Sand Springs Falls 7-4 to Westmoore in State Championship Finals

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Head Coach Matt Brown speaks to the team following a 7-4 finals loss to westmoore saturday evening at Chickashaw Bricktown Ballfield in Oklahoma City.

For four innings, things couldn’t have gone much better for the Sandites.

Starting pitcher Kayden Campbell (6-3) surrendered only one hit and no walks while fanning five. The Sandites held a 3-0 lead with five times as many hits as the Jaguars.

But a fifth inning spark against Campbell and a sixth-inning flurry off of reliever Wyatt Rutledge gave Westmoore the edge as the Jaguars claimed their first State Championship since 1994, 7-4, to deprive the Sandites of their first ever crown.

“That’s a really good team over there and they capitalized when they had chances and that’s kind of the way that baseball works,” said head coach Matt Brown.

It was going to be a Cinderella story for either team, as both finished third in their districts and had to go on the road for their Regional titles.

Westmoore (25-17) was making its fifth finals appearance after coming up short in 2015, 2017, and 2018. Sand Springs (29-12) was making its first finals appearance since 1978 and first State Tournament appearance since 2011.

Sand Springs struck first in the top of the second after a lead-off walk from Jackson Turney and a line drive single from Alex Dudley set up freshman Sutton Cook for a three-run blast over the left field wall.

Gatlin Gunn and Jace Arnold also singled in the inning but were left stranded. The Sandites put two on base in the third, but stranded Turney after Rutledge was doubled off at second on a line drive from Dudley.

Runs were in short supply for both teams and the Sandites held their 3-0 lead through the top of the fifth.

Then Westmoore loaded the bases with no outs on a single, an error, and a walk. Dudley turned a 6-4-2 double play, but not before Jacob Wehba scored from third. Oklahoma-commit Josiah Kemp added an RBI single to make it a one-score game before Campbell caught Tanner Fallwell looking to end the inning.

Rutledge took over on the mound in the sixth and surrendered three singles and a walk to tie the game with bases loaded and no outs. Gage Geiger tagged up on a pop fly for the lead and Deacon Frazee added an RBI single before Arnold took over on the mound.

“Wyatt’s been awesome for us all year,” said Brown. “If I could do it again, I’d go back and put him right in the game again.”

Frazee scored off another sacrifice fly to make it 7-3 before the inning ended on an offensive interference call against Kemp.

Sand Springs didn’t go down without a fight. Gunn hit a one-out single, took second on a passed ball, and scored on a double from Arnold. Then Rutledge singled on a pop fly to center field to bring the tying run to the plate.

But, it wasn’t meant to be. Jackson Turney flied out to Kemp in center field to end the game.

“This team’s full of fighters,” said Brown. “This team just competed their absolute tails off all year. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

“These kids went out and won the games that were put in front of them, they’ve done everything they were asked to do, they played their absolute hearts out.”

It’s hard to beat a good team three times, a fact that Owasso learned the day before after falling 2-0 to Sand Springs, who it had swept 5-0 and 8-3 in the regular season.

This time it was the Sandites who had to learn that lesson against Westmoore, who it had beaten 6-1 and 24-13 just a month ago.

“It’s hard to beat a team three times in a year,” said Arnold. “We had them two-nothing, but they got us the last time.”

Arnold, together with Gunn, Campbell, Eli Buxton, Miller Tavaglione, Jackson Stewart, Connor Graham, Cole Pearson, Jesse Manuel, and Rutledge, make up a senior class that went 107-50 over four years, the Sandites’ winningest record since the Class of 2012 went 104-44.

“What a great testament to our kids,” said Brown. “Our seniors have set a standard of excellence that falls to the guys who are younger now to hold that standard of excellence. These guys that are walking out the door have won 89 games in three years…these guys have set a bar for the program.”

“I’m just proud of our kids. I’m proud of the way they that played today, I’m proud of the way that they represented our school and our town and they should be proud of themselves as well.”

Sandites Qualify 12 Boys, 4 Girls for State Wrestling Tournament

Charles Page High School will be well represented at the OSSAA State Championship Thursday afternoon when 6A action starts.

Both the boys and girls will begin wrestling at 4:30 p.m. in Session II at Jim Norick Arena in the State Fairgrounds at Oklahoma City.

