Sand Springs Wrestling Team places 23 champions at Freestyle/Greco Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Clyde Boyd Middle School played host to the OKUSA Team Big Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling Tournament Saturday. The tournament drew more than 145 contestants with well over a hundred coming from out of town.

Team Big is a mix of wrestlers from Sand Springs and the surrounding communities who train together year-round at the Charles Page High School wrestling room. Team Big photo galleries can be found at

https://sanditepride.smugmug.com/20152016-Wrestling/Team-Big-Freestyle-and-Greco-T

Grady Mittasch (4-0) placed first in Intermediate Freestyle at 65 pounds with a pair of tech falls: 10-0 against Jax Kiener and 12-2 against Logan Hargrove. He also placed first in Greco with a 20 second pin of Garret Salt and a 10-0 tech of Hargrove.

Balance Johnson (4-0) placed first in Intermediate Freestyle at 112 pounds with a pair of 10-0 tech falls over Easten Doshier. He also placed first in Greco with a pair of 10-0 and 13-2 tech falls against Doshier.

Carter Young (4-0) placed first in Schoolboy Freestyle at 84 pounds, defeating Cutter Sheets 12-5 in round one and teching him 10-0 in round two. He also took first in Greco with a pair of 10-3 and 10-2 decisions over Sheets.

Jacob Adams (4-0) placed first in Schoolboy Freestyle at 98 pounds with a pair of 10-0 tech falls over Noah Smith and Ej Tecson. He also won Greco with a pair of 10-0 and 12-0 tech falls over Jacob Burdette.

Cougar Anderson (4-0) placed first in Schoolboy Freestyle at 136 pounds with a 15-5 tech fall over Killian McGrew and a 3:18 pin of Blake Ramos. He also came in first in Greco with a 17-6 tech fall over Ramos and an 0:43 pin of McGrew.

Riley Magee (4-0) won Schoolboy Freestyle at 160 pounds with a pair of pins over Bryce Jackson in 1:25 and 0:24. He also won Greco with a pair of pins in 0:55 and 2:50 over Jackson.

Ethan White (3-0) placed first in Novice Freestyle at 105 pounds with a pair of 1:01 pins against Daris Mickle. He also placed first in Greco with a 0:45 pin of Andrew Mullin.

Blake Sargent (3-0) placed first in Cadet Freestyle at 132 pounds with three straight shutout tech falls. He defeated Morgan Morrow 11-0, Zach Myles 10-0, and Ricky Turner 10-0.

Draven Rathbun (3-0) won Cadet Freestyle at 160 pounds with  a pair of 10-0 tech falls over Atticus Aguilar and Bryce Burrdick. He also won Greco with a 5:43 pin of Burrdick. 

Owen Martin (2-0) placed first in Novice Freestyle at 65 pounds with an 11-1 tech fall against Clayton Giddens and a 14-4 tech of Dylan Abbott.

Jeran Seabolt (2-0) placed first in Cadet Freestyle at 145 with an 0:55 pin of Diego Maturino and an 0:21 pin of Ryan Stetler. 

Austin Johnson (2-0) won Cadet Freestyle at 152 pounds with a 14-4 tech fall and a 22-15 decision over Wyatt Moyers.

Michael Ritchey (2-0) placed first in Junior Freestyle at 126 pounds with a 10-0 tech fall over Sage Singleton and a 15-5 tech of Taywone McNack.

Daton Fix (2-0) placed first in Junior Freestyle at 132 pounds with a pair of 10-0 tech falls over Cody Wynn and Garrett Wild.

Kaden Gfeller (2-0) placed first in Junior Freestyle at 138 pounds with a pair of tech falls against Dillon Prutch at 11-0 and 10-0.

Sam Harris (6-1) placed third in Schoolboy Freestyle at 112 pounds with three tech fall wins and one loss by decision. He won his opening match against Garrett Wells 11-0, but dropped the next round 4-2 to Bryce Fisher. He rebounded quickly, however, with a pair of 10-0 techs over Blake Salt and Brayden Seago. He won Schoolboy Greco with an 0:27 pin of Jonathan Gatz, a 3-2 decision over Blake Salt, and a 10-0 tech fall against Brayden Seago.

Josh Taylor (5-1) placed third in Schoolboy Greco at 112 pounds with an 0:15 pin of Jonathan Gatz and a 4-2 decision over Blake Salt, but lost 6-0 to Brayden Seago. He won Freestyle, however, with three-straight 10-0 tech falls over Salt, Jacob Burdette, and Bryce Fisher.

Dariuz Black (4-1) placed first in Intermediate Greco with a 2:20 pin and 10-0 tech fall, both against Nation Johnson. He also came in third in Freestyle at 70 pounds. He lost his opening match 14-14 to Kason McGill, but teched Jake Killian and Jaxon Goddard 10-0 each. 

