Sydney Pennington named to ASA All Star Team, will play Jr Olympic Cup

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School senior Sydney Pennington will be competing at the 2016 USA Softball Junior Olympic Cup in Powder Springs, Georgia this Tuesday. 64 teams will battle this week in an invitational tournament, highlighted by a twelve-inning exhibition between the US Olympic Team and the ASA All Star Team. The Oklahoma State University-committed player finished her junior fast pitch season with a .458 batting average, 2.28 ERA, and 10-7 record from the mound. 

The CPHS fast pitch team won their Regional Championship and made it to the OSSAA 6A State Finals where they lost 4-3 to Choctaw. Since then, Pennington's Tulsa Elite team placed ninth at the USA Elite Select Championship Showcase in Shawnee, Kansas and were only one win away from the World Championship quarterfinals.

Oklahoma Rangers win 5&U State Championship, ranked #1 in US

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Athletic greatness runs deep in Sand Springs. Earlier this week we posted a story about the Oklahoma Thunder, a Sand Springs-based little league team ranked number one in the nation in age six-and-under. It's now been brought to my attention that Sand Springs is also home to the number one team in age five-and-under. 

The Oklahoma Rangers are comprised of Reece Barnett, Johnathan Euell, Asher Giddens, Jaycob Goodman, Corbin Johnson, Drake McCutcheon, Talan Ozark, Jaxxon Peterson, Tabor Reiss, Jordan Satoe, and Brody Wofford. 

The Rangers started off the season with a third place finish in the Sand Springs Preseason Tournament playing in the six-and-under division against several older teams. They dominated the Cubs 21-12 and edged out the Braves 24-23. The Cubs found payback in the finals, however, with an 18-7 win. 

At the Spring Smackdown in Broken Arrow the Rangers finished in fifth place after going 1-2-1 in the six-and-under division. The rangers tied the Coweta Elite 16-16, defeated the Broken Arrow Lil Monsters 16-8, but fell 18-6 to the Wagoner Bulldogs and 8-3 to the Oklahoma Titans. 

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The Rangers placed third at the Washington County Youth Baseball & Softball State Qualifier after losing twice to the Broken Arrow Drillers. After falling 27-11 to the Drillers, the Rangers rebounded with a close 19-17 win over the Oklahoma Indians and a 15-14 win over the Oklahoma Titans before falling once more to the Drillers 20-12.

At the Oklahoma State Championship last month, the Rangers competed at their own age-level for the first time this season and got into a back-and-forth battle with the third-ranked Tulsa Sooners for the State Title. In the first round the Rangers prevailed by a single run 17-16 over the Sooners, then beat the Bixby Twins 22-14 to progress to the finals. The Sooners, meanwhile, beat the Twins and the Locust Grove Pirates in the consolation bracket to earn a second shot at the Rangers. Once again it came down to a single run, this time with the Sooners coming on top 28-27. In the tie-breaker round the Rangers came out on top 21-18 to secure the first place finish. 

Both the Rangers and the Thunder feature some incredibly talented young athletes who will likely make a big impact in continuing the tradition of Sand Springs excellence. 

SEE RELATED: Sand Springs Little League team ranked #1 in USA, places fourth at World Series

All-American Jack Karstetter places eighth at USAW National Championship

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Two Sandites competed at the 2016 USAW Junior Men's Greco-Roman Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota this week. Charles Page High School senior Jack Karstetter placed eighth in the tournament. Class of 2016 graduate Sage Singleton also competed, but didn't place.

The USA Wrestling event is considered by many to be the most prestigious national tournament a Cadet or Junior-aged wrestler can compete in. 

Karstetter rode an impressive wave of victories into the event. In February he came in Runner-Up at the Oklahoma High School State Championship, then came in Runner-Up at the United World of Wrestling Cadet Greco Nationals in June. Earlier this month he competed at the Cadet Pan-American Championship in Lima, Peru and took Silver.

At Fargo Karstetter stepped up to a higher age-division and competed at the Junior level in the 126 pounds bracket.

The Sandite got off to a great start with back-to-back 10-0 technical falls. The first opponent to fall was two-time Arizona State-Placer Tanner Borneman, followed by Kyle Clough of Illinois. He had a tough quarterfinal matchup in former Flonationals Champion Cole Manley, but prevailed with a 6-2 decision over the Pennsylvanian. 

Karstetter finally met his match in the semifinals against West Virginia University freshman Matthew Schmitt. The two-time Fargo Runner-Up and three-time Missouri State Champion defeated the Sandite by decision and went on to win the tournament. 

Moving to the consolation quarterfinals, Karstetter won a close 10-9 decision over three-time Montana State Champion Clayton Currier. From there he was defeated 7-1 by UWW National Champion Paul Bianchi and 12-8 by four-time Kansas State Qualifier Taylor Jokerst, but secured eighth place and All-American status for the second year in a row. 

Singleton competed at 120 pounds and was eliminated after two matches. In the first round he was pinned in 0:34 by former Fargo Runner-Up Brandon Meikel of Utah. In the consolations he was teched 10-0 by Marquel Parks of Washington. The winner of the 120 bracket was fellow Oklahoma Dalton Duffield of Westmoore High School.

Sand Springs Little League team ranked #1 in USA, places fourth at World Series

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Oklahoma Thunder has proven themselves to be one of the best teams in the world. No, not the Oklahoma City basketball team. I'm talking about the Sand Springs-based Little League baseball team. The six-and-under squad has spent the last four months winning tournament after tournament and wrapped up the season with a State Championship and World Series appearance. 

