Sandites Place 2nd at Diamond State Duals, 8th at Jenks Tournament
/It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Sand Springs wrestling program as the Sandites took second place at the Diamond State Duals in Springdale on December 30th and eighth place at the Larry Wilkey Invitational in Jenks on January 7th.
At the Jenks tournament the Sandites had six placers and one finalist, led by Mitchell Smith as runner-up.
“It was, in my opinion, a little bit of an up and down weekend,” said first-year coach Ty Bowling.
“I think we had a really good quarterfinal round and struggled in the semis, but I think we came back and finished pretty strong.”
Smith faced a rematch with Salina state champion Gavin Montgomery, who dealt the Sandite his only loss in December’s Enid tournament. In that event Smith led 6-0 before giving up a reversal and pin with four seconds left.
In the rematch it was Smith who had to battle out of an early hole after giving up a takedown and two nearfall points before calling an injury timeout for a knee pain.
“I think it was more of a scare than anything, just kind of an awkward position,” said Bowling. “But he came back. He was put in a bad spot down 4-0 but he battled all the way back.”
The senior tied it up at 5-5 on a third-period reversal, but Montgomery reclaimed the lead with a reversal of his own and won a 7-6 decision.
“It’s just one of those matches where we learn in January how to finish in February, so he’ll come back strong.”
Zander Grigsby placed third, Mason Harris was fourth, Kase Skaggs and Jayden Pait placed fifth, and Ethan White was sixth at the tournament.
No. 7 Sand Springs (10-1) won its first nine duals of the season before falling 39-37 to Ozark in the Diamond dual finals, then defeated Jenks on Tuesday before the tournament.
In pool play Sand Springs won 77-6 against Fayetteville, 64-9 against Bentonville, and 74-0 against Arlington for its biggest win and first shutout since 2017.
In the gold bracket the Sandites won 78-6 against Shiloh Christian, 70-6 against North Desoto, and 69-3 against Bentonville before falling to Ozark in the finals.
Skaggs, Matthew Moore, Pait, Grigsby, Jesse Moore, David Ritchey, and Cash Lucas all went undefeated in the Springdale duals. The Sandites went 85-13 in individual matches.
“I think that was really good for our confidence,” said Bowling. “Not only did we get a bunch of matches, but we were able to win as a team and come together in a dual format.”
Ritchey, Matthew Moore, Grigsby, Smith, Trotter, White, McCoy and Harris all pinned their foes in the 58-15 win at Jenks on Tuesday.
“Obviously you want to have a lot of success in December and January, but you’re always building toward February and getting your hand raised down at that last match in the state tournament, so that’s what we’re building towards.”
Sand Springs will return to action with a tough road dual at No. 3 Bixby (5-2) on Thursday before competing at the Jerry Billings Invitational in Sapulpa over the weekend.
