Boys Win Glenpool Classic, Ambrielle Chambers is Sandites' First-Ever Girls JH State Champ

The Charles Page High School boys’ wrestling team brought home its third team title of the season from the Glenpool Warrior Classic on Friday, defending their prior year’s crown with five individual champions.

The team title was decided by half a point and came down to the heavyweight placement round where Mason Harris took first place while Broken Arrow’s Kahlen Thompson settled for third.

No. 4 Broken Arrow settled for second place, followed by Owasso in a distant third place.

Harris (30-2) earned a 9-3 decision over Christian Heritage’s Chase Graham for his 15th win in a row and second consecutive tournament title, making his way to the finals with three consecutive pins.

Also winning titles were Dawsen Briscoe, Kase Skaggs, Zander Grigsby, and Jaxon Trotter.

Briscoe (20-11) earned his first gold medal of the season after pinning all four of his foes at 106 pounds. In the finals he trailed 2-0 after giving up a first-period takedown to Owasso’s Chace Hill, but he started the second period on top and worked the Ram over for a fall in 2:57.

Skaggs (32-7) followed it up with a win at 113. The junior lightweight has now won nine matches and two tournaments in a row, also taking home gold at the Nathan Hale tournament two weeks ago.

Skaggs earned one technical fall and one pin in pool play before eking out a pair of decisions in the championship bracket. In the finals he took Sapulpa senior State-placer Cavin Peper to overtime, scoring a pair of third-period takedowns after trailing 3-0. He added a third takedown for the 6-4 sudden victory win.

Zander Grigsby (34-1) picked up his fourth tournament title of the season and has now won 12 matches in a row since his only loss of the year. Grigsby pinned his first three opponents in the first period at 165 pounds. In the finals he won a 10-2 major decision against Jenks junior Josh Henderson.

Trotter (33-7) won his second title in a row after winning the Skiatook tournament last month. He pinned his first three opponents at 175 before dominating the last two by way of technical superiority. In the semifinals he won 16-1 in only 2:48 and in the finals he defeated Glenpool senior Mason Buzbee 17-2 in 3:27.

David Ritchey (16-7) took third place at 120, only losing an 8-5 semifinal decision to Owasso senior State-placer Bryson Humphries. In the placement round he pinned Glenpool’s Jayden Worledo in 1:04.

Jayden Pait (14-2) placed third at 138, pinning his first three opponents before falling 15-3 to Broken Arrow State Champion Jake Miller in the semifinals. In the consolation finals he pinned Sapulpa State qualifier Ethan Peterson in 1:42.

Peyton Callis (32-10) placed third at 190, pinning two opponents before losing 4-2 to Jenks State qualifier Owen Jones in the semifinals. In the placement match he won a 16-0 technical fall against Broken Arrow senior Braden Jones in 3:26.

Jesse Moore placed fifth at 144, Preston Reyna placed fifth at 150, Hunter Spencer placed sixth at 126, Colt Hood placed seventh at 126, Brody Ensten placed seventh at 157, Gage Gunn placed eighth at 132, and Isaac Sensintaffar placed ninth at 157.

The Sandites (10-1) will return to action Friday at noon against No. 4 Stillwater (13-2) in the first round of Dual State at the Stride Bank Center in Enid. The winner of that dual will face the winner of No. 1 Edmond North (15-1) vs. No. 8 Edmond Deer Creek (12-7) at 2:00 p.m. The Championship finals will be at 6:30 p.m.

Junior High

The boys took seventh place and the girls took fourth place at the Junior High All-State tournament, led by freshman Ambrielle Chambers as the Sandites’ first-ever girls State Champion.

The junior high State tournament is arguable tougher than the high school tournament because there are no divisions based on school size.

Chambers pinned her first five opponents in the first period while outscoring them 15-1. In the 108-pound finals she won a 9-5 decision over Union’s Lydia Suniga with a takedown, two reversals, and three nearfall points.

Kenzie Johnson was runner-up at 87 pounds, pinning each of her first three opponents in the first period before falling to Lawton Eisenhower’s Emalyn Johnston-Stewart in the finals. She actually led 4-0 early in the match before giving up a takedown in the second.

