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

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.  

#1 Sandites unstoppable with 2 shutouts and 4th place finish at Yukon tourney

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

What a time to be a Sandite! Our football and softball teams were State Runners-Up, Cheyenne Walden won the cross country State Championship, and now we're midway through our Winter sports and there's no sign that this outstanding class of athletes has any intention of slowing down. 

Both of our basketball teams won games by more than 40 points this weekend and are ranked top 15, and our wrestlers have had the craziest week in years. Last week the wrestlers (9-0) dominated #1 Broken Arrow (4-2) 33-19 to earn the top spot in the state and followed it up Tuesday with a 57-15 slaughter of Bixby (0-4).

Thursday the wrestlers traveled to Enid for the triple-header District Duals. The Sandites pulled off the highest-scoring dual possible against the Putnam West Patriots (3-6), winning all matches by pin for an 84-0 shutout. U.S. Grant (11-4) only fared slightly better, losing by 80-0 shutout, and Enid (4-4) was put down 65-6 to secure the Sandites' spot at Dual State.

Not only did the boys have to wrestle three duals in a single day, but they didn't even get a day off to rest before traveling to Yukon for the annual Jay Hancock Memorial Invitational. 

The Sandites placed fourth in the tournament with nine placers and three champions. Allen, Texas, ranked 25th in the nation by Flowrestling, took first place, followed by Choctaw in second and Plainview third. Choctaw is currently ranked 2nd in Tournaments and 3rd in Duals.  Plainsview is ranked #1 in both 3A categories.

The Sandites have two duals left this season. Tuesday night the boys will take on the #1 5A Collinsville Cardinals, and Thursday they'll battle the #15 Jenks Trojans. 

The Sandites are still missing 106 starting freshman #7 Riley Weir (15-8), who's nursing a hand injury, but they have plenty of capable fill-ins at the lower weights. 

106 Scotty Patton (3-2)- 5th Place

• teched 17-0 in 4:00 by #8 Trenton Higginbotham (Edmond North) 
• pinned Bennett Siler (Westlake) in 0:49
• majored Brendan Noetzal (Southlake Carroll) 16-7
• pinned in 1:52 by #5 Braden Fowler (Yukon)
• pinned Dominic Fitzpatrick (Moore) in 5:54

113 #5 Michael Ritchey (15-13) - 4th Place

• pinned Davion Perkins (Lawton) in 1:59
• defeated Chase Slatton (Jenks) 5-1
• teched 15-0 in 4:20 by #1 Paxton Rosen (Edmond North) 
• defeated Jonathan Warford (Sapulpa) 8-2
• lost 10-3 to Logan Brown (Allen)

120 #6 Blake Sargent (26-9) - 5th Place

• lost 5-0 to Jack Skudlarczyk (Westlake) 
• majored Cameron Clark (Sapulpa) 12-3
• pinned Zane Everett (Yukon) in 2:43
• pinned Jaxson Roney (Plainview) in 3:54
• lost 3-0 to Jack Skudlarczyk (Westlake)
• pinned #5 Zane Taylor (Yukon) in 4:28

126 #4 Jack Karstetter (26-6) - Champion

• pinned Ibrahim Crespo (Capitol Hill) in 1:00
• pinned Kaiden Ogee (Choctaw) in 2:45
• majored #3 Clayton Seleznoff (Moore) 9-1
• defeated Zach Atencio (Plainview) 3-1 by sudden victory

132 Unattached Derek Davis (7-4) - DNP

• defeated Tre Moore (Allen) 5-4
• lost 7-2 to Dayton West (Deer Creek) 
• lost 10-4 to Cole Shipman (Choctaw)

132 Daton Fix (31-0) - Champion

• pinned Andrew Day (Jenks) in 0:52
• pinned Garrett Griffin (Sapulpa) in 0:27
• teched Hunter Hershey (Westlake) 23-6 in 3:57
• teched Madison Roney (Plainview) 28-13 in 5:55

138 #2 Beau Bratcher (30-5) - Runner-Up

• pinned Joseph Smith (Moore) in 0:59
• pinned Noah Austin (Edmond North) in 1:12
• pinned David Washington (Allen) in 4:34
• lost 2-0 to #1 Jaxen Gilmore (Yukon)

145 Cody Mathis (10-11) - 6th Place

• pinned in 1:41 by Ty Lucus (Plainview)
• pinned Hunter Walsh (Edmond North) in 0:32
• pinned Dylan Waklee (Choctaw) in 3:55
• pinned in 0:38 by #1 Chase Vincent (Yukon)
• defeated 7-1 by Gabe Moreau (Westlake)

At 152 #2 Payton Scott (11-3) is also taking some time to recover before State, and the Sandite roster has less depth in the upper weights. Every tournament this season has had at least one weight class forfeited, and the team would consistently place higher were they at full strength. 

