Youth Wrestling: Kasen McAffrey wins Collinsville Christmas Classic

Sand Springs Team Big wrestler Kasen McAffrey (7-0) recently took first place in his third-straight tournament at Collinsville Christmas Classic.

The Sandite competed in the seventy-pound weight class in Division Two with little effort, pinning all three of his foes. He defeated Payson Robinson (Sapulpa) in 1:02, Noah Boulware (Broken Arrow) in 1:07, and Kelton Shaffer (Neosho) in 2:32. 

He previously took first place at the Catoosa Tournament and the Claremore Youth Invitational earlier this season. 

Eleven Sandites Take First Place at Coweta Wrestling Tournament

Abraham Flores was one of eleven Team Big wrestlers to take first place at the Coweta Open. (Photo: Scott Emigh)

Nearly a dozen members of the Sand Springs Team Big elementary wrestling program took first place at last weekend's Coweta Open.

Abraham Flores (7-1) took first place in Division 4 at 110 pounds, scoring a 9-0 major decision against Cameron Braswell and a 16-1 tech fall against Joseph Robbins. Adrian Flores (2-6) took second place, beating Robbins 6-2 and Braswell 5-0.

Balance Johnson (3-0) took first place in Division 4 at 140 pounds, pinning Connor Gough in 0:53 and Cameron Ford in 2:07. He also scored a 16-7 major decision against Micco Jones.

David Ritchey (4-2) took first place in Division 3 at 73 pounds, scoring a 16-0 tech fall against Braxton Cook and pinning Cruz Morrison in 1:47.

Nation Johnson (4-0) took first place in Division 3 at 85 pounds, pinning Bow Rush in 1:10, Daniel Gruenwald in 0:16, and Riley Hicks in 0:46. In the finals he defeated Ty Thrasher by 6-3 decision.

Jaxon Trotter (3-1) won a best-of-three series against Lance Arbona for first place in Division 3 at 100 pounds. He pinned the Ponca City wrestler in 2:40, then won a 9-6 decision. He also took second place in Division 4, pinning Mathew Franklin in 1:16 and Brice Chitwood in 3:00. He scored a 4-0 decision against Cael Eremita, but fell in 1:55 to Catoosa’s Tyler McCall.

Jayden Bussell (3-2) won a best-of-three series against Evan Luna for first place in Division 2 at 67 pounds, pinning the Wagoner wrestler in 3:25 and 3:30.

Ethan Starks (4-2) won the seventy-pound bracket in Division 2, receiving a forfeit from Braxton Floyd and scoring a 12-1 major decision against Glenpool’s Colton Treat.

Promised Johnson (3-0) won the 75-pound bracket in Division 2, pinning Eli Montgomery in 0:35 and Jake White in 2:45. In the finals he scored a 17-2 technical fall against Berryhill’s Max Harland.

Ramone Sparks (4-0) won the 88-pound bracket in Novice 4, scoring an 18-4 major decision against Kaden Boucher and pinning Avery Richey in forty seconds.

Connor Beals (6-1) won his third-straight tournament in Novice Division 3 at 73 pounds. He scored a 10-0 major decision against Braxton Cook and defeated Aeleyah Mumau 9-2 in the finals.

Tyler Feigenbaum (7-0) won his second-straight tournament in Novice 2 at 67 pounds. He pinned Mason Denison in 1:29, Walter Black in 0:39, Jaxon Steel in 2:25, and Laike Barnhart in 1:22.

Kaden Pope (1-1) took second place in Division 3 at 64 pounds, scoring a 15-0 tech fall against Jimmy Groden, but falling 6-2 to Collinsville’s Cayden Cupps. Matthew Moore (5-2) placed third, falling to Cupps in the opening round. He won his way through the consolation bracket with a 7-0 decision against Caleb Thompson, an 11-1 major decision against Groden, and a 6-2 decision against Connor Cox.

Aiden Wilkerson (2-1) took second in Novice 4 at eighty pounds, pinning Drake Blue in 0:21 and Rylie Brown in 0:49, but falling 10-8 to Isaac Valencia in sudden victory overtime.

