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.

Eli Rogers Wins OBN Tournament at Lake Texoma

For the first time since 2021, Sand Springs brought home the gold from an Oklahoma Bass Nation fishing tournament.

Eli Rogers, fishing solo, hauled in 20.6 pounds during the two-day event on Lake Texoma, October 7-8th, 2.6 pounds more than the runner-up duo. His largest bass was 5.12 pounds, the third-largest of the event.

The win marks a first on the OBN trail for Sand Springs since March of 2021 when Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey won on Grand Lake. It was Rogers’s second top-five finish of the year.

Drew Turner and Gunner Beasley turned in their second top-ten performance of the season, catching 13.6 pounds for 10th place out of 63 teams.

Decana Strawn and Abby Tabor placed a season-best 15th with 11.01 pounds.

Nate Griffin and Caden Strawn placed a season-best 17th with 10.32 pounds for their second top-20 finish of the year.

Zane Downey and Tyler Barnes placed 38th with 5.37 pounds; Gabriel Castellano and Ean Williams placed 49th with 2.42 pounds; and Jessen Cox and Rylan Matherly placed 50th with 1.95 pounds.

Turner and Beasley are now second overall in the Athletes of the Year standings, followed by Rogers in third out of 84 teams.

Griffin and Caden Strawn are 12th; Castellano and Williams are 30th; Cox and Matherly are 33rd; Decana Strawn and Tabor are 41st; Downey and Barnes are 43rd; Jonathan Isley and Jaxon Trotter are 58th; Hayden Lowrance and Hunter Spencer are 69th; and Christian Orcutt and Diego Voight are 83rd.

The Lake Texoma event was the last of 2023 for Bass Nation. The OBN Trail will resume on March 17th at Pine Creek Lake in McCurtain County. Some of the Sand Springs teams may also return to Texoma for the Student Angler Federation event on October 21st.

Drew Turner & Gunner Beasley Lead Sandite Fishing at Grand Lake Tournament

Drew Turner and Gunner Beasley led the Sandite fishing team at the OBN Grand Lake tournament on October 1st. The duo caught 10.4 pounds for sixth place out of 85 teams.

Nate Griffin and Caden Strawn caught 8.77 pounds for 18th place; Jonathan Isley and Jaxon Trotter caught 7.36 pounds for 26th place; Eli Rogers caught 6.73 pounds for 33rd place; Gabriel Castellano and Ean Williams caught 6.69 pounds for 34th place; Zane Downey and Tyler Barnes caught 5.43 pounds for 42nd place; Hayden Lowrance and Hunter Spencer caught 4.26 pounds for 49th place; Decana Strawn and Abby Tabor caught 3.08 pounds for 54th place; and Jessen Cox and Rylan Matherly caught 2.91 pounds for 55th place.

The one-day tournament was the second of the season on the Oklahoma Bass Nation high school trail. Boaters launched from Wolf Creek Ramp with a five-fish limit.

Next up for the Sandites will be an October 7-8th two-day OBN tournament on Lake Texoma, launching from Catfish Bay near Kingston.

Eli Rogers Places 4th at Keystone Lake Fishing Tournament

The Charles Page High School bass fishing teams got off to a strong start in the season opener on Sunday, August 20th at Keystone Lake. Junior Eli Rogers led a fleet of seven boats from Sand Springs, turning in a haul of 8.83 pounds for fourth place as a solo angler.

Drew Turner and Gunner Beasley took 14th place in the field of 56 with a haul of 6.42 pounds.

Jonathan Isley and Jaxon Trotter caught 6.36 pounds for 15th place; Nate Griffin and Caden Strawn caught 5.06 pounds for 30th; Jessen Cox and Rylan Matherly caught 3.73 pounds for 39th; Gabe Castellano and Ean Williams caught 3.33 pounds for 42nd; and Hayden Lowrance and Hunter Spencer caught 1.89 pounds for 49th place.

The one-day tournament. launched from Prairie View Ramp, was the first of five events on the Oklahoma Bass Nation high school tour. The event had a three-fish limit.

Next up for the tour will be an October 1st trip to Grand Lake where the Sandites will fish out of Wolf Creek Ramp in Grove. That tournament will have a five-fish limit.

Junior High Boys Place Second at Home Tournament

The Sand Springs girls wrestling team took 16th place in its season opener at the Jay Border Wars with three medalists.

Kelsi Hilton placed fourth at 140 pounds with two pins, Laila Mirza was sixth at 120 with two pins, and Tyreyalle Davis was sixth at 135 with four pins.

The Lady Sandites will return to action December 16th at the Cleveland Tournament while the boys will open the season Thursday with home duals against Duncan and Rogers Heritage.

Junior High

The boys wrestling team took second place with two champions and four runners-up at its 51st annual home tournament. The girls program placed 11th in its first year.

Riley Kester won the heavyweight bracket with five pins and a technical fall, outscoring his opponents 35-5. In the finals he won a 5-0 decision over Marley Branscum.

Corbin Wooley picked up his fourth win of the season at 132 pounds, making a comeback after an overtime loss in pool play.

After falling 8-6 to Cameron Bowman in sudden victory, Wooley won his next five matches without giving up a single point, defeating Stillwater’s Caden Johnson 6-0 in the finals.

Jaxon Grigsby was runner-up at 98 pounds, recording five pins and a technical fall, outscoring his first six opponents 60-3 before falling 5-0 to defending junior high State champion Aiden Jalajel in the finals.

Matthew Moore was runner-up at 126, pinning six opponents before falling in a 5-2 decision to defending State champion Legend Ellis in the finals.

Isaac Sensintaffer was runner-up at 155 with four pins, falling 10-0 to State champion Jakoby Petree in the finals.

Hudson Sheppard was runner-up at 170, outscoring his first six opponents 17-0 while pinning each of them in an average time of only 39 seconds. He had to medical forfeit his finals match to Haydan Yocham.

Kaden Pope finished third at 119 with four pins, outscoring his opponents 52-9. His only loss was a 3-0 decision to defending State champion Justus Heeg.

Other top-ten finishers were: Gage Gunn (4th), Hunter Spencer (5th), Kasen McAffrey (5th), Caleb Childers (6th), Colt Chambers (6th), Josh Compton (8th), David Cline (8th), and Brody Wilson (9th).

Camben Garrison led the girls with a third-place finish at 96 pounds with two pins and Rylee Allen was fifth at 117 with four pins.

Ananiah King and Lyla Waldren placed 5th, Cassidy Cypert was 8th, and Cailey Miller was 10th.

Youth

The Keystone Kids placed sixth at the Owasso Takedown Classic with six champions.

Jase Morgan won 49 pounds with four pins; Jett Galloway won at 55 with two pins; Holden Yingst won at 66 with one pin; Ryker Dawes won at 64 with three pins; Collin Randall won at 82 with three pins; and Hunter Sims won at 76 pounds with three pins.

Rixon Hathaway, Jayde Parks, and Na’Kya Canady were also finalists.