Daton Fix three-peats at Kansas City Stampede

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The 25th (nationally) ranked Charles Page varsity wrestling team was still missing 5 starters at this weekend's tournament, but that didn't stop them from finishing 15th at the national-caliber event, ahead of all 6A Oklahoma teams.

132 pound junior Daton Fix, ranked #1 in Oklahoma and #3 in the nation, improved his high school record to 86-0 with a third-consecutive 1st place finish at the Kansas City Stampede, making him only the sixth competitor in tournament history to win it 3 or more times. Five other Sandites placed in the top-ten.

The Kansas City Stampede is one of the biggest high school tournaments out there. Last year the Sandites came in 6th, but this year settled for 15th with one champion. The team is suffering from a prolonged football season in which more than half a dozen wrestlers, including #4 Lane Lettich and #2 Trace Fleischman, were part of the state runner-up gridiron team. With aims of a state championship, Coach Smith has decided to rest several starters for the beginning of the season to ensure their health later down the line. 

4A #1 Tuttle came in 1st place in the tournament with 2 champions and 3 runners-up. Tuttle is ranked 16th nationally by Flowrestling.

Other Oklahoma teams represented at the event include 5A #2 Coweta who finished 7th, #8 Edmond North at 16th, #6 Stillwater at 18th, 5A #1 Collinsville at 23rd, #11 Ponca City at 24th, 3A #3 Perry at 29th, and Southmoore at 38th.

Riley Weir (10-5) - 106 - 9th Place

• defeated Devon Owen (Nixa) by 0:51 fall
• lost to Kai Orine (Seckman) by 11-2 major decision
• defeated Cade Vicker (Creston) by 17-0 tech fall in 3:34
• defeated Devon Handy (Mill Valley) by 1:45 fall
• defeated Alex Valencia (Perry) by 9-4 decision
• lost to Cale Johnson (Tuttle) by 3:08 fall
• lost to Tariq Malik (Collins Hill) by 3-2 decision
• defeated Noah Yeamans (Allen) by 10-2 major decision
• defeated Robbie Griggs (Christian Brothers) by 1-0 decision

Michael Ritchie (5-6) - 113 - DNP

• lost to Sergio Orozco (Dowling Catholic) by 7-5 sudden victory takedown
• lost to Cameron Fusco (Seckman) by default
• lost to Tyler Lubin (Christian Brothers) by forfeit
• lost to Marcus Robinson (Arkansas City) by forfeit

Blake Sargent (11-4) - 120 - 9th Place

• lost to Xavier Torres (Randall) by 5-4 decision
• defeated Jared Thornbrugh (Smithville) by 2:29 fall
• defeated Dakota Taylor (Arkansas City) by 10-2 major decision
• defeated Will Jefferson (Bettendorf) by 11-4 decision
• defeated Cade Lindsey (Derby) by 6:00 fall
• lost to Zach Durbin (Seckman) by 4-0 decision
• lost to Xavier Torres (Randall) by 5-3 decision
• defeated Joseph Dupre (Jesuit) by 6-4 decision
• defeated Bennett Moudy (Coweta) by 3-2 decision

Jack Karstetter (10-4) - 126 - 9th Place

• defeated Connor Langdon (Nixa) by 5:43 fall
• defeated Lane Burch (Staley) by 6-5 decision
• defeated Montez Robinson (Arkansas City) by 15-1 major decision
• defeated Conner Rasberry (Christian Brothers) by 14-4 major decision
• lost to Mike Brown (Holt) by 2:27 fall
• lost to Christian Bowen (Goddard) by 6-2 decision
• defeated Bailer Thomason (Randall) by 10-4 decision
• defeated Codi Russell (Collins Hill) by 5-2 decision
• also placed 9th last year in 113

Daton Fix (13-0) - 132 - 1st Place

• defeated Jackson Degruy (Jesuit) by 19-4 tech fall
• defeated Chase Tripp (Seckman) by 1:24 fall
• defeated Josh Harger (Collins Hill) by 0:44 fall
• defeated Malachi Salas (Garden City) by 1:35 fall
• defeated Kruz Simons (Edmond North) by 2:41 fall
• defeated Tanner Tidswell (Christian Brothers) by 23-8 tech fall
• defeated Nate Keim (Collinsville) by 13-5 major decision
• defeated Tanner Litterell (Tuttle) by 14-6 major decision
• also won in 2014 at 120 and in 2013 at 113.