Brody Wilson (2-1) took second in Novice 3 at 67 pounds, defeating Brody Stevenson 5-2 and William Laffoon 6-4, but falling 3-0 to Ethan Oglesbee in the finals.

Bently Furr (7-3) placed second in Novice 2 at 64 pounds, pinning Jake Weaver in 1:23 and Amos Wright in 1:16, but falling 14-4 to Conlee Curry in the finals.

Chase Kelley (2-4) placed third in Novice 4 at 110 pounds. He pinned Aundray Waller in 1:42 and Rhyley Tripp in 0:13, but fell 6-2 to Joseph Robbins and was pinned in 1:49 by Cooper Thomas.

Blayton Collins (10-6) competed in Novice Division 2 at two different weight classes. He placed fourth at 61 pounds and third at 64 pounds. In the 61-pound bracket he defeated Mikaili Lee 7-5 before getting pinned by Glenpool’s Landon Barber in 2:48. In the consolation bracket he pinned Dylan Cook in 1:59 and Riley Holman in 0:57, and won a 4-1 decision over Hunter Belcher before meeting Barber once again in the finals. This time his opponent came out on top of a 7-1 decision. At 64 pounds Collins pinned Ty Holly in 0:39, Jake Weaver in 1:47, and Amos Wright in 1:42, but fell to Conlee Curry from Jay.

Wes Wilson (5-1) took third place in Novice Division 1 in the forty-pound weight class. He majored Jacob Lonewolf 10-2 but was pinned in 2:44 by Mylum Ache. In the consolation bracket he pinned Ryker Romine in 1:42, majored Brayden Otero 10-0 and Larry Blevins 17-6, then pinned William Thompson in 1:38 in the finals.

Youth Wrestling: Sandites crown eleven champions at Claremore Invitational

The future of Sandite wrestling is looking as bright as ever as the 2017-2018 youth wrestling season kicks off. A few weeks into the season, the Sandites have had strong showings at each tournament with several first and second place finishes.

The Sand Springs Team Big wrestling club crowned eleven champions at this past weekend's Claremore Youth Invitational and had seven runners-up. 

Champions

Michael Johnson (4-0) took first place in Division Four at 64 pounds. He pinned Jackson Martin in 1:33 and Simon Hartline in 0:22, and scored decisions of 6-0 and 4-0 against Jagen Jones and Iziah Tusler, respectively. 

Bentley Furr (4-0) took first place in Novice Division Two at 64 pounds. He pinned Hayden Smith in 23 seconds, Mateo Baldez in 2:29, and Colton Waldon in 28 seconds before scoring a 9-4 decision against Zavier Campion in the finals.

Chris Kirby (3-0) pinned Veronica Cooper in 22 seconds and Jose Flores in 24 seconds before scoring a 16-1 tech fall over Jonathan Gatz in the Division Five 155-pound finals.

Clayton Giddens (3-0) breezed through Division Four, pinning Joaquin Moralez in 2:48 and Keith Sanders in 3:52 before teching Dylan Abbott 18-3 in the finals.

Jaxon Grigsby (3-0) won Division Three at 58 pounds in dominating fashion. He pinned Owen Kiesel in 1:20 then teched Zane Filtz and Ty Michael Clark 15-0 each. 

Blayton Collins (3-0) took first place in Novice Division Two at 61 pounds with a thirty-second pin of Hunter Belcher and a 12-4 major decision against Maleah Zinn.

Owen Martin (2-0) took first place in Division Five at 84 pounds, pinning Korbyn York in 1:52 and teching Julian Briones 17-2. 

Skyler Wood (2-0) took first place in Novice Division Three at seventy pounds with a 1:57 pin of Edward Jones and a 15-2 major decision against William Laffoon.

Kasen McAffrey (2-0) won Division Two at 70 pounds, pinning Noah Boulware in fifteen seconds and Ethan Starks in 3:29. 

