February 26, 2016

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

February 26, 2016/ Scott Emigh

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.

February 25, 2016

Sandite Blake Sargent wins Regional Championship, headed to State

February 25, 2016/ Scott Emigh

Blake Sargent works on a takedown against TaJuan Daniels.

Story and photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School sophomore Blake Sargent (36-11) won his first Regional Championship by a single point, earning the #3 ranking in 6A. In the first round he pinned Garett Koss (Owasso) in 0:46, then defeated Grant Fox (Jenks) 3-2. Next to go down was #5 Justin Gundlach (Moore) by 6-3 decision, and Sargent was pitted against #4 TaJuan Daniels for the third time this season.

It's tough to beat an incredible wrestler three times in a season, especially one so close to you in talent. In the Broken Arrow dual the two ended the third period tied 2-2 and Sargent narrowly got the win with a sudden victory takedown. They next met at the Sand Springs Invitational in the finals round where it came down to a 3-2 decision for the Championship. Once more the crucial matchup was decided by a single point as the Sandite won his second tournament of the season with a 1-0 decision.

Sargent got to see a fair bit of action his freshman year, placing 3rd at both the Perry Tournament of Champions and the Jay Hancock Memorial Invitational. This year he repeated his 3rd place finish at Perry, came in 9th at the Kansas City Stampede, and finished 5th at Yukon.

This year he went undefeated in regular season duals before finally falling 9-8 to Wesley Hardin (30-11) during the Dual State Quarterfinals against Westmoore, then getting majored 10-1 by Garrett Rowe (37-5) during the Championship dual against Choctaw. He also gave up a 12-3 major to Rowe at Perry. Hardin will be wrestling at 113 at State.

Rowe is the #1 seed in 120 going into State and is the biggest obstacle in Sargent's path. The two are on opposite sides of the bracket, though, and first Sargent must overcome #8 Zackery Bibb (23-5) of Capitol Hill in the opening round. This will be the first time the two have met. Bibb was last year's 5A State Runner-Up whose only losses were to the State Champ.

From there he will either get a rematch against Gundlach, or meet #2 Tanner Cole (34-1) of Deer Creek for the first time this season. That match will be every bit as difficult as Rowe. Cole was undefeated in the season till he met Rowe in the West Regional finals and was pinned. He also pulled off a one-loss season last year en route to a 5A State Championship title. Cole and Sargent have met once before, at the OK USA Freestyle State Tournament last May. Cole walked away with a 10-0 major decision that time.

Other opponents that the Sandite could encounter include #7 Cordney Chairs (17-17) of Union, #6 Josh Suter (28-8) of Norman, and #4 TaJuan Daniels (24-11) of Broken Arrow.

Sargent has yet to encounter Suter, but he has 3-0 records against both Daniels and Chairs. His most recent matchup with Chairs wasn't even close as he recorded an 11-0 major decision at Dual State. He also posted a 7-1 regular season dual victory, and defeated him at the Sand Springs Invitational semifinals. That one was a lot closer however, at 1-0.

January 17, 2016

Blake Sargent takes first at Bobby Lyons Invitational

January 17, 2016/ Ed Dubie Fieldhouse/ Scott Emigh

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Despite sitting out several key starters, the Charles Page High School wrestling squad was still more than capable of finishing third at their home tournament behind the #1 teams in 6A and 5A. After upsetting the #1 Broken Arrow Tigers Thursday night, the most important thing for the Sandites to do now is remain healthy for Regionals, State, and Dual State. #8 Riley Weir, John Jiminez, #2 Trace Fleischman, #7 Lane Lettich, and Delvin Jordan all sat out the tournament to rest and recover, and several backups got to see their first varsity action of the season.

(Part One of Five...)

With Weir nursing a hurt arm, the Sandites didn't wrestle anybody at 106.

At 113 Sand Springs wrestled #5 Michael Ritchey (11-11) against #9 Laif Jones of Bartlesville, and the hometown boy put forward a 3-1 decision for the win. Unfortunately in the next round he was pitted against the #3-ranked State Runner-Up Mason Naifeh of Union. Earlier this week Naifeh defeated Ritchey by a narrow 4-1 decision in the dual, but this time the Perry Champion would pull even further ahead for an 11-3 major, sending Ritchey to the consolation bracket. From there Ritchey rebounded with an 11-3 major of his own over #8 John Warford of Sapulpa, but fell 2-1 to Barnsdall's Logan Bryant and had to settle for fourth place.

Also at 113, but wrestling unattached, was junior Kenny Daniel (0-2) who made his first varsity appearance since the Bixby dual last January. Daniel was pinned in 1:37 by Bryant and 2:45 by Warford.

120 #6 Blake Sargent (21-7) made a great opening statement with a 3:37 pin of #9 Cameron Clark of Sapulpa, then followed it up with a 6-3 decision over Devon Ball (Sperry) and a 1-0 decision against Union's Cordney Chairs to wrap up the first day's action. In the Saturday finals Sargent got a rematch against #7 TaJuan Daniels of Broken Arrow, whom he had just beaten 4-2 in overtime Thursday night. Once more the Sandite would prevail, this time 3-2 for a first place finish.