The Sandites qualified 12 boys for State after a strong second place finish at the West Regional in Moore on Saturday. It was their highest Regional placement since 2017 and their most total State qualifiers since at least 1996, if not ever. They also had their first Regional Champion since 2019 in Zander Grigsby.

The girls meanwhile qualified four for State at the East Regional in Glenpool on Tuesday, taking eighth place as a team. Bailey Copeland became the first-ever girls State qualifier from Sand Springs in the Sandites’ second year with a girls program.

The Sandites’ fourth and fifth placers from Regionals will be first to wrestle in the wrestle-in round on Thursday, followed by the quarterfinals at 6:00 p.m. Consolation matches will begin Friday at 5:00 p.m. followed by semifinals at 7:00 p.m. Consolation semifinals will be Saturday at 11:30 a.m. followed by 3rd place matches at 1:30 p.m. and finals matches at 6:30 p.m.

Girls Regionals

Copeland (17-4), a freshman, took third place at 100 pounds with three pins. Her only loss was a 2-0 decision to Broken Arrow’s Alina Peralta in the semifinals. In the placement round she earned a 6-1 decision over Ponca City junior Camila Bohon.

Laila Mirza (38-8) took fourth place at 115, going 3-2. She pinned her first foe and won a 5-2 decision over El Reno’s Brooklynn Huggins before falling 15-3 to returning Stillwater State qualifier Abigail Rivero. In consolation she pinned Claremore’s Cambry Suskey a second time but fell 11-4 to Bixby freshman Larra Mullin.

Kelsi Hilton (37-7) placed fourth at 135, pinning her first two opponents before falling to returning State finalist Mak Gregg in the semifinals. She added another pin in consolation before falling to returning State placer Adisyn Ivers from Ponca City. Hilton actually led 2-0 after the first period but was pinned after starting the second on bottom.

Freshman Ambrielle Chambers (22-8) took fifth place at 105 with three pins, falling to Durant senior Addison Polk, a returning State qualifier, in the quarterfinals. In the consolation semis she fell to Ada junior EllaBabe Fisher but bounced back with an 8-4 decision over Muskogee’s Grace Fraser to punch her ticket to State.

The girls finished in eighth place with 83 points, just one point behind Sapulpa and one point ahead of Shawnee. Broken Arrow won the Regional over runner-up Bixby. It was a drastic improvement for the Lady Sandites, who placed 42nd last year with no State qualifiers.

Boys Regionals

Zander Grigsby (38-2) manhandled the 165-pound bracket, outscoring his opponents 36-8 without giving up anything but escape points. He pinned two opponents and had a 24-7 technical fall en route to the finals, where he earned a 6-1 decision over top-seeded Brayden Lucas, a returning State placer from Edmond North

Freshman Jaxon Grigsby (18-9) placed second at 126, dominating Gavin Horn 12-1 before eking out a 3-2 overtime tie-breaker against two-seed Barrett Byers of Piedmont. In the finals he lost 3-0 to returning State finalist Christian Belford of Edmond North.

Mason Harris (34-3) was runner-up at heavyweight, winning his first three matches by fall. In the finals he lost a 1-0 decision to defending State Champion Ricky Thomas of Edmond North.

Matthew Moore (26-13) placed third at 132 with three pins, only losing a close 4-3 decision to top-seeded Hudson Hackbarth of Edmond North. In the consolation finals he pinned Deer Creek’s Parker DeGraffenreid in 5:36.

Jaxon Trotter (39-8) placed third at 175 with a 3-1 sudden victory overtime takedown against two-seeded Alex Wilson of Yukon, a returning State placer. He teched his first opponent in 4:31 before falling 3-2 to Westmoore State placer Cole Olguin. In consolation he pinned his next two opponents before decisioning Putnam North’s Ryan Gooch 3-1 in the semifinals.

David Ritchey (20-9) placed fourth at 120, pinning his first opponent and winning a 5-1 decision in the quarterfinals before falling 9-0 to two-time State Champion Cash Donnell from Piedmont. In consolation he pinned Southmoore’s Noah Reynolds before falling 7-0 to Yukon’s Hayden Wright.

