By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief
The Sand Springs Sandites are at near-full strength and demonstrated so at the oldest wrestling tournament in the country, the 72nd Geary Invitational Wrestling Tournament
The Sandites, ranked #2 in Duals and #3 in tournaments, initially entered the season to much hubbub on the national scene after being ranked #25 in the nation by Flowrestling and #37 by InterMat.
Unfortunately, they weren't able to hold on to those ranking for long due to a less than spectacular performance at the Kansas City Stampede. Not because they don't deserve the rankings, but because they were missing half their starters. The state-title run made by the Sandite football team, which shares many athletes with the wrestling team, left several state qualifiers and other great wrestlers out of shape and battered from the extended time on the gridiron.
Head wrestling coach Kelly Smith wants to see his team make a state title run of their own, and made the decision to sit out more than half a dozen wrestlers for the first half of the season, to ensure their health down the line--when it counts.
After the winter break, however, Payton Scott, Trace Fleischman, Lane Lettich, and Delvin Jordan are back in action.
Five Sandites placed at the national-caliber event which featured nationally-ranked #3 Blair Academy of New Jersey, nationally-ranked #11 Tuttle, and OK 6A #1 Broken Arrow and #2 Choctaw
106 #8 Riley Weir (13-7) - DNP
- pinned Dylan Morris (Duncan) in 4:18
- pinned by #1 Colt Newton (Choctaw) in 1:12
- pinned by Cale Johnson (Tuttle) in 4:45
113 #7 Michael Ritchey (8-8) - DNP
- lost to (#2 in 106 5A) Gage Gomez (Altus) 2-0
- defeated Ty Lutze (Edmond Memorial) 3-0
- lost to #2 Paxton Rosen (Edmond North) 9-3
120 #6 Blake Sargent (15-7) - 6th Place
- majored James Emmer (Rio Rancho) 9-1
- defeated Mitchell Lance (Piedmont) 5-1
- lost to (#1 in 126) Dalton Duffield (Westmoore) 13-5
- lost to Mike Madara (Blair Academy) 4-3
- lost to Montez Robinson (Ark City) 4-2
126 #1 Jack Karstetter (15-6) - 2nd Place
- teched Dakota Taylor (Ark City) 21-4
- pinned Connor Harmon (Norman North) in 3:48
- defeated Jesse Diaz (Tascosa) 9-4
- defeated Bailer Thomason (Randall) 5-2
- lost to (#1 in 5A 120) Montorie Bridges (Altus) 3-2
132 #1 (#3 Nationally) Daton Fix (20-0) - 1st Place
- pinned (#6 in 145) Zach Johnson (Westmoore) in 3:11
- pinned Dustin Chase (Duncan) in 1:40
- majored Jake Beeson (Arkansas City) 18-8
- teched Kyler Gonzales (Rio Rancho) 25-10
- defeated (#15 Nationally at 126) Requir Van Der Merwe (Blair Academy) 5-3
138 #4 Beau Bratcher (20-4) - 2nd Place
- defeated #5 Caleb Wise (Broken Arrow) 6-5
- lost to Brik Filippo (Tuttle) 5-1
- pinned Fisher Johnson (Piedmont) in 0:42
- pinned Juan Centeno (Altus) in 0:36
- pinned (#7 in 145) Jeff Spear (Choctaw) in 1:22
- pinned Hunter Jump (Lawton MacArthur) in 1:45
- defeated #6 Tyler Dieringer (Stillwater) 5-1
- defeated #5 Caleb Wise (Broken Arrow) 2-1
- majored Shane Brackup (Blair Academy) 10-2
145 Cody Mathis (5-5) - DNP
- pinned by #4 Blake Mattioda (Broken Arrow) in 3:48
- pinned Cameron Dinga (Randall) in 1:44
- pinned by Samuel Mora (Tascosa) in 4:50
152 #3 Payton Scott (6-2) - 4th Place
- pinned Austin May (Duncan) in 0:26
- pinned Taylor Wright (Del City) in 3:29
- defeated (#1 in 5A 145) Elijah Tanner (Collinsville) 7-6
- lost to #1 Joseph Messer (Norman North) 3-1
- defeated Mikey Abuan (Altus) 5-3
- lost to (#1 in 5A 145) Elijah Tanner (Collinsville) 3-1
160 #4 Zane Basma (12-8) - DNP
- pinned Corey Webb (Tascosa) in 0:37
- lost to (#1 in 5A 152) Nick Mahan (Lawton MacArthur) 5-2
- pinned Jon McGill (Duncan) in 0:47
- pinned by #1 Chase King (Choctaw) in 2:57
170 #2 Trace Fleischman (3-2) - DNP
- lost to (#7 Nationally) Brandon Dallavia (Blair Academy) 16-1
- pinned Ed Chavez (Rio Rancho) in 0:43
- defeated Cooper Coil (Edmond North) 6-3
- forfeited to Josh Arnold (Collinsville)
182 #7 Lane Lettich (3-2) - DNP
- lost to Matt Lamb (Del City) 8-5
- pinned Jacob Muench (Geary) in 2:36
- lost to Jimmy Stillerman (Blair Academy) 7-3
195 #9 Zach Sims (11-11) - DNP
- pinned Keoni Chandler (Lawton MacArthur) in 1:20
- defeated Connor Kinnaird (Duncan) 6-3
- pinned by #3 Kaden Truelove (Mustang) in 1:25
- defeated #10 Elijah Green (Enid) 7-0
- lost to Teague Fox (Tuttle) 1-1
220 Delvin Jordan (4-2) - DNP
- lost to Taven Birdow (Altus) 2-0
- pinned Raen Rogers (Del City) in 0:47
- pinned #5 Jon Martinez (Westmoore) in 0:18
- lost to Nick Mosco (Blair Academy) 5-1
285 Gage Fain (3-9) - DNP
- lost to #2 Gage Johnson (Norman North) 7-0
- defeated Hunter Black (Stillwater) 8-5
- pinned by Brandon Mason (Tuttle) in 2:21
