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.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Baseball Goes 2-2 at Pensacola Tournament

The Charles Page High School baseball team (5-3) went 2-2 at the 29th annual Tate Aggie Classic in Pensacola, bookending two blowout wins with a pair of tough losses over spring break.

Sand Springs fell 11-4 to Christ Presbyterian (3-1) on Monday as they failed to keep up with the Lions’ nine hits.

Two walks on loaded bases and Brody Rutledge’s two-run single cut an early deficit to 6-4 after five innings but the Nashville private school piled on five more runs over the final two innings.

The Sandites’ bats came alive on Tuesday in a 13-3 rout of Gulf Breeze, FL (6-4) as the Sandites turned a close lead into a romp with a seven-run seventh inning.

Dolphin mistakes did most of the damage as Gulf Breeze surrendered seven hits and 16 walks to go with three errors.

Three consecutive walks and an RBI single from Brody Rutledge set up Rhen Rutledge for a grand slam, followed by a walk and a two-run blast from Jackson Turney in the seventh.

Gage Elliott (2-0) secured the win on the mound with four hits and three strikeouts in five innings.

The scoring melee continued on Wednesday in a 16-2, five-inning victory over Niceville, FL (3-8).

Jackson Arnold (1-0) tossed three hits and five strikeouts over four innings while the Sandites recorded 15 hits.

Sand Springs opened the game at full throttle, taking an 8-0 lead in the top of the first with doubles from Jabe Schlehuber, Kayden Campbell, and Brody Rutledge.

Eli Buxton blasted a three-run homer over the left field wall in the top of the fifth for the final runs of the game.

The success train was derailed Thursday though in a 7-1 loss to Pensacola Catholic (6-2).

The Crusaders jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the third and didn’t let the Sandites on the board until an RBI single from Arnold in the top of the seventh.

Brody Rutledge led the Sandites offensively, going 4-of-7 at the plate for seven runs and four RBIs over the course of the tournament. Turney was 3-of-11 for three runs and seven RBIs.

Sand Springs will play its final tournament of the season Thursday through Saturday at the Bartlesville Bruin Classic.

Wrestling

Sandite senior Ethan White recently announced his commitment to wrestle at Reinhardt University, an NAIA program in Waleska, Georgia. White went 30-19 in his senior campaign and was a State qualifier.

Sandite Weekly Sports Roundup: Two Sandites Medal at State Wrestling Tournament

The Sand Springs boys’ wrestling team took tenth place at the OSSAA 6A State Tournament with two placers in their best finish since 2020.

Mitchell Smith took fourth place at 150 pounds to end his career as a four-time State qualifier and two time placer with a 108-35 record.

Mason Harris took fourth place at heavyweight and finished his junior year with a team-best 40-9 record.

The Sandites went 3-3 in the wrestle-in round and 3-3 in the quarterfinals with Jayden Pait, Jaxon Trotter, and Ethan White earning their way into the main bracket.

Smith, Harris, and Kase Skaggs all advanced to the semifinals before taking their first losses. Skaggs and Trotter were both eliminated one win short of the podium.

Sand Springs will graduate Smith and White but will return 12 starters and seven state qualifiers next season.

Soccer

The CPHS boys soccer team improved to 2-0-1 in preseason action while the girls fell to 2-1-0.

The boys won 3-0 against Collinsville on Tuesday with goals from Elias Villanueva, Zac Ritter, and Elgin Hernandez, with Brian Boyles recording an assist. They battled to a 1-1 draw against Sapulpa with Eli Bise scoring the lone goal.

The girls fell 2-1 against Collinsville, with Alyssa Cunningham scoring the lone goal on an assist from Ava Watts. On Thursday they defeated Sapulpa 4-1 with two goals from Watts and one goal apiece from Avery Miller and Ashley Feigenbaum.

The Sandites have one more scrimmage scheduled Tuesday against Glenpool before opening the regular season Friday with home matches against Tulsa NOAH at 6:00 p.m.

