Moore, Flores, Furr, Spurgeon all take first place at Team Neo Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Fourteen members of the Sand Springs Team Big wrestling club competed at the OKUSA Team Neo Tournament at Union Intermediate High School recently, and four took first place in their division. Samuel Moore, Ryder Flores, Bentley Furr, and Joshua Spurgeon all took home the gold.

Samuel Moore (5-2) competed in Division 1 Novice at 46 pounds and took first place. He won a close 8-7 decision over Corde Williams (Bristow), pinned Gunner Killingsworth (Warner) in 0:16 and Jonathan Valadez (Sperry) in 1:11, then defeated Weston Little (Bristow) 11-7.

Ryder Flores (3-0) competed in Division 1 Novice at 40 pounds and took first place. He won a close 10-7 decision over Johnny Ray Ashcroft (Bartlesville), pinned Barry Ritter Jr. (Coweta) in 0:19, then defeated Zaden Emerson (Catoosa) 15-8.

Bentley Furr (6-2) competed in Division 1 Novice at 60 pounds and drew only two competitors. He pinned John Harvill (Cushing) in 0:45, then won a close 9-8 decision over Xander Maggard (Sperry) for his second first-place finish this season. 

Joshua Spurgeon (7-1) competed in Division 3 Novice at 58 pounds and drew only two competitors. He won a close 9-7 decision over teammate Mathew Moore, then majored Jimmy Groden (Coweta) 8-0 for first place. 

Brysyn Jones (6-4) competed in Division 2 Novice at 43 pounds. He pinned Santos Valencia (Collinsville) in 1:22, but was in-turn pinned in 0:16 and 0:27 by Cody Horner (Sapulpa) and Benson Hunt (Warner), respectively.

Jesse Moore (2-1) competed in Division 3 Novice at 76 pounds and took second place. He defeated Clay McKiddy (Cushing) 15-8, then pinned Reece McCutchen (Sperry) in 0:58 before giving up a close 5-3 decision to Cable Golden (Collinsville). 

Evan Williams (6-2) competed in Division 3 Novice at 90 pounds and took second place. He won a 7-1 decision over Jackson O'Kelley (Cushing), then pinned Christopher Akers (Sperry) in 0:19 before falling 14-2 to David Cooper (Bartlesville).

Sammy Naugle (4-4) competed in Division 4 Open at 88 pounds and took third place. He lost a 16-4 major decision to Eli Zar (Terminator WC), but came back to pin Blake Radford (NEO) in 2:45, then won a close 1-0 decision over teammate Ethan Norton.

Dallas Flores (1-1) competed in Division 2 Novice at 67 pounds and drew only two competitors. He pinned Bryce Ward (Cushing) in 4:!7, but lost a close 8-6 sudden-victory overtime match to Dane Jensen (Claremore) and took second place.

Matthew Moore (1-3) competed in Division 3 Novice and drew only two competitors. He lost his opening match 9-7 to teammate Joshua Spurgeon, but rebounded with a 7-6 decision over Jimmy Groden (Coweta) for second place. 

Aiden Wilkerson (1-1) competed in Division 3 Novice and drew only two competitors. He won his opening match with an 8-1 decision over John McDougal (Bristow), but lost 6-3 to Dylon Link (Cushing) to take second place.

David Cline (1-2) competed in Division 2 Novice at 70 pounds. He lost his first match in a close 4-1 decision to William Cade (Coweta), but rebounded with a 14-0 major decision over Jaxson Matthews (Owasso) before falling in 2:42 to Griffin Goins (Broken Arrow). 

Colt Cothran (1-3) competed in Division 3 Open at 55 pounds. He was defeated 9-0 by Cayden Cupps (Catoosa) and 6-0 by Cavin Peper (Sapulpa).

Ethan Norton (4-6) competed in Division 4 Open at 88 pounds. He was pinned in 0:50 by Kai Shultz (Pryor) and gave up a close 1-0 decision to teammate Sammy Naugle for fourth place. 

Mittasch, Bussell, Flores take first place at Catoosa Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Fourteen members of the Sand Springs Team Big elementary wrestling team competed at a tournament in Catoosa recently and three took first place in their brackets.

