Blake Sargent, Team Oklahoma place fifth in Greco Roman Nationals

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School junior Blake Sargent has spent the last two days in York, Pennsylvania wrestling with Team Oklahoma at the Cadet Dual Nationals, and he's ran up quite the record. The Greco-Roman tournament came to an end Thursday, and the Freestyle bracket will begin Friday morning.

Sargent finished his sophomore year with a 39-12 record and placed third in the State Championship. Since then, he's won the Team Big Freestyle Tournament and came in Runner-Up in the OKUSA Freestyle State Tournament in Cushing. 

Oklahoma was pitted against North Carolina in the first round of pool play and devastated their opponents, giving up only one match for a 73-5 victory, the third-largest win of any team in the tournament. Sargent kicked things off with the first match of the dual and pinned his opponent in the first period. North Carolina Greco State Runner-Up Phifer Ozimek went down in 2:11, setting the tone for the rest of the dual. Team Oklahoma won the next thirteen straight matches with nothing but pins and tech falls.

The next dual wasn't quite as big of a blowout as the first, but it was a clear and dominating victory, nonetheless. The Okies won twelve of seventeen matches over Florida for a final score of 55-25. Sargent put the icing on the cake, pinning Florida Greco State Champion Emauni Smithson in 1:27 for the final match of the dual.

Oklahoma finally met its match in the Pool A finals. Minnesota Storm raced off to a quick advantage with four-straight victories before Oklahoma evened it out with four of their own. The back and forth affair continued right down to the end, but Minnesota got the 39-33 edge. Sargent remained undefeated with a close 12-8 decision over Northern Plains Regional Champion Sebas Swiggum. Minnesota Storm would go on to sweep the entire tournament.

Thursday morning the Oklahoma team began battling in the Gold/Silver Pool against far tougher teams than their earlier opponents. Sargent teched his first opponent, Illinois Greco State Champion Jared Head (not to be confused with the Owasso wrestler of the same name) 11-1, but Illinois won the dual 48-27.

The Okies were in for another defeat in round two as Pennsylvania Blue won nine of seventeen matches for a narrow 44-31 victory. Sargent would lose his first match of the tournament in an 11-1 tech fall to 2015 USAW National Champion Beau Bartlett. 

From there Reece Witcraft filled in at the 126 weight for the duration of the tournament. Sargent finished with an overall record of 4-1. Oklahoma rebounded from the pair of tough losses with a 41-35 victory over New Jersey Red and secured the fifth place spot with a 42-33 win over Washington.

The Freestyle Dual Nationals will begin Friday morning against New Jersey Blue. Last week, in the Schoolboy Dual Nationals, Team Oklahoma placed ninth in Greco and improved to seventh in Freestyle. Sand Springs's Carter Young went undefeated in both styles at that tournament and achieved All-American status.

CPHS junior Blake Sargent goes undefeated in Greco-Roman Nationals Day One

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Last week the Schoolboy (ages 13-14) National Duals came to a close with Team Oklahoma placing ninth in Greco-Roman and seventh in Freestyle with four undefeated All Americans, including Clyde Boyd Middle School's Carter Young. The young Sandite was one of only sixteen wrestlers in the country to make the All-Tournament team in both styles. 

Wednesday began the Cadet (ages 15-16) National Duals in York, Pennsylvania, and once again Sand Springs is representing well on Team Oklahoma. Charles Page High School junior Blake Sargent is currently undefeated after day one in Greco Roman and the team placed second in their pool.

Sargent finished his sophomore year with a 39-12 record and placed third in the State Championship. Since then, he's won the Team Big Freestyle Tournament and came in Runner-Up in the OKUSA Freestyle State Tournament in Cushing. 

Oklahoma was pitted against North Carolina in the first round of pool play and devastated their opponents, giving up only one match for a 73-5 victory, the second-largest win of any team in the tournament. Sargent kicked things off with the first match of the dual and pinned his opponent in the first period. North Carolina Greco State Runner-Up Phifer Ozimek went down in 2:11, setting the tone for the rest of the dual. Team Oklahoma won the next thirteen straight matches with nothing but pins and tech falls.

The next dual wasn't quite as big of a blowout as the first, but it was a clear and dominating victory, nonetheless. The Okies won twelve of seventeen matches over Florida for a final score of 55-25. Sargent put the icing on the cake, pinning Florida Greco State Champion Emauni Smithson in 1:27 for the final match of the dual.

Oklahoma finally met its match in the pool finals. Minnesota Storm raised off to a quick advantage with four-straight victories before Oklahoma evened it out with four of their own. The back and forth affair continued right down to the end, but Minnesota got the 39-33 edge. Sargent remained undefeated with a close 12-8 decision over Northern Plains Regional Champion Sebas Swiggum. 