Bowling

The CPHS girls bowling team of Tabby Hicks, Olivia Alexander, Zoe Butler, and Kyeara Owens finished as Regional Runners-Up on February 18th in Sapulpa, advancing to the State Tournament Saturday in Enid.

At State they sat in second place after eight games of qualifying, but were eliminated in the first round of bracket play.

“I’m so proud of this team,” said coach Shawn Judy. “Three out of the four girls on the team, this is the first year they have competed in high school bowling. I believe we overachieved every expectation that anybody put on us.”

Baseball

Sandite baseball improved to 5-1-1 in preseason games, losing 6-7 at Owasso on Monday before winning 9-6 Tuesday against Bartlesville and 13-0 Thursday against Glenpool. On Saturday they beat Edmond Santa Fe 2-0 and tied Noble 3-3.

The Sandites will travel to Pryor on Monday and will host Union on Tuesday to conclude the preseason.

The regular season will kick off Thursday at 11:00 a.m. against Greenwood, AR with a home game Friday at 6:00 p.m. against Shawnee. Sand Springs will travel to Yukon Saturday at noon.

Sandite Weekly Sports Roundup: Girls Powerlifting Wins Meet, Wrestling Qualifies 9 for State

The Sand Springs boys wrestling team took fifth place at the OSSAA 6A-East Regional Championship Saturday in Jenks, their highest mark since 2020.

The team qualified nine wrestlers for this weekend’s State Championship, the most since 2018.

The Sandites had a tough regional with nationally ranked Stillwater and Bixby, as well as perennial powerhouse Broken Arrow leading the pack. Owasso edged out the Sandites for fourth place with 147.5 points to 141.5.

Kase Skaggs was the lone finalist with a 6-0 semifinal upset against second-seeded Ponca City junior Jimmy Swenson to avenge a district loss at 106. In the finals he fell to nationally ranked Aydan Thomas from Stillwater.

Mitchell Smith took third place at 150 pounds, winning a 2-1 overtime tiebreaker against Broken Arrow’s Garrett Stinchcomb in the placement round.

Mason Harris placed third at heavyweight with a 4-2 sudden victory takedown against Broken Arrow’s Michael Cook.

Jaxon Trotter placed fourth at 157, losing only to nationally ranked LaDarion Lockett from Stillwater before medical forfeiting the placement round.

David Ritchey, Jayden Pait, Jesse Moore, Ethan White, and Hudson Sheppard placed fifth.

The State tournament will be held Friday and Saturday at Jim Norick Arena at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City.

The Lady Sandites didn’t have any State qualifiers in their first year, placing 42nd out of 64 schools at the OSSAA East Regional.

The Keystone Kids had several top performers at the OKWA Youth State Championship, placing third in Open 8U and ninth in Open 15U.

Hudson Waag, Hagan Wolfenberger, and Ryley Kester won State titles; Sutton Hawley was runner-up; Mason Londo, Karson Waag, and Jace Simms placed third.

Girls Powerlifting

The Lady Sandite powerlifting team won its second meet of the season at Chandler, beating the home team 161 to 110 in team points.

Jaden Jordan won her third meet of the year at heavyweight, taking first in bench at 160 pounds, first in deadlift at 390, and second in squat at 360.

Madison Thompson was runner-up at 220, placing second in squat at 305, second in bench at 150, and fourth in deadlift at 315.

Addily Shotwell was runner-up at 181, placing second in squat at 235, second in bench at 125, and fourth in deadlift at 270.

Gracie Worthington placed third and Olivia Alexander, Bailey Doughty, Kelsi Hilton, and Melanie Skelly placed fourth.

The girls will compete at the Regional Championship in Miami on Tuesday the 28th.

Soccer

The CPHS soccer teams started the preseason with a scrimmage sweep at Grove.

The boys won 4-0 behind two goals from Brian Boyles and one goal apiece from Eli Bise and Dawson Puckett. The girls won 3-0 with a hat trick from Ava Watts.