Preston Reyna (26-11) finished fourth at 150, pinning his first foe before falling to Piedmont’s Jayden Fuston. In consolation he won a major decision, a pin, and a 9-5 upset of four-seed Axton Wright from Moore before falling once again to Fuston in the placement match.

Dawsen Briscoe (23-13) took fifth place at 106, winning his first match by 5-1 decision against Yukon’s Caleb Schneider, who also finished a State qualifier, before falling to top-seeded Jake Goodin from Edmond North. In consolation he fell 6-1 to third-placer Blake Thomas of Piedmont before earning a 6-5 decision over Putnam North’s Jaaziel Benman.

Jayden Pait (17-5) placed fifth at 138, losing his first match 3-1 to Westmoore’s Gannon Morales before winning his next two matches by fall. In the consolation semis he fell 8-4 to Yukon’s Dillon Ryan but he won his placement match by 9-1 major decision against Piedmont’s Ethan Applebee.

Jesse Moore (28-10) placed fifth at 144, losing his first match 3-2 to Moore’s Seth Shouse. In consolation he pinned one foe and teched another in just 3:10 before taking a 6-3 loss against Piedmont’s Kolton Mullings. In the placement round he got a rematch with Shouse and this time won 5-2.

Brody Ensten (30-15) placed fifth at 157, bouncing back from an opening 7-5 loss to Westmoore’s Sam Gibson with three dominant wins. He pinned his next two foes and earned a 16-1 technical fall before falling 11-2 to two-seeded Barrett Weathers of Deer Creek. In the placement round he won a 2-1 rematch with Gibson, scoring an escape in overtime.

Peyton Callis (36-13) placed fifth at 190, winning his first match by decision before falling 4-3 to Yukon’s Ryan Martindale. In consolation he received a medical forfeit then pinned his next opponent before falling to Piedmont’s Jackson Blackburn. In the placement round he won a 9-2 decision over Norman’s Lance Eubanks.

Sandite Wrestlers Fall 37-21 to Stillwater at Dual State

The No. 5 ranked Charles Page High School wrestling team (10-2) suffered a 37-21 loss to No. 4 Stillwater (13-2) in the Dual State quarterfinals Friday afternoon in Enid.

The boys were making their 19th overall and second consecutive dual state appearance against the defending champions.

The dual started at 165 pounds where the Pioneers bumped up defending State Champion Landyn Sommer to take on Zander Grigsby (34-2). Sommer has wrestled 157 most of the season.

The Sand Springs senior rode a 12-win streak into the match and he wasn’t intimidated by Sommer at all, scoring a takedown late in the first period for a 2-0 lead.

Sommer escaped immediately after, however, and scored a reversal and a takedown in the second period to go up 5-3. Grigsby tied it with a reversal in the third but Sommer escaped and scored a second takedown for an 8-6 decision.

Isaac Sensintaffar (23-10) bumped up two weight classes from his usual 150-157 range and suffered a 37-second pin in the next match against LaDarion Lockett, a two-time defending State Champion and nationally ranked Oklahoma State commit.

Jaxon Trotter (34-7) bumped up a weight class to 190 and secured his tenth consecutive victory with a 5-4 decision over JaKoby Petree to get the Sandites on the board, but Stillwater responded with a pin from Parker Brown at 215.

Peyton Callis (32-11) also bumped up a weight class and actually led Brown 4-3 after two periods. But he chose bottom to start the third and was stuck by the Pioneer for a 15-3 Stillwater lead.

Mason Harris (31-2) picked up his 16th consecutive win with a pin of Paxton Pitchford in just 41 seconds and Dawsen Briscoe (21-11) followed it up with a pin of Nathan Phillips in 42 seconds to tie the dual up.

Unfortunately from there the Pioneers won six of the final eight matches.

State Champion Aydan Thomas pinned Kase Skaggs (32-8) in 3:27, though the Sandite put up a fight and scored a takedown early in the second period.

David Ritchey (17-7) won a 4-0 decision against Mark Janus but the Pioneers won the next four matches.

Jaxon Grigsby (16-8) fell 16-9 to defending State Champion Stockton Allen, though he scored a clutch third-period takedown with near-fall points to prevent bonus points.

Matthew Moore (23-12) fell 7-1 to Julio Aguirre and Kasen McAffrey (8-3) lost 14-5 to three-time State finalist JJ McComas. Tillman Burns added a 10-5 decision over Jayden Pait (14-3) at 144 to put the lead out of reach for Sand Springs.