Bailey Copeland was runner-up at 94 pounds, pinning her first three opponents before falling to Edmond North’s Alexandria Skidmore in the finals.

Kasen McAffrey was runner-up at 138 pounds, only dropping a close 1-0 decision to Ft. Gibson’s Brendan Bell. He started the tournament with a major decision, three falls, and a technical fall, outscoring his opponents 35-2 without giving up a single takedown.

Griffin Sensintaffar was runner-up at 87 pounds, losing a 6-5 decision to Hobart’s Jett Kline in the finals. He pinned his first four opponents and added an 11-0 major decision in the semifinals.

Ryder Richardson placed sixth at 76 pounds in the 6th and 7th-grade division and Jaxon Grigsby placed sixth at 128 in junior high.

Sandite Wrestling Routs Enid, Owasso & Union for District Championship

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Sand Springs is headed back to Dual State after winning its 19th overall District Championship Thursday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

Sand Springs has now won back-to-back district titles under second-year head coach Ty Bowling, who has won five in a row including his days at Glenpool.

“I love Dual State,” said Bowling. “It’s an honor to be able to compete there. I’ve been on both sides. Having to stay home isn’t very fun. Having the opportunity to give ourselves a chance is special.”

The No. 5 ranked Sandites improved to 10-0 for the first time since 2017 after winning 77-6 against Enid (1-8), 46-18 against Owasso (1-7) and 53-16 against No. 15 Union (3-4).

“I think we all wrestled good, battled hard, and even if we lost, we did our job to not get pinned or whatever,” said junior middle-weight Preston Reyna.

The Sandites started off with a dominant win against Enid, jumping out to a 36-0 lead with six pins before the Plainsmen earned their one and only victory.

Dawsen Briscoe (6-5), Ayreson Reiss (4-3), David Ritchey (5-3), Colt Hood (10-6), Matthew Moore (16-7), and Jackson Burdge (1-2) all pinned their foes before Steven Brooks broke up the run by pinning Jesse Moore (13-4) at 144 pounds.

Reyna (15-4) got the home team back on track with a 17-1 technical fall in 4:44, followed by first period falls from Brody Ensten (17-6), Zander Grigsby (19-0), Jaxon Trotter (20-5), Peyton Callis (20-5), Jaden Allen (7-7), and Ryley Kester (2-0).

It was at least the 14th consecutive win against Enid in a streak dating back to before any of the current Sandites were alive.

Sand Springs got in an early hole against Owasso and trailed through the first eight matches before rallying to their third consecutive win over the Rams.

Dallas Thorpe pinned Reiss to open the dual and returning State placer Bryson Humphries won an 8-2 decision against Ritchey before Hood got the Sandites on the scoreboard with a 5-0 decision against Jaxon Truitt.

Matthew Moore picked up a big 7-5 decision against State qualifier Jaxson Humphries at 132, but Burdge suffered a pin by Ryder Seago and Jesse Moore lost a 6-2 decision to Mason Moore to make it 18-6.

Finally, Reyna kicked off an eight-match win streak with a close 4-3 decision over Derek Lockridge at 150. Lockridge scored a takedown in the opening period, but gave up a penalty point in the second and Reyna tied it with an escape in the the third before scoring a takedown.

“He was getting in his own head and I kind of felt that, so I just kept pushing it,” said Reyna.

“That was a good win,” said Bowling. “That kid was one match away from being a State qualifier last year. Preston was wrestling up to 150. Every time we’ve bumped him up to 150, he’s won every one of those matches so he’s done well for us.”

Ensten followed it up by pinning Kam Miller on a second period reversal and Grigsby gave his team their first lead with a 46-second pin of Corbin Smith.

Trotter pinned Ari Davis in 48 seconds, Callis received a forfeit, and Allen won a 6-0 decision against Chris Turner at 215 to clinch the dual.

Mason Harris (20-2) had the fastest pin of the night in just 29 seconds against Alijah Hills and Briscoe wrapped it up with a 13-5 major decision against Chace Hill.

