Four Former Sandites Kick Off College Wrestling Season

Charles Page High School’s four-time undefeated State Champion from the Class of 2017 is back in the lineup at Oklahoma State University.

Daton Fix is in his seventh year overall and final year of eligibility. The redshirt senior is a three-time NCAA runner-up and four-time All-American and is looking to close out his storied career atop the podium.

Fix pinned his first opponent of the season, No. 16 Kurt Phipps, in 5:31 in a 38-6 dual win against Bucknell.

Also in the lineup at OSU is Carter Young, who won a State title at Sand Springs as a freshman before transferring to Stillwater.

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The Pokes will return to action on December 1st at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas.

Ethan White (2023) is in his freshman year at Reinhardt University. White is 1-4 thus far, competing in two open tournaments. The Eagles will return to action at the Lindsey Wilson Duals on December 9th.

Ethan Norton (2022) is in his sophomore season at University of the Ozarks where he recently took 8th place at the Maryville Kaufman/Brand/Bayly Open. The Eagles will compete at the Drury University Open on December 2nd.

Sand Springs Weekly Sports Roundup: Daton Fix wins World Team Trials, Carter Young flips to OSU

A version of this story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Varsity Cross Country traveled to Stillwater Saturday for the Cowboy Jamboree but neither the boys nor the girls had a complete lineup to earn a team place. The junior high and elementary teams competed at Holland Hall.

Jasmin Lopez led the varsity ladies in 64th place with a 5K time of 23:06. Alex Lopez led the boys in 130th place with a time of 19:33, followed by Noah Hanlon in 142nd with a time of 19:43.

Junior high boys placed seventh, led by Taigh Wright’s 12:28 two-mile run in 19th place. Junior high girls didn’t have a full lineup, but Maddyx Hampton placed 48th in 15:14.

The elementary boys placed second, led by Conner Williamson with a 6:11 mile for second place. The elementary girls placed fifth, led by Josie Grona with a 6:48 mile for sixth place.

Softball

Sand Springs (11-10, 5-6) went 2-2 in district action last week, winning a pair of 16-0 district double headers against the combined Tulsa Memorial / Booker T. Washington team before falling 9-3 to Jenks and 8-3 to Stillwater.

The Sandites needed only three innings apiece to run-rule the Tulsa team on Monday, out-hitting TPS 19-1 over the two games. 

Kelsi Hilton and Raeagn Rector combined for a no-hitter with six strikeouts in game one, and Hilton got the win. Nataley Crawford pitched all of game two and tossed six strikeouts with one hit.

The Sandites will host Bixby Thursday at 5:30 p.m. to wrap up district play.

Volleyball

The 6A No. 15 Sandites (10-14) went 3-3 overall last week and 2-3 at the Owasso tournament. They beat No. 14 Bartlesville 3-1 on the road Tuesday in conference action, then beat Ponca City 2-0 and Southmoore 3-1 in tournament play. They dropped matches of 2-0 to Owasso, 2-0 to Edmond Memorial, and 2-0 to Booker T. Washington.

Wrestling

Former 4X State Champion Sandite and current Oklahoma State wrestler Daton Fix won the 61kg freestyle world team trials in Lincoln, Nebraska. Fix outscored his opponents 41-5 with two technical falls to earn the right to represent the United States at the World Championships in Oslo, Norway this October.

In the Round of 16 he defeated Carter Young 13-2, then he beat 2018 NCAA Champion Seth Gross 11-0. In the semifinals he topped defending World Team member Tyler Graff 2-0 to earn a best-of-three finale against Nathan Tomasello. The 2015 NCAA Champion was no match for Fix, who won 8-3 and 7-0. 

After falling to Fix in his second match, Carter Young battled back to win the consolation bracket and place third. Young is also a former Sandite, winning a state title as a freshman at Sand Springs before transferring to Stillwater.

Young won his first match 8-6 over 2020 ACC Champion Jakob Camacho. In consolation he received a forfeit from Ethan Lizak, won 10-8 against 2016 NCAA Champion Nahshon Garrett, received a forfeit from Nick Suriano, then beat Graff 9-2 and Gross 15-12.

Young previously committed to and enrolled at Northwestern in Illinois, but he has now signed with Oklahoma State University instead.

Sandite of the Week: Carter Young takes Gold at Pan-American Championship in Colombia

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Clyde Boyd Middle School Eighth Grade student Carter Young was selected as the Sandite Pride Sandite of the Week for his outstanding performance at the first annual Schoolboy Pan-American Championship this past weekend.

