Mitchell Smith Secures District Title for Sandites in 39-34 Win over Ponca City

After missing out the past two years, Sand Springs is headed back to Dual State thanks to straight toughness and senior leadership.

With one match left in the Sandites’ district dual against No. 11 Ponca City, Sand Springs trailed 34-33. It all came down to Mitchell Smith at 150 pounds.

With a knee injury that many would consider season-ending, the senior put his team on his shoulders and came out with a pin of Braden Perciful in 30 seconds to secure the 39-34 victory.

“We needed him big time,” said head coach Ty Bowling.

“I said, ‘Hey. The score is close enough. We don’t need anything big, we just need to go out and get a win.’ He goes out and finds a pin. That’s huge for us. Senior leadership.”

“We haven’t gone to dual state since my freshman year, so this is big,” said Smith. “We had some bad losses the past two years, to teams we all felt like we should have beat, so it’s nice to win like this.”

Sand Springs went on to win 46-27 against Edmond Deer Creek and 48-25 against No. 13 Union to clinch its 18th District Championship Tuesday evening at the UMAC.

“Straight toughness,” said Bowling. “We had a handful of injuries. It’s January, that’s what wrestling is. We’ve got guys with bad ankles, bad knees, so they dug deep, a lot of toughness. They battled. They showed that they wanted it.”

“We’ve been looking toward these duals all season. We knew Ponca City was the defending champ, we know what they had coming back. We knew it was going to take all 14 doing their job, whether it was finding bonus, not giving up bonus, or just going out and just gritting out a win.”

Four Sandites went undefeated at the quad, including Jaxon “Scout” Trotter, who had to start each dual at 157 pounds.

“We usually start at 106 and we started all three duals at 157,” said Bowling. “He had three tough matches and came away with three wins, so he started us off right every time.”

Freshman Hudson Sheppard and junior Mason Harris also went undefeated, winning all three of their matches by fall.

“I’m just excited,” said Harris. “It’s my first time and I just want to know what it’s like. I was one year off from knowing what it’s like so I’m just excited to bring Sand Springs back into it.”

“We have a few injuries right now that are still healing up. By the time those heal back up we’re going to be even more dominant than we are now.”

Smith won both of his matches as well. With a 46-21 lead against Deer Creek, the Sandites forfeited Smith’s weight, but the senior insisted on wrestling against Union, where he collected a 31-second pin.

“I really wanted to,” said Smith. “I wanted to wrestle the second match as well, but my coach told me not to because he didn’t want to risk it, which is fair but I’m not a big fan of sitting on the bench and watching my teammates wrestle, so I tried to get some matches in as well.”

The Sandites still have a few tough duals left before Dual State, and will host No. 4 Broken Arrow (8-1) Tuesday for Homecoming and No. 2 Stillwater (10-1) on Thursday.

The varsity boys took the weekend off but the varsity girls and junior varsity boys competed at the Morey Villareal Memorial tournament at Will Rogers High School.

The JV boys won the tournament against a field of mostly varsity competitors, topping Bartlesville 207 to 194.5.

Dawson Briscoe won the 106-pound bracket with five pins, Brody Ensten won at 157 with two pins, and Peyton Callis won at 165 with four pins.

Colt Hood, Landen Horton, and Christopher Cooper were runners-up and Jackson Burdge, Preston Reyna, Brock O’Dell, Dallas Flores, and Cash Lucas took third place.

Madison Chambers took first place, Gracie Young was second, and Kreedence Behnke was third to lead the girls varsity to a fifth-place finish.

Youth

Gage Fadenrecht, Ryker Dawes, Collin Randall, Brackton Upton, Hunter Sims, Kase Skaggs, and Jace Simms all won their brackets at the Broken Arrow Wrestlemania tournament, representing the Keystone Kids.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Wrestling Places 7th at Sapulpa Tournament

The Charles Page High School wrestling team took seventh place at the Jerry Billings Invitational in Sapulpa over the weekend with nine top-ten finishers.