John Jiminez (5-8) - 138 - 15th Place in Consolation

• defeated Garrett Lange (Goddard) by 4-2 decision
• defeated Nate Koenig (Jesuit) by 6:00 fall
• lost to Jaron Hoegler (Platte County) by forfeit
• lost to Austin Atchley (Baylor) by forfeit
• lost to Jace Burdick (Perry) by default
• lost to Matt Wrocklage (Seckman) by forfeit
• lost to Grant Roach (Mill Valley) by forfeit
• defeated Hunter Burns (Southmoore) by disqualification

Beau Bratcher (10-3) - 145 - 9th Place

• defeated Blake Fritz (Seckman) by 11-3 major decision
• defeated Kameron Frame (Goddard) by 5-3 decision
• defeated Brian Boyd (Smithville) by 2:43 fall
• lost to Beau Guffey (Tuttle) by 9-0 major decision
• defeated William Rosevally (Jesuit) by 0:30 fall
• lost to Sean Hosford (Park Hill) by 12-0 major decision
• defeated Cameron Haines (Farmington) by 12-0 major decision
• defeated Justin Walker (Collinsville) by 1-0 decision
• placed 6th in 132 in 2014 and 10th in 2013 at 132.

Zane Basma (9-5) - 160 - 11th Place

• defeated Cam Leith (Creston) by 1:07 fall
• defeated Nick Self (Derby) by 0:40 fall
• defeated Alex Greco (Farmington) by 1:59  fall
• lost to (#4 nationally) Thomas Bullard (Archer) by 2:26 fall
• lost to (#20 nationally) Johnny Blankenship (Platte County) by 5:31 fall.
• defeated Isaac Townsend (Neosho) by 2:03 fall
• lost to Sammy Cokeley (St. James Academy) by 4-1 decision
• lost to John McCabe (Allen) by 5:00 fall
• defeated Kyle Thompson (Granite City) by 4-1 decision
• placed 10th in 152 in 2014.

Bryton Beck (4-8) - 170 - 15th Place

• defeated Emilio Monsivais (Holt) by 7-5 decision
• defeated Nathan Kerperien (Seckman) by 4:03 fall
• lost to (#13 nationally) Chase Shiltz (Creston) by 1:30 fall
• lost to Chase Nelson (Granite City) by 8-7 decision
• lost to Clay Lautt (St. James Academy) by 1:51 fall
• lost to Dakota Schmidt (Platte County) by 2:36 fall
• lost to Cooper Coil (Edmond North) by 9-1 major decision
• defeated Andrew Buckley (Kearney) by forfeit 

Zach Simms (7-8) - 195 - 10th Place in Consolation

• lost to Jake Boyd (Smithville) by 3:10 fall
• lost to Teague Fox (Tuttle) by 4-2 decision
• defeated Sean Ramsey (Christian Brothers) by 4:58 fall
• lost to Jacob Sobbing (Park Hill) by 3:02 fall
• lost to Sam Vining (Holt) by 5:40 fall
• defeated Jacob Morgan (Randall) by 17-2 tech fall
• lost to Bradyn Pressnall (Ponca City) by 7-5 decision
• defeated Thomas Parks (Goddard) by 10-2 major decision
• lost to Sam Vining (Holt) by 1:32 fall

Gage Fain (0-7) - 285 - 16th Place in Consolation

• lost to Korinthian Nabors (Granite City) by 3:08 fall
• lost to Jacob Bohlken (Smithville) by 3:12 fall
• lost to Tyler Shannon (Arkansas City) by 8-4 decision
• lost to Blake Carmack (Granite City) by 6-1 decision
• lost to Jake Spiva (Christian Brothers) by forfeit
• lost to Patrick McCarron (Hayfield Secondary) by default
• lost to Hunter Richard (Edmond North) by forfeit

#2 Sandites dominate Owasso Rams in season-opener

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity wrestling team easily overcame the Owasso Rams Thursday night in their first competition of the season, and they did it without five starters. 

