Mitchell Smith Secures District Title for Sandites in 39-34 Win over Ponca City

After missing out the past two years, Sand Springs is headed back to Dual State thanks to straight toughness and senior leadership.

With one match left in the Sandites’ district dual against No. 11 Ponca City, Sand Springs trailed 34-33. It all came down to Mitchell Smith at 150 pounds.

With a knee injury that many would consider season-ending, the senior put his team on his shoulders and came out with a pin of Braden Perciful in 30 seconds to secure the 39-34 victory.

“We needed him big time,” said head coach Ty Bowling.

“I said, ‘Hey. The score is close enough. We don’t need anything big, we just need to go out and get a win.’ He goes out and finds a pin. That’s huge for us. Senior leadership.”

“We haven’t gone to dual state since my freshman year, so this is big,” said Smith. “We had some bad losses the past two years, to teams we all felt like we should have beat, so it’s nice to win like this.”

Sand Springs went on to win 46-27 against Edmond Deer Creek and 48-25 against No. 13 Union to clinch its 18th District Championship Tuesday evening at the UMAC.

“Straight toughness,” said Bowling. “We had a handful of injuries. It’s January, that’s what wrestling is. We’ve got guys with bad ankles, bad knees, so they dug deep, a lot of toughness. They battled. They showed that they wanted it.”

“We’ve been looking toward these duals all season. We knew Ponca City was the defending champ, we know what they had coming back. We knew it was going to take all 14 doing their job, whether it was finding bonus, not giving up bonus, or just going out and just gritting out a win.”

Four Sandites went undefeated at the quad, including Jaxon “Scout” Trotter, who had to start each dual at 157 pounds.

“We usually start at 106 and we started all three duals at 157,” said Bowling. “He had three tough matches and came away with three wins, so he started us off right every time.”

Freshman Hudson Sheppard and junior Mason Harris also went undefeated, winning all three of their matches by fall.

“I’m just excited,” said Harris. “It’s my first time and I just want to know what it’s like. I was one year off from knowing what it’s like so I’m just excited to bring Sand Springs back into it.”

“We have a few injuries right now that are still healing up. By the time those heal back up we’re going to be even more dominant than we are now.”

Smith won both of his matches as well. With a 46-21 lead against Deer Creek, the Sandites forfeited Smith’s weight, but the senior insisted on wrestling against Union, where he collected a 31-second pin.

“I really wanted to,” said Smith. “I wanted to wrestle the second match as well, but my coach told me not to because he didn’t want to risk it, which is fair but I’m not a big fan of sitting on the bench and watching my teammates wrestle, so I tried to get some matches in as well.”

The Sandites still have a few tough duals left before Dual State, and will host No. 4 Broken Arrow (8-1) Tuesday for Homecoming and No. 2 Stillwater (10-1) on Thursday.

The varsity boys took the weekend off but the varsity girls and junior varsity boys competed at the Morey Villareal Memorial tournament at Will Rogers High School.

The JV boys won the tournament against a field of mostly varsity competitors, topping Bartlesville 207 to 194.5.

Dawson Briscoe won the 106-pound bracket with five pins, Brody Ensten won at 157 with two pins, and Peyton Callis won at 165 with four pins.

Colt Hood, Landen Horton, and Christopher Cooper were runners-up and Jackson Burdge, Preston Reyna, Brock O’Dell, Dallas Flores, and Cash Lucas took third place.

Madison Chambers took first place, Gracie Young was second, and Kreedence Behnke was third to lead the girls varsity to a fifth-place finish.

Youth

Gage Fadenrecht, Ryker Dawes, Collin Randall, Brackton Upton, Hunter Sims, Kase Skaggs, and Jace Simms all won their brackets at the Broken Arrow Wrestlemania tournament, representing the Keystone Kids.

Luke Hooper Has Career Night in 60-33 Verdigris Rout

Luke Hooper didn’t play basketball his junior year but he shook off any lingering rust Saturday afternoon in the Port City Classic consolation finals.

The 6-foot-4 power forward hit his stride for a career-best 12 points and 9 rebounds to lead Sand Springs (8-7) in a 60-33 romp against Verdigris (10-7) for fifth place in the Catoosa tournament.

“You don’t realize how much it can slip away from you, just getting back into basketball shape and timing,” said head coach Eric Savage.