The young Sandite departed last week for Medellin, Colombia as a member of the Team USA schoolboy wrestling squad. He was one of only ten Americans selected to the team, which featured three Oklahomans.

Young went undefeated in the Freestyle competition, taking the Gold medal with four technical falls without giving up a single point. He was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament for his dominating performance. In Greco-Roman he came in Runner-Up after losing in the finals and took home a Silver medal. 

Earlier this summer he took first place at the ASICS Kids Freestyle National Championship and achieved All-American honors in both Freestyle and Greco for going undefeated in the Schoolboy National Duals on Team Oklahoma. 

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Sandite of the Week is a weekly recognition given to any one person with significant ties to the Sand Springs community who accomplishes remarkable achievements during the Sunday through Saturday week preceding the award. Prior achievements may be noted in the article, but do not bear direct influence on the selection committee which only considers prior week accomplishments. Candidates may be nominated by anyone by emailing SanditePrideNews@gmail.com. The award is not given to anyone in consecutive weeks, but any recipient may be nominated and awarded again in the future, so long as the weeks are not consecutive. Final selection is made by a majority vote of the Sandite Pride Editorial Board.

Businesses or organizations seeking to sponsor the Sandite of the Week award may contact the above email for inquiries.

Three Sandites compete at Southern Plains Regional Championship

The Sandites made a strong showing at the Southern Plains Regional Tournament in Dodge City, Kansas last weekend.

Clyde Boyd Middle School eighth-grader Carter Young placed first in both styles of Schoolboy 77. In Greco-Roman he pinned Devon Weber in 0:45 then defeated Nathan Mooney 10-0 and Brandon Boehm 12-0. In Freestyle he defeated Weber with a 10-0 technical fall and Vince Cornella with a 10-2 tech.

Charles Page High School junior Michael Ritchey competed in Junior 120 Freestyle at 120 pounds but failed to place. He won his first two matches with a 7-0 decision over Brock Henderson and a 10-10 overtime decision over Fabian Gutierrez, but dropped a close 5-4 match to Brady Kyner and was eliminated with a tech fall by Tanner Hitchcock.

CPHS 2016 graduate Sage Singleton also competed but failed to place after going 0-4.

Sandite Wrestling tour de force continues at Schoolboy National Championship Duals

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Sand Springs has a long and impressive history when it comes to wrestling, but 2016 is well on its way to becoming one of the best years yet. Dual State Runners-Up, eleven State Qualifiers, six Regional Champions, one State Champion, and that was just during the school year.

As the saying goes, "Summer wrestling makes Winter Champions." Since the school year ended, the Sandites haven't even slowed down. Charles Page senior Daton Fix won a Freestyle National Championship and is headed to the World Championships in France this August. Senior Jack Karstetter came in Runner-Up in Greco-Roman at Nationals and is headed to the Pan-Ams in Peru in July. But it's not just the upperclassmen building up their resumes. Clyde Boyd Middle School eighth-grader Carter Young is working hard on the national scene as well.

After winning the OKUSA Youth Wrestling League State Championship, the Junior High Allstate Wrestling Championship, the OKUSA Freestyle and Greco Roman State Championships, and the Southern Plains Regional Championships in both Greco and Freestyle, Young most recently found himself in Indianapolis, Indiana for the Schoolboy Dual National Championships.

Competing as part of Team Oklahoma Red, alongside fellow Team BIG wrestlers Christian Forbes and Cougar Andersen, Young was one of the most crucial members of the team, going undefeated in both Greco-Roman and Freestyle.

On day one of Greco, the Oklahoma Outlaws dominated Team Idaho, winning eleven of seventeen matches for a 53-23 victory. Young defeated Christopher Martino 10-0 in his match. In the next dual, however, it was Team Washington with the edge on Oklahoma. Young won a 10-3 decision over Kenndyl Mobley, but Washington won ten matches for a 42-31 victory.

Thursday the Outlaws began working their way up through the consolation bracket, winning a pair of tough duals over Missouri and Utah before falling to Pennsylvania Red. The Outlaws had a 45-30 edge on Missouri, winning ten matches including a 10-0 tech fall by Young over Cody Ketchum. The Oklahoma team won eleven matches against Utah and Young picked up yet another 10-0 tech fall over Sage Mortimer for a 47-32 victory.

