CPHS grads Caleb Basma and Cody Randall pick up wins for No. 10 NEO

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Two members of the Charles Page High School Class of 2015 are making names for themselves at No. 10 ranked Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. The defending NJCAA National Champions are undefeated at 3-0 for the season and both Sandites have picked up wins in their first year on the dual team.

The Norsemen shut out Neosho Community College 46-0, then dominated Labette Community College 45-3. Caleb Basma (5-5 season, 11-15 career) and Cody Randall (4-4, 10-16) got their start for the season at the Maryville-Kaufman-Brand Open.

Basma competed at 133 pounds in the Amateur division and won his first match of the season by 8-4 decision over Baker University junior Tyler Brown (0-2). In round two he gave up a 3:00 pin to Maryville freshman Taylor Jokerst (8-0), who went on to win the bracket. In the consolations he was eliminated in a close 3-1 sudden victory decision to teammate Calib Freeman (5-1).

Randall competed at 125 pounds in the Amateur division and also went 1-3 in the Kaufman Open. He lost his first match in a close 3-2 decision to McKendree University sophomore Jarrett Reisenbichler (2-3, 8-13), but rebounded with a 10-0 major decision over Drury University freshman Bryant Clay (2-4) before being eliminated 6-4 by Missouri Valley freshman Johnny Arreola (6-4).

The two Sandites made their first dual appearances against Barton Community College (1-2) and helped their team to a 41-6 victory. Randall defeated freshman Greg Bentley (0-1) by 11-2 major decision. Basma defeated sophomore Caysen Smith (1-2) by 6-4 decision. 

Last week, at the Joe Parisi Open, Randall split 2-2 while Basma went 3-3 for sixth place.

Randall won a pair of major decisions to start, winning 10-2 over McKendree University freshman Jet Tryon (2-2) and 13-3 over Limestone College freshman Majid Corbit (4-5). He met his match in University of Oklahoma freshman Zach Atencio (3-3) in a 9-2 decision, then was eliminated after a 6-5 loss to Williams Baptist College freshman Robert Fairchild (7-4).

Basma started off with a 5-2 decision over Ellsworth Community College's Berkely Todd, then pinned University of Oklahoma freshman Clay Vincent (0-4) in 1:17. Next to fall was Hannival-LaGrange freshman JD Higdon after an 8-5 decision. Basma's streak came to a close as he once again fell to Taylor Jokerst, this time in a close 3-1 decision. From there he lost 6-2 to Ellsworth sophomore Blake Walker (5-1, 28-17) and 6-5 to Central Oklahoma freshman Rio Zamora (6-2).

The Golden Norsemen will return to action next Tuesday when they take on Wentworth Military Academy (0-4) at home. 

CPHS grad Cody Karstetter transfers to No. 17 University of Oklahoma

Charles Page High School Class of 2015 graduate Cody Karstetter (1-2 season, 7-5 career) has found a new home in which to continue his Division One career, transferring from No. 25 North Carolina (1-0) to the No. 17 University of Oklahoma (1-1).

His Oklahoma debut was in the Red-White Scrimmage at the start of the month where he was decisioned 9-2 by junior Trae Blackwell (24-19). 

He recently wrestled in his first tournament as a Sooner at Yukon High School in the USA Oklahoma Outlaw Collegiate Open and finished 1-2 at 133 pounds. In his opening match he fell to Oklahoma State University redshirt freshman Lincoln Olson (4-1, 18-8) in a close 4-1 decision. Olson went on to take third place in the tournament overall.

In the consolation bracket Karstetter breezed through Oklahoma City University freshman Michael Sanchez (3-4, 3-4) with an 18-1 tech fall before defaulting to University of Central Oklahoma senior Aaron Hane (4-4, 49-28). Karstetter's right elbow became dislocated and he was forced to forfeit the remainder of the tournament.

Sandite of the Week: Delvin Jordan records three sacks against No. 4 Midwest City

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School senior Delvin Jordan is one of the most explosive line backers in recent memory for the No. 3 ranked Sand Springs Sandites (7-4) and leads his team this season with fifteen tackles for loss totaling 91 yards. 

The 6'0" 224-pound wrestler has also been awarded Sandite of the Week once before after winning the Regional Championship last winter. This is his first recognition on the gridiron and it comes on the heels of a 23-14 playoff victory over District One Champion No. 4 Midwest City, that can be credited majorly to the defense. 

Jordan was second on his team in total tackles, recording six, but led in tackles for loss with three sacks for 27 yards, a personal best for the young star. The Midwest City game brings his season-total to eight sacks for 64 yards. Last season he managed eight sacks (over thirteen games) for 36 yards and had fifteen tackles-for-loss totaling 64 yards. With at least one more game before him, possibly two, he has easily surpassed his already incredible record. He also recorded his third forced-fumble of the season.