In the Union dual Kase Skaggs (17-3) started things off with a bang, working up a 17-2 first-period technical fall against Jaraett Sims, then Hood pinned Ben Mielcarek to make sure the Sandites never trailed.

Matthew Moore lost a close 1-0 decision to State qualifier Dariuz Black and Burdge was pinned by State qualifier Thomas Toteh to make it 11-9, but Sand Springs won the next five matches.

Jesse Moore kicked off the streak with a pin of Asher Davidson and Reyna won a 2-1 decision against Reyon Williams.

“Those last two were tough kids,” said Reyna. “I can’t wait to wrestle them again. I love matches that are close like that.”

Ensten added a 7-3 decision against Uriah Delonia and Grigsby continued his undefeated season by working up an 7-1 lead against State qualifier Tanner Jarvis before pinning him in 2:33.

Trotter also played with his food before eating it, taking an 11-2 advantage against Ethan Kimrey before pinning him in 2:48 to make it 35-9.

State qualifier Wura Yinusa won a 17-5 major decision against Allen at 190, but Callis pinned Ezequiel Palos to clinch the dual at 215.

Harris added a 35-second pin of Contrell Richardson and Briscoe pinned Mason Mitchell in 2:23 for a 40-point advantage before Derrick Elmore won an 11-6 decision against Nathan Feather (0-1) to wrap up the night.

It was the Sandites’ fourth consecutive win against Union.

Technically there are no All-District accolades in wrestling, but if there were they would go to Briscoe, Hood, Reyna, Ensten, Grigsby, Trotter, and Callis who all went 3-0 on the day. Harris went 2-0 and Kester and Skaggs both won the only matches they wrestled.

Sand Springs has just one dual left in the regular season and will travel to No. 3 Broken Arrow (4-0) next Thursday, but first it will host the 56th annual Bobby Lyons Invitational Friday and Saturday.

“We’ve wrestled a good schedule,” said Bowling. “Each time we’ve wrestled they get tougher and tougher and we’re going to finish with probably the toughest one yet with Broken Arrow next week.”

Zander Grigsby Leads Sandites to Jenks Tournament Title

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Sand Springs took home its 11th tournament title from the Larry Wilkey Invitational in Jenks on Saturday, furthering its lopsided reign as the most dominant team in the tournament’s 51-year history.

“If you want to win a tournament during the regular season, this is the one,” said second-year head coach Ty Bowling.

“This is kind of like a little pregionals, Regional preview. It’s a good win for our team, especially going into districts.”

The Sandites sent three to the finals and crowned one champion with 12 top-six placers. They scored 208 points to defeat Westmoore with 194 and Melissa, Texas with 192.

Zander Grigsby pinned all four of his opponents to win the 165 pounds bracket and remain undefeated on the season.

“I’m feeling good,” said Grigsby. “Winning Mid-America definitely helped my confidence and then winning this as well, I’m feeling great.”

Grigsby outscored his opponents 17-4 without giving up a single takedown and is now 16-0 in his senior campaign. In the quarterfinals he pinned Kansas State runner-up Brady Martin and in the finals he pinned Jenks junior Joshua Henderson.

“That was big,” said Bowling. “It was one of those tricky matches where if something could go wrong, that would be the match. We had a good talk with him, me and coach TeDon (Fleischman), to make sure he kept his mind right. He did exactly what he said he was going to do. It was a good experience for him to win this tournament.”

It was the third tournament title of Grigsby’s varsity career. In addition to the Enid tournament earlier this year, he also won the Cabot tournament during his sophomore campaign.

“I feel like the energy that we bring in the practice room has really changed everything,” said Grigsby. “The way that we go about practice, the way that we lift each other up, helps everybody to work harder, which is resulting in more success.”

Mason Harris (18-2) was runner-up at heavyweight after clawing his way back through the consolation bracket. The senior pinned his first three foes before falling 6-0 to two-time Sallisaw State Champion Maverick Williamson in the semifinals.

In consolation he pinned two more opponents to clinch third, then pinned Southmoore’s Jacob Clay in the second-place challenge match for his 100th career win.

