Sandites Win Highway 97 Rivalry 51-20 Against Sapulpa

The Sand Springs boys wrestling team is right where it wants to be heading into Christmas break.

The No. 8 Sandites are 3-0 in duals following a 51-20 victory against 5A No. 10 Sapulpa (1-2) Tuesday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

Sand Springs won nine out of fourteen matches with six pins in its seventh-straight Highway 97 Rivalry win.

“Anytime you can beat your rivals it’s a good evening,” said first-year head coach Ty Bowling.

“Good start to December for us so far. We’re not in February yet so we’ve got plenty of time to get better and keep getting better every single week.”

Sapulpa won the opening match with a 3-0 decision by Christian Cue over Dawson Briscoe, but a forfeit at 113 put the Sandites ahead for the remainder of the evening.

Colt Hood pinned Jackson Mills in 28 seconds and Brady Moore won a 7-0 decision against Jackson Willingham before the Chieftains won their next match.

Kyle Brooks eked out a back-and-forth 6-4 decision over Preston Reyna, but the Sandites responded with three more bonus point wins

Jayden Pait and Jesse Moore pinned their opponents and Mitchell Smith received a forfeit to make it 33-6.

Blake Hurt won an 8-7 upset against Jaxon Trotter at 157 pounds, but Ethan White answered with a 32-second pin of Trey Henderson to clinch the dual for Sand Springs.

“It’s Ethan’s senior year,” said Bowling. “We’re working real hard to get him to the state tournament this year, hopefully to the podium.”

“He’s been putting in extra work and that’s his goal this year is to get to the state tournament and make a little noise there.”

Sapulpa won at 190 and 215, but Hudson Sheppard pinned Mason Williams in 38 seconds and Mason Harris pinned Taylor Anderson in 29 seconds to wrap up the evening.

“This year we’re working on our toughness and I think every single week we’ve gotten a little bit tougher,” said Bowling.

“We had two duals a couple of weeks ago then we rolled into a long two-day tournament. We dealt with sickness and soreness and getting our weight down, but we battled through things and each week we’re getting tougher and tougher and that’s kind of our theme for this year.”

Prior to the boys dual, Ty Davis pinned Elizabeth Corveler in a girls exhibition match.

The Sandites will return to action December 29th at the Diamond State Duals in Springdale, Arkansas.

Laila Mirza Becomes First-Ever Girls Tournament Champion from Sand Springs

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Laila Mirza is officially the first ever regular-season tournament champion for the Sand Springs girls wrestling program.

The junior 120 pounder won the Joe Cole Classic in Cleveland, helping her team to a program-best 2nd place finish. All five Lady Sandites placed top-four in their divisions.

“I found her in the weight room because I help coach (Kevin) Avey with the girls weightlifting,” said head coach Ty Bowling, who started the girls’ program this year.

“She tries to get as much extra work (during free period) or during weightlifting period when they’re not lifting weights, and she’ll stay after practice.”

“She’s one that gets here early and stays late,” said Bowling.

Mirza pinned her first two opponents without giving up a single point, then received two forfeits in the round-robin bracket.

“She’s run cross country and she’s ran some track, and she told me at the beginning of the year that she had never ever won a medal.”

“That preseason tournament she went to she got first, then she took sixth (at Jay) and got a medal there, and then she got first here, so she’s kind of three for three on the medals in wrestling.”

Kelsi Hilton placed third at 140 pounds with three pins, only losing in a close 8-5 decision to the tournament champion.

Addily Shotwell placed third at 170 with one pin. Kreedence Behnke placed third and Madison Chambers was fourth at 100 pounds.

“Our girls are working hard,” said Bowling. “Wrestling’s not an easy sport and they’re in here every day doing it exactly like the boys are doing.”

“We’re not trying to put too much pressure on them, but we’re telling them how they’re going to be forever remembered as the girls that started (the program) and have a chance to be the first ever Sand Springs girls State qualifiers.”

The junior varsity boys placed fourth at the tournament despite mostly facing varsity competitors.

Kase Skaggs won the 113-pound bracket and four other Sandites also medaled.

Skaggs outscored his opponents 51 to 13 with a pin and two major decisions before earning a 4-2 decision over State qualifier Daxtyn Davis.

Peyton Callis was runner-up at 165 with three pins; Cash Lucas was runner-up at 285 with three pins; Jesse Moore placed third at 144 with four pins; and Logan Childers placed fourth at 113 with three pins.