The Sandites had a shot at tying the dual and sending it to criteria if they could win the final two matches by fall, but Jesse Moore (25-8) was limited to an 11-7 victory against Sebastian Schlegel to ensure a Stillwater victory.

The Pioneers padded their victory with a 3-2 decision by Bo Reynolds over Brody Ensten (26-13) at 157 to wrap up the dual.

Stillwater went on to fall 51-13 to No. 1 Edmond North (15-1) who also defeated No. 2 Bixby 51-9 in the finals for its second overall dual state title and first since 2013.

With a 10-2 record, the Sandites finished the 2023-2024 dual season with their highest win percentage since 2017 and their highest average margin of victory since 2017. They also had their first undefeated record at home since 2019.

Sand Springs will return to action on Friday at the 6A-West Regional at Westmoore. The frontrunners in the tournament will be No. 1 Edmond North, No. 5 Sand Springs, No. 6 Piedmont, No. 7 Westmoore, and No. 8 Yukon.

Laila Mirza Crowned Homecoming Queen, Lady Sandites split with Ponca City & Westmoore

For the first time in Sandite history, the wrestling Homecoming queen was an actual wrestler. Laila Mirza was crowned in between a pair of victories as the Sandites hosted Westmoore and Ponca City on Thursday.

No. 9 ranked Sand Springs (4-2) won 42-36 against No. 13 Ponca City (0-4) before falling 54-30 to No. 6 Westmoore (3-0).

“We’ve been trying to take one dual at a time and handle Ponca City first, but we knew Westmoore was going to be tough,” said head girls coach Trent Cleveland.

“They battled us tough and ended up getting the better of us. We did have a couple of girls out of the lineup tonight. That probably played a factor but it is what it is, just got to roll with the punches.”

Sand Springs never trailed against the Wildcats, though the visitors tied things up twice and held close till the end.

Bailey Copeland took an 8-2 lead on Camila Bohon before pinning her at the 5:17 mark. Caryss Upton received a forfeit at 105 to take a 12-0 lead.

Ponca City tied things up with pins from Marli Arbona against Ambrielle Chambers and Toutie Bales against Trinity Owens.

Mirza responded by pinning Oakly Hunt and Gracie Gifford pinned Kaylie Thomas to make it 24-12, but Porscha Kreger pinned Audree Robinson and State placer Adisyn Ivers pinned Mia Bruns at 135 to tie it once again.

Kelsi Hilton gave her team its final lead by pinning Caitlin Cooper in 3:38, then Kayla Arnold and Tessa Urrey received forfeits to clinch the dual.

Fiona Schalk pinned Kadence Grant at 170 and the Wildcats received a forfeit at 190, but neither team had a heavyweight, resulting in a double forfeit.

In the second dual the Sandites never led but clawed back from a 24-0 deficit to keep things close before the Jaguars ran away with the final three weight classes.

Returning State qualifiers Kyrain and Krystan Perez pinned Copeland and Chambers, the Sandites forfeited 110, and Michaela Pinley pinned Owens to start the dual.

Mirza snapped the Jaguars’ streak by pinning Paula Galindo in just 42 seconds, then Gifford and Robinson received forfeits. The teams traded pins from there.

Zusette Arellano pinned Bruns at 135, Hilton pinned Ashlyn Hyde in 2:49, Izzy Galindo pinned Arnold, Urrey pinned Kaysie Gallope in 4:48, and Pearl Galindo pinned Grant to make it 42-30. Sand Springs forfeited 190 and 235.

Sand Springs came into the night with momentum, ranked the highest in school history after winning the Diamond State Invitational last weekend.

“We’re definitely coming off a high, going a state over and representing Oklahoma wrestling,” said Cleveland.

“It’s all kind of coming together at the right time. I couldn’t be luckier to have such a great coaching staff, support group, and wrestlers. The girls are really just coming out of the hallways just to try it out. We’ve officially got a full lineup.”

“It’s the first team title. There’s a lot of firsts going on this year and so now we’re really searching for that first State qualifier and that first State placer.”

Sand Springs also competed at the Supergirl 64 tournament at Union High School over the weekend, taking 15th place out of 46 schools.