His first tackle of the night came on a seventeen-yard kickoff return by Declaudio Irvin. Next he stopped a six-yard run by Tyree Young, followed by a seventeen-yard run by Young. He picked up his first sack in the third quarter, laying out Preston Colbert for a ten-yard loss on third down to force a punt. He found Colbert again on the Bombers' next possession, this time for a loss of twelve, to set them up at third and 32. The Bombers would punt again soon-after. Colbert just couldn't keep away from Jordan, who hit him once again for a strip sack on their next possession and a loss of five with ten minutes to play. 

Ultimately the Sandites prevailed over the home team thanks to turnovers, despite under-performing offensively. 

Jordan's father, Delvin Jordan Sr., was also a star on the Sandite football team when he was quarterback from 1993-1994. The Sandites went 7-4 during Jordan Sr.'s junior year and fell 24-7 in the playoffs to the eventual State Champion, No. 1 Jenks (13-1). 

The Sandites will take on No. 2 Bixby (8-3) this Friday night at Sapulpa in their third-straight State Semi-final appearance. They met Bixby in the semi-finals in 2014 and were defeated, then lost to Bixby last year in the State Championship.

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Sandite of the Week is a weekly recognition given to any one person with significant ties to the Sand Springs community who accomplishes remarkable achievements during the Sunday through Saturday week preceding the award. Prior achievements may be noted in the article, but do not bear direct influence on the selection committee which only considers prior week accomplishments. Candidates may be nominated by anyone by emailing SanditePrideNews@gmail.com. The award is not given to anyone in consecutive weeks, but any recipient may be nominated and awarded again in the future, so long as the weeks are not consecutive. Final selection is made by a majority vote of the Sandite Pride Editorial Board.

Businesses or organizations seeking to sponsor the Sandite of the Week award may contact the above email for inquiries.

Daton Fix becomes fourth Division One commit in CPHS Class of 2017, more are possible

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School is on a roll lately with talented athletes in all areas, and has signed seven to play at the collegiate level this week. Four of those are going to NCAA Division One schools, and we haven't even got to winter and spring sports yet. 

Senior three-time State Champion Daton Fix signed with No. 1 Oklahoma State University as the number one most sought-after recruit in the nation. He's a ten-time Freestyle National Champion, three-time Folkstyle National Champion, three-time Greco-Roman National Champion, Freestyle and Greco Pan-American Champion, and two-time World Championship Freestyle Bronze Medalist. 

SEE RELATED: National Champion Daton Fix signs to No. 1 Oklahoma State University wrestling

Senior pitcher Jake Terry signed with the No. 21 University of Oklahoma to play baseball after committing to the program in 2015. He finished last season with a 5-4 record and 3.88 ERA and is currently recovering from shoulder surgery with his Senior year still ahead of him. 

SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Jake Terry officially signs with University of Oklahoma baseball

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Senior pitcher/short-stop Sydney Pennington signed with the No. 31 Oklahoma State University softball team after committing to the program in 2014. She finished last season with a 6-0 record, 1.41 ERA, and .543 batting average and is also the leading scorer on the Lady Sandite Basketball team.

SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Sydney Pennington signs with Oklahoma State University Softball

Senior seven-time State Champion Cheyenne Walden signed with the No. 15 Oklahoma State University cowgirls after committing to the program in October. She finished her Cross Country career with four State Titles and looks to the Spring track season where she already holds three State Titles in two distances. 

SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Cheyenne Walden signs with Oklahoma State University Cross Country

Senior four-time State Qualifier Alexis Davis signed with the NCAA Division II Southwestern Oklahoma State University. She finished her career as the first ever Lady Sandite (along with Walden) to ever qualify for State all four years. She took 21st in the State this fall and will continue to show off this spring in Track.

SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Alexis Davis signs with SWOSU Cross Country

Senior All-State outfielder Jessica Collins signed with NJCAA Division I Connors State. She finished last season with a .316 batting average and was named to the All-District, All-Region, and All-State teams. She will join the Lady Sandite basketball team this winter before finishing her high school career with Spring slow pitch.

SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Jessica Collins signs with Connors State College Softball

6'6" Senior center Kyle Keener signed with the NCAA Division II University of Central Oklahoma basketball team after committing to the program in September. He finished his junior year as the number three scorer on his team with 11 points and 6 rebounds per game.

SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Kyle Keener signs with University of Central Oklahoma Basketball

The only other Sand Springs student currently committed to a college is Class of 2018 volleyball player Gloria Mutiri, who verbally committed to Ohio State University in September, but there are several other Seniors expected to go to the next level.