The junior high boys team placed 12th with two total medalists and the junior high girls placed 14th with one medalist.

Gage Gunn placed fourth at 132 with three pins; Dallas Flores placed fourth at 155 with five pins; and Rylee Allen placed fourth at girls 117 with two pins.

The Keystone Kids wrestling club had no problem winning the Sand Springs Slam tournament over the weekend with 28 champions, nearly tripling the score of runner-up Barnsdall.

Jase Morgan, Maddix Spencer, Hagan Wolfenberger, Kason Wolfe, Acetyn Hart, Sutton Hawley, Zander Pope, Rylan Hamby, Ty Galloway, Samuel Moore, Joshua Compton, Griffin Sensintaffar, Ayreson Reiss, David Ritchey, Matthew Moore, Kasen McAffrey, Samuel Reichel, Jaxon Trotter, Brenntly Taylor, Jayce Parks, Caemon Young, Ryker Dawes, Collin Randall, Hunter Sims, Colt Combs, Kydon Harness, Gage Buchanan, and Saylor Eaglin all won their divisions.

The varsity boys and girls will return to action Tuesday, December 20th with home duals against Sapulpa at 6:00 p.m.

Sandites Go Undefeated at Memorial Invitational

For the fifth time in the seven year history of the festival, the Sand Springs boys basketball team (4-2) went undefeated at the Tulsa Memorial Veterans Arena Invitational over the weekend.

Following a 77-72 loss to No. 10 Bixby on Tuesday, the Sandites rolled to wins of 72-29 against the Oklahoma City Knights (3-11) Thursday, 55-42 against Tulsa NOAH (5-5) Friday, and 48-35 against Greenwood, Arkansas (2-7) Saturday.

“It feels good man. We needed those wins after a tough loss to Bixby,” said sophomore forward Blake Johnson.

Johnson scored 40 points on the week, with a career-best 15 against OKC and 12 against Greenwood.

“We’re trying to put weight on him but he’s really got a good basketball IQ,” said head coach Eric Savage.

“He sees the floor well, he moves without the ball. He’s a pretty versatile player because we can use him as a passer or an extra dribbler. He’s got some size and length to him inside where he can score inside, so I think his future is really bright.”

Johnson was particularly effective in the paint on Saturday, playing aggressively in key moments to shift momentum in the Sandites’ favor.

After trailing for the most of the second quarter, the Bulldogs rode a five-point swing to take the lead in the final minutes of the half, but Johnson ensured his team would come out on top.

The sophomore muscled his way through double coverage to go up 21-20, traded buckets with Brady Mackey, then capped off the half with his third consecutive score to make it 25-22.

Sand Springs wouldn’t trail again, opening the third quarter on a 14-point run.

“I’m trying to get them to play a tougher mentality,” said Savage. “I think the only way you get that is to play aggressive basketball and I think we’ve done that this week.”

“Even the Bixby game, we didn’t shy away from them.”

The Sandites had Bixby on upset alert for most of the night, but Notre Dame signee Parker Freidrichsen’s 40 points helped the Spartans secure the conference win.

Another big player for the Sandites was senior guard Michael Foster.

“Foster bounced back after not shooting the ball well the first two days,” said Savage.

Foster shot a career-high 18 points on Tuesday against the Spartans, then bookended the week with a game-best 16 points against Greenwood.

Sophomore Kooper Kelly scored a career-best 13 to lead the Sandites against NOAH, followed by Alijah Roper with 12. Roper also had a career-best 19 against Bixby.

The girls team (7-2) hung with No. 2 Bixby through a halftime tie before ultimately falling 84-50. Hailey Jackson scored 16 points with 9 rebounds in the loss, and Sakauri Wilson and Calla Fuseshko both scored 10.

Both teams will return to action January 5th. The girls will compete at the Putnam City Invitational while the boys will play at the East Central Classic in Ada.

Scoring Summaries

12/17/2022 - CPHS 48, Greenwood 35
CPHS;12;13;14;9;--;48
Greenwood;10;12;5;8;--;35

CPHS: Foster 16, Johnson 12, Allen 7, Kelly 6, Roper 3, Michell 2, Hooper 2.
Greenwood: Holt 9, Karnes 6, Chick 6, Kennon 5, Robins 5, Mackey 2, Bollman 2.

