Oklahoma dominates Georgia 68-2 in Dual Nationals round one

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Team Oklahoma got off to a fast start against Team Georgia Blue in the first round of the Junior Greco-Roman Dual Nationals Wednesday morning, building up a massive lead before the wrestling even started.

Jet Taylor, Jacob Butler, and Jaxen Gilmore received forfeits for 126 to 138. Tuttle's Brik Filippo wasted no time in putting points on the board with a 10-0 tech fall over Khyree Alexander, then Sand Springs's Payton Scott took down Dustin Berry 10-0 in thirty seconds flat. Ezequiel Rubio pinned Cole White in a quick twenty then Nick Mahan teched Chandler Miele 13-2.

Bear Hughes continued the winning streak with an 11-0 tech over Devyn Villafane. Zach Marcheselli received a forfeit, Tanner Hawkins picked up a 16-6 tech fall over Richard Walker, then Trenton Lieutance, Alex Fields, and Wyatt Adams all received forfeits.  Alec McDoulett teched Brandon Foster 11-0 and Westmoore's Dalton Duffield wrapped things up with a 12-0 tech of Alex Cain for a final score of 68-2 with no matches lost.

Up next for Oklahoma is Team Pennsylvania who solidly defeated Team Kansas Red 49-12 in round one. 

Sandite of the Week: Rhett Rutledge

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

This week Sandite Pride recognizes Charles Page High School senior Rhett Rutledge as Sandite of the Week for his outstanding performance at the Bixby Tournament this past weekend. 

Rutledge averaged .267 batting, .467 slugging, with a .368 OBP, and made his season pitching debut with a Championship round victory over the host team. 

The Sandites (12-3) won their fifth straight in the tournament opener 8-5 against Hilldale (6-9). Rutledge landed the first hit of the game with a triple and came in on the next play with a sacrifice fly from Jake Ward for the first run. He was walked on his next plate appearance and scored once more on a Hunter Greathouse double. He reached first on an error in the bottom of the sixth and scored his third run of the game on a Greathouse single. 

Their sixth straight victory was a come-from-behind extra-inning win over Union. Rutledge landed one hit in the top of the fifth and stole second on a passed ball, but was left stranded. The Sandites won that one 7-6 in eight innings. 

He failed to land a hit in the next two games (a 4-1 loss to Bixby and an 8-0 run-rule shut out of Life Prep Academy), but batted .667 in the finale and won the game on the mound. He struck out one in the first and gave up an unearned double. He grounded out on a sacrifice to score Jake Terry for a 4-0 lead in the top of the second. 

He scooped a grounder to put out a batter at first in the bottom of the second and struck out another for a no-hitter. He sacrificed again to score Treyce Tolbert in the top of the third, but gave up a run in the bottom of the inning. 

He pitched a no-hitter in the fifth, striking out one and putting out another at first on a grounder. He hit a leadoff line drive single in the top of the sixth and was batted in by Josh Taber. By the bottom of the sixth the Spartans were pushing hard for a rally and loaded the bases. Rutledge gave up one single, two runs, one earned run, and two walks before being relieved by Brock Youngblood. The Sandites went on to win the game 10-6 for the tournament championship.

9 Sandites remain at State, only slightly behind Broken Arrow and Choctaw

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The remaining Sandites have about an hour long break before the next round begins at the 6A State Championship in Oklahoma City. 

Charles Page wrestling qualified eleven for the tournament with seven Regional Champions, more than either Broken Arrow or the Dual State Champions from Choctaw. Unfortunately 220 pound junior and Regional Champion Delvin Jordan was unable to participate dropping the number to nine. 

106 freshman Riley Weir (20-12) came in third at Regionals and was pitted against Choctaw's Colt Newton (40-3) in the first round and was pinned in 0:41. From there he was majored 14-4 by Yukon's Braden Fowler and eliminated. 

113 Regional Champion Michael Ritchey (22-16) was defeated in round one by Westmoore's Wes Hardin (31-11) by a narrow 5-2 decision but managed to hold the lead in the next match for a 5-3 victory over Spencer Schickram (14-9) of Ponca City. 

120 Regional Champion Blake Sargent (36-10) went into overtime with Zackery Bibb (24-5) of Capitol Hill and lost 4-2 in the tie breaker round. He fell in an early hole to Justin Gundlach (29-11) of Moore and trailed 3-2 going into the final period, but rallied for a takedown and pin at 5:14 to stay alive in the consolation bracket. 