Payton Thomas (4-1) placed first in Novice Greco at 90 pounds with a 2:58 pin of Garrett Reese and a 0:50 pin of Zack Cooper. He also came in third in Freestyle. He lost his first match against Cameron Steed in a 11-0 tech fall, but rebounded with a 3:58 pin of Zack Cooper and a 14-2 tech of Abraham Flores.

Adrian Flores (3-1) won first place in Intermediate Greco at 87 pounds with a 3:34 pin of Aiven Robbins and a 10-0 tech of Gavin Salt. He also came in runner-up in Freestyle, pinning Salt in 1:42, but getting pinned himself in the finals in 1:21 by Robbins.

Braden Anderson (3-1) came in runner-up in Schoolboy Freestyle at 91 pounds, pinning Aidan Kirkland in 3:13, but getting teched 14-4 by Gabriel Fontanez. He also placed first in Greco with a pin over Kirkland and a close 7-6 decision over Buck Shell.

Joseph Jernegan (3-2) placed first in Novice Greco with a 0:28 pin of Jim Mullin, a 1:15 pin of Andrew Manly, and a 22-14 decision over Levi Smith. He also wrestled in Freestyle at 75 pounds but failed to place after falling in 1:52 to Levi Smith and giving up a decision to Mullin. 

Killian McGrew (3-2) placed third in Schoolboy Freestyle at 136 pounds. He won a 10-0 tech fall and an 0:29 pin against Preston Medlin, but dropped a 15-5 tech fall to Cougar Andersen. He also came in runner-up in Greco with a 1:36 pin of Blake Ramos, but was pinned in 0:43 by Andersen.

Christian Forbes (2-1) placed first in Schoolboy Freestyle at 70 pounds, winning two of three matches against Sam Smith. He lost the first round 5-0 but won the next 2-2 and the final 5-0. He also came in runner-up in Greco.

Bryce Fisher (2-1) came in runner-up in Schoolboy Freestyle at 112 pounds after defeating Brayden Seago 10-4 and Sam Harris 4-2, but falling by way of 10-0 tech fall to Josh Taylor.

Aidan Kirkland (2-3) placed fourth in Schoolboy Freestyle at 91 pounds. He defeated Adin Washbourne 12-10 but was pinned in 3:13 by Braden Anderson and went down 15-14 to Buck Shell. He also came in third in Greco with a 9-0 decision over Washbourne, but was pinned by Anderson.

Dian Fix (1-1) came in runner-up in Bantam Freestyle, wrestling at 55 pounds. He defeated Grayson Sellers 12-10 in a spectacular come-from-behind decision, but was defeated in a 10-0 tech fall by Gavin Wallace.

Mitchell Smith (1-1) came in runner-up in Novice Freestyle at 70 pounds, defeating Corban Dugelder 16-7, but giving up a 10-0 tech fall to Landyn Sommer. 

Wyatt Meredith (1-2) placed fourth in Novice Freestyle at 75 pounds. He was teched 15-4 by Eli Rodgers and 14-3 by Jim Mullin, and won a decision over Levi Smith.

Preston Medlin (1-2) placed fourth in Schoolboy Freestyle at 136 pounds. He lost his first match in a 10-0 tech fall to Killian McGrew. He received a forfeit from Tyler Rich, but was pinned by McGrew in the consolation finals in 0:29.

Cale Glover (1-2) placed fourth in Cadet Freestyle at 132 pounds, losing a close 10-9 decision to Ricky Turner and a 12-0 tech fall to Zach Myles, but won a 12-1 tech over Gavin Southern.

Sage Singleton (1-2) placed fourth in Junior Freestyle at 126 pounds with a 15-12 win over Karson Bellmard, a 10-0 tech fall loss to Michael Ritchey, and a close 30-27 decision to Brendan Clarke.

Clayton Giddens (1-3) came in runner-up in Novice Freestyle at 65 pounds after falling 11-1 to Owen Martin, but teching Dylan Abbot 12-0. He also came in second in Greco and was pinned in 1:37 and 3:57 by Corban Zugelder.

Nation Johnson (1-3) came in runner-up in Intermediate Freestyle at 70 pounds, defeating Jaxon Goddard by 20-6 tech fall, but falling 10-0 to Kason McGill. He also came in runner-up in Greco after being pinned in 2:20 and teched 10-0 by Dariuz Black. 

Daris Mickle (0-2) came in runner-up in Novice Freestyle at 105 pounds after giving up a pair of 1:01 pins to Ethan White.

Maranda Dornan (0-2) came in runner-up in Junior Freestyle at 170 pounds, getting pinned in 0:22 and 0:14 by Dylan Garcia.

Abraham Flores (0-4) placed fourth in Novice Freestyle at 90 pounds after giving up a pair of tech falls to Cameron Steed and Payton Thomas at 10-0 and 14-2, respectively. He also placed fourth in Greco after getting pinned in 1:20 by Zack Cooper and teched 12-0 by Garhett Reese.