“He’s tough,” said Bowling. “He’s a returning State placer, we’ve got big expectations for him this season.”

David Ritchey (4-2) took third place at 120 pounds, losing a close 6-4 sudden victory decision to Civic Memorial’s Bradley Ruckman in the finals before forfeiting the second-place challenge match.

“In the preseason he kind of tweaked his knee,” said Bowling. “He felt like he might be ready towards the end (of last year) but we decided to go ahead and give it another two weeks, Christmas break, and make sure we’re at 100 percent.”

The junior made his return to the mat in Thursday’s duals and entered the Jenks tournament as a non-scoring wrestler, while Kase Skaggs (16-3) placed fifth as the scoring wrestler in the same weight class.

Bowling made the decision to list Skaggs as the scoring wrestler “based on just what I know from a year and a half of getting to know the team and who is showing what, whether it’s in the room or on their own time, or on the mat out here.”

The Sandites were without a 113 wrestler as they sent both Ayreson Reiss (3-2) and Caden Rodriguez (1-3) to the Inola tournament with the JV team.

“They’re both kind of younger guys,” said Bowling. “We’re just trying to get them a few more matches and a little bit of confidence.”

“It was a possibility (that Ritchey or Skaggs might cut to 113) but I think now it’s probably off the table. We’ve got three duals this week, we’ve got our home tournament this weekend, so I think both of them will get plenty of matches this week and we’ll try to figure out what we’re going to do with them.”

Freshman Kasen McAffrey (8-1) was runner-up at 138 pounds, suffering his first loss of the season in the finals. He pinned his first four opponents before falling 6-0 to Westmoore senior Gannon Morales, who he actually defeated 7-4 in the dual just two days earlier.

“We have a returning (State) qualifier at that weight who’s a senior,” said Bowling.

“We asked McAffrey to step up and fill in for him over the past month and he’s done an excellent job. He’s someone’s who’s wrestled well and he’s looking to try and keep that spot. One of those situations where we’ve got all these matches this coming week and we’ll just see how that plays out.”

Dawsen Briscoe (3-5) placed sixth at 106, Colt Hood (7-6) placed sixth at 126, Matthew Moore (14-6) placed fourth at 132, Jesse Moore (12-2) placed fourth at 144, Brody Ensten (14-6) placed fifth at 157, Jaxon Trotter (17-5) placed sixth at 175, and Peyton Callis (17-5) placed fifth at 190.

The JV team took 14th place at the Inola tournament. Reiss took third palce at 113, Hunter Spencer placed fourth at 126, and Ryley Kester placed third at 285.

The wins over Westmoore in both dual and tournament action launched the Sandites to No. 5 in the 6A rankings released Monday.

Sand Springs will look to move to 10-0 in duals for the first time since 2017 when they host a district quad on Thursday at 2:00 p.m., followed by its home tournament over the weekend.

Sandites Defeat Jenks on Senior Night, Ryley Kester Wins Joe Cole Classic

The No. 9 ranked Charles Page High School boys wrestling team is undefeated at Christmas break for the third year in a row, wrapping up the semester with a 59-15 win over Jenks (1-1) Tuesday on Senior Night.

Sand Springs (5-0) never trailed, trading pins to open the dual before the Sandites went on a nine-match win streak and clinched the victory early.

“We’re on a break, so we had to come in today and get a little practice in and try to keep somewhat of a normal routine so we weren’t laying around all day,” said head coach Ty Bowling. “They responded well and I thought we looked really good.”

Dawsen Briscoe (1-0) made his season debut at 106 pounds and reversed for a pin against Cale Lawson late in the first period. It was the first time this season that the Sandites had a wrestler at the lightest weight.

“He took a little hiatus there for a couple of months but when he figured out that we didn’t have a six-pounder, he said ‘I’m going to do my best to get down and get there for you,’” said Bowling.

Seattle Lindsey won a first-period fall against Ayreson Reiss (3-2) to tie the dual, but Kase Skaggs (10-1) got the Sandites back on track with a 7-3 decision over Isaac Newton.

The next few Sandites decided to play with their food before they ate it.