The Sandites went 0-4 in the semifinal round, but Kase Skaggs, Jaxon Trotter, and Mason Harris won out in consolation.

Skaggs faced a rematch of his Jenks Tournament placement round in the 106 quarterfinals and easily rolled to a 9-2 decision against Tahlequah’s Jacob Caviness.

He was pinned by top-seeded Braydon Pacheco in the semifinals but upset two-seed Carlos Magallanes 6-5 in consolation and beat Chandler freshman Landon Earp 6-5 in the placement match.

Trotter defeated a pair of State qualifiers at 157 before falling to top-seeded Daniel Long, 4-2 in sudden-victory overtime. In the consolation finals he won a 7-4 upset against Tennessee State placer Wills Bronson.

Harris pinned his first two opponents at heavyweight before falling 4-0 to Kansas State Champion Sebastian Lopez in the semis. In consolation he won a 3-2 decision against Allen, Texas’s Blake Palmer.

David Ritchey placed fourth at 113, Jesse Moore placed fourth at 144, Jayden Pait placed sixth at 132, Matthew Moore placed seventh at 126, Ethan White placed eighth at 165, and Cash Lucas placed eighth at 285.

The junior high team took fourth place at the Perry tournament with three champions.

Jaxon Grigsby won the 98-pound bracket despite losing a 4-0 decision in pool play against Allen, Texas’s Caiden Campbell. He pinned four of his next five opponents, outscoring them 34-4 to set up a rematch with Campbell, which he won on a 2-0 sudden-victory takedown.

Kaden Pope won at 119 pounds with five pins and a tech fall, outscoring his opponents 63-3, including a 3-0 decision against Bristow’s Kale Fruits in the finals.

Isaac Sensintaffar won at 155, pinning three of his six foes, outscoring his foes 52-13 with a 13-8 finals decision over Broken Arrow’s Matthew Mann.

Kasen McAffrey placed third at 140, pinning five of his nine opponents while outscoring them 56-12. His only loss was a semifinals fall against the tournament champion.

Ryley Kester placed third at heavyweight, pinning all seven of his opponents with the exception of undefeated tournament winner Jon Broehl from Broken Arrow, who won a 1-0 semifinal decision.

The Keystone Kids youth wrestling club earned four gold medals at the Oiltown Throwdown in Ponca City.

Hagan Wolfenberger and Mason Londo both won their brackets while Ryker Dawes won two brackets by wrestling up a division.

UFC

Sand Springs native Jimmy Flick suffered a first-round TKO against Charles Johnson in his return to the octagon after a two-year hiatus.

The fight went to the mat late in the first round where it was called in Johnson’s favor after an unrelenting series of hammer fists and elbows to the head.

Flick is now 16-6 in his pro career and 1-1 in the UFC.

Football

Sandite receiver Kyle Morrall has received a college offer from North American University, an NAIA program in Stafford, Texas.

Defensive back RJ Smittick received his first college offer last week from McPherson College, an NAIA program in McPherson, Kansas.

Sandites Place 2nd at Diamond State Duals, 8th at Jenks Tournament

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Sand Springs wrestling program as the Sandites took second place at the Diamond State Duals in Springdale on December 30th and eighth place at the Larry Wilkey Invitational in Jenks on January 7th.

At the Jenks tournament the Sandites had six placers and one finalist, led by Mitchell Smith as runner-up.

“It was, in my opinion, a little bit of an up and down weekend,” said first-year coach Ty Bowling.

“I think we had a really good quarterfinal round and struggled in the semis, but I think we came back and finished pretty strong.”

Smith faced a rematch with Salina state champion Gavin Montgomery, who dealt the Sandite his only loss in December’s Enid tournament. In that event Smith led 6-0 before giving up a reversal and pin with four seconds left.

In the rematch it was Smith who had to battle out of an early hole after giving up a takedown and two nearfall points before calling an injury timeout for a knee pain.

“I think it was more of a scare than anything, just kind of an awkward position,” said Bowling. “But he came back. He was put in a bad spot down 4-0 but he battled all the way back.”