Team Oklahoma will return to action Thursday morning in the Gold Pool against a tough team from Illinois who breezed through their first pool with dominating victories over Kansas Red, Pennsylvania Red, and Missouri Red. From there the Okies will battle Pennsylvania Blue, and New Jersey Red before the placement matches. 

Three Sandites compete at Southern Plains Regional Championship

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The Sandites made a strong showing at the Southern Plains Regional Tournament in Dodge City, Kansas last weekend.

Clyde Boyd Middle School eighth-grader Carter Young placed first in both styles of Schoolboy 77. In Greco-Roman he pinned Devon Weber in 0:45 then defeated Nathan Mooney 10-0 and Brandon Boehm 12-0. In Freestyle he defeated Weber with a 10-0 technical fall and Vince Cornella with a 10-2 tech.

Charles Page High School junior Michael Ritchey competed in Junior 120 Freestyle at 120 pounds but failed to place. He won his first two matches with a 7-0 decision over Brock Henderson and a 10-10 overtime decision over Fabian Gutierrez, but dropped a close 5-4 match to Brady Kyner and was eliminated with a tech fall by Tanner Hitchcock.

CPHS 2016 graduate Sage Singleton also competed but failed to place after going 0-4.

Sandite Wrestling tour de force continues at Schoolboy National Championship Duals

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Sand Springs has a long and impressive history when it comes to wrestling, but 2016 is well on its way to becoming one of the best years yet. Dual State Runners-Up, eleven State Qualifiers, six Regional Champions, one State Champion, and that was just during the school year.

As the saying goes, "Summer wrestling makes Winter Champions." Since the school year ended, the Sandites haven't even slowed down. Charles Page senior Daton Fix won a Freestyle National Championship and is headed to the World Championships in France this August. Senior Jack Karstetter came in Runner-Up in Greco-Roman at Nationals and is headed to the Pan-Ams in Peru in July. But it's not just the upperclassmen building up their resumes. Clyde Boyd Middle School eighth-grader Carter Young is working hard on the national scene as well.

After winning the OKUSA Youth Wrestling League State Championship, the Junior High Allstate Wrestling Championship, the OKUSA Freestyle and Greco Roman State Championships, and the Southern Plains Regional Championships in both Greco and Freestyle, Young most recently found himself in Indianapolis, Indiana for the Schoolboy Dual National Championships.

Competing as part of Team Oklahoma Red, alongside fellow Team BIG wrestlers Christian Forbes and Cougar Andersen, Young was one of the most crucial members of the team, going undefeated in both Greco-Roman and Freestyle.

On day one of Greco, the Oklahoma Outlaws dominated Team Idaho, winning eleven of seventeen matches for a 53-23 victory. Young defeated Christopher Martino 10-0 in his match. In the next dual, however, it was Team Washington with the edge on Oklahoma. Young won a 10-3 decision over Kenndyl Mobley, but Washington won ten matches for a 42-31 victory.

Thursday the Outlaws began working their way up through the consolation bracket, winning a pair of tough duals over Missouri and Utah before falling to Pennsylvania Red. The Outlaws had a 45-30 edge on Missouri, winning ten matches including a 10-0 tech fall by Young over Cody Ketchum. The Oklahoma team won eleven matches against Utah and Young picked up yet another 10-0 tech fall over Sage Mortimer for a 47-32 victory.

The Okies met their match in Pennsylvania after leading for most of the dual. It was back-and-forth for the first half and the Outlaws led by as much as 30-16 before giving up a yellow card and six straight matches for a final score of 41-29. Young won his match, however, with an 11-0 tech fall over Sheldon Seymour to remain undefeated in the tournament.

On Friday the Outlaws’ third place finish in Pool A landed them in the Bronze/Copper bracket where they swept the competition with four straight victories.

Young scored a 12-0 tech fall over Zachary Espalin, helping his team to a 44-33 win over Virginia. Next to fall was Indiana Gold 48-30 after the Okies won eleven matches, including a 10-0 tech fall by Young.

The Okies scored another dominating victory over Arizona at 51-29, winning eleven matches yet again. Young continued to breeze through his competition with his sixth-straight shutout tech fall, this time over Nathan Bigelow.

In the finals, the Outlaws got another rematch against Utah and once again came out with the advantage, winning ten matches for a final score of 43-34. Young continued his streak with a 11-0 victory over Mortimer.

The Oklahoma team claimed first in the Bronze/Copper Pool, placing them at ninth in the nation out of thirty-two teams. Three Team Oklahoma wrestlers earned All-American status in Greco, including Young with a final record of 9-0.

In Freestyle the boys did even better, placing seventh out of thirty-five teams.

In round one the Outlaws smoked Tennessee 60-20, losing only four matches while resting Young. The Sandite returned to action in the next round in a 58-19 domination of Utah and Young beat Mortimer for the third time that week 10-0.