Grady Mittasch (3-0, 7-0) competed in Division 3 at 70 pounds and won his third-straight tournament this season. He won a 9-0 major decision over Gerald Harris (Tulsa) and a close 4-3 bout with Jaxson Humphries (Catoosa), then pinned Cory Velasquez (Tulsa) in 1:20. 

Jayden Bussell (2-0) competed in Division 1 at 55 pounds and drew only two competitors. He pinned Mateo Baldez (Miami) in 0:09 and Colton Waldon (Miami) in 0:17 for first place. 

Dariuz Black (3-1) competed in Division 3 at 73 pounds and took second place. He pinned Derek Bailey (Pryor) in 2:28 and Aidan Wolfe (Pryor) in 0:23 and won a 7-0 decision over Samuel Melton (Renegade) before falling 5-0 to Louden Wolfe (Blackwell). 

Jaxon Trotter (3-1, 3-2) competed in Division 3 at 85 pounds and took third place. He was pinned in 0:43 by Tyler McCall (Catoosa), but won out from there with two pins and a major decision. He took down Ayden Tucker (Berryhill) in 0:36, Gabriel Rios (Berryhill) in 0:40, and majored Matthew Gass (Terminator) 9-0. 

Abraham Flores (2-1, 4-1) competed in Division 4 at 96 pounds and drew only one competitor. He was pinned in 0:59 in his first match against Rayden Agee (Blackwell), but won the next two matches 8-3 and 11-5 in a best-of-three series for first place. 

Tabor Reiss (2-1, 4-1) competed in Division 1 at 37 pounds and took second place. He defeated Zadien Emerson (Catoosa) by 16-0 tech fall and pinned Kroy Wolfe (Blackwell) in 0:26 before falling in 0:50 to Jayden Beard (Sperry) in the Championship round.

Clayton Giddens (2-1, 5-1) competed in Division 4 at 67 pounds and took second place. He defeated Andrew Havens (Sperry) by 19-3 tech fall and pinned Rhyder Morrow (Cushing) in 0:43, but lost 8-6 to Corban Zugelder (Catoosa) in a sudden-victory overtime match.

Kasen McAffery (2-1) competed in Division 2 at 61 pounds and took second place. He pinned Ayden Carlile (Catoosa) in 3:31 and Chase Bean (Berryhill) in 4:18 before falling in 1:12 to Brogan Oneal (Catoosa).

Colt Cothran (1-1) competed in Division 3 at 58 pounds and took second place. He pinned Camden Whitby (Collinsville) in 4:15, but was defeated 16-0 by Kyler Auten (Sperry). 

Robert Burke (3-2, 5-2) competed in Division 3 at 64 pounds and took fourth place. He was defeated 5-2 by Miles Velasquez (Tulsa) in the opening round, but bounced back with three-straight wins. He beat Keegan Herring (Sperry) 5-1, pinned Benjamin Smith (Bentonville) in 0:53, and decisioned teammate David Ritchey 6-3, before falling 9-1 to Daxton Sullivan (Bristow) in the consolation finals. 

David Ritchey (2-2) competed in Division 3 at 64 pounds. He pinned Andrew Kunkle (Catoosa) in 0:48 and majored Mason Moore (Owasso) 10-2 before falling 4-1 and 6-3 to Miles Velasquez (Tulsa) and teammate Robert Burke, respectively.

Ty Burdge (1-2) competed in Division 2 at 52 pounds. He defeated Matthew Compton (Catoosa) 8-2, but was pinned in 0:47 by Spencer McCellend (Pryor) and 0:24 by Jesse Justice (Sperry).

Hunter Dressler (1-2, 1-4) competed in Division 4 at 160 pounds and took third place. He pinned Preston Clark (Catoosa) in 0:49, but was pinned in 2:21 and 0:47 by Gunner Wilson (Catoosa) and Tyler Rich (Owasso), respectively. 

Carter Wood (0-2) competed in Division 2 at 70 pounds. He was defeated 10-2 by Grant Rowe (Blackwell) and 12-10 by Braxton Baker (Stilwell).

Adrian Flores (0-2, 5-4) competed in Division 3 at 100 pounds and drew only one competitor. He was pinned in 3:54 and defeated by a 15-0 tech fall against Kruz Goff (Blackwell).