“He’s a big body and does a good job rebounding. If we can get him scoring on offense like he was able to today then it’s really going to help us.”

The Sandites suffered a 69-61 loss to 4A No. 16 Catoosa (11-4) in the first round to cap a four-game losing streak, but snapped back with a 66-48 win over 5A No. 16 Claremore (8-7) in Friday’s consolation semifinals.

“We went through a tough stretch right there in a conference that’s arguably very tough,” said Savage.

Sand Springs lost conference games against Union and Owasso the prior week, and fell 72-50 to Jenks on Tuesday. Now back above .500, the Sandites will be looking to ride some momentum into their next week’s conference games.

“I think it does a lot for the players’ confidence and our team to be able to experience some success,” said Savage.

“I wish we would’ve got three (wins) this weekend, but to finish on two wins - hopefully we can build on that”

Several Sandites had notable performances on the weekend. Alijah Roper and Micahel Foster scored 13 apiece in the loss to Catoosa and Kade Holland had a career-best 12. Blake Johnson was a bucket shy of a double-double with 8 points and 11 boards.

“We’re getting better and guys are stepping up and realizing they can make plays during games,” said Savage. “We’re getting some maturity and growth out of those sophomores.”

The sophomores being Kooper Kelly, Zane Fueshko, Khalil Allen, and Johnson.

Foster led the team with 14 against Claremore and Roper added 10. Against Verdigris, Roper and Kelly had 10 apiece, Allen added 9, and Foster had 8 points and 10 rebounds.

In Tuesday’s game against Jenks it was Kelly with 11 and Allen with 10 to lead the team.

“Alijah’s been playing a lot better and he’s been really consistent for us this year - probably our most consistent,” said Savage. “We need Alijah playing like he played this tournament.”

“I think by the end of January, going into February, I’m hoping we’ll be hitting our stride and playing our best basketball.”

The Sandites will return to action Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. with a road game at No. 9 Booker T. Washington (9-4, 4-2) followed by a home battle against No. 1 Broken Arrow (14-0, 6-0) on Friday.

Girls

For only the second time this season, Hailey Jackson didn’t lead her team in scoring against No. 9 Jenks (9-4, 4-2) on Tuesday.

It wasn’t because she had an off-night - it was because her entire team was on fire.

Five Lady Sandites scored in double digits, each with impressive stat lines, in a 67-43 win that was arguably the best performance of the season for No. 10 Sand Springs (11-4, 4-2).

Freshman Calla Fueshko led her team with a career-high 16 points, going 4-of-6 from three-point range before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.

Sand Springs actually trailed 20-14 after the first quarter but Fueshko and Taiona Morris opened the second with a trio of treys to go up 23-20 and never relinquished the lead.

By halftime the home team led 37-29 and they used a 14-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to put the game to bed.

Jackson scored 15 points with 6 boards; Sakauri Wilson had 13 points, 3 steals, and 5 assists; Kiaryn Taylor had 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals; and Morris had 10 points with 6 boards, 3 steals, and 5 assists.

Jill Twiehaus led all scorers with 21 points for Jenks, but was held to only 4 in the second half.

Sand Springs will take to the road Tuesday against No. 4 Booker T. Washington (13-2, 5-1) before hosting No. 13 Broken Arrow (10-5, 4-2) on Friday.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Wrestling Places 7th at Sapulpa Tournament

The Charles Page High School wrestling team took seventh place at the Jerry Billings Invitational in Sapulpa over the weekend with nine top-ten finishers.

The Sandites went 0-4 in the semifinal round, but Kase Skaggs, Jaxon Trotter, and Mason Harris won out in consolation.

Skaggs faced a rematch of his Jenks Tournament placement round in the 106 quarterfinals and easily rolled to a 9-2 decision against Tahlequah’s Jacob Caviness.

He was pinned by top-seeded Braydon Pacheco in the semifinals but upset two-seed Carlos Magallanes 6-5 in consolation and beat Chandler freshman Landon Earp 6-5 in the placement match.

Trotter defeated a pair of State qualifiers at 157 before falling to top-seeded Daniel Long, 4-2 in sudden-victory overtime. In the consolation finals he won a 7-4 upset against Tennessee State placer Wills Bronson.

