow), before giving up a 10-3 decision to Bryce Jackson (Oologah). The next two rounds were close, but Campbell prevailed 4-3 over Tyler Bachman (Bixby) and 3-0 over Matt Roach (Bristow).

Kaden Glass competed in the junior high division at 200 pounds and finished 4-0 for first place. He won his opening match in an 0:12 pin of Zach Garrison (Pryor), then won an 8-2 decision over Aaron Lytle (Sapulpa). He finished out with pins of 3:17 over Cameron Johnson (Broken Arrow) and 1:27 over Chad Tinney (Bixby).