2X Sandite of the Week: Daton Fix

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

This week Sandite Pride would like to recognize Charles Page High School junior Daton Fix as Sandite of the Week for his incredible performance at the Oklahoma 6A State Championship this weekend.

Fix finished his junior year with a 45-0 record, making it his third consecutive undefeated year. With a 115-0 record, Fix is a three-time 6A East Regional Champion, three-time 6A State Champion, three-time Kansas City Stampede Champion, and that's just his high school career.

In the quarterfinals he pinned Deer Creek's Bobby Robinson in 1:37. His next match was a lot closer as he prevailed by way of 15-3 major decision over Drew Wilson of Midwest City. A major decision is about as close as it gets for Fix, who has only won a single match this season by less 8 points. That one was a 5-3 win over nationally-ranked No.12 Requir Van Der Merwe of Blair Academy who just went 3-0 at FloNationals, helping his school to a National Championship.

In the State Finals, Fix got a rematch against fellow Fargo Champion Dalton Duffield of Westmoore. Duffield stood in the way of Fix's last State Championship as well and the Sandite prevailed 11-3 last year. This time it would be even more of a blowout as he teched Duffield 23-8 in 4:58. 

Fix is now only the second Sandite in town history to win three State Championships, following in the footsteps of David McGuire who won it from 1963-1965. 

Ranked third in the nation at 132 and eighth pound-for-pound, Fix is a four-time Southern Plains Regional Champion in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman. He won his first two National Championships in 2011 at the ASICS Freestyle and Greco tournaments. In 2012 he took Runner-Up at the ASICS Folkstyle Championship and defended his first two titles and added a Cliff Keen USAW Preseason National title. In 2013 he took Runner-Up at ASICS Freeestyle Nationals and won the USAW Cadet Freestyle and Greco Nationals.

In 2014 he won the USAW Folkstyle Championship, the Cadet Freestyle and Greco Pan-American Championships in Brazil, the ASICS Freestyle Championship, and was a member of the Team Oklahoma Dual Nationals team at the USAW Freestyles. He traveled to the World Freestyle Championship and took 10th place, then went to the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China where he won a Silver Medal. 

Last summer he won the Junior Folkstyle FloNationals, the UWW Junior Freestyle Nationals, the UWW Cadet & University Freestyle Nationals, the Junior Freestyle Dual Nationals as part of Team Oklahoma, the USAW Junior Freestyle Nationals, and claimed a Bronze Medal at the Cadet World Championship.

This is Fix's second time as Sandite of the Week. He is the son of Derek Fix, a CPHS assistant coach and former collegiate wrestler for Oklahoma State University, and the grandson of Alan Karstetter, the former long-time Head Coach for CPHS. His cousin Cody Karstetter wrestles for the University of North Carolina and fellow junior, cousin Jack Karstetter took Runner-Up at this year's State Championship.

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. Bylaws prevent the giving of the award to anyone for two 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 a three-person staff committee. 

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

Sandites send three to State Championship finals, trailing Broken Arrow by 1 point

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Junior Beau Bratcher pinned both of his opponents at State en route to the finals.

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

Daton Fix is back in the finals, wrestling for his third State Championship, and this time he's joined by first-time finalists Jack Karstetter and Beau Bratcher. 

Six other Sandites are also still in the running for third place and will have to fight their way up through the consolation bracket.

There was a strange couple of minutes that found Zane Basma going into sudden victory overtime while Payton Scott was on the next mat over in ultimate tie-breaker overtime and at the same time the boys' basketball team was in Putnam City battling Broken Arrow in double overtime. Unfortunately overtime was not kind to Sand Springs and all three would end in defeat.

The Sandites qualified eleven for State, sent ten, and have only had one eliminated thus far.

Freshman Riley Weir (21-12) came into the tournament ranked 7th in 106 after a 3rd Place performance at Regionals. He has been battling an arm injury for the latter half of the season and it's been wearing on him noticeably for the last few weeks. In his first round he was pitted against #3 Colt Newton (20-12) of Choctaw for the fourth time this season and was pinned by his opponent for the fourth time this season. In the consolation quarterfinals Weir met Yukon's #6 Braden Fowler (24-12) and was eliminated by way of 14-4 major decision.