Harris pinned his first two opponents at heavyweight before falling 4-0 to Kansas State Champion Sebastian Lopez in the semis. In consolation he won a 3-2 decision against Allen, Texas’s Blake Palmer.

David Ritchey placed fourth at 113, Jesse Moore placed fourth at 144, Jayden Pait placed sixth at 132, Matthew Moore placed seventh at 126, Ethan White placed eighth at 165, and Cash Lucas placed eighth at 285.

The junior high team took fourth place at the Perry tournament with three champions.

Jaxon Grigsby won the 98-pound bracket despite losing a 4-0 decision in pool play against Allen, Texas’s Caiden Campbell. He pinned four of his next five opponents, outscoring them 34-4 to set up a rematch with Campbell, which he won on a 2-0 sudden-victory takedown.

Kaden Pope won at 119 pounds with five pins and a tech fall, outscoring his opponents 63-3, including a 3-0 decision against Bristow’s Kale Fruits in the finals.

Isaac Sensintaffar won at 155, pinning three of his six foes, outscoring his foes 52-13 with a 13-8 finals decision over Broken Arrow’s Matthew Mann.

Kasen McAffrey placed third at 140, pinning five of his nine opponents while outscoring them 56-12. His only loss was a semifinals fall against the tournament champion.

Ryley Kester placed third at heavyweight, pinning all seven of his opponents with the exception of undefeated tournament winner Jon Broehl from Broken Arrow, who won a 1-0 semifinal decision.

The Keystone Kids youth wrestling club earned four gold medals at the Oiltown Throwdown in Ponca City.

Hagan Wolfenberger and Mason Londo both won their brackets while Ryker Dawes won two brackets by wrestling up a division.

UFC

Sand Springs native Jimmy Flick suffered a first-round TKO against Charles Johnson in his return to the octagon after a two-year hiatus.

The fight went to the mat late in the first round where it was called in Johnson’s favor after an unrelenting series of hammer fists and elbows to the head.

Flick is now 16-6 in his pro career and 1-1 in the UFC.

Football

Sandite receiver Kyle Morrall has received a college offer from North American University, an NAIA program in Stafford, Texas.

Defensive back RJ Smittick received his first college offer last week from McPherson College, an NAIA program in McPherson, Kansas.

Sakauri Wilson Leads Sandites to 48-47 Win Over Owasso

Sakauri Wilson missed a floater with 14.3 seconds left in the game, but secured the rebound. After a brief timeout she was fouled by Kynlie Wilson and hit the go-ahead free throw to make it 48-47.

She missed the second three throw, but once again secured the rebound - her tenth on the night.

The junior earned her first career double-double with 13 points and helped propel No. 11 Sand Springs (10-4, 3-2) to a gritty conference win over No. 14 Owasso (6-5, 1-4).

All night long the 5’5” point guard came through in clutch moments due to her speed, ferocity, and fearlessness in matchups with players who easily outsized her.

“Our big needed help rebounding so it was my time to come in and help rebound, little or not,” said Wilson.

She also recorded three steals and five assists in a rematch of the Sandites’ 51-49 victory over Owasso in the Bishop Kelley Invitational finals.

“My mind was we can’t lose because if we lose, we’re not hosting (a Regional playoff),” said Wilson. “I really want to host and I want to make it to State with them. So that’s my goal. If I have to put my team on my back, then I’ll do it.”

“Once she understands how good she really is and how she can control the game, I think the sky's the limit for her,” said head coach Josh Berry.

Owasso stormed out to a 17-10 lead after the first quarter at the Ed Dubie Field House, but a trey from Kiaryn Taylor tied it up early in the second. The Sandites closed the half on a 9-1 run to make it 28-27.

Chrinasia Elbert put the Rams back on top to open the half and the Sandites didn’t regain the lead till Hailey Jackson hit a deep two to open the fourth on an inbound throw from Wilson.

The fourth quarter saw three tie scores and five lead changes but ultimately the Sandites held on for their 10th consecutive victory against the Rams. The Sandites are 4-0 in one-score games this season.

“I’ve been noticing we’ve got some resilience to us,” said Berry. “Early on, we didn’t fight like that when we got down. But now we’ve got a little resilience. I think they’re believing that we’ve got a chance to be a really good team.”

Jackson led all scorers with 21 points and is averaging 20.6 per outing this season. Makenna Yokley had 16 to lead Owasso.