CPHS wrestling coach Kelly Smith says he has two or three other seniors who are more than capable of wrestling at the Division One level if they can get the exposure necessary. 

Sandite Pride's most eligible senior recruits are:

Wrestling
Jack Karstetter (73-15, 132 State Runner-Up)
Beau Bratcher (87-23, 138 State Runner-Up)
Zane Basma (62-25, 160 State Third-Place)
Delvin Jordan (31-12, 220 Regional Champ)
Michael Ritchey (29-24, 113 Regional Champ)
Derek Davis (17-12, 132)
Cody Mathis (18-14, 145)

Cross Country
Jacob Garbey (5K time 17:36)
Ian Baustert (5K time 18:36)

Football
Delvin Jordan (6'0" 224 LB)
Lincoln Adams (6'3" 300 OL/DL)
Hunter Greathouse (6'3" 180 QB)
Nathan Simonton (6'2" 256 OL/DL)
Kasey Bales (5'10" 165 WR/K)
Dalton Morgan (6'0" 190 RB/LB)
Josh Taber (5'11" 160 DB/WR)
Danny Ropp (5'11" 253 OL/DL)
Treyce Tolbert (5'10" 170 DB)
Brett Freeman (6'2" 174 DB)

Mens Soccer
Alex Hernandez (2 goals last season)

Mens Basketball
Mack Thompson (5'10" 7 points per game)

Volleyball
Baylee Mudd (167 digs last season)
Lee Leslie (68 kills, 131 digs last season)

Womens Soccer
Megan Deshazo (13 goals last season)
Kyndal Zicker (12 goals last season)
Melina Flores
Brooklyn Flores

Baseball
Hunter Greathouse (.405 AVG, 3.73 ERA)
Josh Taber (.363 AVG)
Treyce Tolbert (.306 AVG)
Mack Thompson (.238 AVG)
Josh Cordell (3.91 ERA)

National Champion Daton Fix signs to No. 1 Oklahoma State University wrestling

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School senior and internationally renown wrestler Daton Fix has officially announced his college commitment, and it didn't come as much of a surprise for Oklahoma State fans. While the highly sought-after recruit has been open about letting the process play out, and hadn't previously given any indication of where he was leaning, fans of the No. 1 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys (1-0) had good reason to expect the Sand Springs student to come their way.

Not only was Fix's father, Derek Fix, a successful Oklahoma State wrestler, but so was his coach, Kelly Smith, and his best friend Kaden Gfeller recently announced his commitment to the Orange earlier this summer. Fix has been raised an Oklahoma State fan and several of his classmates have also announced their intentions to compete for OSU, namely: Sydney Pennington for Softball and Cheyenne Walden for Cross Country and Track.

Fix announced his short list earlier this summer, limiting his choices to North Carolina (0-0), No. 2 Penn State (2-0), No. 4 Ohio State (0-0), No. 7 Nebraska (0-0), and his ultimate choice. 

OSU is currently ranked first in the nation, something Fix and his soon-to-be school have in common. He is currently ranked first in the nation at 132 pounds by Flowrestling, who was on-hand to live-stream his college decision. He is third on the pound-for-pound rankings behind 126 Spencer Lee and 145 Yianni Diakomihalis, both of whom he has split decisions with in the past. Intermatwrestle also has Fix at number one, and has Charles Page High School as a team ranked 27th in the nation, third in the state, and second in Class 6A.

Fix will bring quite the resume with him. The three-time undefeated State Champion doesn't slow down when the high school season ends. He's also a Pan-American Champion, National Champion, Olympic Silver Medalist, and two-time World Bronze Medalist. He has competed in numerous countries, including China, Brazil, Spain, France, Slovakia and more. 

Fix says he's comfortable taking a redshirt if that's what his coach wants, but he won't be likely to stop with his summer freestyle competition. He plans on continuing to look at Senior level tournaments in the near future and will be defending his undefeated record this winter. 

SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Sydney Pennington signs with Oklahoma State University Softball
SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Jessica Collins signs with Connors State College Softball
SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Cheyenne Walden signs with Oklahoma State University Cross Country
SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Alexis Davis signs with SWOSU Cross Country
SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Kyle Keener signs with University of Central Oklahoma Basketball
SEE RELATED: CPHS Senior Jake Terry officially signs with University of Oklahoma baseball

CPHS senior Michael Ritchey takes first place at Joe Zamora Open

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Several members of the Sand Springs wrestling team traveled to Broken Arrow this past weekend for the Joe Zamora/Skyler Holman Open, and seven wrestlers took first place.

