Oklahoma out of contention for the title, but still impressing at Freestyle Nationals

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Oklahome Outlaws got off to a great start Friday morning at the Junior Freestyle Duals, but saw their shot at threepeating for the Title fall short. The back-to-back defending National Champions had no problem blowing past South Dakota 55-11, Iowa Blue 52-17, and Utah Blue 47-18, but met their match in the top-seeded Minnesota Red team.

Beginning at 106 pounds, Oklahoma went on a run in the low weights taking a 16-1 lead with wins from Wyatt Adams, Colt Newton, Dalton Duffield, and Daton Fix. Minnesota battled back, however, as Brent Jones teched Jacob Butler 13-2 and Mitchell Mckee won a huge victory in taking down nationally ranked No. 4 Kaden Gfeller with a 7-4 decision. Alex Crowe also overcame one of Oklahoma’s biggest contenders in a 4-3 decision over Beau Guffey.

Jaryn Curry broke up the win streak with a 12-2 tech fall over Ryan Epps, but Minnesota got right back on the horse with a huge 11-7 win over Wyatt Sheets from Jake Allar. Lucas Jeske got the upper end of a 24-20 shootout with Dayton Garrett, Taylor Venz teched Bear Hughes 12-2, Owen Webster teched Zach Marcheselli 14-3, and Keegan Moore teched Gunner Cash 10-0.

Trenton Lieurance won a 4-4 decision over Sam Erckenbrack, but Matthew Peterson finished up the battle for Minnesota with a 13-2 tech fall over Riley Weir and Oklahoma was defeated 35-31.

In the first round of the Gold/Silver pool, the Outlaws were trumped once again, this time by Illinois.

Louie Hayes won a high-scoring 16-12 decision over Jet Taylor to start the dual. Duffield took the lead for Oklahoma with a 12-1 tech over Travis Piotrowski and Fix added to it with a 10-0 defeat of Gabriel Townsell.

Illinois surged right back to the top with a 7-2 decision from Jaime Hernandez over Jaxen Gilmore and A.J. Jaffe teched Guffey 10-0. Wyatt Sheets took down Shayne Oster 10-10 to reclaim the one-point lead but Illinois went on a run with wins over Curry, Baker, Marcheselli, Matt Smith, and Gage Johnson. With the dual clinched, Illinois forfeited the final three weights for a 37-31 victory.

Payton Scott, Team Oklahoma place sixth at Junior Greco Roman Nationals

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Oklahoma Outlaws put up a tough fight, but lost back-to-back duals for a sixth place finish Thursday evening at the Cox Business Center in Tulsa. The USA Wrestling Junior Greco-Roman Dual Nationals featured thirty-four teams from twenty-six states and drew nearly 600 of the best wrestlers in the nation. Last year the Oklahoma Greco team included two Sandites in Kyler Childers and Cody Karstetter, and placed fifth overall. This year Payton Scott was the lone Charles Page student to compete in Greco.

Team Oklahoma got off to a fast start against Team Georgia Blue Wednesday morning and won every weight for a 68-2 finish. Read that story here.

Next to go down was a scrappy team from Pennsylvania who put up a tough battle but ultimately fell 38-30. Read that story here.

In the Pool D finals, Oklahoma pulled off a surprisingly easy 41-29 upset over the top-seeded team from Iowa. Read that story here.

Day two was far tougher for the Outlaws as they faced off against the toughest teams in the nation in the Gold/Silver Pool. Their dominating win streak came to an end at the hands of California in a fiercely contested battle that wasn't decided till the final match. Read that story here. 

Scott had the honor of clinching the win in the next dual, however, as the Okies edged out Florida 36-30. Read that story here. 

The final two duals would not be as kind to Oklahoma, however, as they lost to Minnesota Blue and Michigan Blue back-to-back. 

Trenton Lieurance, Wyatt Adams, Jet Taylor, Jacob Butler, and Jaxen Gilmore all won their matches against Minnesota, but the home team lost 43-22 to the eventual National Champions. Oklahoma can take some solace in the fact that they didn't lose by any more than the eventual Runners-Up from Illinois. Both teams lost by 21 points.

Lieurance won a 9-2 decision over Trenton Rogich, Adams teched Minnesota State Champ Ashton Clark 10-0, and Taylor teched Curtis LeMair 10-0. Butler pulled off a huge 12-10 upset decision over Brent Jones, who placed third at last year's Fargo Nationals. Probably the biggest win went to Jaxen Gilmore who pinned Cadet National Runner-Up Calvin Germinaro in 1:45. 