The Sandites will return to action Tuesday with a home game against No. 9 Jenks (7-2, 4-1).

Owasso 54, Sand Springs 45 (boys)

Owasso (4-6, 2-3) needed a win. The Rams entered the Ed Dubie Field House unranked after losing four of their last five, and they found it in a 54-45 battle with No. 18 Sand Springs (6-5, 1-4).

“(Eric) Savage does a great job with his guys,” said Owasso coach Brian Montonati.

“We knew it was going to be a tough battle, so we’re extremely happy to get away with a win. We needed one of these.”

Brandon Mann scored the first two buckets of the game en route to a 12-point performance and the Rams never trailed in the first half, though a pair of late treys from Kooper Kelly cut it as close as 22-20.

The Sandites opened the third on a 10-point run, however, and a free throw from Blake Johnson gave the home team the lead at 30-29 with 2:38 in the quarter.

“I think we lost a little bit of focus,” said Montonati. “Sometimes that will happen with a young team.”

“I thought as the game went on we got the shots that we needed to get, we were getting to the free throw line, and we locked up on defense. We made a couple of different coverages on the pick-and-roll and it seemed to help us.”

Owasso rode a 13-point streak from the third into the fourth quarter, though Sand Springs once again got as close as 42-41 on a trey from Alijah Roper.

Freshman star and coach’s son Jalen Montonati kept his team out front, however, with a game-best 23-point performance, including 7 in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a blessing to be able to coach my son, but taking that away, he’s an extremely talented young man,” said Brian Montonati.

“When his shot gets going, it kind of changes the different coverages of our team. It was good to see him bounce back after being sick not playing for about a month, to finally start hitting some shots and playing the way we always thought he could play.”

The Rams will host 5A No. 16 Sapulpa (5-9, 1-4) Tuesday before traveling to the Bill Hanson Tournament in Pittsburg, Kansas over the weekend.

“I love the fight of this team,” said Brian Montonati. “I love the swagger of them.”

“We’ve been in some really big games against some really quality opponents and there hasn't been any fear in their eyes. So as long as we stay together, share the ball, play defense, and stay coachable, I think we could end this thing on a good note.”

Sand Springs 48, Owasso 47 (girls)
Sand Springs;10;18;10;10;--48.
Owasso;17;10;11;9–47.

Sand Springs: Jackson 21, Wilson 13, Morris 5, Taylor 5, Fueshko 2, Martin 2.
Owasso: Yokley 16, Austin 11, Elbert 10, McGarrah 8, Wilson 2.

Owasso 54, Sand Springs 45 (boys)
Owasso;15;12;10;17;--54.
Sand Springs;8;12;12;13;--45.

Owasso: Montonati 23, Mann 12, Williams 7, Lewis 5, McLemore 3, Harbaugh 2, Scott 2.
Sand Springs: Kelly 13, Roper 9, Allen 8, Foster 5, Johnson 5, Holland 3, Hooper 2.

Sandites Place 2nd at Diamond State Duals, 8th at Jenks Tournament

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Sand Springs wrestling program as the Sandites took second place at the Diamond State Duals in Springdale on December 30th and eighth place at the Larry Wilkey Invitational in Jenks on January 7th.

At the Jenks tournament the Sandites had six placers and one finalist, led by Mitchell Smith as runner-up.

“It was, in my opinion, a little bit of an up and down weekend,” said first-year coach Ty Bowling.

“I think we had a really good quarterfinal round and struggled in the semis, but I think we came back and finished pretty strong.”

Smith faced a rematch with Salina state champion Gavin Montgomery, who dealt the Sandite his only loss in December’s Enid tournament. In that event Smith led 6-0 before giving up a reversal and pin with four seconds left.

In the rematch it was Smith who had to battle out of an early hole after giving up a takedown and two nearfall points before calling an injury timeout for a knee pain.

“I think it was more of a scare than anything, just kind of an awkward position,” said Bowling. “But he came back. He was put in a bad spot down 4-0 but he battled all the way back.”

The senior tied it up at 5-5 on a third-period reversal, but Montgomery reclaimed the lead with a reversal of his own and won a 7-6 decision.

“It’s just one of those matches where we learn in January how to finish in February, so he’ll come back strong.”

