Lady Sandites Upset at Union 49-47

Fresh off a tournament high, the Lady Sandites hit a district hiccup Tuesday night at Q. Hammons Arena, dropping a 49-47 upset to Union.

No. 6 Charles Page High School (10-5, 4-2) never once led and trailed by as much as 15 points midway through the second quarter before rallying to tie it on a three-point play from Aaliyah Simone with 1:30 to play.

The RedHawks (9-6, 4-3) played keep-away for the final minute and cashed in a pair of free throws to survive the comeback.

“They’re a good team and they might have had some fresher legs than us coming into this and it showed the first half,” said head coach Josh Berry.

“The girls fought valiantly to get back into the game. We had a chance to win it and we didn’t. We had a few things not go our way, but that is what it is and when you’re on the road, that’s going to happen.”

Sand Springs struggled with accuracy, shooting only 23.6% in the first half to the RedHawks’ 40.6% while also struggling with fouls and rebounds.

The girls trailed 15-8 after the first quarter and a four-point play by JaMiyah Woodard gave Union its biggest lead at 25-11.

Sakauri Wilson stole a rebound away from Esme’ Smith and put it up for two with 4:56 left in the second quarter to slow the Union tide and the Sandites cut the deficit to 32-21 at halftime.

Taiona Morris drained a three to open the third quarter and the Sandites trimmed their gap to 42-36 entering the fourth.

Foul trouble limited the Sandites’ defensive aggression in the fourth quarter as both Hope Bump and Wilson drew their fourth fouls.

Even so, they were able to get it back to a tie game. Butler drained a second three-pointer and Simone scored off a steal and was fouled by Whitney Smith, hitting the and-one to make it 47-47.

Isabella McSwain ran a minute off the clock before attempting a layup with 10 seconds remaining. Esme’ Smith rebounded for a putback try and also missed, but a foul was called and she made the first of her two free throws for the lead.

The second shot was no good, but Brooke Bettis rebounded, picked up a foul from Wilson, and hit the second of her two free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining. Esme’ Smith picked off the inbound lob at half court to secure the upset.

“We’re still a young bunch with the exception of really two players,” said Berry. “You’ve got a couple of freshmen, you’ve got some new faces in there, so any time you have that, you’re not going to have consistency.

“But what has been consistent is this team’s effort level. So as long as that keeps up, we’re going to have chances, we’re going to stay in ball games and we’re going to be pretty good come late February.”

While the Sandites struggled offensively with one of their worst shooting performances of the season, their defense was its usual level of excellence with 12 takeaways and a season-best 10 blocks.

“Our defense gave us a lot of chances today,” said Berry. “We hit just enough shots. We didn’t hit a lot of them, but we hit just enough, we made just enough plays to give ourselves a chance but at the end of the day we weren’t physical, we weren’t tough, we didn’t box out very well, but those are all things you can correct and those are things we will correct.”

Simone, a freshman, had the best offensive performance for the team, shooting 4-of-8 in the field for 10 points to go with 3 steals and 4 rebounds.

“She’s a special player,” said Berry. “She’s got a chance to be a big-time player. She’s just got to work every day, get better, and keep that up.”

Wilson and Morris also had 10 points apiece. Wilson had 5 assists; Bump had 7 points and 10 rebounds; and Butler had 8 points, 6 boards, and 5 blocks.

Berry wasn’t too concerned about the loss and was already focused on Friday’s district home game against No. 5 Owasso (13-3, 6-1).

“I’m not worried about it at all. We’ll bounce back, we’ll figure it out, and we’ll be ready to play…I don’t think we’ve been at home for about two months it seems like, so we’ll be back at home and we’ll be ready to go.”