12/16/2022 - CPHS 55, NOAH 42
CPHS;12;12;14;17;--;55
NOAH;11;10;9;12;--42

CPHS: Kelly 13, Roper 12, Johnson 9, Holland 7, Allen 4, Hayes 4, Hooper 2, Shope 2, Foster 2.
NOAH: Wagner 10, Hislop 10, B. Bell 8, D. Bell 6, Garner 3, Brockett 3, Ross 2.

12/15/2022 - CPHS 72, OKC 29
CPHS;15;25;13;19;--;72
OKC;12;9;2;4;--;29

CPHS: Johnson 15, Kelly 10, Holland 9, Fueshko 9, Hayes 9, Hooper 4, Allen 4, Roper 3, Shope 3, Michell 2, Foster 2, Marshall 2.
OKC: Coombs 17, Ledet 6, Skelly 4, Chiarello 2.

12/13/2022 - Bixby 84, CPHS 50 (Girls)
Bixby;17;16;23;28;--84
CPHS;14;19;9;8;--50

Bixby: G. Wernli 24, Nielsen 17, Baldwin 16, K. Wernli 12, Musick 7, Wilson 4, Daniel 2, Beltran 2.
CPHS: Jackson 16, Wilson 10, Fueshko 10, Martin 7, Morris 5, Taylor 2.

12/3/2022 - Bixby 77, CPHS 72 (Boys)
Bixby;17;27;13;20;--77
CPHS;19;15;21;17;--72

Bixby: P. Friedrichsen 40, Driver 15, L. Friedrichsen 10, McCormick 6, Holley 4.
CPHS: Roper 19, Foster 18, Michell 9, Allen 8, Kelly 7, Holland 7, Johnson 4.

Sandites Throttle OKC Knights 72-29 at Memorial Invitational

Happy Birthday Kade Holland. The senior starter scored 9 points with 4 rebounds in a 72-29 win against the Oklahoma City Knights (3-9) Thursday night.

The last time Sand Springs played an Oklahoma City homeschool team, they suffered a 68-48 upset, but this year’s Sandites wouldn’t be caught sleeping,

After giving No. 10 Bixby a scare on Tuesday, the Sandites (2-2) showed up at Memorial High School with extra motivation Thursday night in the first round of the Veterans Arena Invitational.

“I thought we had big strides against Bixby at home on Tuesday night,” said head coach Eric Savage.

“Hopefully, I thought coming into here, is we carry some of that momentum and try to keep gaining experience and develop a little more depth.”

“Obviously we’d like to have a couple of more wins in there, but we’re getting better,” said Savage.

Thirteen Sandites saw game time and all but one made their way into the scorebook.

Sophomore Blake Johnson had a career night with 15 points and 9 boards before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.

“Blake has had a good week,” said Savage. “He had a good JV game Tuesday night too (scoring 19 points).”

“We thought playing JV would help some of these younger guys get some confidence and he’s turned it up another level this week so that’s good to see.”

Caden Coombs gave the Knights a brief lead with 2:01 left in the first quarter but the Sandites went on an 8-point run and never trailed again.

Jax Marshall fed an assist inside to Sam Hayes on the next possession to make it 12-11 then stole the ball and scored the go-ahead free throws on a foul from Isaiah Zoschke.

Sand Springs ran away with it in the second quarter, taking a 40-23 lead with 10 players in the scorebook by halftime.

“We’re working hard and we’re showing improvement,” said Savage. “(It’s a) really young team experience wise and age wise.”

The Sandites only returned one starter from last year’s unit and only started two seniors against the Knights.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who it’s their first time seeing significant varsity action and they’re going to go through some growing pains,” said Savage.

The second half was a 32-6 rout with the Knights only scoring on free throws.

Kooper Kelly scored 10 for the Sandites, followed by Zane Fueshko and Holland with 9 apiece. Coombs led all scorers with 17.

Sand Springs will return to action Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Tulsa NOAH (5-4). The Knights will play 5A No. 16 Collinsville (2-3) at 6:00.

Memorial 54, NOAH 31

The NOAH Jaguars made a game of it but ultimately succumbed to 5A No. 2 Memorial (4-1) Thursday night at the Chargers’ home tournament.

After hanging tight for three quarters, the Jaguars were outscored 20-8 in the final stanza of a 54-31 loss.