Rollin Fish (2-0) won Division One at 66 pounds, defeating David Tusler 13-9.

Connor Beals (2-0) won Novice Division Three at 76 pounds, pinning Mia Adams in 2:41 and scoring a 14-6 major decision against Bobby Brockman.

Runners-Up

Abraham Flores (2-1) took second place in Division Four at 120 pounds. He pinned Adrian Flores in 0:32 and Cameron Braswell in 0:21 but fell 2-0 to Blake Gilkey of Collinsville.

Carter Wood (2-1) pinned Josiah Moss in seventeen seconds and Caiden Estrada in 24 seconds, but fell 9-0 to Mason OBanion in Division Two at seventy pounds.

Ethan White (1-1) was majored 10-0 by Nathan Dekker in the Division Five 134-pound bracket, but pinned Thomas Moralez in 2:14 for second place.

Zander Grigsby (1-1) pinned Kynndrick Brooks in 3:31 but fell 2-0 to Bryson Humphries in the finals.

Ethan Starks (1-1) competed in Division Two at seventy pounds and teched Noah Boulware 18-3 before falling to teammate Kasen McAffrey.

David Cline (1-1) placed second in Novice Division Three at eighty pounds, edging out Drake Blue 6-5. 

Taytum Parker (1-1) placed second in Novice Division Two at 52 pounds with a pin of Tucker Daniels in 1:19.

Consolation Champions

Mitchell Smith (4-1) took third in Division Four at 84 pounds. He pinned Jim Watkins in 1:50 and defeated Jaxson Humphries 6-2 before falling 6-3 to Blade Walden. In the consolation bracket he pinned Dayton Moison in 44 seconds and repeated against Humphries with a 10-7 decision.

Robert Burke (3-1) took third in Division Three at seventy pounds, pinning Jace Simms in 1:55 and teching Aaron Wyrick 20-5. His lone loss was a close 7-5 decision to Daxton Sullivan. 

Asher Giddens (3-1) competed in Division One at 46 pounds. He defeated Rowden Benavidez twice, once in the first round and once in consolation. He was pinned by Parker Ingram but scored an 11-0 major decision against Kyson Buckner and a 9-0 major decision against Venvidez to win consolation.

Matthew Moore (2-1) competed in Division Three at 64 pounds. He defeated Jack Hooe 5-2 and Jimmy Groden 9-0. 

Carter Young wins Cadet Greco-Roman National Championship

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Incoming Sand Springs freshman Carter Young (27-1) was already named our Sandite of the Week for his National Runner-Up finish in Freestyle wrestling this past weekend. On Friday he padded his resume with a first-place finish in Greco-Roman.

The USA Wrestling Cadet National Championships are held annually in Fargo, North Dakota, and are one of the biggest events of the year in the wrestling community. Two styles of wrestling are held in Fargo. Freestyle is the most widely-practiced form of wrestling in the world, while Greco-Roman limits wrestlers to above-the-waist wrestling only. No tripping or holding below the waist requires a radically different skill set.

Young came into the event as the defending National Champion in freestyle. He lost his claim to the freestyle title after a 10-4 loss to Jett Strickenberger in the finals, but improved on his prior year's third-place finish in Greco.

The young Sandite won his first match 11-0 in only forty seconds with a tech fall against Dylan Driver. Next to fall was Devin Thomas by 5-1 decision, then Jack Ryan went down 10-0 in 1:08.

Young topped Idaho three-style State Champion Kase Mauger 6-3 in the semifinals, then won the first-place bout 10-0 over Danny Curran.