The Okies met their match in Pennsylvania after leading for most of the dual. It was back-and-forth for the first half and the Outlaws led by as much as 30-16 before giving up a yellow card and six straight matches for a final score of 41-29. Young won his match, however, with an 11-0 tech fall over Sheldon Seymour to remain undefeated in the tournament.

On Friday the Outlaws’ third place finish in Pool A landed them in the Bronze/Copper bracket where they swept the competition with four straight victories.

Young scored a 12-0 tech fall over Zachary Espalin, helping his team to a 44-33 win over Virginia. Next to fall was Indiana Gold 48-30 after the Okies won eleven matches, including a 10-0 tech fall by Young.

The Okies scored another dominating victory over Arizona at 51-29, winning eleven matches yet again. Young continued to breeze through his competition with his sixth-straight shutout tech fall, this time over Nathan Bigelow.

In the finals, the Outlaws got another rematch against Utah and once again came out with the advantage, winning ten matches for a final score of 43-34. Young continued his streak with a 11-0 victory over Mortimer.

The Oklahoma team claimed first in the Bronze/Copper Pool, placing them at ninth in the nation out of thirty-two teams. Three Team Oklahoma wrestlers earned All-American status in Greco, including Young with a final record of 9-0.

In Freestyle the boys did even better, placing seventh out of thirty-five teams.

In round one the Outlaws smoked Tennessee 60-20, losing only four matches while resting Young. The Sandite returned to action in the next round in a 58-19 domination of Utah and Young beat Mortimer for the third time that week 10-0.

Young sat out round three as the Outlaws easily handled Colorado Blue 56-18, and returned to action in the Pool A finals. He defeated Bob Houpt 10-0, but team finally lost their first dual of the tournament 48-27 to Washington.

In the true-second dual Oklahoma earned their way into the Gold/Silver bracket with a 48-29 victory over Missouri, including another 10-0 win over Ketchum from Young.

Young received a forfeit from Illinois in the first round of the Gold Pool as his team won 48-27.

His streak of seven-straight tech falls finally came to an end in a close match with Jett Strickenberger. Young got the 10-6 decision, but Colorado Red defeated the Okies 48-30.

Young didn’t wrestle against New Jersey in the next round, and it may have made the difference as the Outlaws fell 41-38, including a loss in the 77 pound position that Young normally occupies.

In the seventh place match against Arizona, he returned to action with a 10-0 tech fall over Nathan Bigelow and the Oklahoma team finished seventh overall.

Young is currently riding a twenty-two-straight winning streak and a 65-5 record for the year. He was also named an All-American in Freestyle.

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This story was originally published in the Sandite Pride News Weekly Sunday edition.

Sand Springs Wrestling Team places 23 champions at Freestyle/Greco Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Clyde Boyd Middle School played host to the OKUSA Team Big Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling Tournament Saturday. The tournament drew more than 145 contestants with well over a hundred coming from out of town.

Team Big is a mix of wrestlers from Sand Springs and the surrounding communities who train together year-round at the Charles Page High School wrestling room. Team Big photo galleries can be found at

https://sanditepride.smugmug.com/20152016-Wrestling/Team-Big-Freestyle-and-Greco-T

Grady Mittasch (4-0) placed first in Intermediate Freestyle at 65 pounds with a pair of tech falls: 10-0 against Jax Kiener and 12-2 against Logan Hargrove. He also placed first in Greco with a 20 second pin of Garret Salt and a 10-0 tech of Hargrove.

Balance Johnson (4-0) placed first in Intermediate Freestyle at 112 pounds with a pair of 10-0 tech falls over Easten Doshier. He also placed first in Greco with a pair of 10-0 and 13-2 tech falls against Doshier.

Carter Young (4-0) placed first in Schoolboy Freestyle at 84 pounds, defeating Cutter Sheets 12-5 in round one and teching him 10-0 in round two. He also took first in Greco with a pair of 10-3 and 10-2 decisions over Sheets.

Jacob Adams (4-0) placed first in Schoolboy Freestyle at 98 pounds with a pair of 10-0 tech falls over Noah Smith and Ej Tecson. He also won Greco with a pair of 10-0 and 12-0 tech falls over Jacob Burdette.

Cougar Anderson (4-0) placed first in Schoolboy Freestyle at 136 pounds with a 15-5 tech fall over Killian McGrew and a 3:18 pin of Blake Ramos. He also came in first in Greco with a 17-6 tech fall over Ramos and an 0:43 pin of McGrew.

