Sandite Highlight: Michael Ritchey

Sand Springs is no stranger to the national forum when it comes to wrestling. The sport is undeniably the Sandites' best subject in recent memory, and not only are we considered to be part of the "Top Three" in Oklahoma, but our wrestlers are making headlines nation-wide as part of Team Oklahoma. With the scholastic season on hold, many of our wrestlers are competing in Freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments across the country as part of "Team BIG," a wrestling club started by Sandite assistant coach Derek Fix. Here's what our boys have been up to since placing third in state last school year.

Michael Ritchey

Ritchey took 2nd place of 3 in Junior Freestyle division 126 at the Sand Springs Freestyle/Greco Tournament back in April, beating Cody Wynn of Wildcat Wrestling by a 10-0 Tech fall, before losing to fellow teammate and state placer Cody Randall in an 11-0 tech fall.

A week later he placed 3rd of 5 in Junior Freestyle division 126 at the Owasso Freestyle and Greco Tournament. He lost to state-placer Mason Naifeh of Team NEO in a 10-0 Tech, then pinned Jeremy Hanger of McAlester Wrestling in 4:10, and handed a 12-2 tech to Hunter Smith of Owasso Threestyle,

At the USAOK Broken Arrow Freestyle/Greco Regional he placed 2nd of 4 in Junior FS 120, defeating Cordney Chairs of Team NEO in a narrow 9-8 decision, before losing again to Mason Naifeh, this time by only 19-18.

At the OK USA FS/GR State Tournament at Cushing, he took 4th place of 7 in Junior Freestyle 120. First he defeated state-placer Paxten Rosen of Owasso in a 14-11 decision before falling to 4A state-runner-up Noah McQuigg from Tiger Wrestling Club in a 12-2 tech fall. Rebounding with a 13-2 tech over Javier Willets of Chickasha, he again had to confront Paxton Rosen, this time getting teched 10-0 and finishing with a 2-2 record.

At the 2015 USAW Junior Men's Freestyle Nationals, Ritchey competed in the 120 weight class, but failed to place. He lost his first match in a 10-0 tech fall to two-time state-placer Aslan Kilic of Georgia. He defeated Jordan Baker of Hawaii 10-0 and accepted a forfeit-due-to-injury from Iowan Jack Wagner, but was eliminated from contention by Georgia State-Champion Todd Small in a 12-5 decision.

For 2015, Ritchey has a non-scholastic record of 17-10.

Not mentioned in this article are his 2nd place of 28 run at the USJOC/US JR Open Championships in January, and his 3rd place of 19 title at the OKWA 37th State Championships in February.

Sandite Summer Wrestling: July updates

     Sorry I've been so quiet the last month! Our wrestlers have been plenty busy in the national forum lately, adding to their already impressive records. Here's a general update with more to come over the next few days.

     Michael Ritchey was just eliminated from the 2015 USAW Junior Men's Freestyle Nationals with a 3-2 record in the 120 pound weight class. He received a bye in the first round, then lost by a 10-0 tech fall to Aslan Kilic of Georgia. Not bad considering Aslan is the god of Narnia and literally a lion. In the consolation bracket, he defeated Jordan Baker of Hawaii in a 10-0 Tech, then received an injury default win over Jack Wagner of Iowa before being defeated in a 12-5 decision by Todd Small of Georgia.

    Jack Karstetter took 8th place at the 2015 USAW Cadet Greco Nationals in class 120. He received a bye in his first round, then pinned Pennsylvanian Mark Sallot in 1:35 before falling to Kansas's Conner Ward in an 18-12 decision. Moving to the consolation bracket, Jack landed 5 straight wins. First he teched Kyle Cisneros of Colorado 15-4, then pinned Jackson Stauffacher of Minnesota in 2:26, and teched Luis Hernandez of Florida 10-0. From there he finally found some competition in Mel Ortiz of Colorado who he defeated 9-3, then barely managed a win against Cameron Valdiviez of Missouri, 20-19. In round 9 he was teched 12-2 by Alex Thomsen of Iowa, and in the 7th place match he was defeated 6-4 by Jack Davis of Pennsylvania. Finishing in 8th place with a 7-3 record against the top wrestlers in the country is never a bad day.

     Jack wasn't done yet, though. As soon as Greco nationals were over, he jumped head first into the 2015 USAW Cadet Men's Freestyle Nationals. Passing the first round with a bye, he then teched Richard Gomez of New York 14-3, before being sent to the losers' bracket by Markus Hartman of Illinois in a 14-7 decision. From there he managed a 9-7 win against Illinois's Kenneth Kerstein , then teched Stone Crooks of Arizona 16-4 before being eliminated by Abdullah Assaf of Illinois in a 14-2 tech fall, finishing with a 4-2 record but failing to place. 

     Daton Fix is currently competing in the 2015 USAW Junior Men's Freestyle Nationals, and is, as usual, undefeated in weight class 120. Fix received a bye in the first round, then teched David Salazar (AZ) 11-0, Brock Hudkins (IN) 12-2, and Zachary Sherman (NJ) 11-0. Next he'll take on Jacob Schwarm of Iowa.

     Cody Karstetter, Jack's older brother, Daton's cousin, and recent graduate, is getting prepared for his first season with North Carolina by kicking butt in the 2015 USAW Junior Men's Nationals as well. In last week's Greco tournament he took 6th place in 126. He tech felled Raphie Rodriguez of Idaho 10-0 and Alfredo Calzadillas of Arizona 10-0 in the first two rounds. I can't imagine wrestling with an Italian pasta sauce, it sounds messy, but he pulled it off. In round three he defeated Missouri's Dakota Miller 10-5, before being teched by North Carolina's Wilson Smith 10-0 in the quarterfinal. Moving to the consolation bracket, he beat Chris Poland (MI) 8-4 and Zachary Van Alst (AL) 14-4 before losing 4-0 in the semi finals to Dalton Young of Washington. In the 5th place match he again had to take on Wilson Smith, this time losing by only 6-0, ending the tournament with a 5-3 record and a 6th place medal. 

    Now Cody is undefeated in the Junior Men's Freestlye Nationals with a 4-0 record in class 126.  He received a bye in round one, then teched Brayden Curry (IA) 10-0, and pinned Dalton Young (WA) in 2:12. Last round he teched Cameron Hunsaker (UT) 10-0 and will next take on Nolan Hellickson of Iowa. 

     Kyler Childers also competed in the 2015 USAW Junior Men's Greco Nationals at 220 and defeated Wyatt Silvis (ID) 5-0, Kegan Watters (OR) 10-0, and Anthony Riopelle (MI) 11-2 before losing back to back to Angelo Hancock (CO) 10-0 and Dallas Goodpaster (WA) 7-2. Kyler did well in the wrestling, but was no match for Dallas in the arts and crafts competition when it came to pasting. 

     In the Freestyle portion of the competition, Kyler teched Henry Gregory of Maryland 10-0, then lost to Jacob Briggs of Minnesota 12-1 and was bumped to the loser's bracket where he teched Max Burris of Indiana 10-0 and won an 11-5 decision over Alex Jacobs of Illinois before being eliminated by Christian Coluccia of New Jersey in a 10-0 tech fall.

     So there you have it! Let me know in the comments if I missed anything, and next time you see one of our boys running down the side of the round in sweats in July, let them know you support them! I'll try and get an end-of-month post up next weekend to keep you up-to-date.