Union 49 CPHS 47

1Q: Union 15-8.
2Q: Union 17-13.
3Q: CPHS 15-10.
4Q: CPHS 11-7.
Free Throws: Union 7-of-12, CPHS 6-of-11.
Field Goals: Union 19-of-56, CPHS 18-of-66.
Offensive Rebounds: Union 17, CPHS 9.
Defensive Rebounds: Union 24, CPHS 18.
Total Rebounds: Union 41, CPHS 27.
Steals: Union 3, CPHS 12.
Blocks: Union 3, CPHS 10.
Fouls: Union 11, CPHS 14.

Sand Springs Stats

Scoring: Wilson 10, Morris 10, Simone 10, Ti. Butler 8, Bump 7, Ta. Butler 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Bump 4, Wilson 1, Morris 1, Simone 1, Ti. Butler 1, Pearce 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Bump 6, Ti. Butler 5, Simone 3, Wilson 2, Ta. Butler 1, Pearce 1.
Total Rebounds: Bump 10, Ti. Butler 6, Simone 4, Wilson 3, Pearce 2, Morris 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Steals: Simone 3, Wilson 2, Bump 2, Morris 2, Ti. Butler 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Assists: Wilson 5, Bump 1, Simone 1.
Blocks: Ti. Butler 5, Bump 2, Wilson 1, Morris 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Fouls: Wilson 5, Bump 4, Morris 2, Ti. Butler 2, Simone 1.

Union Stats

Scoring: Woodard 16, W. Smith 10, E. Smith 10, A. Smith 5, Edwards 4, Bettis 3, McSwain 1.
Fouls: McSwain 4, W. Smith 2, Woodard 2, Bettis 1, A. Smith 1, Edwards 1.

Hot Streak Continues for Sandite Boys Basketball

A 61-49 victory over Raymore-Peculiar (6-8) in the Jenks-Union Invitational opener Thursday evening gave the Charles Page High School boys’ basketball team its ninth consecutive victory, their longest win streak since the 2019-2020 season.

That streak came to a close on Friday in a close 76-72 loss to No. 4 Union (13-2) in the semifinals, but the boys bounced back with a 60-37 upset of No. 12 Jenks (10-5) for third place.

After opening the season 0-3, Sand Springs is now 10-4 and ranked for the first time this year at No. 14. Next up for the Sandites is a rematch with Union Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. at the UMAC, this time in district play.

Winter weather postponed two of the Sandites’ recent games. A January 9th home game against U.S. Grant (0-10, 0-6) was rescheduled for February 3rd and a January 16th road game at No. 5 Edmond Memorial (10-4, 5-2) will be rescheduled for a later date.

In between the two, Sand Springs improved to 2-3 in district play with a 77-50 romp at Bartlesville (2-9, 1-6) on Friday the 12th.

Deke Thompson III led the Sandites for the tenth time this season with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals.

Kason Evans scored 16 points with 9 rebounds and Khalil Allen matched his career high with 14 points, shooting 6-of-7 from the field.

Against Raymore-Peculiar on Thursday the Sanditse had four in double-digits: Thompson with 16, Allen with 12, Evans with 11, and Alijah Roper with 10.

It was the Deke Thompson show against Union on Friday with the junior going off for a career-high 33 points, followed by Evans with a double-double 13 points and 10 rebounds.

On Saturday the team took a more balanced approach with Evans scoring 12, Roper and Kooper Kelly scoring 11 apiece, and Thompson scoring 10 to defeat the Trojans.

