CPHS Soph. Riley Weir competes at Mid Summer Mat Bash in Texas

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School sophomore Riley Weir crossed State lines this past weekend to compete at the Mid Summer Mat Bash in Justin, Texas as part of team Texas Dynamite. The dual tournament featured twenty-four teams from eleven states. 

Texas Dynamite won five duals and lost seven for an eleventh place finish overall. Weir won seven matches and lost five, competing at 110 and 118 pounds.

In the first round of pool play Weir was pitted against Matt Wilde, a Pennsylvania State Qualifier with a 42-12 junior-year record. Wilde came out on top with a 4-1 decision as the Turks Head team doubled down on Texas Dynamite 44-21. 

Weir and his teammates got in the win column in their next battle against the lone Oklahoma team in the tournament. Geary went down 53-12 and Weir easily handed Logan Buchanan a 9-0 major decision. Next to fall was Kansas Silver 39-28. Weir pinned Carlos Gaeta in a mere 0:20 seconds.

The Dynamite streak continued with a 43-24 win over the 806 Elite and a 12-1 major decision from Weir over UIL State Qualifier Jesse Martinez. The Sandite followed it up with another quick pin in 0:36 over Jackson McCall of Kansas Black. Texas Dynamite won that dual 46-27.

The team met their match in the boastfully titled Best Trained team who defended their proud claim with a 51-12 dominating victory. Texas State Champion Jonathan Ortegon overcame Weir with an 11-3 major decision. Weir rebounded with an 0:52 pin of Grayson Fries, but his team was defeated 39-18 by the Nebraska Patriots for a fourth place finish in Pool B.

Moving to the Silver pool, the Dynamite suffered another series of losses to the tournament's toughest competitors.

Weir overcame WCA's Kaleb Getz 13-8, and his team won 40-28.

The Dynamite dual against Wrestling Factory was a close one both for the team and our Sandite. Weir got the edge for a 5-4 decision over Texas State Champion and Cotton Bowl National Champion Karsten Johnson, but Dynamite fell 39-30.

The Nebraska Warriors were the next to take down the Dynamite 46-24, and Nebraska State Champion Gage Krolikowski dealt Weir a 14-7 decision. Vision Quest won their dual 37-36, including a 1:15 pin of Weir by USAW National Runner-Up Aaden Valdez. Finally, the Texas Dynamite team came full-circle for a 46-19 defeat by Turks Head. Weir was pinned in 0:57 by Lukas Richie.

This tournament brings Weir's record for 2016 to 25-15, or 14-8 since the high school season concluded. Weir went 21-12 in his freshman year and qualified for State after a third place finish at Regionals while wrestling with an injured arm. He returned to action at the Junior Freestyle Duals in June and helped Team Oklahoma to a seventh place finish, then claimed All-American status with a fourth place finish at the USAW Junior Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota in July. 

Sand Springs sends four to USAW National Championship, Riley Weir places fourth in Freestyle

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Two Sandites competed at the 2016 USAW Junior Men's Greco-Roman Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota this past week. Charles Page High School senior Jack Karstetter placed eighth in the tournament. Class of 2016 graduate Sage Singleton also competed, but didn't place.

Karstetter and Singleton were joined by Sophomore Riley Weir and Senior Michael Ritchey for the Freestyle competition.

The USA Wrestling event is considered by many to be the most prestigious national tournament a Cadet or Junior-aged wrestler can compete in. 

Karstetter rode an impressive wave of victories into the event. In February he came in Runner-Up at the Oklahoma High School State Championship, then came in Runner-Up at the United World of Wrestling Cadet Greco Nationals in June. Earlier this month he competed at the Cadet Pan-American Championship in Lima, Peru and took Silver.

At Fargo Karstetter stepped up to a higher age-division and competed at the Junior level in the 126 pounds bracket.

The Sandite got off to a great start with back-to-back 10-0 technical falls. The first opponent to fall was two-time Arizona State-Placer Tanner Borneman, followed by Kyle Clough of Illinois. He had a tough quarterfinal matchup in former Flonationals Champion Cole Manley, but prevailed with a 6-2 decision over the Pennsylvanian. 

Karstetter finally met his match in the semifinals against West Virginia University freshman Matthew Schmitt. The two-time Fargo Runner-Up and three-time Missouri State Champion defeated the Sandite by decision and went on to win the tournament. 

Moving to the consolation quarterfinals, Karstetter won a close 10-9 decision over three-time Montana State Champion Clayton Currier. From there he was defeated 7-1 by UWW National Champion Paul Bianchi and 12-8 by four-time Kansas State Qualifier Taylor Jokerst, but secured eighth place and All-American status for the second year in a row. 