Team Oklahoma Results:
94 lbs - Jason Gilbert - DNP (2-2)
94 lbs - Cooper Mahaffey - DNP (0-2)100 lbs - Dayton Cary - DNP (1-2)
106 lbs - Braeden Williams - DNP (1-2)
113 lbs - Alexander Prince - DNP (0-2)
113 lbs - Jaxon Randall - DNP (1-2)
120 lbs - Cameron Picklo - 3rd Place (6-1)
120 lbs - Ryder Ramsey - DNP (2-2)
126 lbs - Reece Witcraft - 1st Place (6-0)
132 lbs - Blake Salt - DNP (0-2)
132 lbs - Timothy Trigg - DNP (1-2)
132 lbs - Spencer Schickram - DNP (7-2)
132 lbs - Christopher Dugger - DNP (2-2)
138 lbs - Kobi Gomez - DNP (0-2)
138 lbs - Dillon Berry - DNP (0-2)
138 lbs - Blake Ramos - DNP (3-2)
145 lbs - Wyatt Berry - DNP (0-2)
145 lbs - Cole Thomas - DNP (1-2)
152 lbs - Jacob Law - DNP (0-2)
152 lbs - Kyle Knowles - 6th Place (4-3)
160 lbs - Charles Floyd - DNP (1-2)
170 lbs - Talon Borror - DNP (2-2)
182 lbs - Matthew Santos - DNP (0-2)
195 lbs - Garrick Johnson - DNP (0-2)
195 lbs - John Wiese - DNP (1-2)
195 lbs - Taylor Fleming - DNP (1-2)
220 lbs - Micah Walker - DNP (3-2)
285 lbs - Carson Wiley - DNP (0-2)
285 lbs - Trenton Keith - DNP (1-2)

Sand Springs wrestling club takes second at East Regional with twelve champions

Balance Johnson won the Regional Championship for both Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling this weekend in Sapulpa. 

Twenty four members of the Sand Springs Team Big wrestling club competed at the Oklahoma USA East Regional Tournament this weekend in Sapulpa. Twelve of them earned first-place medals and helped their team to a second-place finish overall.

Promised Johnson, Clayton Giddens, Abraham Flores, Christian Forbes, Michael Ritchey, Jaylen Hernandez, Rhett Peak, Ethan White, and Bryce Fisher all brought home first-place medals in one style, while Balance Johnson, Justin Vaughn, and Cole Brooks won their brackets in both freestyle and Greco-Roman.

Team Big placed second in Novice Freestyle, second in Novice Greco, sixth in Intermediate Freestyle, third in Intermediate Greco, first in Schoolboy Freestyle, third in Schoolboy Greco, eighteenth in Cadet Freestyle, sixth in Junior Freestyle, and second overall. They were runners-up to Threestyle Wrestling out of Catoosa, who entered twelve more competitors than the Sand Springs team.

Junior

Charles Page High School senior State Qualifier Michael Ritchey (16-2 FS, 3-0 GR) won his fourth freestyle tournament of the season at 132 pounds. He teched Perry State Runner-Up Alex Valencia 12-2 and Union’s Caron Watson 17-5.

Cadet

Union Sophomore Jaylen Hernandez took first place in freestyle at 152 pounds. He teched Kody Driskill and Zachary Wattenbarger, then pinned Bryce Jackson in 1:25 and Taylor Pafford in 0:49.

Schoolboy

Justin Vaughn (2-2 FS, 4-1 GR) took first place in both styles at 70 pounds, winning all four of his matches by fall. In freestyle he pinned Caydon Miller in 2:32 and Jacob Caviness in 0:23. In Greco he pinned Miller in 2:00 and 1:06.

Christian Forbes (14-0 FS, 1-3 GR) took first place in freestyle for the fourth-straight week at 84 pounds. He defeated Jayce Caviness 10-6, then teched Riley Trickett 10-0, Rhett Peak 12-2, and Clay Gates 12-1.

Rhett Peak (10-4 FS, 6-0 GR) won his third-straight Greco tournament at 84 pounds, defeating Riley Trickett once by 12-2 tech fall and once by pin in 2:37. He came in runner-up in freestyle, defeating Clay Gates 11-6, Trickett 12-2, and Jayce Caviness 12-2, but falling 12-2 to teammate Christian Forbes.

Cole Brooks (8-1 FS, 7-1 GR) took first place in both styles at 91 pounds. In freestyle he teched Kenneth Adams 10-0 and pinned Timothy Eichler in 0:17. In Greco he pinned Adams in 0:34 and Eichler in 0:57.

