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.  

#20 Jenks Trojans upset #10 Sandites

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity dribblers still hold their #10 ranking, but have been going in the opposite direction from where they started.  

After starting the season 7-0, the boys have given up four straight and gave up a close loss to the #20 Jenks Trojans whom they should have handled easily. 

The Sandites got on the board first with a layup by Arvionte Nichols, but TJ Washington shot three from three-point range, broken up by a Kyle Keener free throw, to make the score 9-3. Once more it would appear the Trojans were having difficulty at the score table, however, and the score was only updated to 7-3--a mistake that would not be corrected.  

The Trojan scoring frenzy continued till they had worked up a 22-9 first quarter lead.

The second quarter belonged to Sand Springs, however, as the Sandites found their mojo and doubled the home team 16-8 by half time. The visitors still trailed by 5 (three according to the scoreboard) but they were clearly on the up-and-up.  

The Sandites won the third quarter as well, but only by 12-11 and still trailed by four going into the final period.  

Both teams battled valiantly but ultimately it came down to a series of desperation fouls and the Trojans came out on top for a 53-48 finish with Washington sinking a pair of freebies for an incredible 28 point game high. 

Keener and Haddock both doubled but it was a shortage of rebounds that ultimately did the Sandites in.  

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Sandite Carter Young travels to Virginia Holiday Duals

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Sand Springs wrestler Carter Young traveled to the East Coast this past month to participate in the 2015 Virginia Holiday Duals as part of junior high team Oklahoma Outlaws. The group placed 19th out of 48 teams, several of which included state and national champions.

Young wrestled at the 80 pound weight class for the duration of the tournament.

In round one he was pitted against Jesse Mendez (2012 USA Nationals Champ, two-time Winter Nationals Champ, three-time Border War National Champ,  four-time USA Wrestling All American) and was dealt a 6-2 decision in Oklahoma's 41-14 loss to Illinois Orange. Illinois would go on to take 9th overall.

The whole team rebounded in round two and Young pinned Ethan Scurlock in 1:26 as the Outlaws defeated the Virginia Bandits 58-10 and followed it up with a 9-0 major decision over Isaiah Poppe to contribute to a 58-13 defeat of Terps Contender Elite. 

With a 2-1 record, the Outlaws took second in Pool 8 and joined the Silver bracket. 

Young's next match-up was closer, a 3-1 decision over Jake Bursese of The CREW. The Outlaws won that dual 43-19, but lost 34-28 in round two to Florida Team Greco who went on to take 4th in Silver. Young was edged out 2-0 by Brendon Abdon (ASICS Kids Nationals 4th-placer, USAW Preseason Nationals 3rd-placer).

In round three the Outlaws defeated Scorpions Black 39-33, but Young was unable to overcome Sean Rendeiro and once again barely lost 2-0. Terps MS Express beat the Outlaws 51-12 and Jordan Titus (2015 Great Lakes Champion) overcame Young 6-5. It would be his last loss of the tournament, however. 

Ohio Grey defeated Oklahoma 39-31 and Young won his match by forfeit.

In the consolation semifinals, the Outlaws were narrowly defeated 35-all by Team Pennsylvania Blue. Young edged Chanz Shearer 3-2, then finished out the tournament with a 4-1 decision over Pat Phillips to contribute to a 39-33 win over Apex Wrestling Club. 

Overall Young went 6-4 and the Outlaws were 5-5 with a 7th place finish in the Silver bracket. 

Haddock scores 26 in Sandites' defeat of #5 Ardmore

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Morgan Miller

The Ardmore Holiday Invitational has been a mess of delays, but it hasn't slowed down the Sandite scoring effort.

The whole tournament was pushed back 24 hours due to the blizzards, flooding, tornadoes, and whatever else the Oklahoma weather was throwing at us Sunday and Monday. Then, the Sandites' opening game against Greenhill Prep (12-3) was delayed a further two hours Tuesday night, and Wednesday night's game against the tournament hosts was delayed an hour and a half.

Tuesday night's game against the Dallas-area private school was a back and forth effort till midway through the fourth quarter when the Sandites finally pulled away for a 73-54 win and a 6-0 record. 

At halftime the lead was a mere 36-33.

Three Sandites scored in the double digits--the same three that lead the team overall for the season. Colt Savage led all scorers with 18 points, tying the career-high record he set last season. Not far behind him was fellow sophomore Brooks Haddock with 16 and Kyle Keener with 15.

Greenhill also had three double-digit scorers. Kreitling and Bryant both scored 13 followed by Woods with 11. 

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The action continued Wednesday night as the Sandites took on the hosting Ardmore team who had just defeated Western Heights 88-72 the night before. The #5 team in 5A had a 5-3 record going into the game, and Sand Springs was out to spoil it.

Sand Springs got on the board first with a three-pointer from Mack Thompson who tied his season-high with ten points. The two teams were back and forth in scoring, but the Tigers led for most of the first period before Sand Springs began to tie it up towards the end of the quarter. 

Finally, Kyle Keener sank a two and added a free-throw to retake the lead, 19-18. It would only last a moment, however, as Carlos Coppage would nail a three at the buzzer. 

The two teams traded the lead with each of the first three shots of the second period before Thompson, Keener, and Colt Savage scored back-to-back to give their team some wiggle room. 

The Sandites trailed by as much as 4 in the first period, then led by as much as 7 in the second before a sloppy finish gave the Tigers three-straight turnovers to narrow the game to 37-36 going into the half. 

The Sandites missed 15 field goals in the first half and gave up 14 turnovers.

Whatever Coach Savage said to them at half time seemed to work, because the boys only gave up 7 more turnovers in the second half. 

The better offensive effort helped Sand Springs to outscore the Tigers 16-11 in the third, but the beginning of the fourth belonged to Ardmore who tied things up at 55 halfway through the fourth. 

Finally, Sand Springs pulled away, scoring 19 points in the last 4 minutes to ice the cake for a 74-60 win.

Free-throws seemed to be the Tigers' kryptonite as the home team shot 13 of 25 from the line compared to the Sandites' 19 of 26. Ardmore did lead in turnovers, however, giving up the ball only 13 times to the Sandites' 21. 

Brooks Haddock led all scorers with a season-high 26 points, chased by Ardmore's Marvin Johnson with 21. All together, Sand Springs had 4 players in double digits, while Ardmore only managed 2. Jacob Taber also scored a personal season-best with 5 points.

Sand Springs (7-0) will play in the tournament championship Thursday at 2:30.

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Sandite of the Week: Daton Fix

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

This week Sandite Pride would like to recognize Daton Fix as Sandite of the Week for his 1st place finish at the prestigious Kansas City Stampede. This is Fix's third win at the annual event, making him only the sixth contender to win it 3 or more times. He won it the last two years at 113 and 126, and this year at 132.

Fix is a two-time state champion and has an undefeated high school record of 86-0 with a 13-0 record this year. He's claimed 15 National Championships, 2 Pan-American Championships, a Junior Olympics Silver Medal, and a World Championship Bronze Medal. 

In the last two years he has wrestled in Bosnia, China, Colombia, Slovakia, and Brazil. He is currently ranked 1st in Oklahoma at 132, 3rd in America at 126, and 9th in America pound-for-pound.