The unranked Rams entered their match with a 1-1 record, beating Enid 47-24, but losing to #1 Broken Arrow 54-14. 

Sand Springs is starting a bit later than many schools, and the anticipation has been building since Flowrestling listed Sand Springs as the #25 team in the nation.

Several starters are also starting players on the Charles Page State Runner-Up football team and Coach Smith wanted to give them extra time to get in wrestling shape after a long season. 

Those missing links didn't even slow down the Sandites who only lost two matches on the mat, and forfeited two others due to not having anyone at that weight. 

Up first was 106 freshman Riley Weir who shut down his opponent Eric Merida (2-5) with a 10-0 major decision for 4 team points.

113 Michael Ritchey (1-0) expanded that lead to 7-0 with a 3-0 decision over Wyatt Johnson, then 120 Blake Sargent pinned Gavin Damilao in 0:53 for a 13-0 lead.

126 junior #6 (in 113) Jack Karstetter scored a 17-2 tech fall in 3:35 against Jesse Gomez, then his 132 cousin #1 (in 120) Daton Fix pinned #1 Baylor Smith in 3:05.

The Rams didn't put points on the board till Brandon Conrad managed a narrow 5-4 defeat of 138 John Jiminez. Jiminez took a brief 1-point lead on an escape and nearly won it before he was taken down with 10 seconds left and was unable to escape or reverse. Jiminez was a state runner-up two years ago but missed last season due to a pretty serious back injury. Though he's back at 100% physically, this was his first match in over a year and a half.

With a 24-3 lead, 145 junior #4 (in 132) Beau Bratcher pinned Jacob Mitchell in a team best 42 seconds and 152 Cody Mathis ran up the highest scoring match of the dual with a 17-8 major decision over Nolan Miller. 

160 junior (#2 in 145) Zane Basma scored a 1:12 fall against Jalen Johnson and 170 Bryton Beck was right there with him with a pin in 1:08 of Zach Mitchell. 182 John Houston was pinned by JD Johnson, but 195 Zack Sims finished the night off with a 3:09 pin of Harrison Moseby for a 52-9 lead. 

The Sandites didn't have any wrestlers available at 220 and heavyweight so the Rams were awarded 12 points for a final score of 52-21. 

While technically #1 Broken Arrow edged the Rams by slightly more than Sand Springs, the Sandites won it without state qualifier Delvin Jordan, state placer Trace Fleischman, starters Cole Dixon and Gage Fain, and state qualifier Lane Lettich who are all healthy and will be joining the wrestling ranks in the coming weeks. 

Needless to say, it looks like that #25 ranking is well deserved, and Broken Arrow may soon be toppled.

Daton Fix: Never Been Pinned

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

There's 10 days left till the Charles Page varsity wrestling team kicks off the season with a big win over Owasso. This season Sand Springs took runner-up in the Fast Pitch softball State Championship, and is soon to beat the snot out of Bixby for a State Championship in football. Once the hubbub surrounding the gridiron quiets down, it'll be all eyes on the mat as Sand Springs returns one of the greatest squads in school history. Our Minutemen are currently ranked #25 in the nation by flowrestling. 

For the next 10 days, we'll be counting down to the first dual and taking a look at our crowded roster of major talent. 