Braden Anderson (10-8 FS, 5-8 GR) took third place in freestyle at 112 pounds, defeating Noah Smith 12-6 and Parker Lecoq 12-2, but falling 14-5 to JJ Long.

Ethan White (10-0 FS) won his fourth-straight freestyle tournament at 120 pounds, pinning Luke Young in 2:25 and 0:27.

Bryce Fisher (6-1 FS) won his second-straight freestyle tournament at 136 pounds, defeating Jose Flores 14-5 and 12-7.

Kaden Glass (6-0 FS, 3-0 GR) entered in freestyle at 210 pounds but didn’t draw any competitors.

Intermediate

Promised Johnson (14-4 FS, 6-9 GR) took first place in freestyle at 70 pounds, scoring a 10-0 tech fall against Bobby Brockman and a 15-4 tech of Brody Mills.

Novice

Robert Burke (5-1 FS, 4-3 GR) entered in both styles at 65 pounds but was the only competitor in his weight class. He didn’t get to wrestle but will advance to the State Tournament.

Clayton Giddens (14-0 FS) won his fifth-straight freestyle tournament at 70 pounds with 10-0 tech falls against Zane Donley, Dylan Abbott, and Wesley Madden. He has yet to give up a single point this season.

Abraham Flores (9-4 FS, 9-3 GR) won the Greco title at 100 pounds for the second week in a row, defeating Adrian Flores by tech fall and pin in a best-of-three series. In freestyle he took second place, teching Adrian, but getting teched by Garhett Reese.

Balance Johnson (11-2 FS, 10-1 GR) took first place in both styles at 120 pounds. He teched all four of his opponents 10-0.

Andrew Mullin (3-1 FS) took second place in freestyle at 120 pounds, pinning Hunter Degraffenreid in 3:24, but falling 10-0 to Balance Johnson.

Sand Springs Wrestling qualifies four for Nationals in Fargo, ND

Click here to view the tournament photo gallery.

More than five-hundred wrestlers from across the state turned out this past weekend for the Oklahoma USA National Team Qualifier at Union Intermediate High School. Thirty-eight members of the Sand Springs Team Big wrestling club competed and twenty-three placed in the top-three of their divisions. 

Team Big meets in the Charles Page High School wrestling room Mondays and Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. and is coached by Derek Fix, Chris Forbes, TeDon Fleischman, and Kyle Waag.

Top-three placers in the Junior and Cadet divisions automatically qualified for the USA Wrestling Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota this summer. Sand Springs qualified four wrestlers for Fargo, including two seniors, one sophomore, and one eighth-grader.

Junior

Charles Page High School sophomore State Champion Riley Weir (4-0 FS) took first place in freestyle at 113 pounds. He handily rolled over Sapulpa’s Braydon Blose 10-0, then topped Edmond Memorial freshman State Runner-Up Garrett Steidley 17-8 in a rematch of their State Finals bout.

CPHS four-time State Champion and Oklahoma State University-signed senior Daton Fix (4-0 FS) took first place in freestyle at 132 pounds. He teched Perry State Qualifier Alex Valencia and Cushing State Qualifier Billy Simpson 11-0 apiece, and pinned Brendan Clarke in 55 seconds.

CPHS senior State Qualifier Michael Ritchey (8-1 FS, 3-0 GR) took second place in 132 freestyle. He teched Cody Brown 10-0, pinned Bridge Creek State Runner-Up Kolton Smith in 1:03, then topped Catoosa’s two-time State Runner-Up Vincent Eremita 3-2 before forfeiting the finals to teammate Daton Fix.

Collinsville State Champion Nate Keim took first place in 138 freestyle with three tech falls and a 10-8 decision over two-time Elgin State Champion Jacob Butler. In the finals he topped Cushing State Qualifier Jacob Ahrberg 11-0.

