Decade of Dominance: Sandites Continue Highway 97 Win Streak

Sapulpa took an early lead in its Thursday night dual against Sand Springs, but a major decision from Jaxon Grigsby kicked off an eight-match win streak and the visiting Sandites picked up their eighth consecutive victory over their Highway 97 rivals.

“It’s always a good day when we can beat our rivals,” said head coach Ty Bowling.

The No. 9 Sandites (4-0) trailed 16-0 through the first four matches but rallied to a 49-20 victory in a rivalry win streak dating back to 2013 against 5A No. 14 Sapulpa (0-2).

“It’s good that we didn’t get down,” said Bowling. “We got the momentum back in our favor so that’s always good to see. It’s easy to get down and stay down but those guys behind them - they picked each other up.”

Sapulpa benefitted from a forfeit at 106 pounds, a weight class that’s been vacant all season for Sand Springs, though Bowling says they’re working on getting somebody in there soon.

Then Ayreson Reiss (3-1) suffered his first loss of the season in an 11-7 decision to Jack Madden.

The Chieftains then hit their strongest weights where returning State qualifiers Cavin Pepper and Jackson Willingham earned 12-0 and 3-2 decisions over Caden Rodriguez (0-2) and Hunter Spencer (0-2), respectively.

Finally, Jaxon Grigsby (8-3) broke the Chieftains’ run with a 10-2 major decision over Jackson Mills at 132 pounds, collecting a trio of nearfall points in the third period to earn the bonus point.

Kasen McAffrey (2-0), Preston Reyna (9-2), and Isaac Sensintaffar (6-2) collected forfeits at 138, 150, and 157, while Jesse Moore (4-0) won a 5-3 decision over Alexander Henderson at 144.

Brody Ensten (7-3) picked up the first fall of the night, pinning Nicholas Dobbs in 3:25, then Jaxon Trotter (10-2) pinned Ryan Peterson in 2:46 to clinch the dual for the Sandites.

“We knew coming in if we had the dual locked we were going to go one direction, and if we needed a couple wins we were going to go another direction in the lineup,” said Bowling. “So it was big that we were able to lock it up after 175.”

Peyton Callis (10-2) pinned Sequoyah Hall in 48 seconds before Micco Jones finally snapped the Chieftains’ losing streak with an 8-0 major decision against Ali McCoy (5-5).

Heavyweight Mason Harris (10-1) capped off the night with a pin of Isaiah McCall-Watashe in 1:16.

The Sandites are now 4-0 in duals and will be favored Tuesday when they host Jenks (1-0) in the 2023 finale. Sand Springs was also supposed to travel to a tournament in New Orleans this weekend but cancelled that trip to focus on getting healthy.

“We started with two duals then we wrestled at Mid-America which has some of the toughest teams around the country,” said Bowling.

“We had teams from Washington and Utah and Texas, and of course all of the Oklahoma teams are always tough. Wrestling ten matches over a three-day period, then turn around and Claremore and Sapulpa are always tough, so a lot of hard matches back-to-back-to-back.”

The Sandites were missing several of their top wrestlers against Sapulpa, including Zander Grigsby (9-0), Matthew Moore (7-4), Jayden Pait (6-0), and Kase Skaggs (9-1), but none of their injuries are serious.

"They’ll be back soon,” said Bowling. “It’s more precautionary, just making sure that we have them for the long term.”

Zander Grigsby Wins Mid America Nationals, Sandites Beat Claremore in Dual

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The No. 9 ranked Charles Page High School boys’ wrestling team improved to 3-0 on the season Tuesday evening with a 40-24 win over 5A No. 6 Claremore (3-2) at Clyde Boyd Middle School.

The Sandites trailed through the first six matches before Jesse Moore (3-0) pinned Alex Miller at 144 pounds to tie it up at 15-15.

Claremore jumped out to a 6-0 lead with a forfeit at 106. Ayreson Reiss (3-0) got the Sandites on the board with a 6-1 decision over Paul Perez, but the visitors won the next three matches.

