Trevor Tolbert signs letter of intent

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

 Charles Page High School senior Trevor Tolbert became the twelfth of his class to sign a college letter of intent. Tolbert signed to play baseball for Southwestern Christian University in Bethany, Oklahoma.

Tolbert is the middle child of Jason and Deena Tolbert. His older sister Jacie is an athletic trainer for the Oklahoma Sooners and can often be seen on television during the football games. 

SWCU is a private Pentecostal junior college that competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes (NAIA) and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCAA) and is part of the Sooner Athletic Conference. 

The SWCU Eagles have spent the last few years completely reinvigorating their baseball program after a dismal 8-45 record in 2014. Last year they finished the season 26-26 and they're slated for even more improvement this year as they're off to an 8-1 start and are undefeated at home. 

Tolbert plans to study Criminal Justice with the goal of becoming a game warden.  

 

Charles Page has also seen four football players, three softball players, and four soccer players sign this year.  

Daton Fix wins third Regional Championship, headed to State still undefeated

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Story and photograph by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School junior #1 Daton Fix (42-0) just doesn't slow down. At this point it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he pinned Chuck Norris. It was a surprise, however, to see the two-time State Champion wrestling at 126 lbs instead of cousin Jack Karstetter.

Fix has wrestled 132-138 for the entirety of the season, but cutting a weight class didn't throw him off any as he pinned Daniel Sheets (Bartlesville) in 0:51, then made some of the top dogs in the state look like beginners. #7 Clayton Seleznoff (Moore) was teched 19-4 in 2:26, followed by last year's State Runner-Up #3 Andrew Nieman (Stillwater) who went down 26-11 in 5:40. 

For Fix, State Championships are just a stepping stone to his true goal of being an Olympic Gold Medalist. For most high school athletes that would sound a bit extreme, but Fix already has a Junior Olympic Silver Medal that he got in Nanjing China two summers ago. 

This is his third undefeated season and he has an overall career record of 115-0. Nearly half of his wins this season were by pin. He's won six tournament championships this season and is currently ranked third nationally by FloWrestling. 

Fix will first meet Deer Creek's #8 Bobby Robinson (29-12) for the first time. From there he'll be pitted against either #5 Brady Mattioda (26-12) or #3 Drew Wilson (28-4). He's never wrestled either of them. 

On the other side of the bracket is #2 Dalton Duffield (39-3) of Westmoore. Duffield is Fix's closest competition, but Fix already has three wins in the books against the senior. They first met in last year's 120 lbs State Championship match where Fix walked away with an 11-3 major decision. The Sandite extraordinaire added two more major decisions last summer in freestyle tournaments. 

Barring a David vs. Goliath upset that even the Biblical hero would be dumbfounded by, Sand Springs should be able to count on a third consecutive Championship from one of the greatest athletes in school history.

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Lady Sandite basketball stays alive in playoffs with close victory over Union

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Freshman Destiny Johnson scored a team-high 15 points in a 41-32 playoff win over Union Thursday night.

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photography by: Virgil Noah, Marketing Director

The No.11 Lady Sandites (16-7) will play at least two more games after defeating Union (8-15) Thursday night at the Sapulpa Chieftain Center. The way the playoffs are structured, they'll now get to play in the Regional Championship game Saturday at 1:30, but even if they lose that game they still get to advance to the Area tournament. 

Whatever was going on with the girls against Union isn't going to fly against the No.4 Chieftains (20-3). The basket seemed to have a lid on it Thursday night as the girls experienced their lowest scoring win of the season.

The Lady Sandites only had a 10-4 lead to start the second period, and Selena Hitchcock would be the only Sandite to score in that quarter as they barely held their lead 13-11 at the half. The first basket wouldn't even be scored 4:00 minutes into the period when Taylor Malham sank a pair of free throws. 

Both teams kicked it up a notch in the third period as sophomore Gloria Mutiri started things off with a pair of back-to-back two-pointers, followed by a two from Sydney Pennington. Union's Michaela Bethel followed with a pair of twos of her own, but then Sandite freshman Isabella Regalado followed suit with two more. The two teams scored as many points in the third period alone as they did in the entire first half, and the Sandites held the lead 26-22. 