At 113 the Sandites sent junior Regional Champion #4 Michael Ritchey (23-18) against #3 Wes Hardin (31-12). The Westmoore wrestler prevailed with a 5-2 decision, but the Sandite rebounded with a 5-3 decision over Ponca's #7 Spencer Shickram (14-9) to advance to the consolation semi-finals. He will next take on Broken Arrow's #5 Tyler Lawley (23-12) who he defeated 3-1 for the Regional Championship.

Sophomore 120 pound Regional Champion #3 Blake Sargent (37-12) suffered a 4-2 tie-breaker upset to #8 Zackery Bibb (24-6) to start the tournament, and was in danger of being eliminated in the consolation quarter finals as he trailed to #5 Justin Gundlach (29-11) of Moore. Down 3-2 to start the final period, he got a takedown with under a minute to go and quickly turned it into a pin at 5:14. Next he will rematch Broken Arrow's #4 TaJuan Daniels (25-12) who he defeated 1-0 in the Regional Championship, 3-2 in the Sand Springs Invitational Championship, and 4-2 in sudden victory during a regular season dual.

126 pound junior #1 Daton Fix (44-0) pinned Bobby Robinson (30-13) of Deer Creek in 1:37 in round one, then majored #3 Drew Wilson (29-5) of Midwest City 15-3. The Championship round will be a rematch of Fix's last State Championship that saw the Sandite score an 11-3 major for the 120 pound title. 

132 pound junior Regional Champion #1 Jack Karstetter (39-7) ran up a 17-2 tech fall over Norman's #7 Jeffrey Adams (23-12) in 5:42, then registered a 15-4 major decision over #4 Marqual Graham (35-10) of Lawton. This is his second time qualifying for State, but last year he went 1-2 and failed to place. The Championship round will pit him against #2 Kruz Simons (33-11) of Edmond North. 

138 pound junior #2 Beau Bratcher (43-6) is a two-time Regional Champion but this is his first year placing at state. He picked an interesting way to get to the finals. He pinned both of his first two opponents in the exact same time. #7 Jeff Speer (23-10) of Choctaw and #5 Zach Johnson (33-14) of Westmoore both fell in exactly 4:48. The final match will be against #1 Jaxen Gilmore (38-3) of Yukon who holds a 2-0 decision over Bratcher from the Yukon finals. 

152 pound sophomore #3 Payton Scott (18-5) qualified for State after winning his first Regional Championship and pinned his first opponent, Westmoore's #7 Trey Painter (33-10) in 3:52. The next round however was against #2 Joseph Messer (29-3) of Norman North and the two were evenly matched at 1-1 at the end of regulation. Neither scored in the sudden victory round, both scored an escape in the tie breaker rounds, but Scott was unable to prevent Messer from escaping during the ultimate tie breaker and lost 3-2. Scott will next take on Ponca City's #4 Ezequiel Rubio (25-12) in the consolation semi finals. The Sandite is 2-0 against his opponent this season, pinning him in 3:00 to start the season, then trumping him 7-3 in the Regional finals. 

160 pound junior #3 Zane Basma (33-12) came in Runner-Up at Regionals after forfeiting the Championship round due to some deeply bruised ribs. This is his second time qualifying for State and he'll be looking to place for the first time. He defeated #5 Sam Hensley (31-14) of Edmond Memorial by 8-3 decision. In the next round, however, he was upset by #7 Moses Mayhue (29-8) of Union in a 4-3 tie-breaker decision. Next up Basma will take on #4 Cooper Coil (28-12) of Edmond North in the consolation semi finals. 

170 pound senior #7 Trace Fleischman (10-5) got off to a great start at State after upsetting #3 Jacob Schimmels (24-6) of Deer Creek with a 3-1 decision. In the next round, however, he went down 13-6 to Broken Arrow's #2 Isaiah Page (35-4). This is Fleischman's second trip to State. Last year he took 3rd place. He'll be working toward the same place this year if he can defeat #4 Jace Brownlee (29-8) of Stillwater. Brownlee defeated Fleischman 6-3 at Regionals.

Consolation semifinals begin Saturday at 10:30. Choctaw is currently in first place with 103 points, followed by Broken Arrow with 63.5 and Sand Springs with 62.5.

9 Sandites remain at State, only slightly behind Broken Arrow and Choctaw

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The remaining Sandites have about an hour long break before the next round begins at the 6A State Championship in Oklahoma City. 