The senior tied it up at 5-5 on a third-period reversal, but Montgomery reclaimed the lead with a reversal of his own and won a 7-6 decision.

“It’s just one of those matches where we learn in January how to finish in February, so he’ll come back strong.”

Zander Grigsby placed third, Mason Harris was fourth, Kase Skaggs and Jayden Pait placed fifth, and Ethan White was sixth at the tournament.

No. 7 Sand Springs (10-1) won its first nine duals of the season before falling 39-37 to Ozark in the Diamond dual finals, then defeated Jenks on Tuesday before the tournament.

In pool play Sand Springs won 77-6 against Fayetteville, 64-9 against Bentonville, and 74-0 against Arlington for its biggest win and first shutout since 2017.

In the gold bracket the Sandites won 78-6 against Shiloh Christian, 70-6 against North Desoto, and 69-3 against Bentonville before falling to Ozark in the finals.

Skaggs, Matthew Moore, Pait, Grigsby, Jesse Moore, David Ritchey, and Cash Lucas all went undefeated in the Springdale duals. The Sandites went 85-13 in individual matches.

“I think that was really good for our confidence,” said Bowling. “Not only did we get a bunch of matches, but we were able to win as a team and come together in a dual format.”

Ritchey, Matthew Moore, Grigsby, Smith, Trotter, White, McCoy and Harris all pinned their foes in the 58-15 win at Jenks on Tuesday.

“Obviously you want to have a lot of success in December and January, but you’re always building toward February and getting your hand raised down at that last match in the state tournament, so that’s what we’re building towards.”

Sand Springs will return to action with a tough road dual at No. 3 Bixby (5-2) on Thursday before competing at the Jerry Billings Invitational in Sapulpa over the weekend.

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.

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.

Sandite Wrestling places sixth at Regionals with seven State qualifiers

Mitchell Smith finished second as the Sandites’ top placer.

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Charles Page High School wrestling team finished in sixth place at the OSSAA 6A-East Regional in Stillwater on Saturday, qualifying seven Sandites for the State tournament next weekend in Oklahoma City.

“I felt like everybody wrestled hard,” said coach Jarrod Patterson. “We had a couple that came up a little bit short but I was very pleased with the effort that we put in. Everybody wrestled hard.”

The team saw a notable improvement over last year’s eighth place finish with four qualifiers, and the Sandites will be sending their largest lineup to State since Patterson took over the program in 2018.

“I think we’ve got a little bit more of a team type of atmosphere,” said Patterson. “Everybody’s watching every single match, cheering for guys.”

“They’re excited for each other, they’re excited for themselves. There’s a little bit more passion this year. I’m really excited about this group and the future.”

Junior Mitchell Smith (27-6) was the team’s highest finisher, placing second at 145 pounds with two pins and a 3-1 upset of the one-seed.

Carter Goodman (24-11) placed third at 160 after taking a break from wrestling last season. In the placement round he won a 6-4 decision against the Bixby wrestler who had beaten him 5-1 the day before. 

“Carter’s come up short a few times throughout the year, but man this tournament was a good one for him,” said Patterson. “He’s been working hard and just battling and staying in good position and had some really good matches.”

Blake Jones (11-6) placed third at 170 with three pins, and his only loss came to the tournament champion.

“Blake’s had a couple lingering injuries from football that we’ve been nursing throughout the season,” said Patterson. “But at this point it is what it is. He’s a senior and we’re going to push through it. That’s all we can do.” 

Sophomore stars Zander Grigsby (18-3) and Mason Harris (17-7) placed fourth at 120 and 220, respectively, and freshmen David Ritchey (20-12) and Jaxon “Scout” Trotter (20-11) placed fifth at 106 and 138, respectively.

Seniors Ethan Norton (23-15) and Brooks Dudley (21-11) placed sixth in their brackets, one win short of qualifying for State.

The State wrestling tournament will begin Friday, February 25th at 10:00 a.m. at State Fairgrounds Arena in Oklahoma City.