Riley Magee (4-0) won Schoolboy Freestyle at 160 pounds with a pair of pins over Bryce Jackson in 1:25 and 0:24. He also won Greco with a pair of pins in 0:55 and 2:50 over Jackson.

Ethan White (3-0) placed first in Novice Freestyle at 105 pounds with a pair of 1:01 pins against Daris Mickle. He also placed first in Greco with a 0:45 pin of Andrew Mullin.

Blake Sargent (3-0) placed first in Cadet Freestyle at 132 pounds with three straight shutout tech falls. He defeated Morgan Morrow 11-0, Zach Myles 10-0, and Ricky Turner 10-0.

Draven Rathbun (3-0) won Cadet Freestyle at 160 pounds with  a pair of 10-0 tech falls over Atticus Aguilar and Bryce Burrdick. He also won Greco with a 5:43 pin of Burrdick. 

Owen Martin (2-0) placed first in Novice Freestyle at 65 pounds with an 11-1 tech fall against Clayton Giddens and a 14-4 tech of Dylan Abbott.

Jeran Seabolt (2-0) placed first in Cadet Freestyle at 145 with an 0:55 pin of Diego Maturino and an 0:21 pin of Ryan Stetler. 

Austin Johnson (2-0) won Cadet Freestyle at 152 pounds with a 14-4 tech fall and a 22-15 decision over Wyatt Moyers.

Michael Ritchey (2-0) placed first in Junior Freestyle at 126 pounds with a 10-0 tech fall over Sage Singleton and a 15-5 tech of Taywone McNack.

Daton Fix (2-0) placed first in Junior Freestyle at 132 pounds with a pair of 10-0 tech falls over Cody Wynn and Garrett Wild.

Kaden Gfeller (2-0) placed first in Junior Freestyle at 138 pounds with a pair of tech falls against Dillon Prutch at 11-0 and 10-0.

Sam Harris (6-1) placed third in Schoolboy Freestyle at 112 pounds with three tech fall wins and one loss by decision. He won his opening match against Garrett Wells 11-0, but dropped the next round 4-2 to Bryce Fisher. He rebounded quickly, however, with a pair of 10-0 techs over Blake Salt and Brayden Seago. He won Schoolboy Greco with an 0:27 pin of Jonathan Gatz, a 3-2 decision over Blake Salt, and a 10-0 tech fall against Brayden Seago.

Josh Taylor (5-1) placed third in Schoolboy Greco at 112 pounds with an 0:15 pin of Jonathan Gatz and a 4-2 decision over Blake Salt, but lost 6-0 to Brayden Seago. He won Freestyle, however, with three-straight 10-0 tech falls over Salt, Jacob Burdette, and Bryce Fisher.

Dariuz Black (4-1) placed first in Intermediate Greco with a 2:20 pin and 10-0 tech fall, both against Nation Johnson. He also came in third in Freestyle at 70 pounds. He lost his opening match 14-14 to Kason McGill, but teched Jake Killian and Jaxon Goddard 10-0 each. 

Payton Thomas (4-1) placed first in Novice Greco at 90 pounds with a 2:58 pin of Garrett Reese and a 0:50 pin of Zack Cooper. He also came in third in Freestyle. He lost his first match against Cameron Steed in a 11-0 tech fall, but rebounded with a 3:58 pin of Zack Cooper and a 14-2 tech of Abraham Flores.

Adrian Flores (3-1) won first place in Intermediate Greco at 87 pounds with a 3:34 pin of Aiven Robbins and a 10-0 tech of Gavin Salt. He also came in runner-up in Freestyle, pinning Salt in 1:42, but getting pinned himself in the finals in 1:21 by Robbins.

Braden Anderson (3-1) came in runner-up in Schoolboy Freestyle at 91 pounds, pinning Aidan Kirkland in 3:13, but getting teched 14-4 by Gabriel Fontanez. He also placed first in Greco with a pin over Kirkland and a close 7-6 decision over Buck Shell.

Joseph Jernegan (3-2) placed first in Novice Greco with a 0:28 pin of Jim Mullin, a 1:15 pin of Andrew Manly, and a 22-14 decision over Levi Smith. He also wrestled in Freestyle at 75 pounds but failed to place after falling in 1:52 to Levi Smith and giving up a decision to Mullin. 