Jarreth Ingram set the tone early, scoring 7 of his game-best 15 points in the first quarter and the Jaguars never once led.

Montae Collins ended the opening period with a steal and a buzzer-beating floater to go up 16-4 but the Jaguars cut it to 25-15 by halftime.

Ben Radford got hot in the fourth quarter with 7 of his 9 points and the Chargers bullied their way to the win.

Collins ended with 13 for the Chargers and Seth Pratt added 10. Sullivan Wagner scored 14 for NOAH.

Memorial will play Greenwood, Arkansas (1-5) Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Scoring Summaries

CPHS 72, OKC 29
CPHS;15;25;13;19;--;72
OKC;12;9;2;4;--;29

CPHS: Johnson 15, Kelly 10, Holland 9, Fueshko 9, Hayes 9, Hooper 4, Allen 4, Roper 3, Shope 3, Michell 2, Foster 2, Marshall 2.
OKC: Coombs 17, Ledet 6, Skelly 4, Chiarello 2.

Memorial 54 NOAH 31
Memorial;16;9;9;20;--;54
NOAH;4;11;8;8;--;31

Memorial: Ingram 15, Collins 13, Pratt 11, Radford 9, Cotton 6.
NOAH: Wagner 14, Bell 7, Ross 4, Garner 3, Bockett 2, Hislop 1.

Bixby Hoopers Sweep Sandites

Gentry Baldwin didn’t score a single point in the first half, but her 16-point performance in the third quarter sparked the No. 2 Bixby Spartans (4-1) to an 84-50 win over No. 9 Sand Springs (7-2) Tuesday night at the Ed Dubie Field House.

“She is the most gutsy, gritty kid you’ve ever met in your life,” said head coach Tina Thomas.

“Walking out of the locker room I said ‘let’s go Gentry. Let’s go get this done,’ and she did.”

The top-ten battle between last year’s top two Frontier Valley Conference teams lived up to the hype as the Sandites and Spartans battled neck and neck to a halftime tie before the visitors pulled away.

The first half saw 12 lead changes and neither team led by more than 6 points. Abilene Christian commit Gracy Wernli had 15 by halftime for the Spartans and ended the night with a game-high 24.

“We’re kind of having to redefine who we are and how we do things,” said Thomas, who just lost Meredith Mayes, also an Abilene commit, to an ACL injury in last weekend’s Bixby tournament.

“It’s a process. A little bit of grieving going on right now because these kids have been together since third grade.”

“They’re very sad, but equally, or even more, driven. We’ve had good practices, tweaking on how we’re going to do things a little differently. But the kids have resolve and grit and determination to continue to pursue their goals.”

The Sandites were missing their own starter, Fayth Walker, who also suffered an ACL injury at the Bishop Kelley Tournament.

After ending the first half in a 33-33 tie, the Spartans opened the third quarter on a 12-point run and limited the Sandites’ opportunities through an aggressive full-court press that came away with seven steals.

“I’ve got some senior girls that have some grit and resolve about them and they decided the game wasn’t going to go that way any longer,” said Thomas.

After scoring eight treys in the first half the Sandites wouldn’t hit another and the Spartans appeared to find their new identity minus Mayes.

By the end of the night Drury-commit Alyssa Nielsen would have 17 points and Kate Wernli added 12.

Hailey Jackson led the Sandites with 16 points and 9 rebounds while Calla Fueshko and Sakauri Wilson scored 10 apiece.

Bixby improved to 2-0 in conference play and will travel to No. 14 Owasso (3-2, 1-1) Thursday night. Sand Springs dropped to 1-2 in the league and won’t play again till after the new year.

Boys

Notre Dame commit Parker Friedrichsen scored 40 points to lead No. 10 Bixby (4-1, 2-0) past the unranked Sandites (1-2, 1-2) but Sand Springs had the Spartans on upset alert most of the night before falling 77-72.

The home team trailed 44-34 at halftime but rallied to tie it at 55-55 on Alijah Roper’s fourth of five treys late in the third quarter.

The Sandites only trailed 73-69 after a pair of free throws from Khalil Allen with 35 seconds remaining but Friedrichsen went four-for-four at the charity stripe in the final minute to secure the win.

Sand Springs committed 25 fouls to Bixby’s 15 and the Spartans cashed in, going 34-of-36 on free throws.

Triston Driver scored 15 for Bixby and Luke Friedrichsen added 10. Alijah Roper scored 19 to lead the Sandites and Michael Foster had 18.