126 two-time undefeated State Champion Daton Fix (44-0) pinned Bobby Robinson (30-13) of Deer Creek in 1:37.

132 Regional Champion Jack Karstetter (38-7) breezed through his first match with a 17-2 tech fall over Norman's Jeffrey Adams (23-12) in 5:42.  

138 Regional Champion Beau Bratcher (40-6) pinned Choctaw's Jeff Speer (23-10) in 4:48. 

145 Regional Champion Payton Scott (18-4) pinned Westmoore's Trey Painter (32-10) in 3:52.  

160 Regional Runner-Up Zane Basma (32-11) scored an 8-3 decision over Sam Hensley (31-13) of Edmond Memorial.  

170 Trace Fleischman (10-4) placed fourth at Regionals but rebounded big time at State with a 3-1 upset of West Regional Champion Jacob Schimmels (23-6) of Edmond. 

The top three teams are as close now as they have been all season with Broken Arrow at 25.5, Choctaw at 25, and Sand Springs at 23.5.  

The semi finals will begin at 7:15.  

State Championship: Choctaw leads Sandites 24-6 with 6 matches left

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

#3 Zane Basma (29-10) kicked things off at160 with a takedown of #4 Chase King but King escaped for a takedown of his own that added nearfall points before Basma managed to escape. King started the second period on bottom and escaped quickly for a 6-3 advantage. Basma did the same to start the third 6-4 and both battled back and forth before King got a takedown with near-fall points and pushed the match to 12-6 decision.

Choctaw rode a 3-0 lead into the 170 that saw #4 Trace Fleischman (6-2) against #9 Kalob Blackwell. The two were fairly evenly matched for most of the first, but Fleischman scored a takedown with 19 seconds left and maintained control into the second where he started on bottom and scored a quick escape. The Sandite added another takedown midway through the period and cut his opponent loose for a 5-1 advantage. Blackwell added another escape to start the third and nearly got a takedown but lost control on the way down and Fleischman rolled back to his feet. Blackwell did get his first takedown with 11 seconds left, but cut the Sandite loose and he fended off the rally to tie the match up with a 6-4 decision. 

#4 Lane Lettich (12-8) represented the Sandites at 182 against Choctaw's #2 Easton Rendleman in the closest match thus far. Rendleman scored first with an escape to start the second, followed by Lettich to start the third and they were tied 1-1 till Rendleman got a takedown with 45 seconds left in the third. Lettich got the escape but was unable to chase down the Yellowjacket and went down 3-2.

195 #9 Zach Sims (22-20) walked all over Caulin Poole for the first two periods before running out of steam in the third. He took a 2-0 lead into the second, a 7-1 into the third, and finishing up 7-3 with three takedowns and an escape. 

The back and forth affair continued at 220 as Choctaw's Tyrel Bell upset Delvin Jordan (14-5) by way of narrow 3-2 decision. 

At Heavyweight it was Zach Austin with the 2:19 pin over Gage Fain (11-19) and Colt Newton with the 0:55 pin of Riley Weir (18-9) at 106 for a Yellowjacket lead of 21-6. 

Choctaw won their fourth straight in Conner Holman over Michael Ritchey by 6-4 decision.

State Championship: Sandites and Yellowjackets tied 3-3 after first two matches

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

#3 Zane Basma (29-10) kicked things off at 160 with a takedown of #4 Chase King but King escaped for a takedown of his own that added nearfall points before Basma managed to escape. King started the second period on bottom and escaped quickly for a 6-3 advantage. Basma did the same to start the third 6-4 and both battled back and forth before King got a takedown with near-fall points and pushed the match to 12-6 decision.

Choctaw rode a 3-0 lead into the 170 that saw #4 Trace Fleischman (6-2) against #9 Kalob Blackwell. The two were fairly evenly matched for most of the first, but Fleischman scored a takedown with 19 seconds left and maintained control into the second where he started on bottom and scored a quick escape. The Sandite added another takedown midway through the period and cut his opponent loose for a 5-1 advantage. Blackwell added another escape to start the third and nearly got a takedown but lost control on the way down and Fleischman rolled back to his feet. Blackwell did get his first takedown with 11 seconds left, but cut the Sandite loose and he fended off the rally to tie the match up with a 6-4 decision. 

