CPHS Soph. Riley Weir competes at Mid Summer Mat Bash in Texas

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School sophomore Riley Weir crossed State lines this past weekend to compete at the Mid Summer Mat Bash in Justin, Texas as part of team Texas Dynamite. The dual tournament featured twenty-four teams from eleven states. 

Texas Dynamite won five duals and lost seven for an eleventh place finish overall. Weir won seven matches and lost five, competing at 110 and 118 pounds.

In the first round of pool play Weir was pitted against Matt Wilde, a Pennsylvania State Qualifier with a 42-12 junior-year record. Wilde came out on top with a 4-1 decision as the Turks Head team doubled down on Texas Dynamite 44-21. 

Weir and his teammates got in the win column in their next battle against the lone Oklahoma team in the tournament. Geary went down 53-12 and Weir easily handed Logan Buchanan a 9-0 major decision. Next to fall was Kansas Silver 39-28. Weir pinned Carlos Gaeta in a mere 0:20 seconds.

The Dynamite streak continued with a 43-24 win over the 806 Elite and a 12-1 major decision from Weir over UIL State Qualifier Jesse Martinez. The Sandite followed it up with another quick pin in 0:36 over Jackson McCall of Kansas Black. Texas Dynamite won that dual 46-27.

The team met their match in the boastfully titled Best Trained team who defended their proud claim with a 51-12 dominating victory. Texas State Champion Jonathan Ortegon overcame Weir with an 11-3 major decision. Weir rebounded with an 0:52 pin of Grayson Fries, but his team was defeated 39-18 by the Nebraska Patriots for a fourth place finish in Pool B.

Moving to the Silver pool, the Dynamite suffered another series of losses to the tournament's toughest competitors.

Weir overcame WCA's Kaleb Getz 13-8, and his team won 40-28.

The Dynamite dual against Wrestling Factory was a close one both for the team and our Sandite. Weir got the edge for a 5-4 decision over Texas State Champion and Cotton Bowl National Champion Karsten Johnson, but Dynamite fell 39-30.

The Nebraska Warriors were the next to take down the Dynamite 46-24, and Nebraska State Champion Gage Krolikowski dealt Weir a 14-7 decision. Vision Quest won their dual 37-36, including a 1:15 pin of Weir by USAW National Runner-Up Aaden Valdez. Finally, the Texas Dynamite team came full-circle for a 46-19 defeat by Turks Head. Weir was pinned in 0:57 by Lukas Richie.

This tournament brings Weir's record for 2016 to 25-15, or 14-8 since the high school season concluded. Weir went 21-12 in his freshman year and qualified for State after a third place finish at Regionals while wrestling with an injured arm. He returned to action at the Junior Freestyle Duals in June and helped Team Oklahoma to a seventh place finish, then claimed All-American status with a fourth place finish at the USAW Junior Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota in July. 

Sand Springs takes down Sapulpa 20-14 in Highway 97 Rivalry alumni game

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Sand Springs Sandites have claimed the lead in the Highway 97 Rivalry Alumni series. The third annual alumni football game was held Saturday night at Charles Page High School Memorial Stadium in Sand Springs and the home team won it for the second year in a row.

Sandite quarterback Cody Hale returned to the turf for the first time since graduating in 2014. The Seminole State pitcher had a hard time connecting with his receivers, but managed a beautiful 21-yard touchdown pass to Cody Hilderbrandt to get Sand Springs on the board moments before the end of the first half.

The Hale-Hilderbrandt combo is a duo Sand Springs will remember for years to come as Hale holds the single-season passing touchdown record for Sand Springs and Hilderbrandt holds the single-season receiving touchdown record for Sand Springs.

Sapulpa was first to draw blood with an eighteen-yard touchdown pass by J.R. Romine. Romine had a huge impact on Sapulpa’s 2014 victory and was unable to participate in last year’s 35-0 shutout by the Sandites.

Sapulpa maintained their 7-0 lead right up until the final seconds of the first half when Hale found Hilderbrandt in the back corner of the endzone with 1.4 seconds remaining. A quick hand-off to Znick Ferrell for a two-point conversion gave Sand Springs the lead at half time.