Singleton competed at 120 pounds and was eliminated after two matches. In the first round he was pinned in 0:34 by former Fargo Runner-Up Brandon Meikel of Utah. In the consolations he was teched 10-0 by Marquel Parks of Washington. The winner of the 120 bracket was fellow Oklahoma Dalton Duffield of Westmoore High School.

Weir made an impressive return to action in the Freestyle competition.

The State Qualifier has been recovering from an elbow injury since February but you wouldn’t know it based on his performance at the prestigious tournament. Weir made a brief appearance at the Junior National Duals in Tulsa last month, but only wrestled three matches.

He kicked off the contest with a 10-0 tech fall over Luc Valdez of Illinois and followed it up with a 16-6 tech over Arkansas State Champion Christopher Whisenant.

In the quarterfinals Weir fell 14-4 to Northern Plains Champion Matthew Petersen, but worked his way up through the consolation bracket with three straight wins.

Texas’s Chris Thomas fell 14-2, Illinois Freestyle State Champion Anthony King fell 10-0, and New York Freestyle State Champion Brandon Nunez lost by an ultimate tie breaker. The winning streak finally came to an end with a 17-5 loss to UWW Cadet National Runner-Up Cevion Severado.

Karstetter got off to a great start with four straight victories before being eliminated with back-to-back losses. He scored tech falls of 10-0 and 12-2 over Hawaii’s Ryan Wahl and North Carolina Freestyle State Champion Caleb Kreitter, respectively. He picked up a high quality win with a 5-4 decision over three-time Kansas State Finalist Corbin Nirschl, and followed it up with a 12-10 decision over Colorado’s Zeke Alirez.

Karstetter finally met his match in nationally-ranked No. 20 Zachary Sherman of New Jersey in an 11-6 decision. Once again he was pitted against Schmitt and WVU wrestler prevailed again, 10-0.

Ritchey won his first match 10-0 over Utah’s Kaden Love but fell in his next match to USAW Greco National Runner-Up Gabriel Townsell of Illinois. He was eliminated by fellow Okie Trey Edwards of Mustang.

Singleton was defeated 10-0 by Codi Russell and Trevon Majette.

Seven-time USAW National Champion (three-time Greco, four-time Freestyle) Daton Fix didn’t defend his Fargo title this year and instead is spending time at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to prepare for the World Championship inMacone, France.

All-American Jack Karstetter places eighth at USAW National Championship

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Two Sandites competed at the 2016 USAW Junior Men's Greco-Roman Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota this week. Charles Page High School senior Jack Karstetter placed eighth in the tournament. Class of 2016 graduate Sage Singleton also competed, but didn't place.

The USA Wrestling event is considered by many to be the most prestigious national tournament a Cadet or Junior-aged wrestler can compete in. 

Karstetter rode an impressive wave of victories into the event. In February he came in Runner-Up at the Oklahoma High School State Championship, then came in Runner-Up at the United World of Wrestling Cadet Greco Nationals in June. Earlier this month he competed at the Cadet Pan-American Championship in Lima, Peru and took Silver.

At Fargo Karstetter stepped up to a higher age-division and competed at the Junior level in the 126 pounds bracket.

The Sandite got off to a great start with back-to-back 10-0 technical falls. The first opponent to fall was two-time Arizona State-Placer Tanner Borneman, followed by Kyle Clough of Illinois. He had a tough quarterfinal matchup in former Flonationals Champion Cole Manley, but prevailed with a 6-2 decision over the Pennsylvanian. 

Karstetter finally met his match in the semifinals against West Virginia University freshman Matthew Schmitt. The two-time Fargo Runner-Up and three-time Missouri State Champion defeated the Sandite by decision and went on to win the tournament. 

Moving to the consolation quarterfinals, Karstetter won a close 10-9 decision over three-time Montana State Champion Clayton Currier. From there he was defeated 7-1 by UWW National Champion Paul Bianchi and 12-8 by four-time Kansas State Qualifier Taylor Jokerst, but secured eighth place and All-American status for the second year in a row. 

Singleton competed at 120 pounds and was eliminated after two matches. In the first round he was pinned in 0:34 by former Fargo Runner-Up Brandon Meikel of Utah. In the consolations he was teched 10-0 by Marquel Parks of Washington. The winner of the 120 bracket was fellow Oklahoma Dalton Duffield of Westmoore High School.

Daton Fix competes at Gran Premio De Espana in Madrid, Spain

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PHOTO: COURTESY\\ Fix takes down Kuatbek at the 2014 Youth Olympics. 