 

Sandite All-Stars: Your leaders in Defense

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

It's been a tremendous season for the Sandites. While they're technically 5-4, on the field they're 7-2, not even including the Guthrie game that we were leading 18-7 when it was called off due to lightning. Two of our losses come from forfeitures (due to an ineligible player) that were actually wins of 61-8 and 33-7. So while the books say otherwise--we all know that realistically Sand Springs is 8-2, which (were it official) would make it our best record since 1997.

Not to mention we beat Booker T in total yardage of 232-217 and we're the only team to score first on them all season. We're also one of only two teams to lead them at any point all season. We also dealt Bixby their first shut out in seven years.

It's well known that Sand Springs has the best secondary in the state, but just how good are they? This season, our defense has 60 tackles for loss totaling 282 yards and 11 interceptions for 223 yards!

Our opponents only average 72 rushing yards and 113 passing yards per game for an average of 11 points!

So who are the incredible players that have made all this impossible?

The following stats include both forfeitures and the Guthrie game. Whether officially recognized or not, they did happen.

Total Tackles

Senior Cole Dixon leads the team with 70 tackles, followed closely by junior Delvin Jordan with 60, and senior Jacob Taber with 59.

Here's where the rest of the team sits:

  • Jaxon Starling, 33
  • Parker Taylor, 31
  • Jason Cooper, 27
  • Nathan Simonton, 25
  • Cruz Desjarlais, 25
  • Brett Freeman, 21
  • Gage Fain, 20
  • Treyce Tolbert, 18
  • Malachi Walton, 11
  • Dalton Morgan, 11
  • Kris Edwards, 6
  • Danny Ropp, 5
  • Cody Motes, 3
  • Josh Taber, 3
  • Kameron Carpenter, 2
  • Tyler Delozier, 2
  • Hunter Willis, 1
  • Jacob Fortune, 1
  • Gino Lopez, 1
  • Austin McNatt, 1
  • Tyler Brown, 1
  • Jerry Lyons, 1
  • Jake Ward, 1
  • Chase Burris, 1
  • Miron Krotzer, 1
  • Lydon Lundy, 1
  • Jeffrey Whinery, 1
  • Ben Norte, 1

Tackles For Loss/Sacks

Senior Jaxon Starling leads the team with 16 tackles-for-loss in 8 games totaling 97 yards. He had a season-high 5 TFLs against Enid for 18 yards, but drove back Bixby 41 yards with 4. 7 of those were sacks totaling 71 yards.

Other Sandites with tackles for loss are:

  • Cole Dixon 13-49 (2-10 sacks)
  • Delvin Jordan 10-45 (7-31)
  • Jacob Taber 8-33 (1-1)
  • Gage Fain 5-12 (1-5)
  • Brett Freeman 2-15 (1-12)
  • Kris Edwards 2-10 (2-10)
  • Nathan Simonton 1-10 (1-10)
  • Treyce Tolbert 1-6 (1-6)
  • Cruz Desjarlais 1-3
  • Dalton Morgan 1-2 (1-2)

Pass Defense

Jason Cooper leads the Sandite secondary on interceptions with 4 catches and 28 return yards, as well as 3 breakups. 

  • Cole Dixon, 2 interceptions for 11 yards and 1 touchdown, as well as 2 breakups
  • Treyce Tolbert, 2-42
  • Tyler Delozier, 1-52, 1 BU
  • Kameron Carpenter, 1-65
  • Austin McNatt, 1-25 
  • Cruz Desjarlais, 6 BU
  • Paker Taylor, 5 BU
  • Malachi Walton, 2 BU
  • Brett Freeman, 1 BU
  • Delvin Jordan, 1 BU

Fumbles

Delvin Jordan has been the most effective Sandite when it comes to fumbles, recovering 3 for 23 yards and 1 touchdown.

  • Cole Dixon has 1 forced fumble, and 1 recovery for 1 yard
  • Treyce Tolbert has 1 forced, and 1 recovery
  • Jason Cooper has 1 forced
  • Gage Fain has 1 recovery for 8 yards
  • Brett Freeman has 1 recovery for 7 yards
  • Nathan Simonton has 1 recovery for 5 yards
  • Dalton Morgan has 1 recovery for 3 yards
  • Parker Taylor has 1 recovery

#3 Sand Springs (5-4, 5-2) will enter the playoffs for the fourth-consecutive season tonight at #8 Stillwater (5-5, 3-3) and is the favorite to win.