Zander Grigsby placed third, Mason Harris was fourth, Kase Skaggs and Jayden Pait placed fifth, and Ethan White was sixth at the tournament.

No. 7 Sand Springs (10-1) won its first nine duals of the season before falling 39-37 to Ozark in the Diamond dual finals, then defeated Jenks on Tuesday before the tournament.

In pool play Sand Springs won 77-6 against Fayetteville, 64-9 against Bentonville, and 74-0 against Arlington for its biggest win and first shutout since 2017.

In the gold bracket the Sandites won 78-6 against Shiloh Christian, 70-6 against North Desoto, and 69-3 against Bentonville before falling to Ozark in the finals.

Skaggs, Matthew Moore, Pait, Grigsby, Jesse Moore, David Ritchey, and Cash Lucas all went undefeated in the Springdale duals. The Sandites went 85-13 in individual matches.

“I think that was really good for our confidence,” said Bowling. “Not only did we get a bunch of matches, but we were able to win as a team and come together in a dual format.”

Ritchey, Matthew Moore, Grigsby, Smith, Trotter, White, McCoy and Harris all pinned their foes in the 58-15 win at Jenks on Tuesday.

“Obviously you want to have a lot of success in December and January, but you’re always building toward February and getting your hand raised down at that last match in the state tournament, so that’s what we’re building towards.”

Sand Springs will return to action with a tough road dual at No. 3 Bixby (5-2) on Thursday before competing at the Jerry Billings Invitational in Sapulpa over the weekend.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Kelsi Hilton wins Diamond State Tournament

The Sand Springs girls varsity wrestling team took 25th place at the Inola tournament over the weekend with two medalists. Kelsi Hilton took second place at 130 pounds with three pins while Kreedence Behnke placed sixth at 100.

The junior varsity boys placed 10th at Inola with two medalists. Ayreson Reiss scored two pins and a technical fall in a runner-up performance at 106. Preston Callis was runner-up at 165 with four pins.

Hilton took first place at the Diamond State Lady Invitational over winter break, pinning three opponents for her first regular season title.

Laila Mirza and Madison Chambers placed third, Gracie Young was fourth, and Addilly Shotwell and Kreedence Behnke were sixth in Springdale.

The Keystone Kids crowned seven champions and 10 runners-up at the Bedlam Battle in Stillwater.

Brackton Upton, Maddix Spencer, Bryson Pope, Kasen McAffrey, and Trey Tunnell all won their divisions while Kydon Harness won in two divisions.

Jett Galloway, Na’Kya Canady, Caemon Young, Ryker Dawes, Jayce Parks, Eric Foust, Hudson Waag, Carsten Reiss, Wes Wilson, and Samuel Moore all took second place.

Boys Basketball

The Sand Springs varsity boys (6-3) have already matched last season’s win total with a third-place performance at the East Central Classic in Ada over the weekend.

On Thursday the Sandites won 51-42 against Ardmore (4-7) behind a 13-point performance from Michael Foster and 11 points from Blake Johnson.

They slipped against host Ada (8-3) on Friday, however, in a close 46-43 battle after leading 26-18 at halftime and 34-29 to start the fourth. Kooper Kelly scored 11 to lead the Sandites.

In the placement round Kelly was once against the team leader with 11 points in a 53-45 win over 3A No. 8 Hugo (10-4). Kelly was named to the All-Tournament team.

Girls Basketball

Hailey Jackson became the second player under Josh Berry to join the 1,000 point club at Sand Springs as the Lady Sandites (8-4) placed sixth at the Putnam City Invitational.

The senior star scored 28 in a 50-46 loss to No. 17 Norman North (6-5) on Thursday and added 17 in a 49-34 win over Muskogee (2-6).

In Saturday’s placement match with 4A No. 7 Harding Prep (12-2) Jackson scored 25 and put herself over the 1,000 mark with a third-quarter free throw. The Sandites lost that game 57-47.

Sakauri Wilson scored 13 and Kiaryn Taylor added 12 in the win over Muskogee, and Wilson added 17 against Harding.

Sandite basketball will return to action with conference road games at Union on Tuesday and will host Owasso on Thursday.

Football

Several Sandite football players are receiving college offers. Jacob Blevins, Kyle Morrall, and Ryley Kester have all been recruited by Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

Former Sandite offensive line coach Jason Medrano has been hired as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at NWOSU.