Charles Page High School senior Michael Ritchey competed in the high school division at 126 pounds and took first place with a 4-0 record. He won his first match 3-0 over Ernie Chavez of Jenks, then majored Garrett Jarvis of Broken Arrow 8-0. In the semifinals he won another 3-0 decision, this time over Owasso's Tristan Herrera, and wrapped it up with a close 3-2 win over Chase Slatton of Jenks.

Rhett Peak competed in the sixth-seventh grade division at 80 pounds and finished 4-1 for third place. He lost his opening round in a 6-0 decision to Aiden Boyd (Claremore), but finished strong with a 20-10 major decision over Jaden Mathis (Pryor), then pinned his next three opponents in a cumulative 1:27. Kaleb Burns (Sallisaw) went down in 0:12, Denton Degner (Bristow) fell in 0:36, and Bradley Vanblaricom (McAlester) lost in 0:39.

Ryder Barnes competed in the sixth-seventh grade division at 98 pounds and finished 3-0 for first place. He won his opening match with a 10-5 decision over Bradley Saucedo (Broken Arrow), then pinned Rashaud Morgan (Vinita) in 3:26. His final match was a close 2-0 decision over Brock Mattioda (Broken Arrow).

Chase White competed in the sixth-seventh grade division at 113 pounds and finished 2-1 for second place. He won his opening bout with a 1:13 pin over Drake Norfleet (Broken Arrow), then defeated Carson Young (Claremore) by 5-0 decision before falling in 3:56 to Isaac Xiong (Oologah) in the finals. 

Luke Burdette competed in the sixth-seventh grade division at 126 pounds and finished 5-1 for third place. He won his opening match with an 1:21 before falling in 1:53 to Gustabo Ramirez (Bixby). He won out with a 9-3 decision over Jarahmy Blakely (Oologah) and a 2-1 decision over Connor Linam (Oologah), before pinning Jon Lane (Muskogee) in 2:41 and Daltyn Jory (Jay) in 1:21. 

Carter Young competed in the junior high division at 89 pounds and finished 3-0 for first place. He won his opening match 9-3 over Blazik Perez (Broken Arrow) then pinned Grant Edwards (Oologah) in 3:00. The final match was won with a 16-4 major decision over Garett Strickland (Collinsville).

Caden Vaughn competed in the junior high division at 113 pounds and finished 3-1 for third place. He won his opening match with a 1:16 pin of Dayton Hill (Broken Arrow) before giving up a 9-0 major decision to teammate Josh Taylor. He rebounded with a 2-0 decision over Christian Knight (Broken Arrow) and wrapped the tournament up with a 6-1 decision over Kolby Encinas (Pryor).

Josh Taylor competed in the junior high division at 113 pounds and finished 4-0 for first place. He won his opening match with a 2:57 pin of Kaelan Drake (Broken Arrow), then majored Blake Salt (Oologah) 11-1 and Caden Vaughn 9-0 before pinning Pason Dotson (Sallisaw) in 1:38. 

Tyler Rush competed in the junior high division at 126 pounds and finished 4-1 for third place. He was pinned in 2:33 in his opening match by Kohlin Garriott (Jenks), but rebounded with a 1:00 pin over Gunnar Spence (McAlester) and a 1:34 pin of teammate Jared Jenkins. From there he won a close 4-1 decision over Jared Douglas (Cascia Hall) and a 5-2 decision over Christian McIntosh (Pryor).

Caleb Phillips competed in the junior high division at 126 pounds and finished 3-0 for first place. He won his opening match with a 1:02 pin of Eric Wilson, then majored Nate Shaw (Metro Christian Academy) 11-0. In the finals he took down Garrett Weis (Jenks) 8-4.

Christopher Kirby competed in the junior high division at 140 pounds and finished 3-0 for first place. He won his opening match with an 0:31 pin of James Cothran (Bixby), then pinned Devon Vazquez (Broken Arrow) in 0:36. In the finals he majored Caleb Buzzard (Jay) 16-6.

Teagan Campbell competed in the junior high division at 175 pounds and finished 3-1 for third place. He won his opening match with an 0:28 pin of Jonathan Navarro (Broken Arrow), before giving up a 10-3 decision to Bryce Jackson (Oologah). The next two rounds were close, but Campbell prevailed 4-3 over Tyler Bachman (Bixby) and 3-0 over Matt Roach (Bristow).

Kaden Glass competed in the junior high division at 200 pounds and finished 4-0 for first place. He won his opening match in an 0:12 pin of Zach Garrison (Pryor), then won an 8-2 decision over Aaron Lytle (Sapulpa). He finished out with pins of 3:17 over Cameron Johnson (Broken Arrow) and 1:27 over Chad Tinney (Bixby).