It didn’t take long for the Sandites to find the end-zone again in the second half.

Sapulpa got the ball to start the half, but a tackle for loss by Travis Tanner pushed them back two yards, followed by a false start and an incomplete pass. At third and seventeen Tanner, Pedro Negron, and Austin Perry combined to sack Romine and force a punt.

Terrance Dixon, a three-year starter for Northeastern State University, picked up thirteen yards, Ferrell grabbed seventeen, and Hale sent a pass to Michael Brown to park the Sandite Offense at the five yard line. After two failed attempts, the Sandites finally scored on a hand-off to the Class of 2015’s Davey Thayer. A conversion attempt was unsuccessful, but the Sandites led 14-7.

Sapulpa didn’t take long to retaliate with a 1-yard run from Jason Broom to tie things up, but Sand Springs reclaimed the lead with 17 seconds left as Ferrell punched in a 1-yard touchdown. A conversion pass attempt to Negron fell flat, but it wouldn’t matter.

On the first play of Sapulpa’s corresponding drive, Romine threw an interception into the waiting arms of Ryan Freeman with 4.5 seconds left to put the game away for the Sandites.

Click here to see the full gallery.

Sand Springs:
Davey Thayer (2015)
Lane Freeman (2011)
Znick Ferrell (2009)
Travis Millikin (2014)
Ryan Umbarger (2009)
Cody Hale (2014)
Terrance Dixon (2010)
Keith Hooks (1999)
Ben Riggs (2007)
Justin Caywood
Matt Bettinger (2009)
Nathan Spencer (2009)
Mitchell Brown (2003)
Ryan Freeman (2008)
Michael Brown
Marc Brown (1999)
Keyandre Rose
Austin Ryan (2007)
Pedro Negron (1999)
Shay Kelley (2008)
Kyron Hill (2006)
Rodney Zickefoose
Deandre Smith
Luke Davis (2007)
Austin Perry (2009)
Matt Tucker (2006)
Kenny Tucker
Heath Sutherland (1998)
Levi Wilson (2012)
Kyle Riggs (2008)
Danae Wilson (2007)
Bryan Benton
Travis Tanner (1994)
Cody Hilderbrandt (2013)
Nick Millikin (2011)
Gabe Chronister

Sapulpa:
Paul Littlebear (2011)
Darien Inks (2013)
Michael Cashon (2006)
Cory Mondier (2014)
Tommy Murray (2012)
JR Romine (1998)
Caleb Meacham (2002)
Rob Gowdy (2012)
Lance Simmers (2011)
Jason Broom (1998)
Travis Munger (2011)
Josh Littlebear (2012)
Josh Hardee (2005)
Corbin Steeples (2013)
Sean Proctor (2005)
Julian Roland (2014)
Kiah Smith (1998)
John Tinsley (1999)
Brandon Hardee (2013)
Randall Hardee (2004)
Keiron Peacock (1988)
Zac Williams (1999)
Mike Taylor (2002)
Mark Wheaton (1999)
Chris Playford (1998)
Cliff Owens (2005)
Yancey Phillips (2007)
Casey Smith (2002) 
JT Rains (2014)
Trevor Toliver (2011)
John Blackburn (1998)

Sand Springs sends four to USAW National Championship, Riley Weir places fourth in Freestyle

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Two Sandites competed at the 2016 USAW Junior Men's Greco-Roman Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota this past 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.

Karstetter and Singleton were joined by Sophomore Riley Weir and Senior Michael Ritchey for the Freestyle competition.

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.

Weir made an impressive return to action in the Freestyle competition.

The State Qualifier has been recovering from an elbow injury since February but you wouldn’t know it based on his performance at the prestigious tournament. Weir made a brief appearance at the Junior National Duals in Tulsa last month, but only wrestled three matches.

He kicked off the contest with a 10-0 tech fall over Luc Valdez of Illinois and followed it up with a 16-6 tech over Arkansas State Champion Christopher Whisenant.

In the quarterfinals Weir fell 14-4 to Northern Plains Champion Matthew Petersen, but worked his way up through the consolation bracket with three straight wins.