Scott lost his match by 10-0 tech fall to Southern Plains Regional Champion Travis Ostby. Alec McDoulett put up a great performance against nationally ranked No. 9 Patrick McKee that ended in a close 16-15 decision. Bear Hughes also went the distance for a 14-10 decision to Nationally ranked No. 11 Taylor Venz. 

In the placement match against Michigan Blue, the Okies were noticeably drained after a long day of brutal competition. Dalton Duffield defeated Michigan State Champion Jordan Hamdan with a 16-5 tech fall. Butler finished out the tournament undefeated after holding off Central Regional Champion Nick Freeman for a 3-0 decision. Butler was the only Oklahoma wrestler to go undefeated. Brik Filippo won a 12-0 tech fall over Trent Lashuay and Jaryn Curry pinned Dustin Gross in 1:54. Dan Baker went the distance against Nationally ranked No. 11 Jelani Embree for a 15-8 loss. 

After placing sixth in the country, the Oklahoma team earned All-American status for the third straight year.

Friday morning will begin the Freestyle Dual tournament in which Team Oklahoma is the back-to-back defending National Champions. Thirty-nine teams will be competing, including two from Oklahoma. Riley Weir and Daton Fix will be representing Sand Springs on the Oklahoma Blue team.

OK Blue is the fifth-highest seeded team in the tournament, behind California, Illinois, Iowa Red, and New Jersey, but boasts an impressive roster of nationally ranked wrestlers. Paxton Rosen is ranked 12th in the nation, Fix is ranked second, Kaden Gfeller is ranked fourth, and Wyatt Sheets is ranked 11th. Up first for team Blue is South Dakota at 9:00 am, followed by Texas Blue immediately after.

Photos of Team Oklahoma can be found at this link.

Oklahoma falls by a hair to tough California team in Greco Dual Nationals

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Oklahoma Outlaws saw their dominating win-streak come to an end at the hands of California Thursday morning. The back-and-forth battle was decided by the final match and the Sunshine State came out on top 35-32.

California took the lead right off the bat with an 11-0 tech fall by Andrew Cervantez over Ezequiel Rubio (Ponca City) and a 1:05 pin of State Champion Nick Mahan (Lawton) by Flo World Champion and No. 10 nationally ranked Anthony Mantanona. The Outlaws retaliated with an 11-0 tech of Juan Rosales by State Champ Dan Baker (Sulphur) and a 1:58 pin of Bonifacio Escobar by State Champ Bear Hughes (Coweta) to tie things up, but California quickly regained the edge.

Cristian Ayala, who placed fifth in Fargo last year, pinned State Champ Zach Marcheselli (Broken Arrow) in 0:31 and Flo Worlds Champion Gavin Nye pinned State Runner-Up Gage Johnson (Norman North) in 0:46 for a 19-9 advantage. Southern Plains Champ Alex Fields (Crescent) dealt Moises Duran a 12-0 tech fall, Eric Sanchez paid it back with an 18-7 tech over State Champ Wyatt Adams of MacArthur. 

Oklahoma won the next four straight matches and still had two of their strongest competitors ahead of them and it looked like it would be a clear surge to victory, but California pulled off some surprising upsets for the win.

Alec McDoulett (Little Axe) defeated Oscar Nellis by way of 8-2 decision and National Champion Dalton Duffield (Westmoore) pinned Mason Hartshorn in 0:32. State Champs Jet Taylor (Sallisaw) and Jacob Butler (Elgin) each scored 13-2 tech falls over Chase Zollman and National Champion Patrick Ramirez, respectively. Sitting at a 30-26 lead with State Champions Jaxen Gilmore (Yukon) and Brik Filippo (Tuttle) up next, it seemed like Oklahoma was on the cusp of victory.

Unfortunately for the host team, California had some talent left of their own. Flo Worlds Runner-Up Jaden Enriquez got the 4-3 edge over Gilmore. Filippo hadn't lost a match yet in the tournament, but he met his match in Cadet Greco National Champion Peyton Omania with a 12-0 tech fall. The pressure was on Sand Springs's Payton Scott, but Joshua Kim went the distance for a 7-4 decision to pull of the come-from-behind win. 