Kale Shultz won 5-3 in overtime against Caden Rodriguez and returning State qualifier Mason Gillispie won 12-5 against Hunter Spencer. Both Sandites were making their varsity debuts.

Jaxon Grigsby (7-3) suffered a 6-3 decision at the hands of returning State qualifier Maddox Jackson for the Zebras’ biggest lead at 15-3.

Kasen McAffrey made his freshman debut with a pin of Mikey Robertson to kick off the rally at 138.

Preston Reyna (8-2) followed up Moore’s pin with a 14-5 major decision against Kaiden Soaz and the Sandites held the lead from then on.

Isaac Sensintaffar (5-2) pinned Jackson Roach in 1:52 to make it 25-15, but Brody Ensten (6-3) was pinned by returning State placer Cooper Zigafues to keep things close.

Finally, Jaxon Trotter (9-2) pinned Silas Taylor in 57 seconds and Peyton Callis (9-2) pinned Micah Duncan in five seconds to clinch the dual victory.

Claremore won one last match in a 3-1 decision by returning State qualifier Cameron Braswell against Ali McCoy (5-5) but Mason Harris (9-1) capped the night off with a 2-0 defeat of Josh Feliciano.

Next up on the Sandites’ schedule is a Highway 97 Rivalry match at 5A No. 14 Sapulpa (0-1) Thursday at 6:00 p.m.

Sand Springs wrestled its first tournament over the weekend and Zander Grigsby (9-0) led the Sandites to a seventh place finish at the Mid America Nationals in Enid.

Grigsby pinned his first pool opponent, then won a 9-0 major decision against returning State qualifier Walker Johnson of Harrah.

In the championship bracket he pinned his first opponent before eking out a 3-0 decision against Marlow State Champion Cade Gilbert.

In the semifinals he won an 11-0 major decision against Texas State Champion Tanner Casaubon and in the finals he won a 5-1 decision against Guthrie State qualifier Bryson Hall.

Grigsby outscored his opponents 42-2 over the tournament.

Harris was runner-up at heavyweight, pinning his first four opponents in the first period. He won a 2-0 decision over Guthrie State qualifier Nic Herendeen and a 1-0 decision against Piedmont State qualifier Jesse Knapp before falling to Kansas State Champion Brett Carroll.

Kase Skaggs (9-1) took fifth place at 120 pounds with wins over three State qualifiers. His only loss came to two-time Texas State Champion Isaak Arevalo in the quarterfinals and he bounced back with three straight decisions. In the placement round he won 4-3 against USAWKS State Champion Talon Verbeck.

Callis placed fifth at 190, only losing two matches to a pair of State qualifiers. In the placement round he won a 7-3 decision against Texas State placer Ryan Rainey from Arlington-Martin.

Trotter placed ninth at 175, pinning his first five opponents before falling 10-3 and 4-3 to a pair of State finalists. He bounced back with a 18-1 technical fall against Salina State qualifier Jyce Glass and a 35-second pin of Collinsville’s Sean Ross.

Matthew Moore (7-4) placed 10th at 132 with a 5-4 record. He won his first three matches before falling to a pair of State finalists. He won two matches in the Championship bracket, losing only to returning State qualifiers.

Jayden Pait (6-0) placed 12th at 138, winning his first four matches before medical forfeiting the rest of the tournament. He pinned his first two opponents before winning a pair of decisions against two State qualifiers.

Hudson Sheppard (5-2) placed 12th at 175, easily winning his pool before falling 7-2 to Harrah’s Zylan Johnson. He won his next match 7-3 against Texas State qualifier Boede Gibson but medical forfeited his remaining matches.

McCoy placed 15th at 215 pounds with three pins. In the placement round he pinned Jay’s Bryce McGhee in 1:40.

