The Class 6A No. 5 ranked Charles Page High School wrestling team will send ten wrestlers to the State Tournament next week after placing third at the 6A-East Regional Championship in Broken Arrow Saturday night.
The defending Regional and State Champions were unable to replicate their last year's successful outing, but crowned two tournament champions out of four finalists, finishing a mere 9.5 points behind No. 4 Mustang. The host team won the tournament handily by a 61 point margin with six champions.
Carter Young (106) and Riley Weir (113) won their brackets, Chris Kirby (145) and Kaleb Tabor (152) were runners-up, Irwin Portillo (132) and Gage Fain (220) took third, Seth Jones (120) and Scott Patton (138) placed fourth to qualify for State outright. Blake Sargent (126) and Dayvon Taylor (170) came in fifth and will have the chance to wrestle the fourth-place finisher from the opposite region in a wrestle-in match at the State Tournament. Josh Fincannon (195) took sixth and will participate in the wrestle-in match only if one of the top five place-winners cannot participate.
Freshman standout Carter Young (37-1) breezed through his first two rounds at with a pair of technical falls, defeating Leyton Warne 19-4 in 2:51 and David Boucher 24-9 in 3:53. In the finals he took on Broken Arrow freshman Jared Hill and won a shutout, scoring a reversal in the third period for a 9-0 major decision and his nineteenth-straight victory.
Defending State Champion Riley Weir (26-7, 88-25) pinned his first three competitors, taking down Garrett Johnson in 2:51, Henry Warren in 2:24, and Blazik Perez in 5:16. In the finals he battled Mustang freshman Tucker Owens and took a 2-0 lead with a first period takedown. He added a reversal in the second period, then rode out the third for a 4-0 decision.
Kaleb Tabor (24-11) pinned Ryan Stetler in 36 seconds, then defeated Christian McCutcheon 4-0 and Richie Lee 6-3. In the finals he stayed neutral through the first period against Broken Arrow senior Brady Mattioda. Mattioda got a second period reversal and rode out the final stretch for a 2-0 decision.
Chris Kirby (20-8) pinned his way to the finals, taking down Derek VanDyke in 1:35, Johnny Villa in 0:49, and Austin Daniels in 0:54, but gave up a technical fall to top-seeded Mustang freshman Tate Picklo.
Irwin Portillo (30-17, 36-22) won 5-2 decisions over Verdell Schoats and Tanner Frew before falling to Dylan Schickram. In consolation he defeated John Ritchey 3-1 to clinch his spot at state. In the finals he scored a first period takedown, Brayden Strachan escaped in the first and second, then Portillo jumped back out front with an escape and a takedown in the third for the 5-2 decision.
Gage Fain (19-8, 58-46) pinned Adam Denham in 2:20, but was in-turn pinned by defending State Champion Zach Marcheselli. In consolation he pinned Jared Galli in 2:00 and won a 3-2 ultimate tie-breaker over Stillwater senior Kameron Linsenmeyer.
Scott Patton (26-18, 33-20) defeated Enrie Chavez 7-4, fell 13-5 to Baylor Smith, then pinned Christian Webb in 3:10. In the consolation finals Union junior Jaylin Hernandez scored a takedown in the first and picked up a pair of penalty points before Patton escaped. In the third Patton cut it to a one-point deficit but couldn’t find a takedown and fell 4-3.
Seth Jones (26-14, 28-17) defeated Jackson Cockrell 3-2, fell 3-1 to Joseph Lupton, then pinned Caron Watson in 1:34. In the consolation finals he took on Owasso junior Zeke Washington. Washington scored first, both reversed, and the Ram rode out the third period for a 4-2 decision.
Senior State Qualifier Blake Sargent (12-7, 101-32) won his first match 6-3 over Tanner Robinson, but fell 11-8 to Reece Witcraft and 4-2 to Kyrie Beasley in sudden-victory overtime. In placement he rematched Robinson and scored takedowns in each period, an escape in the second, a second takedown in the third, and rode to a 9-1 major decision.
Dayvon Taylor (20-20) pinned Spencer Shook in 3:43 and won a 10-7 decision against Brannigan Reyes before falling 9-0 to top-seeded Broken Arrow sophomore Bryce Mattioda. He fell 7-6 to Kaleb Mertz in consolation and took on Jenks junior Colt Freeman in placement. Taylor scored first, Freeman reversed, then Taylor escaped and started the second period on top. Taylor cut the Trojan, who scored with twenty seconds left and took a 5-3 advantage into the third. Taylor escaped quickly and scored with nine seconds left for a 6-5 decision.
Josh Fincannon (13-18) pinned Lukas Hammack in 3:54 then dropped a 5-2 decision to Elijah Tomlin. In consolation he defeated Tanner Haskins 4-2 in sudden-victory overtime and won a 3-1 decision over Noah Hernandez before falling 5-0 to Judson Rowland. The Sandite wrestled Sapulpa senior Keland Bearpaw in placement and fell by 5-0 decision.
The Sandites didn’t wrestle anybody at 160, 182, or heavyweight, while both Broken Arrow and Mustang had full lineups.
The State Tournament will kick off Friday, February 23rd at State Fairgrounds Arena in Oklahoma City. Doors open at 8:30 a.m., Wrestle-In matches will be held at 9:30 a.m., and the first round will begin at 11:00 a.m.
The semifinals and first round of consolations will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Consolation semifinals will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, consolation finals will be at 12:45 p.m., and finals will be at 5:45 p.m..