160 #4 Zane Basma (22-9) - Champion

• pinned Leon Larkpor (Putnam City) in 0:38
• defeated #5 Chase King (Choctaw) 7-1
• defeated John McCabe (Allen) 5-1
• defeated Anderson Salisbury (Westlake) 3-1

170 Bryton Beck (8-13) - DNP

• defeated Keith Thierry (Lawton) 7-2
• lost 8-3 to #7 Jacob Schimmels (Deer Creek)
• majored Cameron Hanson (Moore) 12-1
• pinned in 0:51 by Eli Paul (Plainview)

182 #3 Trace Fleischman (6-6) - DNP

• pinned Tres Davis (Westlake) in 1:27
• lost 7-0 to #2 Noah Hooks (Edmond North)
• pinned #9 Jak McCall (Deer Creek) in 1:46
• lost 3-2 to #6 Jared Kerr (Bixby)

195 Zach Sims (17-18) - 4th Place

• majored Zane Bailey (Edmond North) 14-5
• defeated #4 Cody Adams (Bixby) 8-4 
• lost 3-1 to Bodie Davis (Plainview) 
• defeated Cole Dixon (CPHS) 6-1
• lost 3-0 to #4 Cody Adams (Bixby) 

195 Unattached Cole Dixon (3-3) - 6th Place

• defeated Nathan Seaton (Edmond North) 10-4
• lost to Dalton Madole (Allen) 7-4
• pinned Bracken Campbell (Plainview) in 1:00
• pinned Jake Johnson (Southlake Carroll) in 1:31
• lost 6-1 to Zach Sims (CPHS) 
• lost 8-3 to Dakota Carnes (Sapulpa) 

220 Delvin Jordan (7-4) - DNP

• pinned Conner O'Neal (Plainview) in 0:49
• lost 7-3 to #1 Nic Roller (Bixby)
• pinned Colin Foster (Yukon) in 0:40
• lost 4-2 to Tyrel Bell (Choctaw)

285 Gage Fain (7-16) - DNP

• pinned in 3:23 by Dorian Fagan (Plainview) 
• defeated Hunter Richard (Edmond North) 2-1
• lost 2-1 in tie-breaker to Ashraf Mohamad (Edmond North)

Week 9 Predictions

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

These next two weeks hold a lot of post-season-implication for District 1. While the dust is mostly settled down South, the North still has four teams battling it out for playoff berths and you can expect that none of them will go quietly into that good night.

#1 Booker T Washington (7-0, 5-0) District 1

#3 Charles Page (4-3, 4-1) District 1

Easily the biggest game of the week for 6A-II, and the biggest game of the year for Sand Springs, this will be the deciding game on if the Sandites have a real shot at the state title. If CPHS can pull off the upset here then they'll have a guaranteed ride to the playoffs. On paper, the Hornets should have no problem fending off Sand Springs, but a storm is brewing and the Sandites are hungry. Booker T is a predominately run-oriented offense while Sand Springs has a pretty even pass-rush split. BTW has the home field advantage, but with rain on the way, anything can happen. Booker T leads the series 11-6, but Sand Springs has won 2 of the last 3 and the last 2 were both big-scoring shootouts.

The pick: BTW 43, CPHS 24

#2 Bartlesville (7-1, 4-1) District 1

#10 Ponca City (2-5, 1-4) District 1

Not much to see here, the Wildcats will be easily tamed by the Bruins' stellar air raid. Colton Penrod just passed the 8000 mark on career-passing yards and is third in the state this season. 

The pick: Bartlesville 56, Ponca 28

#4 Bixby (5-3, 3-2) District 1

#7 Muskogee (3-5, 3-2) District 1

Muskogee's last real hope for a playoff berth comes down to this game. The Spartans are still one of the top teams in the state, but they have fallen on hard times. Bixby is coming off a devastating loss to BTW and Muskogee gets the home field advantage in what's sure to be a thrilling game. The Spartans have a lot to prove in this game if they want to be a real contender for the title. 

The pick: Bixby 42, Muskogee 27

#5 Lawton (6-1, 4-0) District 2

#6 Midwest City (6-2, 4-1) District 2

Probably the second-most exciting game of the week is the Title game for District 2. The Bombers put up a great effort in a week 1 loss to BTW, then got upset majorly by Stillwater. Was the Pioneer loss a fluke or are the Wolverines truly the best team down South? 

The pick: Lawton 35, MWC 27

#8 Putnam City West (4-4, 2-2) District 2

#15 Eisenhower (0-8, 0-4) District 2

The Patriots came into the season as the bottom-ranked team in the division and haven't had a winning record since 2000, and haven't seen the playoffs since 1996. The current lineup has put an end to that era and is headed to the playoffs, so long as they aren't upset by the two worst teams in the state. 

The pick: PCW 42, Ike 14

#9 Stillwater (3-5, 2-2) District 2

#14 Enid (2-6, 1-3) District 2

The Pioneers won't have a winning record, but they should make the playoffs with the bottom seed, at least. Enid's only true win was a 3-point win against Ike last week. Sand Springs had to forfeit a 33-7 victory after a player was deemed ineligible. 

The pick: Stilly 38, Enid 20

#11 Claremore (2-6, 0-5) District 1

#13 Sapulpa (1-6, 0-5) District 1

The pick: Claremore 35, Sapulpa 27

#12 Choctaw (4-4, 2-3) District 2

US Grant (2-5) 

The Generals finally broke a 6-game losing streak and officially have their best record since 2003. Don't expect them to tie that magical 4-6 season, however. 

The pick: Choctaw 47, Grant 12