Charles Page wrestling qualified eleven for the tournament with seven Regional Champions, more than either Broken Arrow or the Dual State Champions from Choctaw. Unfortunately 220 pound junior and Regional Champion Delvin Jordan was unable to participate dropping the number to nine. 

106 freshman Riley Weir (20-12) came in third at Regionals and was pitted against Choctaw's Colt Newton (40-3) in the first round and was pinned in 0:41. From there he was majored 14-4 by Yukon's Braden Fowler and eliminated. 

113 Regional Champion Michael Ritchey (22-16) was defeated in round one by Westmoore's Wes Hardin (31-11) by a narrow 5-2 decision but managed to hold the lead in the next match for a 5-3 victory over Spencer Schickram (14-9) of Ponca City. 

120 Regional Champion Blake Sargent (36-10) went into overtime with Zackery Bibb (24-5) of Capitol Hill and lost 4-2 in the tie breaker round. He fell in an early hole to Justin Gundlach (29-11) of Moore and trailed 3-2 going into the final period, but rallied for a takedown and pin at 5:14 to stay alive in the consolation bracket. 

126 two-time undefeated State Champion Daton Fix (44-0) pinned Bobby Robinson (30-13) of Deer Creek in 1:37.

132 Regional Champion Jack Karstetter (38-7) breezed through his first match with a 17-2 tech fall over Norman's Jeffrey Adams (23-12) in 5:42.  

138 Regional Champion Beau Bratcher (40-6) pinned Choctaw's Jeff Speer (23-10) in 4:48. 

145 Regional Champion Payton Scott (18-4) pinned Westmoore's Trey Painter (32-10) in 3:52.  

160 Regional Runner-Up Zane Basma (32-11) scored an 8-3 decision over Sam Hensley (31-13) of Edmond Memorial.  

170 Trace Fleischman (10-4) placed fourth at Regionals but rebounded big time at State with a 3-1 upset of West Regional Champion Jacob Schimmels (23-6) of Edmond. 

The top three teams are as close now as they have been all season with Broken Arrow at 25.5, Choctaw at 25, and Sand Springs at 23.5.  

The semi finals will begin at 7:15.  

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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#1 Sandites finish regular season undefeated with 64-6 domination of Jenks

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The top-ranked Charles Page High School varsity wrestling team iced the cake of their perfect 11-0 season at Frank Herald Field House Thursday night, winning thirteen matches and forfeiting one. 

The dual started at 182 with Lane Lettich (11-6) taking down Naimul Islam almost immediately and pinning him in only 44 seconds for a 6-0 team lead.

195 #9 Zach Sims (20-19) received a forfeit to make it 12-0.

220 Delvin Jordan (12-4) had a close match against #10 Sam Wilson. The linebacker took a 2-1 lead in the first period and made it 3-1 in the second with an escape. Wilson started the third on bottom and managed an escape with about thirty seconds left, but Jordan got his hooks in and held on to neutral for a 3-2 decision.

Gage Fain (11-16) wrestled up to 285 as usual, and pulled out the pin despite being heavily outweighed by Alex Chavez. The first period was a stalemate and Fain chose bottom for a quick second period escape point, then took Chavez down for a 2:24 fall.

Rounding back to 106, Scott Patton (7-2) scored a 9-0 major decision over Jacob Patrick with a takedown in each period and near-fall points to wrap it up and make the team score 25-0.

113 #5 Michael Ritchey (19-14) got a rematch against Chase Slatton whom he defeated 5-1 at the Yukon tournament. This time the Trojan would make it a lot closer. Ritchey started off hot with a takedown and near-fall, but Slatton battled out of it for a reversal to end the first period 5-2. From there it was Ritchey on the defensive end, getting taken down twice in the second period and barely holding a 7-6 lead with a pair of escapes. Slatton started the third on bottom and tied things up with the escape. With thirty seconds left, the pressure was on and Ritchey found an opening for a takedown. Slatton slithered out with a few seconds left, but it was too late and the Sandite got the 9-8 decision. 

120 #5 Blake Sargent (31-9) had total control of his match against Matthew Hillburn, scoring a takedown in the first period, a reversal in the second, and wrapping it up with a 2:11 pin and a 34-0 team lead.

126 #3 Jack Karstetter (31-6) also had little difficulty taking a 4-1 lead before pinning Austin Daniels in 1:07.