Stillwater State Champion Christian Bahl took first place in 182 freestyle. He scored a 9-5 decision over two-time Vinita State Champion Alexander Kauffman, pinned Putnam City North State Qualifier Jaylon Chiles in 2:04, then pinned two-time Choctaw State Champion Jaryn Curry in 4:47.

Cadet

Clyde Boyd Middle School 8th grader Carter Young (9-0 FS, 6-0 GR) took first place in his fifth-straight event with three tech falls at 100 pounds in freestyle. He defeated Broken Arrow State Qualifier Jackson Cockrell 10-0, Broken Arrow Junior High All-State Runner-Up Blazik Perez 12-0, and Cascia Hall Junior High All-State Runner-Up 14-4.

Collinsville State Champion Caleb Tanner joined up with Team Big and took first place in freestyle at 126 pounds with four tech falls, giving up only one point. He capped the tournament with a 10-0 victory over Bartlesville State Qualifier Laif Jones.

Union sophomore Jalen Hernandez took second place in freestyle at 145 pounds, winning two tech falls and a pin before falling to Roarke Simpson.

Skiatook freshman Jeran Seabolt took third place in freestyle at 160 pounds with two pins, a tech fall, and a high-scoring 19-14 decision over Skylar Johnson. He was defeated by Cushing State Qualifier Gage Hockett in the semifinals, but pinned teammate Killian McGrew in the consolation finals.

McGrew, a freshman from Jenks, took fourth place in 160 freestyle with three pins.

Schoolboy

Christian Forbes (6-0 FS, 1-3 GR) took first place in freestyle for the second-straight week at 84 pounds, teching all three of this opponents 10-0.

Ethan White (6-0 FS) took first place in freestyle for the second-straight week at 120 pounds with two tech falls and a 29 second pin.

Kaden Glass (3-0 FS) took first place in freestyle at 190 pounds, pinning all three of his opponents in the first period. His fastest was in fifteen seconds against Sky Daniels.

Cole Brooks (3-1 FS, 2-1 GR) took second place in freestyle at 91 pounds, teching his first two opponents before getting pinned in the finals.

Bryce Fisher (2-1 FS) took second place in freestyle at 136 pounds with one tech fall and one decision before falling in the finals.

Clay Gates (4-6 FS) took fourth place in freestyle at 84 pounds with two tech falls.

Intermediate

Nation Johnson (4-1 FS, 5-2 GR) came in runner-up in both styles at 80 pounds. He won a pair of tech falls in freestyle and one tech fall in Greco, but was defeated in both by Jake Miller.

Promised Johnson (7-2 FS, 5-3 GR) placed third in both styles at 70 pounds. He won three technical falls in each style, but was also defeated by Hayden Wright in each style.

Bantam

Rollin Fish (1-4 FS) placed third in freestyle at 55 pounds, suffering two technical falls, but pinning Davis Tusler in 3:27.

Novice

Robert Burke (4-0 FS, 4-1 GR) took first place in both styles at 65 pounds. In freestyle he pinned Cash Donnell in 1:34 and recorded a close 12-10 decision. In Greco he posted two technical falls and a 19 second pin of Legend Johnson.

Abraham Flores (4-0 FS, 3-2 GR) took first place in both styles at 100 pounds. He won freestyle for the second straight week with a pair of tech falls, then won Greco with a tech and two pins.

Clayton Giddens (5-0 FS) took first place in freestyle for the second-straight week at 70 pounds. He teched all three of his opponents without giving up a single point.

Balance Johnson (3-1 FS, 3-1 GR) took first place in freestyle at 112 pounds with a pin and a tech fall, then came in runner-up in Greco with a 45-second pin of Zack Maguire.

Grady Mittasch (7-4 FS, 3-6 GR) took third place in freestyle at 75 pounds with two tech falls and a pin, then took second in Greco. He teched his first opponent, but defaulted with an injury in the finals.

Adrian Flores (1-2 FS, 1-2 GR) took third place in Greco and fourth place in freestyle at 100 pounds. He defeated Ej Smith in both styles, one by pin and once by tech fall.