This time it was freshman Destiny Johnson who kicked off the period with back-to-back two-pointers and she added four more baskets before the quarter was over to tie her career-high and lead the game with 15 points, shooting at 55% on field goals and 80% on free throws. 

The lone Sandite senior, Cierra Scott, also had a solid night, scoring 6 and leading the team in rebounds with 8. 

The Sandites brought home the victory 41-32, their third over Union this season. The first time was a 59-39 runaway, but two weeks ago the Redskins narrowed it to 51-41. 

It's fitting that the Regional Championship is also a Highway 97 rivalry game and a chance to play back the Chieftains for losses of 54-43 and 54-40 earlier this season. It won't be easy, however. Sapulpa ravaged Jenks 73-49 in their battle Thursday and will have the home court advantage. 

Photo gallery for this event can be found at:
http://www.sanditepride.com/photo-galleries/160225unionbball

Sandite Blake Sargent wins Regional Championship, headed to State

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Blake Sargent works on a takedown against TaJuan Daniels.

Story and photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School sophomore Blake Sargent (36-11) won his first Regional Championship by a single point, earning the #3 ranking in 6A. In the first round he pinned Garett Koss (Owasso) in 0:46, then defeated Grant Fox (Jenks) 3-2. Next to go down was #5 Justin Gundlach (Moore) by 6-3 decision, and Sargent was pitted against #4 TaJuan Daniels for the third time this season.

It's tough to beat an incredible wrestler three times in a season, especially one so close to you in talent. In the Broken Arrow dual the two ended the third period tied 2-2 and Sargent narrowly got the win with a sudden victory takedown. They next met at the Sand Springs Invitational in the finals round where it came down to a 3-2 decision for the Championship. Once more the crucial matchup was decided by a single point as the Sandite won his second tournament of the season with a 1-0 decision.

Sargent got to see a fair bit of action his freshman year, placing 3rd at both the Perry Tournament of Champions and the Jay Hancock Memorial Invitational. This year he repeated his 3rd place finish at Perry, came in 9th at the Kansas City Stampede, and finished 5th at Yukon.

This year he went undefeated in regular season duals before finally falling 9-8 to Wesley Hardin (30-11) during the Dual State Quarterfinals against Westmoore, then getting majored 10-1 by Garrett Rowe (37-5) during the Championship dual against Choctaw. He also gave up a 12-3 major to Rowe at Perry. Hardin will be wrestling at 113 at State. 

Rowe is the #1 seed in 120 going into State and is the biggest obstacle in Sargent's path. The two are on opposite sides of the bracket, though, and first Sargent must overcome #8 Zackery Bibb (23-5) of Capitol Hill in the opening round. This will be the first time the two have met. Bibb was last year's 5A State Runner-Up whose only losses were to the State Champ.

From there he will either get a rematch against Gundlach, or meet #2 Tanner Cole (34-1) of Deer Creek for the first time this season. That match will be every bit as difficult as Rowe. Cole was undefeated in the season till he met Rowe in the West Regional finals and was pinned. He also pulled off a one-loss season last year en route to a 5A State Championship title. Cole and Sargent have met once before, at the OK USA Freestyle State Tournament last May. Cole walked away with a 10-0 major decision that time. 

Other opponents that the Sandite could encounter include #7 Cordney Chairs (17-17) of Union, #6 Josh Suter (28-8) of Norman, and #4 TaJuan Daniels (24-11) of Broken Arrow. 

Sargent has yet to encounter Suter, but he has 3-0 records against both Daniels and Chairs. His most recent matchup with Chairs wasn't even close as he recorded an 11-0 major decision at Dual State. He also posted a 7-1 regular season dual victory, and defeated him at the Sand Springs Invitational semifinals. That one was a lot closer however, at 1-0.

Sandite Michael Ritchey wins Regional Championship, headed to State

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Story and photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School junior Michael Ritchey (22-17) won his first 6A East Regional Championship with a pair of close decisions Saturday night at Broken Arrow. The Sandite narrowly overcame Shawn Tillman (Muskogee) 1-0 in round one, but then pulled off his first technical fall of the season 17-2 in 5:59 over Caron Watson (Union). In the finals he was pitted against Broken Arrow's Tyler Lawley and triumphed 3-1.