Colt Hood (5-3) worked up a 9-1 lead on Reggie Bombita before pinning him in the first period.

Jaxon Grigsby (9-3) took a 10-0 lead on Holden Brolick before pinning him in the third.

Then Kasen McAffrey (3-0) won a 12-0 major decision against Bradley Hamilton, with the buzzer sounding just a second before he was about to either get the fall or a set of back points.

Jesse Moore (5-0) pinned Creek Shavney in 1:22 and Preston Reyna (10-2) pinned Pau Khai in 38 seconds. Brody Ensten (8-3) clinched the dual with a 9-1 major decision against Kade Hodges at 157 then Zander Grigsby (10-0) and Jaxon Trotter (11-2) received forfeits.

The Trojans finally snapped their losing streak when Peyton Callis (10-3) was disqualified after a big slam knocked the wind out of Alex Dombrow. Owens Jones added a 9-5 decision against Ali McCoy (5-6).

Mason Harris wrapped up the dual with a 14-second pin of Zay Goodman at heavyweight.

“Really top to bottom, we’re tough,” said Bowling. “We’ve wrestled five duals and we’ve not had the same lineup for five duals. We’ve had guys out injured or ineligible or whatever it may be and it’s next man up.”

The Sandites will return to action on January 4th with home duals against Ponca City (0-2) and No. 5 Westmoore (1-0).

Over the weekend, the junior varsity boys took eighth place out of 35 mostly varsity teams at the Joe Cole Classic in Cleveland, led by Ryley Kester with a first-place finish.

Kester (6-0) won a 10-1 major decision against Stillwater’s Jacob Mohler before earning a 3-0 upset against Cleveland State qualifier Brock Powell. From there he pinned Pawnee’s Connor McClendon in 5:19, Bristow’s Marley Branscum in 2:39, and Pawnee’s Anthony Stewart in 2:40.

Logan Childers placed third at 126, winning his first match by decision before falling to Perkins-Tryon State qualifier Cadyn Burns in the quarterfinals. He bounced back in a big way with four consecutive falls to win the consolation bracket, pinning Elk City’s Lake Hargrove in the finals.

Moore placed third at 150, winning his first three matches before falling to Blackwell State qualifier Grant Rowe in the semifinals. He bounced back with a pair of consolation wins, including 5-3 decision over Bristow’s Hank Powell in the finals.

Reiss took fourth place at 113, winning his first two matches via pin and major decision before falling to undefeated Blackwell State qualifier Jaxon Brown in the semifinals. He bounced back with a 2-1 decision over Berryhill’s Malaki Venetoff before falling to Chandler State qualifier Landon Earp.

Zander Grigsby Wins Mid America Nationals, Sandites Beat Claremore in Dual

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The No. 9 ranked Charles Page High School boys’ wrestling team improved to 3-0 on the season Tuesday evening with a 40-24 win over 5A No. 6 Claremore (3-2) at Clyde Boyd Middle School.

The Sandites trailed through the first six matches before Jesse Moore (3-0) pinned Alex Miller at 144 pounds to tie it up at 15-15.

Claremore jumped out to a 6-0 lead with a forfeit at 106. Ayreson Reiss (3-0) got the Sandites on the board with a 6-1 decision over Paul Perez, but the visitors won the next three matches.

Kale Shultz won 5-3 in overtime against Caden Rodriguez and returning State qualifier Mason Gillispie won 12-5 against Hunter Spencer. Both Sandites were making their varsity debuts.

Jaxon Grigsby (7-3) suffered a 6-3 decision at the hands of returning State qualifier Maddox Jackson for the Zebras’ biggest lead at 15-3.

Kasen McAffrey made his freshman debut with a pin of Mikey Robertson to kick off the rally at 138.

Preston Reyna (8-2) followed up Moore’s pin with a 14-5 major decision against Kaiden Soaz and the Sandites held the lead from then on.

Isaac Sensintaffar (5-2) pinned Jackson Roach in 1:52 to make it 25-15, but Brody Ensten (6-3) was pinned by returning State placer Cooper Zigafues to keep things close.