Promised Johnson (0-4) placed third in Bantam Freestyle at 65 pounds after being pinned in 0:45 by Jake Wassom and teched 14-4 by Legend Ellis. He also placed third in Greco after being pinned in 0:32 by Wassom and 3:11 by Ellis.

Jacob Burdette (0-4) wrestled at 112 pounds in Schoolboy Freestyle and was teched 10-0 and 12-0 by Josh Taylor and Brayden Seago, respectively. He placed second in Greco after getting teched 10-0 and 12-0 by Jacob Adams.

Hunter Gines (0-4) competed at 120 pounds in Schoolboy Freestyle and lost 11-0 and 11-1 to Laif Jones and Blake Hickerson, respectively. He placed fourth in Greco with losses by pin of 0:50 and 2:41 to Auston Whitaker and Devin Graham, respectively.

Clayton Giddens and Bryce Fisher take first at Bixby Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Sand Springs sent three wrestlers to the recent Bixby USAOK Tournament earlier this month. 

Charles Page High School senior Sage Singleton placed 3rd in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman with an overall record of 3-2. Only four wrestlers competed in the 126 pound Junior division. In Freestyle, Brendan Clarke narrowly defeated Singleton by a 19-14 decision, but Singleton received a forfeit from Dalton Major in the consolation finals. In Greco Roman Singleton was pinned in 0:42 by Clarke, but defeated Major with back-to-back decisions of 8-3 and 18-12.

In Novice Greco-Roman, Clayton Giddens took first place with a trio of wins over Ethan Peterson of Sapulpa. He pinned his opponent twice, once in 1:08 and once in 1:36, and scored a 4-0 decision for the victory. He also placed first in Freestyle with a pair of pins over Camden Wicson in 1:44 and 1:29.

Bryce Fisher placed first in Novice Freestyle with a pair of pins at 120 pounds. He defeated Jayce Hitt in 0:59 and Luke Burdette in 0:57.

2X Sandite of the Week: Daton Fix

View fullsize

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.

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

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.  

Sandite Carter Young travels to Virginia Holiday Duals

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Sand Springs wrestler Carter Young traveled to the East Coast this past month to participate in the 2015 Virginia Holiday Duals as part of junior high team Oklahoma Outlaws. The group placed 19th out of 48 teams, several of which included state and national champions.

Young wrestled at the 80 pound weight class for the duration of the tournament.

In round one he was pitted against Jesse Mendez (2012 USA Nationals Champ, two-time Winter Nationals Champ, three-time Border War National Champ,  four-time USA Wrestling All American) and was dealt a 6-2 decision in Oklahoma's 41-14 loss to Illinois Orange. Illinois would go on to take 9th overall.

The whole team rebounded in round two and Young pinned Ethan Scurlock in 1:26 as the Outlaws defeated the Virginia Bandits 58-10 and followed it up with a 9-0 major decision over Isaiah Poppe to contribute to a 58-13 defeat of Terps Contender Elite. 

With a 2-1 record, the Outlaws took second in Pool 8 and joined the Silver bracket. 

Young's next match-up was closer, a 3-1 decision over Jake Bursese of The CREW. The Outlaws won that dual 43-19, but lost 34-28 in round two to Florida Team Greco who went on to take 4th in Silver. Young was edged out 2-0 by Brendon Abdon (ASICS Kids Nationals 4th-placer, USAW Preseason Nationals 3rd-placer).

In round three the Outlaws defeated Scorpions Black 39-33, but Young was unable to overcome Sean Rendeiro and once again barely lost 2-0. Terps MS Express beat the Outlaws 51-12 and Jordan Titus (2015 Great Lakes Champion) overcame Young 6-5. It would be his last loss of the tournament, however. 

Ohio Grey defeated Oklahoma 39-31 and Young won his match by forfeit.

In the consolation semifinals, the Outlaws were narrowly defeated 35-all by Team Pennsylvania Blue. Young edged Chanz Shearer 3-2, then finished out the tournament with a 4-1 decision over Pat Phillips to contribute to a 39-33 win over Apex Wrestling Club. 

Overall Young went 6-4 and the Outlaws were 5-5 with a 7th place finish in the Silver bracket. 

Sandite of the Week: Daton Fix

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

This week Sandite Pride would like to recognize Daton Fix as Sandite of the Week for his 1st place finish at the prestigious Kansas City Stampede. This is Fix's third win at the annual event, making him only the sixth contender to win it 3 or more times. He won it the last two years at 113 and 126, and this year at 132.

Fix is a two-time state champion and has an undefeated high school record of 86-0 with a 13-0 record this year. He's claimed 15 National Championships, 2 Pan-American Championships, a Junior Olympics Silver Medal, and a World Championship Bronze Medal. 

In the last two years he has wrestled in Bosnia, China, Colombia, Slovakia, and Brazil. He is currently ranked 1st in Oklahoma at 132, 3rd in America at 126, and 9th in America pound-for-pound.