Jaxon Grigsby placed 17th at 126, going 5-2 with four pins, beating Marlow’s Harris Brennan 8-0 in the placement match. Both of his losses came to returning State qualifiers during pool play, relegating him to the consolation bracket where he dominated the field, outscoring his opponents 34-1.

Reyna placed 17th at 144, losing his first two matches before bouncing back with a technical fall and five consecutive wins to top the consolation bracket. Over his final five matches he outscored his opponents 38-0 with three pins, including a 26-second victory in the finals.

Sensintaffar placed 17th at 150, losing his first two matches before winning his next four, including three pins with a 36-second finals victory.

Ensten placed 17th at 157, going 1-2 in pool play before winning out in the consolation bracket with three total pins in the tournament.

Jaden Allen (4-4) placed 22nd at 190 with four pins.

The Sandites finished in seventh place with 320 points despite voiding the 106 and 113 weight classes.

As a non-scoring wrestler, Colt Hood took 13th place at 120 with a 4-3 record and four pins, winning his placement match by fall against Watonga’s Dakota Cox. Two of his three losses came to defending State Champions.

Sandite Wrestling Opens Season with Double-Header Beatdowns of Glenpool & Skiatook

Kase Skaggs had the signature win of the night, defeating a returning State Finalist. (Photo by Scott Emigh).

The Charles Page High School boys’ wrestling team opened the dual season with a bang Thursday night in Skiatook, dominating 5A No. 15 Glenpool 72-0 and 4A No. 13 Skiatook 73-6.

The Sandites didn’t lose a single match, with Skiatook’s only points coming on a forfeit at 106 in the second dual of the night.

“Those are traditionally good wrestling teams,” said head coach Ty Bowling. “We thought it’d be good to start the season off against some traditional wrestling powers, so it was a good start for us.”

Sand Springs opened the season against Glenpool (1-3), Bowling’s former program.

106 was double forfeited, then Ayreson Reiss received a forfeit at 113. The next six matches were all decided by fall.

Kase Skaggs pinned Talan Williamson in 1:45, Jaxon Grigsby pinned Kamm Hart in 1:21, Matthew Moore pinned his foe in 2:27, Jayden Pait pinned Jacoby Constant in 1:52, Jesse Moore pinned Tyler Kent in 0:46, and Preston Reyna pinned Michael Lohr in 2:27.

Brody Ensten won a 13-2 major decision against Liam Saville, and Zander Grigsby had the biggest win of the night in 7-1 decision over returning State qualifier Trent Cole.

Jaxon Trotter won a 17-0 technical fall, Peyton Callis pinned Kaden Witzel in 0:45, Ali McCoy pinned Landon Pangle in 1:17, and Mason Harris pinned his opponent in 0:47 to complete the shutout.

The victory marked the second shutout and fourth 70-point margin of victory in the Ty Bowling era.

In the second dual the Sandites trailed 6-0 after forfeiting at 106, but Reiss tied it up immediately with a pin of Andrew Havens in 2:07.

The top victory of the night went to Skaggs at 120 with a 5-3 decision over returning State finalist Jagen Jones.

Jaxon Grigsby pinned Caleb Thompson in 0:43, Matthew Moore pinned Dominick King in 2:06, Pait pinned Landon Dodd in 0:28, and Jesse Moore pinned Maddox Tucker in 0:53.

Reyna got an 8-0 major decision against Ian Long, then the Sandites won the final six consecutive matches by fall to end the night.

Ensten pinned Johnny Leonard in 0:52, Zander Grigsby pinned Luke Sutton in 2:30, Hudson Sheppard pinned Eli Sutton in 1:00, Callis pinned Isaac Sherril in 0:43, McCoy pinned State qualifier Jackson Bailey in 4:53, and Harris pinned State qualifier Biggs Havens in 4:01.

The Sandites appear to have a loaded roster this season after returning 12 out of 14 starters from last year with some talented underclassmen vying for mat time.