Hilton took second place at 140 pounds, winning her pool with three pins. In the gold bracket she won two more pins, beating Bixby State qualifier Jay’la Ford in the semifinals before dropping a 5-1 decision to Yukon State qualifier Trysten Rittberger.

She was the only Lady Sandite to place in the loaded tournament.

“We try to give our girls a tough schedule so Regionals is not a shock when they go in there,” said Cleveland.

Sandites Top Westmoore and Ponca City on Homecoming

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The Charles Page High School boys wrestling team is 7-0 for the second straight year after picking up a pair of ranked wins Thursday night on Homecoming.

The No. 7 ranked Sandites won 57-13 against No. 15 Ponca City (0-4) and 48-19 against No. 6 Westmoore (1-1) and crowned Homecoming Queen Laila Mirza between the duals.

“Ponca City’s always a good tough opponents, they’ve got good tough kids,” said head coach Ty Bowling.

“Westmoore, they’re top (six) in the state right now. Will Evans does a good job over there. So it was two good wins tonight.”

In the first dual the Sandites trailed through the first four matches against Ponca City who was stronger at the light weights.

Dawsen Briscoe (1-2) suffered a third-period fall against Garrett Short and Caden Rodriguez (1-3) fell 9-0 to Blake Parker before David Ritchey (1-0) got the home team on the board with a 7-5 decision against returning State qualifier Jimmy Swenson in his first match of the season.

Jaxon Grigsby (11-3) pinned Connor Cox in 59 seconds and Matthew Moore (9-4) won a 9-7 decision against State qualifier Cameron Kiser in sudden victory overtime to give the Sandites their first lead at 12-10.

Ethan Pappan put the Wildcats back on top one last time with an 8-3 decision against Jayden Pait (6-1) but the Sandites responded with eight consecutive wins to close out the dual.

Jesse Moore (7-0) took a 7-0 lead against Braden Perciful before pinning him in 4:20 to continue his undefeated season and Isaac Sensintaffar (7-3) pinned Axel Tucker in 1:16.

Brody Ensten (9-4) won a 9-6 decision against Anderson Bivins and Zander Grigsby (12-0) pinned Lance Arbona in 50 seconds to remain undefeated on the season.

Jaxon Trotter (13-2) took an 8-0 lead on Jaxon Goodard before pinning him in 3:14 to clinch the dual and the remaining Sandites all pinned their foes in the first period.

Peyton Callis (12-3) pinned Jose Herrera in 34 seconds, Ali McCoy (6-7) pinned Cesar Jiminez in 37 seconds, and Ryley Kester (1-0) made his varsity debut by pinning Blaze McGehee in 1:21.

Sand Springs only trailed for one match against Westmoore after returning State placer Eric Casula pinned Briscoe at 106. Rodriguez picked up his first varsity victory by pinning Eli Archer in 3:22 to tie it.

Kase Skaggs (11-1) pinned State qualifier Brayden Kelly in 1:11, Jaxon Grigsby won a 5-0 decision against Jackson Yeatman, and Matthew Moore pinned Woodley Johnson in 4:46 after opening the third period on top of a 4-4 tie to make it 21-6.

Undefeated freshman Kasen McAffrey (4-0) earned a 7-4 decision against State qualifier Gannon Morales at 138 and Jesse Moore pinned Artak Khachatryan in 2:36.

State qualifier Trae Rios pinned Sensintaffar at 150 and Sam Gibson eked out a 3-1 decision against Ensten to cut it to 30-15.

Zander Grigsby got the Sandites back on track by pinning Chris Steele in 2:11 and Trotter clinched the dual with a 5-2 decision over Cole Olguin at 175.

The teams traded wins from there. Callis added a 10-5 decision against Jordan Cox, McCoy fell 13-4 to Devin Lacroix, and Mason Harris (12-1) wrapped things up by pinning Gavin Gagnon in 1:11.

“Seven duals in and seven different lineups,” said Bowling. “That’s good depth and that tells you we’ve got good youth, a good junior high that helps push those guys up, so next man up.”

“We got to kind of showcase junior high, girls, and boys all at the same time. It’s probably the first time we’ve ever done that up here. I wish it wasn’t so late but it was good to get a couple of matches in.”

