Sandite Weekly Sports Roundup: Wrestling Dominates Season-Opening Duals
/The Ty Bowling era opened with a bang this week as the No. 13 Sand Springs wrestling team won its first two duals convincingly Thursday at the Ed Dubie Field House before placing sixth out of 35 teams at the Mid America Nations in Enid over the weekend.
In the first dual of the season the Sandites rolled to a 49-18 win over 5A No. 8 Duncan (1-1), going 10-4 in individual matches with six wins by fall.
The teams traded blows to an 18-18 tie after seven matches before Mitchell Smith won a 10-1 major decision to kick off a seven-match win streak.
That streak carried over into the next dual as the Sandites opened with three-straight wins in a 60-12 romp against the defending Arkansas Dual State Champions from Rogers Heritage (4-2)
Colt Hood won a 9-2 decision against defending State Champion Ethan McCrary at 120 pounds to take a 12-0 lead before the visitors got on the board.
The Sandites only lost three matches, all by close decisions, two of which were to returning State placers.
Jaden Allen and Mason Harris both pinned returning State placers and the Sandites totalled eight wins by fall.
At the Enid tournament the Sandites finished with four wrestlers in the top four of their brackets.
David Ritchey placed third at 113 with two pins, Smith placed third at 150 with three pins, Mason Harris finished third at 285 with five pins, and Ethan White finished fourth at 165 with four pins.
Jaxon Trotter placed 7th, Jayden Pait 10th, Ali McCoy 11th, Dawson Briscoe 18th, Allen 18th, Hood 18th, Jackson Burdge 19th, Preston Reyna 22nd, Jace Simms 23rd, Brody Ensten 25th.
The Keystone Kids wrestling club placed third at the Rumble in the Jungle tournament in Coweta over the weekend.
Hudson Waag, Hagan Wolfenberger, Sutton Hawley, Ryder Richardson, Ayreson Reiss, Ryker Dawes, Collin Randall, Brackton Upton, and Kydon Harness all won their brackets.
Dance
The Charles Page High School dance team took second place in 6A Small School Hip Hop at the OSDTDA State Championship on Saturday and the JV/JH team won its division.
Baseball
Sand Springs varsity baseball coach Matt Brown was recognized as the OBCA Region 7 Coach of the Year following the Sandites’ 31-8 season in 2022.
“Coach of the Year awards don’t happen without the best assistant coaches, great players, amazing families, and supportive administration,” tweeted Brown.
Football
Brody Rutledge was named the 6A-II District 2 Wide Receiver of the Year after catching 51 passes for 748 yards and eight touchdowns this season, averaging 14.7 yards per pass. He also had 18 carries for 131 yards and a score.
Jacob Blevins was also named an All-District receiver with 47 catches for 659 yards and four total touchdowns.
Drake Fain was named an All-District linebacker with 101 tackles. RJ Smittick was named an All-District defensive back with 64 tackles and two fumble recoveries.
Dominic Ornelas and Charles Gaylord made the All-District defensive line. Ornelas had 14 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. Gaylord had 33 tackles and two fumble recoveries.
Jabe Schlehuber (WR/DB) and Cody Cramer (DB) received Honorable Mentions. Schlehuber had 27 catches for 369 yards and three touchdowns, as well as two interceptions. Cramer also had two interceptions to go with 57 tackles.
