Daton Fix competes at Gran Premio De Espana in Madrid, Spain

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PHOTO: COURTESY\\ Fix takes down Kuatbek at the 2014 Youth Olympics. 

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Daton Fix’s 67-straight win streak finally came to an end at 3:00 am Oklahoma time Saturday, June 9th. 

The three-time undefeated State Champion and soon to be senior at CPHS traveled to Madrid, Spain for his first Senior-level event this past weekend and got pitted against a youth Olympic champion in the first round.

Fix is currently ranked number one in the nation in the junior age division (born 1996-1998) but wrestled up to senior level (born 1996 or before) in order to face off against some of the toughest competitors in the world.

Of the ten wrestlers competing at 57 kilograms, two are ranked in the top ten in the world, and all have impressive international resumes.

Fix failed to make repechage, meaning he only wrestled one match. His opponent was Mukhambet Kuatbek, a nineteen-year-old from Kazakhstan who he has met once before.

In 2014 at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, Mukhambet prevailed over Fix in the 54 kg finals for the Gold medal. That time Kuatbek took a 6-1 lead before Fix battled back to within a point for a 7-6 finish.

This time it was far slower and far lower-scoring, but equally close. Neither wrestler scored a takedown or a turn throughout the match, but ultimately Kuatbek once again edged out the US wrestler by a single point for a 2-1 decision.

Kuatbek was in turn defeated by eventual champion Erdenebat Bekhbayar of Mongolia, who is ranked sixth internationally.

Fix and Team USA as a whole both placed eighth in the competition.

Fix departed for the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs on Sunday.

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.  

#2 Sandites dominate Owasso Rams in season-opener

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity wrestling team easily overcame the Owasso Rams Thursday night in their first competition of the season, and they did it without five starters. 

The unranked Rams entered their match with a 1-1 record, beating Enid 47-24, but losing to #1 Broken Arrow 54-14. 

Sand Springs is starting a bit later than many schools, and the anticipation has been building since Flowrestling listed Sand Springs as the #25 team in the nation.

Several starters are also starting players on the Charles Page State Runner-Up football team and Coach Smith wanted to give them extra time to get in wrestling shape after a long season. 

Those missing links didn't even slow down the Sandites who only lost two matches on the mat, and forfeited two others due to not having anyone at that weight. 

Up first was 106 freshman Riley Weir who shut down his opponent Eric Merida (2-5) with a 10-0 major decision for 4 team points.

113 Michael Ritchey (1-0) expanded that lead to 7-0 with a 3-0 decision over Wyatt Johnson, then 120 Blake Sargent pinned Gavin Damilao in 0:53 for a 13-0 lead.

126 junior #6 (in 113) Jack Karstetter scored a 17-2 tech fall in 3:35 against Jesse Gomez, then his 132 cousin #1 (in 120) Daton Fix pinned #1 Baylor Smith in 3:05.

The Rams didn't put points on the board till Brandon Conrad managed a narrow 5-4 defeat of 138 John Jiminez. Jiminez took a brief 1-point lead on an escape and nearly won it before he was taken down with 10 seconds left and was unable to escape or reverse. Jiminez was a state runner-up two years ago but missed last season due to a pretty serious back injury. Though he's back at 100% physically, this was his first match in over a year and a half.

With a 24-3 lead, 145 junior #4 (in 132) Beau Bratcher pinned Jacob Mitchell in a team best 42 seconds and 152 Cody Mathis ran up the highest scoring match of the dual with a 17-8 major decision over Nolan Miller. 

160 junior (#2 in 145) Zane Basma scored a 1:12 fall against Jalen Johnson and 170 Bryton Beck was right there with him with a pin in 1:08 of Zach Mitchell. 182 John Houston was pinned by JD Johnson, but 195 Zack Sims finished the night off with a 3:09 pin of Harrison Moseby for a 52-9 lead. 

The Sandites didn't have any wrestlers available at 220 and heavyweight so the Rams were awarded 12 points for a final score of 52-21. 

While technically #1 Broken Arrow edged the Rams by slightly more than Sand Springs, the Sandites won it without state qualifier Delvin Jordan, state placer Trace Fleischman, starters Cole Dixon and Gage Fain, and state qualifier Lane Lettich who are all healthy and will be joining the wrestling ranks in the coming weeks. 

Needless to say, it looks like that #25 ranking is well deserved, and Broken Arrow may soon be toppled.