Up next for Oklahoma is Team Florida who placed second in Pool B behind Illinois and just lost 47-22 to the top-seeded Minnesota Blue. Florida boasts some big guns in No. 16 nationally ranked Anthony Artalona, Southeast Regional Champion Malyke Hines, Southeast Regional Champion Luis Hernandez, National Champion Anthony Artalona, and National Champion Max Wohlabaugh.

Oklahoma routs Iowa 41-29 to remain undefeated after day one

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Oklahoma Outlaws are sitting pretty after day one at the Junior Greco-Roman Dual Nationals. The host team destroyed Georgia in round one 68-2, pushed past a scrappy Pennsylvania team 38-30 in the semis, and handled Iowa with surprising ease in the Pool D finals Wednesday night to advance to the Gold/Silver Pool Thursday morning.

Team Iowa entered the dual as the top seed in the Pool, but that didn't deter an ambitious Oklahoma team. The Outlaws are the defending National Champions in Freestyle, and they're clearly on a warpath to add Greco to the resume this year. 

The dual started off with a 14-3 tech fall from Brik Filippo, the State Champ from Tuttle, over Nelson Brands. Iowa rebounded with a 22-9 tech fall by Matt Malcomb over Payton Scott of Sand Springs, but Jaryn Curry got the Outlaws back on track with a huge upset. The State Champion from Choctaw came down hard on No. 9 nationally ranked Fargo All-American Colton Clingenpeel for a 10-0 tech fall.

Brandon Haas returned the favor with an 8-0 upset over State Champ Nick Mahan of Lawton MacArthur, but Oklahoma swept the next three straight matches. State Champ Dan Baker of Sulphur teched Bailey Chyma 18-8, State Champ Bear Hughes of Coweta pinned Isaac Bartel in 1:25, and Tanner Hawkins of Weatherford pinned Caleb Ring in 4:50 for a 23-9 lead.

Iowa broke the streak as No. 11 Carter Isley took out State Runner-Up Gage Johnson of Norman North with an 8-0 decision at heavy weight, but Oklahoma continued to push the lead in the lower weights. 

Crescent's Alex Fields picked up a 16-4 tech fall over Cobe Siebrecht and MacArthur's State Champ Wyatt Adams pinned Carter Weeks in 1:53 before Iowa found another win. Drew Bennett pinned Alec McDoulett in 4:35, but Fargo National Champ Dalton Duffield of Westmoore clinched the dual with an 11-0 tech fall over Brenden Baker. Sallisaw State Champ Jett Taylor tacked on the exclamation point with a 0:45 pin of Dante Tacchia to make the score 41-19 and the Okies forfeited the last two weights to finish 41-29.

The Outlaws will return to action Thursday morning against California, Florida, and Minnesota Blue before the placement match. California placed second in Pool C after falling to Michigan Blue in a close 34-33 knockdown drag-out. Florida placed second in Pool B after going down 42-25 to Illinois. Minnesota Blue is the top-seeded favorite and didn't even blink as they bulldozed through the A Pool by a minimum of 38 points per dual. 

Oklahoma dominates Georgia 68-2 in Dual Nationals round one

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Team Oklahoma got off to a fast start against Team Georgia Blue in the first round of the Junior Greco-Roman Dual Nationals Wednesday morning, building up a massive lead before the wrestling even started.

Jet Taylor, Jacob Butler, and Jaxen Gilmore received forfeits for 126 to 138. Tuttle's Brik Filippo wasted no time in putting points on the board with a 10-0 tech fall over Khyree Alexander, then Sand Springs's Payton Scott took down Dustin Berry 10-0 in thirty seconds flat. Ezequiel Rubio pinned Cole White in a quick twenty then Nick Mahan teched Chandler Miele 13-2.

Bear Hughes continued the winning streak with an 11-0 tech over Devyn Villafane. Zach Marcheselli received a forfeit, Tanner Hawkins picked up a 16-6 tech fall over Richard Walker, then Trenton Lieutance, Alex Fields, and Wyatt Adams all received forfeits.  Alec McDoulett teched Brandon Foster 11-0 and Westmoore's Dalton Duffield wrapped things up with a 12-0 tech of Alex Cain for a final score of 68-2 with no matches lost.

Up next for Oklahoma is Team Pennsylvania who solidly defeated Team Kansas Red 49-12 in round one. 

Four Sandites will represent Oklahoma at Jr Dual Nationals

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Junior Dual Nationals will return to the Cox Business Center in Tulsa on June 22nd. The Tournament will last through the 25th and will feature four Charles Page High School wrestlers.