Daton Fix

• Junior
• 132 pounds

Daton Fix is not only the greatest wrestler in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, and the United States of America; he's also one of the best in the world. That's not my Sandite bias showing, he's got a bronze medal from Worlds and an Olympic silver medal to prove it. 

As a freshman, Fix went a perfect 33-0 and claimed his first OSSAA state title with a 8-2 decision over Garrett Rowe of Choctaw. 8-2 is about as near to a close-call as it gets for Fix. 

He continued that streak last season, taking first place in all six tournaments to finish 40-0 and claim a second OSSAA 6A State Championship, this time with an 11-3 major decision over Westmoore's Dalton Duffield at 120 lbs. 

Fix comes from a big family of outstanding wrestlers. His grand-father, Alan Karstetter Sr. coached at Charles Page for 24 years and is a 2002-inductee to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Derek Fix, Daton's father, racked up a winning 33-21 record at Oklahoma State and was a head wrestling coach then a collegiate referee for years before coming to Charles Page as an assistant wrestling coach. 

Fix's cousins, Jack and Cody Karstetter, are both Oklahoma State-placers. Jack is also a CPHS junior, and Cody is now a freshman at North Carolina where he has a 6-3 record this season and just placed runner-up in his second collegiate tournament. 

In a family like that, some might have a hard time living up to the hype. Fix, however, doesn't worry about anything but who's up next. 

The true gauge of Fix's potential lies outside the confines of Oklahoma high school kids. 

Before he ever even set foot on the high school mat, Fix was already a 7-time national champion. From 2011-2013, he went 174-5 and only ever lost to nationally ranked opponents. 

At the 2011 USAW Schoolboy Freestyle Duals, Fix was a leading member of Team Oklahoma when he was beaten 3-1 by Wisconsin's Hunter Marko. He quickly rebounded, however, beating Marko 6-3 and 6-0 in the next two matches. In that same tournament he was beaten 4-1 by Eric Hong of Pennsylvania, who he in turn defeated 4-2 and 3-0. 

In 2012, Fix would suffer only one loss, a narrow 2-1 decision to Chad Red at the 2012 ASICS Folkstyle Nationals. Fix went on to take 2nd in the tournament. Three years later, Red is currently ranked #1 in the nation at 132 lbs.

In 2013, Fix had his first meeting with Pennsylvania's Spencer Lee, and suffered his only tech fall to-date. Lee is currently ranked #1 in the nation at 120. Later that year Fix would once again meet up with Eric Hong, and this time it was clear who the better wrestler was, as Fix deal him a 16-5 tech fall at the USAW Cadet Folkstyle Nationals. Fix claimed his first continental titles that year, taking gold in both freestyle and Greco at the Pan-American games in Colombia. 

In 2014, Fix claimed his eighth national championship with a 4-2 overtime win against Utah's Taylor LaMont at the USAW Cadet Folkstyle Nationals. From there he joined team USA at the Cadet Pan-American Championships in Brazil where he claimed continental titles in both Freestyle and Greco. He racked up two more national championships at ASICS and USAW before traveling to Slovakia for the World Championships where he took 10th. At ASICS, he narrowly overcame Nick Suriano, the current #1 wrestler at 126 lbs, from New Jersey, in a 1-1 decision that Fix was awarded due to scoring the last point. 

At the 2014 Youth Olympic games in Nanjing, China, Fix defeated Macedonian Elmedin Sejfulau and Yemenite Ebrahim Abdullah Ali Al-Shebami by tech fall, and South Africa's Reynhardt Louw 6-1 before falling in the final match to Mukhambet Kuatbek of Kazakhstan in a narrow 7-6 decision. Fix had to settle for silver, but he was that much closer to his long-term goal of becoming an Olympic gold-medalist. 

Upon his return to the United States, Fix challenged Nick Suriano to a rematch at the Who's #1 event at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Once again, the two were tied 1-1 as the third period expired. Unlike FILA, the Who's #1 event has no limit to overtime, setting up Fix and Suriano for an epic battle that lasted 32:12 into overtime and set the record for longest match ever recorded. It was Suriano that came out on top however, with a 3-1 sudden victory takedown. 