“Guys are battling to make the lineup,” said Bowling. “We’ve got State qualifiers that are right now on the outside looking in.”

Next up on the dual schedule is a bout with 5A No. 5 Claremore (3-1) Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. at Clyde Boyd Middle School.

Sandites Crown Six Champions at Union Open

The Sand Springs wrestling team crowned six champions at the Union/Pryor Ice Fighter Open Saturday in Tulsa, including three high schoolers and three junior high wrestlers.

High School Boys

Preston Reyna won the 144A bracket with three pins, taking out Broken Arrow’s Robert Miller in the finals in 2:41.

Zander Grigsby won the 175A bracket, outscoring his opponents 25-2 with two decisions and a 13-0 major decision against Stillwater’s Noah Perkins in the finals.

Jaxon Grigsby was runner-up at 132BA, outscoring his first four foes 47-1 with three major decisions and a technical fall before falling 1-0 to Coweta’s Toby Shipman in the finals.

Peyton Callis was runner-up at 190, pinning his first two opponents and winning a 7-5 decision against Broken Arrow’s Braden Jones in the semis before falling 6-2 to Stillwater’s Parker Brown in the finals.

Kase Skaggs placed third at 120B, pinning his first two foes before falling to Broken Arrow’s Hudson Beckley. In consolation he won a pair of decisions.

Jaxon Trotter placed third at 175B, with a major decision, a technical fall, and a pin. He fell 11-0 to Edmond North’s Jude Randall in the semifinals but pinned Union’s Jeremiah T’eo in the consolation finals.

Ayreson Reiss placed fourth at 113A, winning three decisions in the consolation bracket, with both of his losses coming to the same wrestler. Broken Arrow’s Bradley Lazzerini pinned Reiss in the first round and received a medical forfeit in the placement match.

Matthew Moore placed fourth at 138A with two pins and a decision, only losing a pair of decisions including a close 7-6 finale against Poteau’s Jake Fredrickson.

Colt Chambers finished with a winning 3-2 record at 132BA, pinning his first three foes in the first period before being eliminated one round short of placement.

High School Girls

Ambrielle Chambers won the 105 bracket with three first-period falls, taking down Enid’s Kadence Fuksa in the finals.

Trinity Owens placed third at 115, losing her first match to Broken Arrow’s Kristen DeLaRosa before pinning her next two opponents in the first period.

Laila Mirza placed third at 120, pinning her first opponents in 0:24 before giving up a fall in the semifinals to Broken Arrow’s Emily Beckley. In consolation she won a 7-0 decision before pinning Union’s Ma’Kadrian Titus in 18 seconds.

Audree Robinson placed fourth at 130, winning a 12-3 major decision in the consolation semifinals before falling to Henryetta’s Kiley Haywood.

Kayla Arnold went 2-2 at 140 with a decision and a pin, but was eliminated one round short of placement.

Junior High Boys (8th/9th Grade)

Kaden Pope won the 132-pound bracket with four pins and a 10-2 major decision over Owasso’s Jaxon Truitt in the finals.

Hunter Fields placed third at 155 with four pins and an 11-0 major decision, only falling 7-0 to Booker T. Washington’s Maximus Houston in the semifinals. In the consolation finals he pinned Fort Gibson’s Kolt Stevens in 2:52.

Brody Wilson went 4-2; Caleb Childers and Joshua Compton went 3-2; and Andrew Price, Kellen Foster, Conner Mcentire, Elijah Hadley, Camryn Ewing, and Blake Norton all went 2-2, but were eliminated short of placement.

Junior High Girls

Kenzi Johnson took first place at 89 pounds with an 18-3 technical fall and a pin of Ponca City’s Jaycee Wardlow in 1:02 in the finals.

Savannah Taylor was runner-up at 102 pounds, outscoring her first two opponents 19-2 before falling to Broken Arrow’s Jaylyn Lazzerini in the finals.