Texas’s Chris Thomas fell 14-2, Illinois Freestyle State Champion Anthony King fell 10-0, and New York Freestyle State Champion Brandon Nunez lost by an ultimate tie breaker. The winning streak finally came to an end with a 17-5 loss to UWW Cadet National Runner-Up Cevion Severado.

Karstetter got off to a great start with four straight victories before being eliminated with back-to-back losses. He scored tech falls of 10-0 and 12-2 over Hawaii’s Ryan Wahl and North Carolina Freestyle State Champion Caleb Kreitter, respectively. He picked up a high quality win with a 5-4 decision over three-time Kansas State Finalist Corbin Nirschl, and followed it up with a 12-10 decision over Colorado’s Zeke Alirez.

Karstetter finally met his match in nationally-ranked No. 20 Zachary Sherman of New Jersey in an 11-6 decision. Once again he was pitted against Schmitt and WVU wrestler prevailed again, 10-0.

Ritchey won his first match 10-0 over Utah’s Kaden Love but fell in his next match to USAW Greco National Runner-Up Gabriel Townsell of Illinois. He was eliminated by fellow Okie Trey Edwards of Mustang.

Singleton was defeated 10-0 by Codi Russell and Trevon Majette.

Seven-time USAW National Champion (three-time Greco, four-time Freestyle) Daton Fix didn’t defend his Fargo title this year and instead is spending time at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to prepare for the World Championship inMacone, France.

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.

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.

Nathan Estrada makes claim to fame in professional wrestling

Photo: EMIGH

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief
With: Virgil Noah, Marketing Director

Sand Springs has a long history of wrestling greatness in the high school arena, but Charles Page High School 2012 graduate Nathan Estrada is making a name for himself on a different kind of mat.

Every Friday night the spandex-clad Spanish Fly entertains a packed house of professional wrestling fans at Tulsa’s premier wrestling arena. Located at 49th and Sheridan inside the Perfect Practice Athletic Center, Compound Pro Wrestling promises an electric atmosphere with WWE-level entertainment.

Photo: EMIGH

The Oklahoma X-Division Champion is frequently the star of the show, but it hasn’t always been that way. His first appearance at Compound wasn’t in the ring, it was in the crowd. When Estrada was about twelve years old he attended his first match and was instantly hooked. Raised on WCW and WWE, there was nothing like a live match to draw him into the life for good.

About a year after graduating CPHS, Estrada heard a radio promo on 103.3 The Eagle for Compound Wrestling and decided to try out. He made his debut in March of 2014 under the name The Spanish Fly. From there he met tag-team partner Michael Wolf, and together Spanish Wolf was born.

Estrada spent a lot of time earning his way up through the trenches before becoming a headliner, and at times it wasn’t pretty. In his first ever Heavyweight title match he broke his thumb and was unable to finish the match. Another time he received a gnarly gash above the eye after being hit with a crutch, and it wasn’t even his match. He was an innocent bystander when the crutch went flying.

Photo: EMIGH

Wrestling has changed Estrada’s life in many ways. Not only does he spend more than twenty hours a week in training and developing new moves, it also led him to love.

Estrada first met Skylar Slice in 2014 and the two were engaged in September the next year. By March of this year they were married, but you wouldn’t know it from watching them in the ring. While they’ve been tag-team partners at times, they’ve also been known to end up in opposite corners too.

The duo have done quite a bit of traveling for the sport as well, competing in Lawton, Oklahoma City, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Louisiana.

Photo: EMIGH

The long hours and constant practice paid off when Estrada laid claim to the Oklahoma X Division Belt two years after his debut. For six months, Killista Deva held the belt before being defeated by Slice in December of 2015. This past April, Killista won it back from Slice, but didn’t hold it for long. That same night, Estrada pinned Killista for the Championship.
Since then he’s defended the belt against Skyler Fayden, Abel, Wade Argento, Giganto, and more.

The goal is to one day wrestle for WWE, and Estrada is taking the next step toward that goal in the summer of 2017. The couple already has plans to move to Houston, Texas to train at Booker T. Huffman’s Development Camp. Under the direction of 2013 WWE Hall of Fame inductee Booker T, Estrada aims to prepare for the next level at the Reality of Wrestling Development Camp.