2015 has been just as big of a year for the young stud. He claimed his 11th national title at the Flonationals Junior Folkstyle tournament in April where he once against narrowly overcame Taylor LaMont in the semi-finals. His final opponent was Yianni Diakomihalis, who is currently #3 at 132lbs. Diakomihalis overcame Fix 5-0 last year at the Super 32 tournament in Greensboro, NC, but this time Fix got the edge with a 3-1 OT decision.

He won a 12th national title at the ASICS/UWW Junior Freestyle Nationals with a 10-0 tech fall over Chicago's Stevan Micic. Then, at the Cadet Freestyle Nationals he went best-of-three against Spencer Lee.  This time the #1 wrestler in the country  was upset and Fix brought home a 13th national title with a 9-6 decision over the Pennsylvanian. 

Fix, in turn, would be upset in his next matches at the Junior World Team Trials. In another best-of-three performance, this time Stevan Micic brought payback with 7-4 and 10-4 decisions bringing Fix's 69-straight win-streak to an end.

The losses were only a slight hiccup in otherwise incredible year.

After being upset by Micic, Fix recorded 12-straight tech falls. Six of them came at the Junior National Duals as Fix teamed up with recent CPHS graduates Cody Karstetter and Kyler Childers on Team Oklahoma to take a dual national title. The next six were at the USAW Junior Freestyle National Championships as he outscored opponents 66-5 to claim a fifteenth national title.

From there it was once again time to tread international waters. 

At the Cadet World Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Fix went 4-1 for a third place finish and his first World Championship bronze medal. He defeated Armenian Vazgen Tevanyan by 7-1 decision, then tech fell Georgia's Vano Godelashvili 12-0 in 2:47. In the quarterfinals he was narrowly defeated 3-2 by Russia's Abasgadzhi Magomedov, but he rebounded with a 10-0 tech fall against Moldova's Nicolai Grahmez in an incredible 1:46. In the third place match he had no difficulty overcoming Abbos Rakhmonov of Uzbekistan 17-2 in 3:34 to wrap up another incredible international performance. 

Returning to America for the prestigious Super 32, Fix settled for 4th place after being defeated by Luke Karam and Vito Arujau, bringing his 2015 non-scholastic record to 68-5. 

Needless to say, Fix is a sure-win for the 2016 State Championship, and will likely go undefeated this season as-well. He's the kind of guy who shoots for the stars and grabs the moon in the process. While most of the competitors in this state are aiming for state championships, his heart is set on the Olympics, and the rest of Sand Springs is there with him. Earlier this summer, a GoFundMe campaign raised more than $5000 to help send him across the world and local company Inkwell Printing sold Daton Fix t-shirts to help raise funds for him. 