Both teams will return to action with home scrimmages against Collinsville Tuesday at 5:00 p.m.

Baseball

The Sandite baseball team won its first two scrimmages of the year 6-0 against Mannford and 18-10 against Westmoore.

Gage Elliott and Wyatt Rutledge combined for a nine-strikeout one-hitter against the Pirates on Friday and Rhen Rutledge went 1-of-2 at the plate with a triple, 3 RBI, and a run.

Jackson Turney, Dom Ornelas, and Alex Dudley had two hits apiece against the Jaguars, with Ornelas scoring a 3RBI homer.

The Sandites will travel to Owasso, Glenpool, and Edmond Santa Fe next week and will host Bartlesville on Tuesday and Bixby on Friday.

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.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Wrestling Places 7th at Sapulpa Tournament

The Charles Page High School wrestling team took seventh place at the Jerry Billings Invitational in Sapulpa over the weekend with nine top-ten finishers.

The Sandites went 0-4 in the semifinal round, but Kase Skaggs, Jaxon Trotter, and Mason Harris won out in consolation.

Skaggs faced a rematch of his Jenks Tournament placement round in the 106 quarterfinals and easily rolled to a 9-2 decision against Tahlequah’s Jacob Caviness.

He was pinned by top-seeded Braydon Pacheco in the semifinals but upset two-seed Carlos Magallanes 6-5 in consolation and beat Chandler freshman Landon Earp 6-5 in the placement match.

Trotter defeated a pair of State qualifiers at 157 before falling to top-seeded Daniel Long, 4-2 in sudden-victory overtime. In the consolation finals he won a 7-4 upset against Tennessee State placer Wills Bronson.

Harris pinned his first two opponents at heavyweight before falling 4-0 to Kansas State Champion Sebastian Lopez in the semis. In consolation he won a 3-2 decision against Allen, Texas’s Blake Palmer.

David Ritchey placed fourth at 113, Jesse Moore placed fourth at 144, Jayden Pait placed sixth at 132, Matthew Moore placed seventh at 126, Ethan White placed eighth at 165, and Cash Lucas placed eighth at 285.

The junior high team took fourth place at the Perry tournament with three champions.

Jaxon Grigsby won the 98-pound bracket despite losing a 4-0 decision in pool play against Allen, Texas’s Caiden Campbell. He pinned four of his next five opponents, outscoring them 34-4 to set up a rematch with Campbell, which he won on a 2-0 sudden-victory takedown.

Kaden Pope won at 119 pounds with five pins and a tech fall, outscoring his opponents 63-3, including a 3-0 decision against Bristow’s Kale Fruits in the finals.

Isaac Sensintaffar won at 155, pinning three of his six foes, outscoring his foes 52-13 with a 13-8 finals decision over Broken Arrow’s Matthew Mann.

Kasen McAffrey placed third at 140, pinning five of his nine opponents while outscoring them 56-12. His only loss was a semifinals fall against the tournament champion.

Ryley Kester placed third at heavyweight, pinning all seven of his opponents with the exception of undefeated tournament winner Jon Broehl from Broken Arrow, who won a 1-0 semifinal decision.

The Keystone Kids youth wrestling club earned four gold medals at the Oiltown Throwdown in Ponca City.

Hagan Wolfenberger and Mason Londo both won their brackets while Ryker Dawes won two brackets by wrestling up a division.

UFC

Sand Springs native Jimmy Flick suffered a first-round TKO against Charles Johnson in his return to the octagon after a two-year hiatus.

The fight went to the mat late in the first round where it was called in Johnson’s favor after an unrelenting series of hammer fists and elbows to the head.

Flick is now 16-6 in his pro career and 1-1 in the UFC.

Football

Sandite receiver Kyle Morrall has received a college offer from North American University, an NAIA program in Stafford, Texas.

Defensive back RJ Smittick received his first college offer last week from McPherson College, an NAIA program in McPherson, Kansas.