Sand Springs will compete at the Memorial Veterans Arena Invitational over the weekend while Bixby will play its last game of 2022 at No. 18 Owasso (0-2, 0-2) on Thursday.

Scoring Summaries

Bixby 84, CPHS 50 (Girls)
Bixby;17;16;23;28;--84
CPHS;14;19;9;8;--50

Bixby: G. Wernli 24, Nielsen 17, Baldwin 16, K. Wernli 12, Musick 7, Wilson 4, Daniel 2, Beltran 2.
CPHS: Jackson 16, Wilson 10, Fueshko 10, Martin 7, Morris 5, Taylor 2.

Bixby 77, CPHS 72 (Boys)
Bixby;17;27;13;20;--77
CPHS;19;15;21;17;--72

Bixby: P. Friedrichsen 40, Driver 15, L. Friedrichsen 10, McCormick 6, Holley 4.
CPHS: Roper 19, Foster 18, Michell 9, Allen 8, Kelly 7, Holland 7, Johnson 4.

Sandite Weekly Sports Roundup: Wrestling Dominates Season-Opening Duals

The Ty Bowling era opened with a bang this week as the No. 13 Sand Springs wrestling team won its first two duals convincingly Thursday at the Ed Dubie Field House before placing sixth out of 35 teams at the Mid America Nations in Enid over the weekend.

In the first dual of the season the Sandites rolled to a 49-18 win over 5A No. 8 Duncan (1-1), going 10-4 in individual matches with six wins by fall.

The teams traded blows to an 18-18 tie after seven matches before Mitchell Smith won a 10-1 major decision to kick off a seven-match win streak.

That streak carried over into the next dual as the Sandites opened with three-straight wins in a 60-12 romp against the defending Arkansas Dual State Champions from Rogers Heritage (4-2)

Colt Hood won a 9-2 decision against defending State Champion Ethan McCrary at 120 pounds to take a 12-0 lead before the visitors got on the board.

The Sandites only lost three matches, all by close decisions, two of which were to returning State placers.

Jaden Allen and Mason Harris both pinned returning State placers and the Sandites totalled eight wins by fall.

At the Enid tournament the Sandites finished with four wrestlers in the top four of their brackets.

David Ritchey placed third at 113 with two pins, Smith placed third at 150 with three pins, Mason Harris finished third at 285 with five pins, and Ethan White finished fourth at 165 with four pins.

Jaxon Trotter placed 7th, Jayden Pait 10th, Ali McCoy 11th, Dawson Briscoe 18th, Allen 18th, Hood 18th, Jackson Burdge 19th, Preston Reyna 22nd, Jace Simms 23rd, Brody Ensten 25th.

The Keystone Kids wrestling club placed third at the Rumble in the Jungle tournament in Coweta over the weekend.

Hudson Waag, Hagan Wolfenberger, Sutton Hawley, Ryder Richardson, Ayreson Reiss, Ryker Dawes, Collin Randall, Brackton Upton, and Kydon Harness all won their brackets.

Dance

The Charles Page High School dance team took second place in 6A Small School Hip Hop at the OSDTDA State Championship on Saturday and the JV/JH team won its division.

Baseball

Sand Springs varsity baseball coach Matt Brown was recognized as the OBCA Region 7 Coach of the Year following the Sandites’ 31-8 season in 2022.

“Coach of the Year awards don’t happen without the best assistant coaches, great players, amazing families, and supportive administration,” tweeted Brown.

Football

Brody Rutledge was named the 6A-II District 2 Wide Receiver of the Year after catching 51 passes for 748 yards and eight touchdowns this season, averaging 14.7 yards per pass. He also had 18 carries for 131 yards and a score.

Jacob Blevins was also named an All-District receiver with 47 catches for 659 yards and four total touchdowns.

Drake Fain was named an All-District linebacker with 101 tackles. RJ Smittick was named an All-District defensive back with 64 tackles and two fumble recoveries.

Dominic Ornelas and Charles Gaylord made the All-District defensive line. Ornelas had 14 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. Gaylord had 33 tackles and two fumble recoveries.

Jabe Schlehuber (WR/DB) and Cody Cramer (DB) received Honorable Mentions. Schlehuber had 27 catches for 369 yards and three touchdowns, as well as two interceptions. Cramer also had two interceptions to go with 57 tackles.