CPHS senior Michael Ritchey takes first place at Joe Zamora Open

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Several members of the Sand Springs wrestling team traveled to Broken Arrow this past weekend for the Joe Zamora/Skyler Holman Open, and seven wrestlers took first place.

Charles Page High School senior Michael Ritchey competed in the high school division at 126 pounds and took first place with a 4-0 record. He won his first match 3-0 over Ernie Chavez of Jenks, then majored Garrett Jarvis of Broken Arrow 8-0. In the semifinals he won another 3-0 decision, this time over Owasso's Tristan Herrera, and wrapped it up with a close 3-2 win over Chase Slatton of Jenks.

Rhett Peak competed in the sixth-seventh grade division at 80 pounds and finished 4-1 for third place. He lost his opening round in a 6-0 decision to Aiden Boyd (Claremore), but finished strong with a 20-10 major decision over Jaden Mathis (Pryor), then pinned his next three opponents in a cumulative 1:27. Kaleb Burns (Sallisaw) went down in 0:12, Denton Degner (Bristow) fell in 0:36, and Bradley Vanblaricom (McAlester) lost in 0:39.

Ryder Barnes competed in the sixth-seventh grade division at 98 pounds and finished 3-0 for first place. He won his opening match with a 10-5 decision over Bradley Saucedo (Broken Arrow), then pinned Rashaud Morgan (Vinita) in 3:26. His final match was a close 2-0 decision over Brock Mattioda (Broken Arrow).

Chase White competed in the sixth-seventh grade division at 113 pounds and finished 2-1 for second place. He won his opening bout with a 1:13 pin over Drake Norfleet (Broken Arrow), then defeated Carson Young (Claremore) by 5-0 decision before falling in 3:56 to Isaac Xiong (Oologah) in the finals. 

Luke Burdette competed in the sixth-seventh grade division at 126 pounds and finished 5-1 for third place. He won his opening match with an 1:21 before falling in 1:53 to Gustabo Ramirez (Bixby). He won out with a 9-3 decision over Jarahmy Blakely (Oologah) and a 2-1 decision over Connor Linam (Oologah), before pinning Jon Lane (Muskogee) in 2:41 and Daltyn Jory (Jay) in 1:21. 

Carter Young competed in the junior high division at 89 pounds and finished 3-0 for first place. He won his opening match 9-3 over Blazik Perez (Broken Arrow) then pinned Grant Edwards (Oologah) in 3:00. The final match was won with a 16-4 major decision over Garett Strickland (Collinsville).

Caden Vaughn competed in the junior high division at 113 pounds and finished 3-1 for third place. He won his opening match with a 1:16 pin of Dayton Hill (Broken Arrow) before giving up a 9-0 major decision to teammate Josh Taylor. He rebounded with a 2-0 decision over Christian Knight (Broken Arrow) and wrapped the tournament up with a 6-1 decision over Kolby Encinas (Pryor).

Josh Taylor competed in the junior high division at 113 pounds and finished 4-0 for first place. He won his opening match with a 2:57 pin of Kaelan Drake (Broken Arrow), then majored Blake Salt (Oologah) 11-1 and Caden Vaughn 9-0 before pinning Pason Dotson (Sallisaw) in 1:38. 

Tyler Rush competed in the junior high division at 126 pounds and finished 4-1 for third place. He was pinned in 2:33 in his opening match by Kohlin Garriott (Jenks), but rebounded with a 1:00 pin over Gunnar Spence (McAlester) and a 1:34 pin of teammate Jared Jenkins. From there he won a close 4-1 decision over Jared Douglas (Cascia Hall) and a 5-2 decision over Christian McIntosh (Pryor).

Caleb Phillips competed in the junior high division at 126 pounds and finished 3-0 for first place. He won his opening match with a 1:02 pin of Eric Wilson, then majored Nate Shaw (Metro Christian Academy) 11-0. In the finals he took down Garrett Weis (Jenks) 8-4.

Christopher Kirby competed in the junior high division at 140 pounds and finished 3-0 for first place. He won his opening match with an 0:31 pin of James Cothran (Bixby), then pinned Devon Vazquez (Broken Arrow) in 0:36. In the finals he majored Caleb Buzzard (Jay) 16-6.

Teagan Campbell competed in the junior high division at 175 pounds and finished 3-1 for third place. He won his opening match with an 0:28 pin of Jonathan Navarro (Broken Arrow), before giving up a 10-3 decision to Bryce Jackson (Oologah). The next two rounds were close, but Campbell prevailed 4-3 over Tyler Bachman (Bixby) and 3-0 over Matt Roach (Bristow).

Kaden Glass competed in the junior high division at 200 pounds and finished 4-0 for first place. He won his opening match in an 0:12 pin of Zach Garrison (Pryor), then won an 8-2 decision over Aaron Lytle (Sapulpa). He finished out with pins of 3:17 over Cameron Johnson (Broken Arrow) and 1:27 over Chad Tinney (Bixby).