Lyla Waldren placed fourth at 102 with a sudden-victory decision and a pin, with both of her losses coming to Cleveland’s Hannah Stephenson.

Faith Humble went 2-2 but was eliminated short of placement.

Boys Middle School (6/7th Grade)

Brody Flores was runner-up at 73 pounds, going 2-1 in a round robin with a decision and a forfeit.

Gage Buchanan went 2-2 at 119 but was eliminated short of placement.

Girls Middle School

Kambyr Lee won the 145-pound bracket with two pins.

Chloe Strawn placed third at 82, pinning McAlester’s Lily Dykens in 1:56.

Liz Cline placed third at 126 with a decision and a forfeit.

Baylin Maynard placed third at 138 with two first-period falls.

Brylee Smith placed fourth at 155.

The Lady Sandites also recently held the program’s first ever junior high dual meet at Cleveland, falling 48-30.

Sandite Wrestling Wins Glenpool Warrior Classic with 4 Champions

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The Charles Page High School wrestling team earned its first tournament title of the Ty Bowling era Saturday, crowning four champions at the 5th Annual Glenpool Warrior Classic.

The Sandites went 4-3 in the finals with Kase Skaggs, Mitchell Smith, Jaxon Trotter, and Mason Harris earning gold. No. 7 Sand Springs earned 219 team points to beat out No. 9 Owasso with 179.

“I think we finished the regular season strong,” said Bowling.

“We really wanted to go to (the Yukon tournament two weeks ago) but we were kind of beat up and we’d been going for a few weeks in a row so I felt like we needed to take that off and we really needed to get this one in right before the postseason started.”

Coincidentally, Bowling was previously the head coach at Glenpool, though this was the first time one of his teams would win the tournament

Skaggs breezed through the 106 bracket with three pins and 10-1 major decision in the finals against Owasso’s Elijah Cherry.

Smith won at 150 with five pins and a tech fall, outscoring his foes 45-8. He pinned Glenpool’s Michael Lohr in the finals and also reached a big milestone in the quarterfinals when he pinned Glenpool freshman Kevin Gruse for his 100th career victory.

“I watched all these other guys grow up and do it so it feels nice,” said Smith.

The senior has been battling a knee injury since the Jenks tournament but doesn’t see that slowing him down in the postseason.

“I’m feeling good, healthier, a lot better now. I’m excited about that too.”

Trotter didn’t give up a single point till the 157-pound finals, where he earned a 5-3 decision over Sapulpa’s Blake Hurt.

Harris was equally dominant at heavyweight, only giving up one point in the whole tournament before winning a 6-0 decision against Enid’s Seth Melvin.

David Ritchey, Jayden Pait, and Ethan White finished as runners-up. Colt Hood, Ali McCoy, and Connor Diaz placed fourth. Landon Castro and Jaden Allen placed fifth. Luke McGehee placed sixth.

The Sandites were also missing several starters in Hudson Sheppard, Zander Grigsby, Jesse Moore, and Matthew Moore, making the team title even more remarkable.

“The ones we brought, they were the ones who stepped up and wrestled hard,” said Bowling.

“Coach (Earl) Shockley does a good job of setting up JV duals and JV tournaments, so those guys are constantly wrestling. It’s a next-man-up mentality.”

Smith says the team spirits are high and feels confident going into Dual State and Regionals.

“We’re a lot happier than we have been in the past, more of a team than anything else.”

“He’s a great team leader,” Bowling said of Smith. “How he goes, that’s how the rest of the team’s gonna go. He sets the tone for us. He’s the leader in the room and out of the room so he’s a good one to have.”

Junior High

The Sand Springs boys placed seventh at the Junior High Allstate Tournament in Oklahoma City.

Ryley Kester and Kaden Pope placed third, Isaac Sensintaffar placed fourth, and Jaxon Grigsby and Kasen McAffrey placed sixth.

For the girls: Rylee Allen placed fourth and Stefanie Ortiz placed sixth.

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.