Before this year Ritchey's only experience on the varsity mat was the Jerry Billings Tournament and the Jay Hancock Memorial Invitational his sophomore year where he placed 5th and 6th respectively. 

This year he made his dual debut with a 3-0 decision over Owasso's Wyatt Johnson and followed it up with a 5th place performance at the Perry Tournament of Champions where he only lost two matches. Both were to the same opponent, a highly ranked Kansas wrestler. 

From there he placed 4th at both the Bobby Lyons Tournament and the Jay Hancock Memorial before winning his first tournament at Regionals. 

His first round at State will be against Westmoore's #3 Wes Hardin (30-11). From there he will take on either #7 Spencer Schickram (14-7) or #2 Conner Holman (36-6).

Ritchey narrowly defeated Schickram 7-5 at the Ponca City dual and narrowly lost 6-4 to Holman during the Dual State Championship dual against Choctaw. Either of those matches could easily go either way.

Other contenders include #1 Paxton Rosen (40-2) who's been having a remarkable season with Edmond North. Ritchey defeated Rosen 14-11 last May at the OK USA Freestyle State Tournament, but so far as scholastic wrestling goes, it's Rosen with the 2-0 record. Rosen defeated Ritchey 9-3 at Geary, then became the only foe to tech fall the Sandite when he won 15-0 at the Yukon tournament. 

Ritchey has a 2-0 record against #8 Chase Slatton (31-14) of Jenks with close decisions of 5-1 at Yukon and 9-8 during the final regular season dual. Ritchey beat #5 Tyler Lawley (22-11) at Regionals, but has yet to meet #6 Taylor Holman (31-10) of Midwest City. 

Sandite Freshman Riley Weir headed to State Championship

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Sandite freshman Riley Weir puts up a fight against Choctaw's Colt Newton

Story and photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School freshman Riley Weir (21-10) came in Third Place at the 6A East Regional Tournament at Broken Arrow Saturday night, pinning Dominic Fitzpatrick (Moore) in 0:52 in the first round, but falling 11-2 to #4 Brandon Blose (Sapulpa) in round two. In the consolation bracket he pinned Brady Bristow (Ponca City) in 1:53, then defeated #9 Cameron Picklo (Mustang) by 6-3 decision.

Weir has been a force to be reckoned with all season since he inherited the varsity 106 spot from Cody Randall who graduated last year. He made his debut in the Owasso dual where he recorded a 10-0 major decision over Eric Merida.

Since then he's ran up an 8-2 dual record and a 13-8 tournament record against some of the toughest opponents in the state. He placed 4th at the Perry Tournament of Champions and 9th at the prestigious Kansas City Stampede and won a crucial major decision during the Dual State Quarterfinal dual against Westmoore. Oklahoma Wrestling currently has him ranked 7th in 6A.

Weir drew a tough opponent for the first round of State. Friday morning he'll have to take on fellow freshman #3 Colt Newton (39-3) of Choctaw. Newton dealt Weir a 3:19 pin at the Perry tournament, a 1:12 pin at the Geary Invitational, and a 0:55 pin at the Dual State Finals.

After Newton, he'll have to take on either #1 Mason Naifeh (26-4) of Union, or #6 Braden Fowler (23-11) of Yukon. Naifeh and Fowler have spent much of the season wrestling at 113 so the Sandite has yet to meet either of them. 

In fact, of his seven potential opponents, he's only met three thus far. He hasn't met #2 Canon Randall (28-4) or #4 Jakob Houston (36-4) either. #5 Brandon Blose (22-4) of Sapulpa defeated Weir 11-2 in the first round of Regionals, then Weir defeated #8 Cameron Picklo (25-8) of Mustang by 6-3 decision. 

Despite the toughness of his class, only a fool would count the freshman out. He's more than proven his ability to overcome the odds, most notably when he was injured at Geary and came from behind to pin Union's Caron Watson in a dual later that week with his arm in a brace. He's spent the last half of the season wrestling with his injury, demonstrating the severe toughness and dedication that only a homegrown Sandite can display.