Last year Team Oklahoma bulldozed their way through both styles, placing fourth in Greco and first in Freestyle. That talented team included three Sandites. Cody Karstetter and Kyler Childers had just graduated that year and are now wrestling the collegiate circuit. Daton Fix is back to help his State defend its title.

Riley Weir just finished his Freshman year with a 21-12 record at the 106 pound class and a State Championship appearance. Weir placed fourth at the Perry Tournament of Champions and ninth at the highly prestigious Kansas City Stampede. He came in third at the Regional Championship to qualify for State, but was eliminated after losing his first two matches. Weir nursed an injured elbow throughout the final weeks of the high school season and wasn’t even close to full strength in the post-season. This event will be a great demonstration of his true potential in the upcoming high school season.

Jack Karstetter finished his Junior year with a 39-8 record and placed second at 132 pounds in the State Championship after giving up a heart-breaker 3-2 decision to Kruz Simons of Edmond North. Throughout the high school season he placed fourth at Perry, ninth at Kansas City, second at the Geary Invitational, first at the Sand Springs Invitational, first at the Jay Hancock Memorial, and secured the Regional Championship.

Since school let out he came in Runner-Up at the UWW Cadet Greco-Roman Nationals and secured his spot on Team USA for the Pan-American Championships in Lima, Peru this July.

Daton Fix is earning his way into the history books after completing his third straight undefeated high school season. He’s currently sitting at an overall record of 118-0 with three-straight State Championships. He’s only the second Sandite in school history to win three State Championships, the first being David McGuire from 1963-1965. No Sandite has won four.

Since the high school season ended, Fix won the UWW Junior Freestyle National Championship, defeated the Iranian Champion Kheyrollah Gharamani at the Beat The Streets Gala in Times Square, and scored a pair of 10-0 tech falls over National Champion Austin Gomez to earn his way onto the USA World Team.

Fix will compete at the Grand Prix of Spain, a Senior level tournament in Madrid from July 9-10, then will travel to Fargo, North Dakota for the Junior Freestyle Nationals from July 16-23 where he is a defending Champion. From August 30th through September 4th he will compete at the UWW World Championship in Macon, France.

Payton Scott finished his Sophomore year with a 19-6 record at 152 pounds and placed fourth in the State Championship. He missed the first half of the season while getting back in shape after a long and grueling football post-season, but placed fourth at Geary, second at Sand Springs, and first at the Regional Championship.

Scott was also a member of last year’s Cadet National Dual Team that finished seventh in Freestyle and second in Greco. Overall he went 13-3 between the two styles.

Other Team Oklahoma members include:

• Alex Fields of Guthrie, 2016 Southern Plains Regional Champion in both styles.
• Rhett Golowenski of Tuttle, two-time OSSAA 4A State Champion.
• Mason Naifeh of Tulsa Union, two-time OSSAA 6A State Placer.
• Wyatt Adams of Lawton MacArthur, 2015 OSSAA 5A State Champion.
• Dalton Duffield of Westmoore, three-time OSSAA 6A finalist, 2015 Fargo National Champion.
• Jacob Butler of Elgin, 2016 OSSAA 4A State Champion.
• Kaden Gfeller of Heritage Hall, three-time undefeated OSSAA 3A State Champion.
• Brik Filippo of Tuttle, 2016 OSSAA 4A State Champion, two-time finalist.
• Beau Guffey of Tuttle, three-time OSSAA 4A State Champion.
• Jaryn Curry of Choctaw, 2016 OSSAA 6A State Champion, 2015 USAW Cadet National Runner-Up.
• Dayton Garrett of Tuttle, three-time OSSAA 4A State Finalist, 2015 State Champion.
• Wyatt Sheets of Stilwell, four-time OSSAA 4A State Champion, Oklahoma State commit.
• Christian Bahl of Stillwater, 2016 OSSAA 6A State Champion.
• Dan Baker of Sulphur, 2016 OSSAA 3A State Champion.
• Drew Hinkle of Jenks, 2016 OSSAA 6A State Runner-Up.
• Zach Marcheselli of Broken Arrow, 2016 OSSAA 6A State Champion.
• Bear Hughes of Coweta, 2016 OSSAA 5A State Champion.
• Gunner Cash of Tecumseh, two-time OSSAA 4A State Qualifier.
• Gage Johnson of Norman North, 2016 OSSAA 6A State Runner-Up.
• Trenton Lieurance of Broken Arrow, two-time OSSAA 6A State Placer.