Young sat out round three as the Outlaws easily handled Colorado Blue 56-18, and returned to action in the Pool A finals. He defeated Bob Houpt 10-0, but team finally lost their first dual of the tournament 48-27 to Washington.

In the true-second dual Oklahoma earned their way into the Gold/Silver bracket with a 48-29 victory over Missouri, including another 10-0 win over Ketchum from Young.

Young received a forfeit from Illinois in the first round of the Gold Pool as his team won 48-27.

His streak of seven-straight tech falls finally came to an end in a close match with Jett Strickenberger. Young got the 10-6 decision, but Colorado Red defeated the Okies 48-30.

Young didn’t wrestle against New Jersey in the next round, and it may have made the difference as the Outlaws fell 41-38, including a loss in the 77 pound position that Young normally occupies.

In the seventh place match against Arizona, he returned to action with a 10-0 tech fall over Nathan Bigelow and the Oklahoma team finished seventh overall.

Young is currently riding a twenty-two-straight winning streak and a 65-5 record for the year. He was also named an All-American in Freestyle.

This story was originally published in the Sandite Pride News Weekly Sunday edition.

CPHS senior Jack Karstetter comes in Runner-Up at National Championship

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School senior Jack Karstetter picked up some of the most impressive wins of his career in Akron, Ohio this weekend at the University of Akron. 

In the United World of Wrestling Cadet Greco-Roman Nationals Karstetter came in runner-up after falling to Wyoming Seminary junior Jack Davis in the finals. The Blue Knights finished the high school season ranked second in the nation by FloWrestling.

Karstetter secured a pair of impressive victories in the early rounds with a 5-4 decision over Theorius Robison, and a 4-1 decision over Rylee Molitor, both of whom hold multiple national titles. In the semi-finals he defeated PJ Gohn 5-0 and went to a best-of-three championship series against Davis.

Davis won the first match with a 5-2 decision, but Karstetter came out amped in the next battle for a dominating 12-5 victory. It came down to the wire in the final round but Davis got the 3-2 edge for the National Title.

In the Freestyle tournament Karstetter breezed through the early competition, scoring a pair of 10-0 tech falls. He defeated 2015 ASICS National Runner-Up Phillip Moomey and Georgia Freestyle State Champion Davion Fairley without allowing a single point. 

The next match wouldn’t be nearly as easy as he went into an ultimate tie-breaker round against Missouri State Champion Andrew Gamble. Karstetter came out with the 8-8 win, however, after riding out the final round and advanced to the quarter finals.

The winning streak finally came to an end in a 12-2 tech fall to USAW 2015 Cadet Freestyle National Champion Sammy Sasso. In the next round, Karstetter was pinned in 0:55 by Marco Regalbuto and eliminated from contention. 

 

This story was originally published in the Sandite Pride News Weekly Sunday edition.

Daton Fix qualifies for World Championship in France

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School junior Daton Fix has been in three states in the last month competing in summer Freestyle wrestling, and the three-time undefeated OSSAA State Champion hasn't slowed down a bit since the high school wrestling season concluded.

Last month in Las Vegas, Nevada, Fix won his sixteenth National Tournament. Two weeks later he won the OK USA Junior Freestyle State Tournament in Cushing, and just last Thursday he wrestled Iranian Champion Kheyrollah Ghahramani in an outdoor exhibition in the middle of Times Square in New York City. Sunday he traveled to Irving, Texas for the United World of Wrestling Junior Freestyle World Team Trials. 

Illinois State Champion Austin Gomez is one of the biggest names in wrestling and is currently ranked fifth in the nation at 120 pounds. At the World Team Trials he breezed through the competition with multiple shutout tech falls to make the finals, where he would go up against Fix. Fix got a free ride to the finals after winning the UWW National Championship in Vegas.

Fix and Gomez had already met in the Vegas quarterfinals where Fix, who is ranked second in 120 nationally, didn't allow even a single point in his dominating 10-0 tech fall victory over the Iowa State University bound three-time Fargo National Champ.

Needless to say, Gomez was looking for a different outcome in Irving, but he would be disappointed. Not only did Fix get the win, but he did it twice. The two battled in a best-of-three series for the ticket to Worlds and Fix dominated with a pair of 10-0 tech falls. 

This will be far from Fix's first international voyage. In May of 2014 he won the Pan American Championships in Recife, Brazil. That July he made his World Championship debut in Slovakia where he placed tenth, and in August he won a Silver medal at the Youth Olympics in China. Last summer he found himself in Sarajevo, Bosnia where he defeated Uzbekistan's Abbos Rakhmonov for a Bronze medal at Worlds. 

If you would like to support Fix's "Quest for Gold" you can donate at this LINK.

To see Fix's 14-3 tech fall victory over Iranian Champion Kheyrollah Ghahramani click HERE.