Luke Barnes, Jayden Bussell, Drake Charles, Jessie Hubanks, Hayden Luce, Hilkyah Sampson, Cason Sharp, Colton Stevens, Keiton Thompson, Caleb Thompson, Caleb Torkelson, Randell Vickrey, Carter Wood, Wesley Woody, and Kayden Worthington comprise Oklahoma Thunder, which is currently ranked number one in the nation by the United States Specialty Sports Association. 

The dominating team trounced their opponents by an average of 13 to 5 over the course of the season and won six tournaments.

The Thunder went undefeated in the Sand Springs Youth Preseason Tournament, the Broken Arrow Striking Out Cancer Tournament, the World Qualifier in Bixby, and the State Qualifier in Sand Springs. They also placed first at the Bixby Annual Rings Tournament with a 17-11 payback win over Vinita's Dirty Dawgs who defeated the Thunder in the pool play. 

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In June the Thunder competed at the Oklahoma State Championship at Tulsa Hilti Park and stampeded through the competition without losing a single game in the double-elimination tournament. All three of their opponents went down by double digits. 

Last weekend the Thunder set out for Arlington to compete in the USSSA World Series as one of only two Oklahoma teams to make the tournament. The Broken Arrow Razorbacks also qualified for the series.

On day one the Thunder handily won their first game 12-1 over the Keller, Texas Outlaws, but tied 4-4 in the next game against the Texas Free Agents Elite. On Saturday they concluded pool play with an 18-5 rout of the Texas Reds to finish third in the pool. 

On Sunday the Thunder suffered a close 9-6 defeat at the hands of Team Citius Reyes and moved to the consolation bracket where they immediately began putting in work.

The Calallen, Texas Sandcrabs put up a tough fight before going down 4-1. Next to fall was the Keller, Texas Gold Spikes who had just eliminated the Razorbacks. After that 12-4 win, the Thunder had to fend off another neck-and-neck attempt from the Free Agents Elite and prevailed 11-10.

The Thunder season finally came to an end at the hands of the eventual World Series Runners-Up, the Spitfire Baseball team from Cleburne, Texas, in a 19-5 battle for third place. The Thunder may not have won the series, but fourth place is far from a disappointing finish. Needless to say, the local coaches will have their eyes on these boys for years to come. 

Daton Fix competes at Gran Premio De Espana in Madrid, Spain

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PHOTO: COURTESY\\ Fix takes down Kuatbek at the 2014 Youth Olympics. 

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Daton Fix’s 67-straight win streak finally came to an end at 3:00 am Oklahoma time Saturday, June 9th. 

The three-time undefeated State Champion and soon to be senior at CPHS traveled to Madrid, Spain for his first Senior-level event this past weekend and got pitted against a youth Olympic champion in the first round.

Fix is currently ranked number one in the nation in the junior age division (born 1996-1998) but wrestled up to senior level (born 1996 or before) in order to face off against some of the toughest competitors in the world.

Of the ten wrestlers competing at 57 kilograms, two are ranked in the top ten in the world, and all have impressive international resumes.

Fix failed to make repechage, meaning he only wrestled one match. His opponent was Mukhambet Kuatbek, a nineteen-year-old from Kazakhstan who he has met once before.

In 2014 at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, Mukhambet prevailed over Fix in the 54 kg finals for the Gold medal. That time Kuatbek took a 6-1 lead before Fix battled back to within a point for a 7-6 finish.

This time it was far slower and far lower-scoring, but equally close. Neither wrestler scored a takedown or a turn throughout the match, but ultimately Kuatbek once again edged out the US wrestler by a single point for a 2-1 decision.

Kuatbek was in turn defeated by eventual champion Erdenebat Bekhbayar of Mongolia, who is ranked sixth internationally.

Fix and Team USA as a whole both placed eighth in the competition.

Fix departed for the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs on Sunday.

Carter Young wins Kids Freestyle National Championship without giving up a single point

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Carter Young is at it again. The Clyde Boyd Middle School eighth grader traveled to Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin this past week to compete at the 2016 ASICS USA Wrestling Kids Nationals and handily defended his Freestyle National Title for the third-straight year.

Young first laid claim to the Freestyle national title in 2014 while coming in Runner-Up in Greco-Roman. He achieved the same results in 2015: first in Freestyle, second in Greco.

Young recently achieved All-American status in both styles after going undefeated in the Schoolboy Dual Nationals this summer and entered the Greco tournament riding a twenty-two-straight win streak.

In the first round he defeated Joe Natarcola of Delaware with a 14-4 tech fall, and followed it up with a 10-0 tech over Illinois Greco State Runner-Up Kai Neumark.

In the third round he finally met his match in Northern Plains Regional Champion and USAW Freestyle National Runner– Up Draka Ayala of Iowa.

Despite the 10-0 loss, Young wasted no time in rebounding with six-straight wins.

In the consolation bracket he defeated Natarcola once again, this time 14-3 to make the finals.

Young faced a tough opponent in Virginia Triple Crown State Champion Zachary Espalin, but dealt him a 10-0 tech fall for a third place finish.

Moving to the Freestyle tournament, Young was pitted against Illinois State Runner-Up Benjamin Aranda in the opening round and prevailed 10-0.

In the quarterfinals he pulled off another 10-0 tech fall over Wisconsin Novice State Champion Sam Smith, then did the same to Northern Plains Regional Champion, USAW Preseason National Champion, and defending National Runner-Up Carter Fousek.

In the finals Young got to avenge his loss to Ayala with a fifth-straight shutout tech fall to claim his third-straight National Freestyle Championship with a 73-6 record for 2016.