132 Derek Davis (11-5) ran up the points on Ryan Weiss, outscoring him 4-1 in the first and 5-1 in the second, then the two remain neutral for the entirety of the third for a 9-2 decision and 43-0 team score.  

138 Daton Fix (36-0) did what Daton Fix does and took down Thomas Lewis for a near-fall before the sophomore battled out of it and was given an escape point. Fix continued to run it up to 14-2 before pinning Lewis in 2:10, marking his 19th fall of the season.

Beau Bratcher (34-6) received a forfeit at 145 to make the team score 54-0.

152 Cody Mathis (14-12) took on Chase Kelvington in a come-from-behind victory by decision. The Trojan held a 2-0 lead after the first period and the two started the second neutral. Mathis tied things up briefly, till Kelvington escaped, but took a 4-3 lead into the final period with an inside trip. The Sandite started on bottom and scored a quick reverse. Kelvington escaped, just to be taken down one final time just before the buzzer for a 10-5 decision. 

The last match of the night was 160 #3 Zane Basma (27-9) versus Antjuan Overton. The Sandite was well on his way to a tech fall, practicing takedowns and letting the Trojan free. Basma had two near-falls and a 16-2 lead when he finally pinned his man in 2:34.

The Sandites had no wrestler for 170 and forfeited to #3 Drew Hinkle to give the Trojans their only points of the night. The junior high match was also won by the Sandites, 39-32.

The next stop for the Sandites will be Firelake Arena in Shawnee for the Dual State Championships on February 12-13. The brackets have yet to be released, but there's likely only one team that could potentially throw a wrench in the Sandites' plans. Sand Springs already beat #2 Broken Arrow 33-19, but neither team was at full strength when they last met. 

6A #1 Sandites defeat 5A #1 Collinsville with bonus points

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Virgil Noah, Staff

The 6A #1 Sand Springs Sandites (10-0) defeated the 5A #1 Collinsville Cardinals (14-2) Tuesday night, spoiling the smaller school’s homecoming festivities. The matches were split 7-7 but the Sandites came out well ahead on bonus points with four pins.

The dual started off at 106 with #3 Connor Henson scoring an early takedown of #7 Riley Weir (16-8), but the match was broken up multiple times due to bleeding on the part of the Cardinal. Weir scored an escape, then a takedown to carry a 3-2 lead into the second period where the pair started neutral. The first minute was an exhausting battle for control, before Henson finally scored points with thirty seconds left. Weir wouldn’t be held for long, however, and escaped within moments to even things out 4-4. The final period also started neutral, but this time Henson took control quickly for a 6-4 lead. Henson rode a nearly immobile Weir till there was a mere thirty seconds left when the Sandites used a timeout to inspect Weir’s pained elbow. The Sandite freshman is recovering from a severally strained tendon, but that didn’t stop him from escaping and scoring a takedown with seconds left for a 7-6 decision and a 3-0 team lead.

At 113 it was #5 Michael Ritchey (18-14) versus #6 Xavear Cullors. The first period was a bunch of dancing and neither scored points till Cullors managed an escape to start the second. He followed it up quickly with a takedown and rode Ritchey into the third. The pair started neutral and Cullors took Ritchey down once more. The Sandite’s lone point came on an escape with thirty left and Collinsville got the 5-1 decision to tie things up.

120 #6 Blake Sargent (30-9) and #4 Gunner Hamm were at an impasse for nearly all of the first till Sargent scored a takedown with less than two seconds left. He followed it up with an escape two seconds into the second period, then added another takedown with a minute to spare and turned it into near-fall with twenty left and started the third with an 11-0 lead. The third started the way of the first but Sargent managed another takedown with forty seconds left. He failed to score again, however, and settled for a 13-0 major decision.

The quickest match of the night was the 0:29 pin of 126 Pete Flippo by #4 Jack Karstetter (30-6). Karstetter has won his last fifteen matches and just took first place at both the Yukon and Sand Springs tournaments.

132 Derek Davis (10-5) is didn’t get that record just by showing up. The kid is good, but he was pitted against #1 reigning 5A State Champion Nate Keim, and that’s tough. Keim just went 7-0 at the Ram Duals this past weekend, and clearly he wasn’t done adding to that streak. Keim scored on a takedown a minute in, then let Davis out just to take him down again. Keim started the second period down and immediately escaped, and needed only twenty seconds to take Davis down for a near-fall. Davis battled out of it, but the Cardinal took a 12-0 lead, then added another takedown before pinning him in 3:48 to close the gap to 13-9.