Titles

• 2011 Southern Plains Schoolboy Greco Regional Champion
• 2011 Southern Plains Schoolboy Freestyle Regional Champion
• 2011 ASICS/USAW Schoolboy Freestyle National Champion
• 2011 ASICS/USAW Schoolboy Greco National Champion
• 2012 ASICS/USAW Schoolboy Folkstyle National Runner-Up
• 2012 Southern Plains Schoolboy Greco Regional Champion
• 2012 Southern Plains Schoolboy Freestyle Regional Champion
• 2012 Northern Plains Schoolboy Freestyle Regional Champion
• 2012 ASICS/USAW Schoolboy Freestyle National Champion
• 2012 ASICS/USAW Schoolboy Greco National Champion
• 2012 Cliff Keen USAW Preseason Middle School National Champion
• 2013 USAOK Junior High Folkstyle Champion
• 2013 FILA Cadet Freestyle National Runner-Up
• 2013 Southern Plains Cadet Greco Regional Champion
• 2013 Southern Plains Cadet Freestyle Regional Champion
• 2013 USAW Cadet Greco National Champion
• 2013 USAW Cadet Freestyle National Champion
• 2013 Perry Tournament Champion
• 2013 Kansas City Stampede Champion
• 2014 Jay Hancock Invitational Champion
• 2014 OSSAA 6A East Regional Champion
• 2014 OSSAA 6A State Champion
• 2014 Cliff Keen USAW Cadet Folkstyle National Champion
• 2014 Cadet Freestyle Pan-American Champion
• 2014 Cadet Greco Pan-American Champion
• 2014 Oklahoma Cadet Freestyle State Champion
• 2014 Oklahoma Cadet Greco State Champion
• 2014 ASICS/FILA Cadet Freestyle National Champion
• 2014 Southern Plains Cadet Freestyle Regional Champion
• 2014 Southern Plains Cadet Greco Regional Champion
• 2014 USAW Junior Freestyle Duals National Champion (Team Oklahoma)
• 2014 Youth Olympics Freestyle Silver Medalist
• 2014 Super 32 Runner-Up
• 2014 Oklahoma Open Champion
• 2014 Perry Tournament Champion
• 2014 Kansas City Stampede Champion
• 2015 Jerry Billings Tournament Champion
• 2015 Jay Hancock Memorial Champion
• 2015 OSSAA 6A East Regional Champion
• 2015 OSSAA 6A State Champion
• 2015 Junior Folkstyle FloNationals Champion
• 2015 OKUSA Junior Freestyle National Team Qualifier
• 2015 Sand Springs Junior Greco Champion
• 2015 Sand Springs Junior Freestyle Champion
• 2015 UWW Junior Freestyle National Champion
• 2015 OKUSA Junior Freestyle State Champion
• 2015 UWW Cadet Freestyle National Champion
• 2015 Junior Freestyle National Dual Champion (Team Oklahoma)
• 2015 USAW Junior Freestyle National Champion
• 2015 Cadet World Championship Bronze Medalist

Meet the Sandites: Beau Bratcher & Devon Wright

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

There's 12 days left till the Charles Page varsity wrestling team kicks off the season with a big win over Owasso. This season Sand Springs took runner-up in the Fast Pitch softball State Championship, and is soon to beat the snot out of Bixby for a State Championship in football. Once the hubbub surrounding the gridiron quiets down, it'll be all eyes on the mat as Sand Springs returns one of the greatest squads in school history. Our Minutemen are currently ranked #25 in the nation by flowrestling. 

For the next 12 days, we'll be counting down to the first dual and taking a look at our crowded roster of major talent. 

Beau Bratcher

• Junior
• Weight: 145
• 2013 Southern Plains Schoolboy Greco Regional Champion
• 2013 Southern Plains Schoolboy Freestyle Regional Champion
• 2014 Oklahoma State Cadet Freestyle Runner-Up
• 2014 Southern Plains Cadet Greco Regional Champion
• 2015 Jerry Billings Runner-Up
• 2015 OSSAA 6A East Regional Champion

Bratcher was one of 11 Sandites to qualify for state last year, and though he failed to place, he's still a major contender this year. He finished 34-9 his sophomore year and placed top-6 in every tournament but state, including the prestigious Kansas City Stampede and the Perry Tournament of Champions. Though he doesn't appear to have done any extra-curricular wrestling this summer, he has a long history of national-level competition. In 2013 he took third at the USAW Cliff Keen Schoolboy Folkstyle Nationals and was a member of the Oklahoma Red dual team that took 3rd at the Schoolboy National Freestyle Duals. He also took 3rd at ASICS Schoolboy Nationals in Freestyle and 4th in Greco. The Junior is guaranteed to make waves this season and will likely be a state placer if not Champion.

Devin Wright

• Senior
• Weight: 285

Wright split most of last season with Dakota Skaggs for the heavyweight spot on the Sand Springs team, and ended the season with a winning record of 10-7. His fastest pin of the season came in 20 seconds against Randy VanDolah of Owasso.