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Daton Fix’s 67-straight win streak finally came to an end at 3:00 am Oklahoma time Saturday, June 9th. 

The three-time undefeated State Champion and soon to be senior at CPHS traveled to Madrid, Spain for his first Senior-level event this past weekend and got pitted against a youth Olympic champion in the first round.

Fix is currently ranked number one in the nation in the junior age division (born 1996-1998) but wrestled up to senior level (born 1996 or before) in order to face off against some of the toughest competitors in the world.

Of the ten wrestlers competing at 57 kilograms, two are ranked in the top ten in the world, and all have impressive international resumes.

Fix failed to make repechage, meaning he only wrestled one match. His opponent was Mukhambet Kuatbek, a nineteen-year-old from Kazakhstan who he has met once before.

In 2014 at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, Mukhambet prevailed over Fix in the 54 kg finals for the Gold medal. That time Kuatbek took a 6-1 lead before Fix battled back to within a point for a 7-6 finish.

This time it was far slower and far lower-scoring, but equally close. Neither wrestler scored a takedown or a turn throughout the match, but ultimately Kuatbek once again edged out the US wrestler by a single point for a 2-1 decision.

Kuatbek was in turn defeated by eventual champion Erdenebat Bekhbayar of Mongolia, who is ranked sixth internationally.

Fix and Team USA as a whole both placed eighth in the competition.

Fix departed for the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs on Sunday.

Carter Young wins Kids Freestyle National Championship without giving up a single point

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Carter Young is at it again. The Clyde Boyd Middle School eighth grader traveled to Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin this past week to compete at the 2016 ASICS USA Wrestling Kids Nationals and handily defended his Freestyle National Title for the third-straight year.

Young first laid claim to the Freestyle national title in 2014 while coming in Runner-Up in Greco-Roman. He achieved the same results in 2015: first in Freestyle, second in Greco.

Young recently achieved All-American status in both styles after going undefeated in the Schoolboy Dual Nationals this summer and entered the Greco tournament riding a twenty-two-straight win streak.

In the first round he defeated Joe Natarcola of Delaware with a 14-4 tech fall, and followed it up with a 10-0 tech over Illinois Greco State Runner-Up Kai Neumark.

In the third round he finally met his match in Northern Plains Regional Champion and USAW Freestyle National Runner– Up Draka Ayala of Iowa.

Despite the 10-0 loss, Young wasted no time in rebounding with six-straight wins.

In the consolation bracket he defeated Natarcola once again, this time 14-3 to make the finals.

Young faced a tough opponent in Virginia Triple Crown State Champion Zachary Espalin, but dealt him a 10-0 tech fall for a third place finish.

Moving to the Freestyle tournament, Young was pitted against Illinois State Runner-Up Benjamin Aranda in the opening round and prevailed 10-0.

In the quarterfinals he pulled off another 10-0 tech fall over Wisconsin Novice State Champion Sam Smith, then did the same to Northern Plains Regional Champion, USAW Preseason National Champion, and defending National Runner-Up Carter Fousek.

In the finals Young got to avenge his loss to Ayala with a fifth-straight shutout tech fall to claim his third-straight National Freestyle Championship with a 73-6 record for 2016.

Jack Karstetter takes Silver Medal at Pan American Championship in Peru

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School senior Jack Karstetter continues to show the world how deep the talent runs in Sand Springs. The 2016 OSSAA 6A State Runner-Up finished his junior year with a 39-8 record in high school folkstyle wrestling and is preparing for his senior year with some international competition.

In April Karstetter won the USA Oklahoma East Regional Freestyle Championship at Broken Arrow and advanced to the Junior Freestyle State Tournament in Cushing in May. After going 2-2 at Freestyle State he headed to Akron, Ohio for the United World of Wrestling National Championships where he won Silver in Greco-Roman. 

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Medaling at Akron qualified Karstetter for the Pan-American Championships this past weekend in Lima Peru.

In Greco-Roman he defeated Argentina's Lautaro Pereyra with an 8-0 tech fall, then scored a 3-0 decision over Jose Davila Cabello of Peru before falling to Gerardo Oliva Montes 10-0 in the finals. Claiming a Silver Medal, Karstetter helped his team to a first place finish over Peru for the Pan American Team Championship.

Team USA also claimed the first place trophy in Freestyle where Karstetter took ninth place after a close 11-8 decision to Oscar Calvopina of Ecuador.

Next up for Karstetter is the USA Wrestling Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota from July 16th through the 23rd.