Oklahoma 6A Week 9 Basketball Rankings

Girls

  1. Putnam City West (17-0) +1

  2. Edmond North (11-1) -1

  3. Putnam City North (13-3)

  4. Choctaw (14-0) +2

  5. Owasso (13-3) -1

  6. Sand Springs (10-4) +1

  7. Edmond Memorial (12-2) -2

  8. Bixby (11-4)

  9. Edmond Santa Fe (9-4)

  10. Broken Arrow (10-5)

  11. Mustang (13-4)

  12. Norman (9-6)

  13. Yukon (12-4)

  14. Norman North (5-7)

  15. Jenks (9-6)

Boys

  1. Edmond North (10-2)

  2. Owasso (14-2)

  3. Edmond Deer Creek (14-4)

  4. Union (13-2)

  5. Edmond Memorial (10-4)

  6. Moore (10-5) +3

  7. Westmoore (9-4) +3

  8. Norman (11-4) +3

  9. Piedmont (13-4) -1

  10. Mustang (12-5) +3

  11. Broken Arrow (11-4) -5

  12. Choctaw (11-2) -5

  13. Bixby (9-6) NR

  14. Sand Springs (10-4) NR

  15. Jenks (10-5) -3

Lady Sandites Win Carl Albert Titan Classic, Wilson Named MVP

Sakauri Wilson’s MVP performance and a blowout fourth quarter led the Charles Page High School girls basketball team to a 61-49 come-from-behind win over Carl Albert in the Titan Classic finals Saturday in Midwest City.

The Lady Sandites trailed 40-31 late in the third before riding a 15-0 streak into the fourth to take the lead.

“I just asked them going into the fourth ‘hey, let’s be us.’” said head coach Josh Berry.

“Let’s have some energy and let’s play with a little bit of passion and grit and toughness. They responded and they did that. I think Aaliyah (Simone) made a play to start it off with a couple of jump balls and after that the rest was history.”

The Sandites brought an aggressive press defense, coming up with five steals in the fourth quarter and tied up several jump balls while outscoring the host Titans 25-9 in the final stanza.

“I think they finally took the lid off the basket for us,” said Berry. “We’ve been having that lid on there for probably about five games now. It kind of came off.”

Sand Springs has now won four in a row since a disappointing 1-2 performance at the Putnam City Invitational two weeks ago.

The girls won 63-52 against Del City (6-8) in the first game, leading only 39-38 early in the fourth before pulling away down the stretch.

“The fourth quarter is always like a win or go home moment,” said Wilson. “Go hard or go home.”

The senior guard scored a game-high 20 points with 7 rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 assists in the win. Hope Bump added 14 points and Taiona Morris had 10.

In the semifinals they won a 58-54 overtime battle with No. 5 Edmond Memorial (12-2) in a preview of a looming district battle.

After taking a 24-20 lead into the locker room, the Lady Sandites led for the entire second half until Addy Johnson scored off back-to-back steals to tie it up at 50-50 on the final drive.

Wilson was on fire in overtime, scoring the first three buckets for the Sandites to lead 56-53. The teams traded free throws from there but the Bulldogs were unable to close the gap a second time.

Wilson ended the game with a career-best 32 points, 5 boards, 2 steals, and 5 assists, followed by Bump with 10 points and 7 rebounds.

In Saturday’s finals the Sandites jumped out to a 9-2 lead against the Titans before surrendering an 11-0 run.

“I think we messed up, especially early on, on our assignments,” said Berry. “But, at the end of the day, I think that fourth quarter and end of the third quarter, they played hard. That’s all we asked them was just give us everything you got whenever you’re out there, and I believe they did that.”

A pair of free throws from Simone gave the Sandites a 15-14 lead to enter the second quarter but a five-point run from Jakary Brown put the Titans back on top 24-22 at halftime.

The teams traded blows to open the second half before Bump took a spill in the paint and hit her head. With the junior forward out of the game, the Titans went on a 10-2 run for their biggest lead at 40-31.

“When she hit her head, I heard somebody on the sideline say ‘oh, she woke up now,’” said Berry. “I’m not saying it’s a good thing, but after that, she responded and played the way that we know she can play.”

Bump drained a three shortly after reentering the game to break up the Titans’ run and scored five points in the fourth quarter to go with some aggressive defense.

“Our mindset was just go, go go,” said Wilson. “The more we speed them up, the more they turn over the ball and that’s in our advantage.”

Wilson ended the game with 18 points, 3 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals, while Morris matched her career-high with 17 points, 4 boards, and 3 steals. Bump added a season-best 14 points and 8 rebounds. All three were named to the all-tournament team.