Killian McGrew (3-2) placed third in Schoolboy Freestyle at 136 pounds. He won a 10-0 tech fall and an 0:29 pin against Preston Medlin, but dropped a 15-5 tech fall to Cougar Andersen. He also came in runner-up in Greco with a 1:36 pin of Blake Ramos, but was pinned in 0:43 by Andersen.

Christian Forbes (2-1) placed first in Schoolboy Freestyle at 70 pounds, winning two of three matches against Sam Smith. He lost the first round 5-0 but won the next 2-2 and the final 5-0. He also came in runner-up in Greco.

Bryce Fisher (2-1) came in runner-up in Schoolboy Freestyle at 112 pounds after defeating Brayden Seago 10-4 and Sam Harris 4-2, but falling by way of 10-0 tech fall to Josh Taylor.

Aidan Kirkland (2-3) placed fourth in Schoolboy Freestyle at 91 pounds. He defeated Adin Washbourne 12-10 but was pinned in 3:13 by Braden Anderson and went down 15-14 to Buck Shell. He also came in third in Greco with a 9-0 decision over Washbourne, but was pinned by Anderson.

Dian Fix (1-1) came in runner-up in Bantam Freestyle, wrestling at 55 pounds. He defeated Grayson Sellers 12-10 in a spectacular come-from-behind decision, but was defeated in a 10-0 tech fall by Gavin Wallace.

Mitchell Smith (1-1) came in runner-up in Novice Freestyle at 70 pounds, defeating Corban Dugelder 16-7, but giving up a 10-0 tech fall to Landyn Sommer. 

Wyatt Meredith (1-2) placed fourth in Novice Freestyle at 75 pounds. He was teched 15-4 by Eli Rodgers and 14-3 by Jim Mullin, and won a decision over Levi Smith.

Preston Medlin (1-2) placed fourth in Schoolboy Freestyle at 136 pounds. He lost his first match in a 10-0 tech fall to Killian McGrew. He received a forfeit from Tyler Rich, but was pinned by McGrew in the consolation finals in 0:29.

Cale Glover (1-2) placed fourth in Cadet Freestyle at 132 pounds, losing a close 10-9 decision to Ricky Turner and a 12-0 tech fall to Zach Myles, but won a 12-1 tech over Gavin Southern.

Sage Singleton (1-2) placed fourth in Junior Freestyle at 126 pounds with a 15-12 win over Karson Bellmard, a 10-0 tech fall loss to Michael Ritchey, and a close 30-27 decision to Brendan Clarke.

Clayton Giddens (1-3) came in runner-up in Novice Freestyle at 65 pounds after falling 11-1 to Owen Martin, but teching Dylan Abbot 12-0. He also came in second in Greco and was pinned in 1:37 and 3:57 by Corban Zugelder.

Nation Johnson (1-3) came in runner-up in Intermediate Freestyle at 70 pounds, defeating Jaxon Goddard by 20-6 tech fall, but falling 10-0 to Kason McGill. He also came in runner-up in Greco after being pinned in 2:20 and teched 10-0 by Dariuz Black. 

Daris Mickle (0-2) came in runner-up in Novice Freestyle at 105 pounds after giving up a pair of 1:01 pins to Ethan White.

Maranda Dornan (0-2) came in runner-up in Junior Freestyle at 170 pounds, getting pinned in 0:22 and 0:14 by Dylan Garcia.

Abraham Flores (0-4) placed fourth in Novice Freestyle at 90 pounds after giving up a pair of tech falls to Cameron Steed and Payton Thomas at 10-0 and 14-2, respectively. He also placed fourth in Greco after getting pinned in 1:20 by Zack Cooper and teched 12-0 by Garhett Reese.

Promised Johnson (0-4) placed third in Bantam Freestyle at 65 pounds after being pinned in 0:45 by Jake Wassom and teched 14-4 by Legend Ellis. He also placed third in Greco after being pinned in 0:32 by Wassom and 3:11 by Ellis.

Jacob Burdette (0-4) wrestled at 112 pounds in Schoolboy Freestyle and was teched 10-0 and 12-0 by Josh Taylor and Brayden Seago, respectively. He placed second in Greco after getting teched 10-0 and 12-0 by Jacob Adams.

Hunter Gines (0-4) competed at 120 pounds in Schoolboy Freestyle and lost 11-0 and 11-1 to Laif Jones and Blake Hickerson, respectively. He placed fourth in Greco with losses by pin of 0:50 and 2:41 to Auston Whitaker and Devin Graham, respectively.