Sand Springs will get some rematches with both teams at this weekend’s Larry Wilkey Invitational in Jenks.

“That’s kind of why we put this together was everybody was going to the Jenks tournament,” said Bowling.

It will be the Sandites’ first appearance at the Jenks tournament since winning it in 2015. The Sandites have won the tournament ten times in school history.

Sapulpa Wins Highway 97 Rivalry - Sandites to Play at Southmoore Tournament Friday

Chants of “let’s play football” rang out through the Ed Dubie Field House as the Sapulpa volleyball team took away the Highway 97 Rivalry trophy from the defending Sandites Tuesday evening.

5A No. 7 Sapulpa (24-11, 2-4) picked up its second Frontier Valley Conference win of the season while depriving Sand Springs (11-12, 0-7) of its first - winning the match 3-1.

Sand Springs lost three closely contested games while running away with the third in one of the most exhilarating matches of the season.

In game one the Sandites trailed by as much as 16-10 before battling back to 22-21 after an ace from Brooklyn Shope, but a pair of kills from Tyla Heard and an ace from Jailey Battles secured the 25-22 win for the road team.

Game two was the highest-scoring set for the Sandites since 2019 but once against Sapulpa came out on top following nine lead changes and fifteen tie scores.

After a Chieftain block tied it up at 11-11 the Sandites won five of the next six rallies and led by as much as 20-15 before Sapulpa came roaring back.

The Sandites had match point four times but Heard tied it up thrice on two kills and a block. A service error for the Sandites tied it again at 27-27 and Sapulpa took its first lead since 8-7 on a kill from Wrigley Adkisson.

A Chieftain error tied it once more and the Sandites once against got match point on a kill from Shope, but this time Jazymyne Cole tied it with a kill.

The Sandites’ final lead came on a Chieftain error, but the visitors won the final three rallies on a kill from Battles and two Sand Springs hitting errors to prevail 32-30.

Complete undiscouraged, the home team stole set three 25-13 with their biggest win against the Chieftains since 2020.

After giving up the first two points to Sapulpa, a kill from Shope sparked a 7-1 run for the Sandites and they never trailed again

Game four was another back-and-forth affair with seven lead changes and 11 tie scores. The Sandites had their final lead at 16-13 but Sapulpa went on a 7-1 run of their own to make it 20-17.

A big-time kill from Patience Pearce sparked a three-point run to tie it at 20-20, but Sapulpa would lead from then on, winning 25-22 on a kill from Heard.

Heard, an Abilene Christian University basketball commit, led all scorers with 15 kills closely followed by Cole with 11. Rylie Steward had 15 assists for the Chieftains and Battles had three aces.

Shope and Jacelyn Smith both recorded double-doubles for the Sandites. Shope had 12 kills, 14 digs, and six aces while Smith had 10 kills and 11 digs.

Hannah McKelvey recorded 20 assists and Adelynn Ray contributed 17. Evyn Morrow led the defense with 31 digs.

Sand Springs will return to action Friday at the Southmoore Invitational. The Sandites will play No. 12 Bartlesville (19-9) at 10:00 a.m., Norman (5-16) at 12:00 p.m., and No. 13 Westmoore (11-8) at 3:00 p.m. in pool play. Bracket play will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Sapulpa 3 CPHS 1 (25-21, 32-30, 13-25, 25-22)
Kills: Sapulpa 37, CPHS 40.
Blocks: Sapulpa 5, CPHS 5.
Aces: Sapulpa 9, CPHS 13.
Errors: Sapulpa 40, CPHS 44.
Service Errors: Sapulpa 8, CPHS 17.

(Sand Springs Stats)
Kills: Shope 12, Smith 10, Tippit 6, Ray 6, Pearce 5, DeBerry 1.
Assists: H. McKelvey 20, Ray 17, Morrow 2.
Digs: Morrow 31, Shope 14, Smith 11, Ray 9, H. McKelvey 8, Tippit 5, F. McKelvey 5, DeBerry 2, Pearce 1.
Solo Blocks: Tippit 1.
Assisted Blocks: Tippit 3, Ray 2, Shope 1, Pearce 1, DeBerry 1.
Aces: Shope 6, H. McKelvey 3, Tippit 2, Morrow 1, Ray 1.