Wilson was named the tournament’s MVP after averaging 23.3 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3.3 steals per game.

“It takes everybody, not just me, but everybody coming together - playing hard and guarding everybody how we’re supposed to guard and executing everything,” said Wilson.

Sand Springs will return to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. with a district road game at Union (8-6, 3-2). The Lady Sandites are 4-1 for third place in district play while the RedHawks are fourth.

Tournament Box Scores

1/18/2024 - CPHS vs. Del City
1Q: 13-13.
2Q: CPHS 13-10.
3Q: CPHS 13-12.
4Q: CPHS 24-17.
Free Throws: CPHS 20-of-25, DC 9-of-17.
Field Goals: CPHS 20-of-56, DC 20-of-56.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 11, DC 12.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 18, DC 18.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 29, DC 30.
Steals: CPHS 14, DC 7.
Blocks: CPHS 16, DC 14.

Sand Springs Stats
Scoring:
Wilson 20, Bump 14, Ti. Butler 10, Morris 8, Simone 4, Young 3, Ta. Butler 2, Pearce 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Bump 4, Ti. Butler 4, Morris 2, Gilton 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Wilson 7, Morris 5, Ta. Butler 3, Ti. Butler 1, Pearce 1, Young 1.
Total Rebounds: Wilson 7, Morris 7, Ti. Butler 5, Bump 4, Ta. Butler 3, Ta. Butler 1, Young 1, Gilton 1.
Steals: Wilson 5, Bump 3, Morris 2, Simone 2, Ti. Butler 2.
Assists: Wilson 3, Morris 2, Simone 2, Ti. Butler 1, Bump 1.
Blocks: Ti. Butler 4, Morris 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Fouls: Simone 4, Ti. Butler 4, Bump 3, Wilson 3, Morris 1, Pearce 1.

1/19/2024 CPHS vs. Edmond Memorial
1Q:
12-12.
2Q: CPHS 12-8.
3Q: CPHS 17-14.
4Q: EDM 16-9.
OT: CPHS 8-4.
Free Throws: CPHS 13-of-17, EDM 13-of-20.
Field Goals: CPHS 21-of-50, EDM 18-of-62.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 6, EDM 16.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 20, EDM 18.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 26, EDM 34.
Steals: CPHS 7, EDM 7.
Blocks: CPHS 6, EDM 1.
Fouls: CPHS 13, EDM 16.

Sand Springs Stats
Scoring:
Wilson 32, Bump 10, Morris 6, Ti Butler. 4, Simone 3, Ta. Butler 3.
Offensive Rebounds: Bump 3, Morris 2, Simone 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Ti. Butler 7, Wilson 5, Bump 4, Morris 3, Ta. Butler 1.
Total Rebounds: Bump 7, Ti. Butler 7, Wilson 5, Morris 5, Simone 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Steals: Wilson 2, Simone 2, Bump 1, Ti. Butler 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Assists: Wilson 5, Morris 2.
Blocks: Ti. Butler 4, Bump 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Fouls: Wilson 3, Morris 3, Simone 3, Bump 2, T. Butler 1, Ta. Butler 1.

1/20/2024 CPHS vs. Carl Albert
1Q:
CPHS 15-14.
2Q: CA 10-7.
3Q: CA 16-14.
4Q: CPHS 25-9.
Free Throws: CPHS 19-of-20, CA 12-of-16.
Field Goals: CPHS 24-of-52, CA 17-of-46.
Offensive Rebounds: CPHS 6, CA 5.
Defensive Rebounds: CPHS 18, CA 17.
Total Rebounds: CPHS 24, CA 22.
Steals: CPHS 10, CA 5.
Blocks: CPHS 1, CA 3.
Fouls: CPHS 17, CA 15.

