Iowa tops Oklahoma 41-26 at Freestyle Dual Nationals

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Oklahoma suffered another close loss in the second round of Freestyle Friday morning. The Outlaws battled hard, but Iowa Red pulled out all the stops and put together a tough team featuring six nationally ranked contenders.

Sand Springs’s own National Champion Daton Fix kicked off the dual with an 11-0 tech fall over Dante Tachia, but Iowa swept the next seven-straight matches.

Brock Rathbun took down All American Jacob Butler 10-0, Jaxen Gilmore took a 12-2 loss to No. 8 Carter Happel, and Brik Filippo lost 10-0 to Nelson Brands. Matt Malcomb scored a surprising 15-8 upset over No. 11 Wyatt Sheets, Marcus Coleman teched Christian Bahl 12-1, and Max Lyon teched Dan Baker 10-0 before the Outlaws finally managed to get back on the board.

Bear Hughes broke up the win streak with a 25 second pin of Donavon Doyle, then Iowa went right back at it as No. 14 Wyatt Wriedt teched Gunner Cash 16-6. Trenton Lieurance put up an impressive battle against No. 11 Carter Isley but lost by a close 3-1 decision.

Sand Springs’s Riley Weir won a 13-2 tech fall over Cobe Siebrecht and Wyatt Adams received a forfeit, but the last two bouts belonged to Iowa. No. 4 Kyle Biscoglia won a 12-10 decision over Colt Newton and No. 9 Jack Wagner wrapped things up with a 21-15 decision over Jet Taylor to win the dual 41-26.

Up next for Oklahoma is a tough New Jersey team whose only losses were a close 34-33 Pool A finals bout with Ohio and a 35-30 dual with Illinois. Jersey boasts an incredible twelve nationally ranked wrestlers. 

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.

New Soccer Coach headed to Charles Page next season

Bobby Behren's Varsity Girls team won the Edison Green and White Tournament this year.

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Two-year Head Girls Soccer Coach Bobby Behrens will not be with Charles Page High School going into the 2017 season. Behrens was recently announced to be the new Men's Soccer Assistant Coach at Oral Roberts University, and will be replaced by former Coweta coach Matthew Miller. 

Behrens carries an injured player off the field.

Behrens didn't spend long in the coaching spot at CPHS, but his two short years left big shoes to fill. The 2010 Sand Springs graduate made the All-State team his senior year and played collegiate for John Brown University and Northeastern State University before returning to his Alma Mater as Head Girls coach in 2014. The girls finished the 2016 season with a 9-6 record, six shutouts, and the Edison Green and White Tournament Championship. In addition to Behrens, the Sandites sent four players to the collegiate level, including All-State player Brooklyn Eardley who will go with Behrens to ORU. 

Miller was previously the head coach for the Coweta boys team for a year. Specifically, he was the third head coach in three years for Coweta, who can't seem to find a match. Miller previously worked as an assistant coach for the Tulsa Thunder Soccer Club on the Red 95 Team. He worked with the Oklahoma Olympic Youth Development Team from 2000-2004 and served as a Camp Coach for ORU from 2011-2012. Coweta's boys went 7-7 under Miller in the regular season before falling to Memorial in the 5A State Tournament. 

Oklahoma Freestyle breezes through South Dakota at Nationals

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Oklahoma Outlaws put the whole arena on high notice that they were on a warpath in the opening round of Freestyle Friday morning. The back-to-back Junior Dual National Champions have every intention of threepeating this weekend at the Cox Business Center in Tulsa. 

South Dakota's Nick Casperson won the first round with a back-and-forth 20-10 tech fall over Dan Baker, but Zach Marcheselli got Oklahoma in the win column with a 12-2 tech against Payson Dirk. 

The Outlaws got the lead with a forfeit at 220 and never looked back. Trenton Leiurance had little difficulty running up an 11-0 tech fall over Truman Ashes in 5:34. 

Kellyn March won a 10-0 tech over Alex Fields for South Dakota, but Oklahoma went on a run from there. Wyatt Adams received a forfeit at 106, Colt Newton teched Trevor Klinnert 10-0, and Jet Taylor did the same to Caden Lamer. 

Brandon Carroll put up a solid attempt on Daton Fix, but the National Champ prevailed 11-0 in 2:33. Jacob Butler continued the undefeated streak he began in Greco with an 8-4 decision over Jebben Keyes, Jaxen Gilmore teched Bailey Mennis 14-4, and Beau Guffey teched Josh Cid 10-0. 

Wyatt Sheets received a forfeit at 152, Dayton Garrett teched Blake Beitz 10-0, and Drew Hinkle wrapped the dual up with a 10-0 tech fall over Jesse Mikrut for a final score of 55-11. Up next for the Outlaws will be an untested Iowa Blue team who received a bye in the first round. 

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.

Payton Scott clinches 36-30 victory for Team Oklahoma over Florida

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Oklahoma Outlaws got off to a rough start Thursday morning at the Greco-Roman Junior National Duals. After going undefeated in day one, the Okies went down 35-32 to California in a hotly contested battle that wasn't decided till the final match. The Gold may be out of reach for Oklahoma now, but the scrappy team proved their hearts are still in it with a stellar 36-30 victory over Florida in round two.

State Champion Nick Mahan (Lawton) started the dual off with a 19-9 tech fall over Mikall Fundora, State Champ Dan Baker (Sulphur) came out on the winning end of a high-scoring 15-11 decision over Josiah Gittman, and State Champ Bear Hughes (Coweta) dominated Fidel Lara with a 13-0 tech fall for an 11-2 lead.

Florida finally picked up their first win with a 13-2 tech fall by Darius Hamilton over Tanner Hawkins. Broken Arrow's Trenton Lieurance went the distance for a 4-2 decision over Kyron Taylor, then Florida went on a run.

Jacob Cochran won an 18-10 decision over Alex Fields (Guthrie), Elijah Varona teched Wyatt Adams (MacArthur) 12-0, and Malyke Hines picked up a 20-10 tech fall over Alec McDoulett (Little Axe).

National Champion Dalton Duffield (Westmoore) quickly handled Luis Hernandez with a 0:42 pin. Jet Taylor (Sallisaw) went down 11-0 to Jordan Marshall. State Champion Jacob Butler (Elgin) won a 7-1 decision over Marcus Abreu and State Champ Jaxen Gilmore (Yukon) teched Demetrius Anderson 11-0. 

Brik Filippo, a State Champ from Tuttle, put up a valiant effort against nationally ranked No. 16 Anthony Artalona but went down in a 6-1 decision.

With a 30-26 lead and two matches left, Sand Springs's Payton Scott had the chance to clinch the dual, and the pressure was on. The next match would be Ezequiel Rubio (Ponca City) as a heavy underdog against Max Wohlabaugh, who just won the Cadet Greco-Roman National Title in Akron three weeks ago. The Sandite didn't disappoint, and pinned Christian Febus in 3:39 to put the victory just out of reach for Florida. Wohlabaugh won his match 11-1, but Oklahoma won the dual 36-30.

Up next for Oklahoma is the undefeated top-seeded Minnesota Blue team. Minnesota features nationally ranked No. 11 Jake Allar, No. 11 Taylor Venz, No. 12 Lucas Jeske, and No. 13 Owen Webster.