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.  

Blake Sargent takes first at Bobby Lyons Invitational

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Despite sitting out several key starters, the Charles Page High School wrestling squad was still more than capable of finishing third at their home tournament behind the #1 teams in 6A and 5A. After upsetting the #1 Broken Arrow Tigers Thursday night, the most important thing for the Sandites to do now is remain healthy for Regionals, State, and Dual State. #8 Riley Weir, John Jiminez, #2 Trace Fleischman, #7 Lane Lettich, and Delvin Jordan all sat out the tournament to rest and recover, and several backups got to see their first varsity action of the season. 

(Part One of Five...)

With Weir nursing a hurt arm, the Sandites didn't wrestle anybody at 106.

At 113 Sand Springs wrestled #5 Michael Ritchey (11-11) against #9 Laif Jones of Bartlesville, and the hometown boy put forward a 3-1 decision for the win. Unfortunately in the next round he was pitted against the #3-ranked State Runner-Up Mason Naifeh of Union. Earlier this week Naifeh defeated Ritchey by a narrow 4-1 decision in the dual, but this time the Perry Champion would pull even further ahead for an 11-3 major, sending Ritchey to the consolation bracket. From there Ritchey rebounded with an 11-3 major of his own over #8 John Warford of Sapulpa, but fell 2-1 to Barnsdall's Logan Bryant and had to settle for fourth place.

Also at 113, but wrestling unattached, was junior Kenny Daniel (0-2) who made his first varsity appearance since the Bixby dual last January. Daniel was pinned in 1:37 by Bryant and 2:45 by Warford. 

120 #6 Blake Sargent (21-7) made a great opening statement with a 3:37 pin of #9 Cameron Clark of Sapulpa, then followed it up with a 6-3 decision over Devon Ball (Sperry) and a 1-0 decision against Union's Cordney Chairs to wrap up the first day's action. In the Saturday finals Sargent got a rematch against #7 TaJuan Daniels of Broken Arrow, whom he had just beaten 4-2 in overtime Thursday night. Once more the Sandite would prevail, this time 3-2 for a first place finish.

See Related: 

http://www.sanditepride.com/wrestling/160117karstettersstourney

http://www.sanditepride.com/wrestling/160117fixsstourney

http://www.sanditepride.com/wrestling/160118bratchersstourney

Sandite of the Week: Beau Bratcher

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

This week, Sandite Pride would like to recognize CPHS junior Beau Bratcher as the Sandite of the Week for his outstanding performance at the Geary Invitational Wrestling Tournament.

Bratcher has had a stellar season thus-far, taking second at the Perry Tournament of Champions and 9th at the prestigious Kansas City Stampede.

He's undefeated in duals, has an overall record of 20-4 for the season, and is currently ranked #4 in 6A by okwrestle.com

In his opening match at this past weekend's tournament, he defeated #5 Caleb Wise (Broken Arrow) by 6-5 decision, but lost 5-1 in round two to Tuttle's 4A State Runner-Up Brik Filippo. 

Moving to the consolation bracket meant Bratcher had to wrestle twice as many opponents as most of his team mates if he wanted to make it to the 2nd place match.

He quickly pinned Piedmont's Fisher Johnson in 42 seconds, then pinned Juan Centeno of Altus in only 36 seconds. Next to fall was Choctaw's #7 ranked Jeff Spear, who lasted 1:22, followed by Hunter Jump of Lawton MacArthur, who fell in 1:45.

In the Consolation Semi-Finals, Bratcher was pitted against Stillwater's #6 ranked State-Qualifier Tyler Dieringer, whom he defeated 5-1. Earlier that same week, Bratcher defeated Dieringer 5-1 in the dual against Stillwater. 

In the third-place match, Bratcher once again had to wrestle Caleb Wise, and once again he won by a single point, edging him out 2-1.

Securing third place, he got to wrestle the loser of the championship match, Shane Brackup of nationally ranked #3 Blair Academy, and defeated him by 10-2 major decision to claim the title of Geary Invitational Runner-Up.

Bratcher's seven-straight wins is the second-longest win streak of any Sandite this season. Only undefeated Daton Fix has managed to win more than 7-straight.