Sand Springs Stats
Scoring:
Wilson 18, Morris 17, Bump 14, Ta. Butler 6, Simone 2, Ti. Butler 2, Young 2.
Offensive Rebounds: Morris 2, Ti. Butler 2, Bump 1.
Defensive Rebounds: Bump 7, Ta. Butler 4, Wilson 3, Ti. Butler 2, Morris 1, Simone 1.
Total Rebounds: Bump 8, Morris 4, Ti. Butler 4, Ta. Butler 4, Wilson 3, Simone 1.
Steals: Wilson 3, Morris 3, Simone 2, Bump 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Assists: Wilson 4, Bump 1, Ta. Butler 1.
Blocks: Ti. Butler 1.
Fouls: Ti. Butler 5, Wilson 3, Simone 3, Morris 2, Ta. Butler 2, Bump 1, Young 1.

Sandites Win Skiatook Tournament With Three Champions

The Charles Page High School boys’ wrestling team crowned three champions en route to a team title at the one-day Skiatook tournament Friday - the second team title of the season for the Sandites.

No. 6 Sand Springs locked up first place very early on, scoring 254.5 points to runner-up 4A No. 2 Catoosa’s 194.

It was a strong bounce-back performance for the Sandites (10-1), who suffered their first dual loss of the season the night before. No. 3 Broken Arrow (8-0) won 12 out of 14 matches in a 45-11 rout.

“We responded well,” said head coach Ty Bowling. “Last night, it was rough, but I think we needed that. I think we will learn a lesson from it, we’ll get better from it. And today I think we started the process. We had a good day and rebounded well.”

The Sandites put seven in the finals with Jayden Pait, Zander Grigsby, and Jaxon Trotter winning their brackets while Dawsen Briscoe, David Ritchey, Isaac Sensintaffar, and Peyton Callis finished as runners-up.

Pait suffered an MCL tear in the quarterfinals of the Mid America Nationals last December in Enid, but he looked very much back to form, winning the 138-pound bracket with four falls.

“I was pretty upset going throughout the whole season,” said Pait. “You never want to get hurt your senior season…I’ve been out for about a month and a half now so getting these wins today really boosted my confidence.”

After pinning his first three opponents in the first period, he took a 2-0 lead into the second period against Catoosa State qualifier Michael Blendowski before reversing into a fall.

“Getting that reversal meant a lot because I knew that he was good at riding legs and I knew what I had to do on bottom,” said Pait.

“I’ve been battling some recovery, battling some confidence issues in some of my matches, but I feel confident now…I’m feeling good, I’m ready to come back, ready to compete some more and qualify for State.”

Zander Grisgby earned his third tournament title of the season, winning the 165-pound bracket with a technical fall, a forfeit, and three pins. In the finals he easily handled Hilldale’s Nathan Stroble with a second-period fall.

Trotter picked up his first tournament title of the year at 175, pinning his first two opponents and earning a 20-5 technical fall in the semifinals before meeting Bixby State qualifier Colton Kaiser in the finals.

“I knew I’d have a good match in the finals,” said Trotter. “Throughout the day I was just trying to focus on my shots and really dial in my neutral to help me in this match and just have me warmed up. I think it helped out a lot.”

The two stayed neutral throughout the first period but Trotter scored an escape early in the second before scoring a double-leg takedown for the 3-0 lead. Kaiser managed an escape in the third but Trotter’s defense kept the Spartan at bay for a 3-1 decision.

Briscoe won his first four matches at 106 before falling 9-0 to Skiatook State qualifier Cole Smith in the finals.

Ayreson Reiss went 4-1 and placed third at 113, losing only to Skiatook State runner-up Jagen Jones. He received a forfeit in the third-place match.

Kase Skaggs and Ritchey both went 4-1 at 120, with their only losses coming to Bixby State qualifier Colden Dyer. Dyer teched Skaggs in the semifinals before winning a 4-1 decision against Ritchey in the finals. Skaggs bounced back with a 19-3 technical fall against Tonkawa’s Tate Coffey for third place.