Ryce Haymaker is probably a great wrestler. But you can’t judge anyone by how well they match up against 138 #1 Daton Fix. The two-time State Champion is 35-0 this season, 108-0 overall, and nobody gets close to beating him outside of national championships. Fix took a 4-2 lead faster than I can type and continued his cat and mouse routine of letting his opponent up just to immediately take him down again till he had an 8-4 lead and was satisfied with his takedown-practice for the day. Haymaker was wrapped up in a textbook cradle only 1:43 in, and the Sandites increased their lead to 19-9.

#2 Beau Bratcher (33-6) has had a rough week. In his last match he was pitted against 138 #1 Jaxen Gilmore. This time it 145 State Runner-Up #1 Justin Walker. The two gridlocked through the first period and started the second neutral and repeated till Walker finally scored a takedown right at the buzzer. Bratcher managed an escape with a minute left, but was unable to score and lost 2-1

152 Cody Mathis (13-12) had an equally difficult matchup in #1 State Champion Elijah Tanner. Tanner got a takedown with twenty seconds left in the first and Mathis started the second period down. Mathis failed to escape through the second and Tanner escaped quickly to start the third. He added a takedown with a minute to spare and took a 5-0 decision.

Another top level battle came at 160 as #2 Payton Scott (11-4) took on #3 Tony Connor. Scott was the only one pressing the action for most of the first period and Connor caught him off guard, striking out of a defensive position for a takedown. Scott got an escape moments later, however, and gave up an escape to start the second to wrestle from a 3-1 deficit. It cost him, however, as he failed to get the points he was expecting and continued to trail into the third. He escaped to start the third and was working on an inside trip when the time ran out and he lost 3-2.

#4 Zane Basma (26-9) pulled off an impressive win over #2 Josh Arnold at 170. Arnold scored a takedown to start the first and a takedown to end it, broken up by a Basma escape. Basma chose down and scored a quick escape, then turned a takedown into a 3:54 pin for a 25-18 team lead.

#4 Lane Lettich (10-6) didn’t have much difficulty with Trace Dougherty at 182, taking the Cardinal down and pinning him in only 1:10.

195 Zach Sims (19-19) was very impressive, despite a loss. Taking on #1 State Runner-Up Roc Robbins, the match started the same as many before it, with two very talented wrestlers stalemated by each other’s great talent and neither scored in the first period. Robbins didn’t score till there was a minute left in the second, then escaped to start the third 3-0. He added another takedown midway through, then Sims finally got on the board with an escape. The Sandite ultimately went down 5-1.

Ten points down with twelve points possible, the Cardinals needed two pins or a pin and a tech fall to win it.

220 Cole Dixon (4-4) hasn’t wrestled all season, and just saw his first action this past weekend. He found himself pitted against Dylan Dobbs who, funnily, also has a 4-4 record between this past weekend and Dixon. Dixon slammed his opponent down moments in for a quick two points, but the Cardinal responded immediately with an escape. Dixon attempted a quick trip with moments left in the period, but was unsuccessful. The Cardinal took the down position and used thirty seconds in getting an escape, but ten seconds later Dixon took him right back to the mat. Another Cardinal escape made it 4-3, but Dixon brought him back down with 12 to go for a 6-3 lead. The third period started neutral but Dixon didn’t’ let it stay that way for long, pushing the lead to 8-3. Suddenly, the two were rolling back and forth and Dobbs ended up on top for a 5:28 pin after what looked to be an easy Sandite win.

Just like that, the Cardinals were back in it and it came down to the Heavyweight match. The typically 220 Delvin Jordan (11-4) was outclassed by more than 50 pounds against Jackson Wilson, but he didn’t show it. The Sandite scored a pair of takedowns for a 4-2 lead with the Cardinal’s points coming from escapes. The second period was neutral all the way through, and the Cardinal escaped to start the third trailing 4-3. When the Cardinals needed a big move to rally for the win, the only big move to be found was from Jordan, hoisting the heavyweight up for a 6-4 decision and a 34-27 win.

Sand Springs has one regular season event left before Dual State. Thursday the Sandites will travel to Jenks for one last tune-up before the big dual season finale.