Finally, Jaxon Trotter (9-2) pinned Silas Taylor in 57 seconds and Peyton Callis (9-2) pinned Micah Duncan in five seconds to clinch the dual victory.

Claremore won one last match in a 3-1 decision by returning State qualifier Cameron Braswell against Ali McCoy (5-5) but Mason Harris (9-1) capped the night off with a 2-0 defeat of Josh Feliciano.

Next up on the Sandites’ schedule is a Highway 97 Rivalry match at 5A No. 14 Sapulpa (0-1) Thursday at 6:00 p.m.

Sand Springs wrestled its first tournament over the weekend and Zander Grigsby (9-0) led the Sandites to a seventh place finish at the Mid America Nationals in Enid.

Grigsby pinned his first pool opponent, then won a 9-0 major decision against returning State qualifier Walker Johnson of Harrah.

In the championship bracket he pinned his first opponent before eking out a 3-0 decision against Marlow State Champion Cade Gilbert.

In the semifinals he won an 11-0 major decision against Texas State Champion Tanner Casaubon and in the finals he won a 5-1 decision against Guthrie State qualifier Bryson Hall.

Grigsby outscored his opponents 42-2 over the tournament.

Harris was runner-up at heavyweight, pinning his first four opponents in the first period. He won a 2-0 decision over Guthrie State qualifier Nic Herendeen and a 1-0 decision against Piedmont State qualifier Jesse Knapp before falling to Kansas State Champion Brett Carroll.

Kase Skaggs (9-1) took fifth place at 120 pounds with wins over three State qualifiers. His only loss came to two-time Texas State Champion Isaak Arevalo in the quarterfinals and he bounced back with three straight decisions. In the placement round he won 4-3 against USAWKS State Champion Talon Verbeck.

Callis placed fifth at 190, only losing two matches to a pair of State qualifiers. In the placement round he won a 7-3 decision against Texas State placer Ryan Rainey from Arlington-Martin.

Trotter placed ninth at 175, pinning his first five opponents before falling 10-3 and 4-3 to a pair of State finalists. He bounced back with a 18-1 technical fall against Salina State qualifier Jyce Glass and a 35-second pin of Collinsville’s Sean Ross.

Matthew Moore (7-4) placed 10th at 132 with a 5-4 record. He won his first three matches before falling to a pair of State finalists. He won two matches in the Championship bracket, losing only to returning State qualifiers.

Jayden Pait (6-0) placed 12th at 138, winning his first four matches before medical forfeiting the rest of the tournament. He pinned his first two opponents before winning a pair of decisions against two State qualifiers.

Hudson Sheppard (5-2) placed 12th at 175, easily winning his pool before falling 7-2 to Harrah’s Zylan Johnson. He won his next match 7-3 against Texas State qualifier Boede Gibson but medical forfeited his remaining matches.

McCoy placed 15th at 215 pounds with three pins. In the placement round he pinned Jay’s Bryce McGhee in 1:40.

Jaxon Grigsby placed 17th at 126, going 5-2 with four pins, beating Marlow’s Harris Brennan 8-0 in the placement match. Both of his losses came to returning State qualifiers during pool play, relegating him to the consolation bracket where he dominated the field, outscoring his opponents 34-1.

Reyna placed 17th at 144, losing his first two matches before bouncing back with a technical fall and five consecutive wins to top the consolation bracket. Over his final five matches he outscored his opponents 38-0 with three pins, including a 26-second victory in the finals.

Sensintaffar placed 17th at 150, losing his first two matches before winning his next four, including three pins with a 36-second finals victory.

Ensten placed 17th at 157, going 1-2 in pool play before winning out in the consolation bracket with three total pins in the tournament.

Jaden Allen (4-4) placed 22nd at 190 with four pins.

The Sandites finished in seventh place with 320 points despite voiding the 106 and 113 weight classes.

As a non-scoring wrestler, Colt Hood took 13th place at 120 with a 4-3 record and four pins, winning his placement match by fall against Watonga’s Dakota Cox. Two of his three losses came to defending State Champions.

Sandite Wrestling Wins Glenpool Warrior Classic with 4 Champions

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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.