Jaxon Grigsby pinned his first two opponents at 126 before falling 12-4 to eventual champion Logan Hargrove, from Catoosa, in the semifinals. Grigsby bounced back with a 16-0 technical fall against Skiatook’s Landon Dodd.

Matthew Moore pinned his first three opponents at 132 before falling 7-0 to Catoosa State qualifier Tucker Collinsworth in the semifinals. He bounced back with a 10-1 major decision over Darin McWhorter for third place.

Jesse Moore teched his first two opponents at 144 before falling 3-0 to tournament champ Tharyn Hausler of Bixby. In consolation he pinned Inola’s Bryson Faulkner for third place.

Brody Ensten and Sensintaffar both competed at 157 and suffered their only losses to the champion.

Ensten pinned two opponents before falling to Wagoner State placer Bryce Steele in the semifinals. He bounced back with an 8-3 decision over Catoosa State qualifier Fernando Dominguez for third place.

Sensintaffar pinned his first three opponents and beat Dominguez 7-3 in the semifinals before falling 5-0 to Steel in the championship.

Callis pinned his first three foes at 190 and won an 8-4 decision in the semifinals before falling 3-2 to Bixby State placer Hank Puckett in the finals.

Heavyweight Ryley Kester pinned his first two opponents before falling to Catoosa’s Tank Love in the semifinals. In consolation he won a 5-1 decision over Wagoner’s Dax Griffin

Preston Reyna placed fourth at 150, Jaden Allen placed fourth at 215, Hunter Spencer placed fifth at 126, Nathan Feather placed seventh at 113, Jackson Burdge placed seventh at 144, Brock O’Dell placed seventh at 157, and Gage Gunn placed 10th at 132.

Varsity Girls

The varsity girls took second place at the Ray Murphy Jr. Memorial Tournament on Saturday with 144.5 points, just a hair behind Rogers, Arkansas with 147.

Ambrielle Chambers, Trinity Owens, Laila Mirza, Audree Robinson, and Kelsi Hilton all took first place.

Chambers recorded three first-period pins and a major decision at 105 pounds; Owens had three pins at 110; Mirza had two pins and a tech fall at 115; Robinson had two pins and a decision at 125; and Hilton had three pins at 140.

Samantha Baker placed fourth at 125, Mia Bruns placed third at 130, Kayla Arnold placed fourth at 145, Tessa Urrey place fourth at 155, and Emily Ambriz placed fifth at 235.

JV Boys

The junior varsity Sandites took third place at the Ray Murphy tournament with 154.5 points and three champions.

The mostly varsity tournament was led by Coweta’s JV with 190 points and Bartlesville’s varsity with 183.5.

Skaggs took first place at 120, Spencer won at 126, and Kaden Pope won at 132.

Brody Wilson placed second at 113, Caleb Childers placed fourth at 113, Scott Halpain place fourth at 150, Reiss placed fifth at 113, Nathan Feather placed sixth at 120, Dallas Flores placed sixth at 165, Jeffery Norton placed seventh at 120, Jesse Kerr placed eighth at 113, Logan Childers placed eighth at 126, Gage Gunn placed eighth at 132, and Alex Lahmeyer placed eighth at 175.

Mason Harris Claims Gold, Sandites Place 3rd at Bobby Lyons Invitational

A championship victory from heavyweight Mason Harris led the Charles Page High School boys’ wrestling team to a third place finish at the 60th annual Bobby Lyons Invitational Saturday afternoon at the Ed Dubie Field House.

Harris pinned his first four opponents before earning a 2-0 decision against Bixby senior Garrett Ritter in the finals to become the first Sandite to win the tournament since 2019.

“Me and Ritter - we’ve wrestled, I think, every year of high school,” said Harris, a senior three-time State qualifier.

“Last year he caught me in a dual and I wasn’t going to let that happen ever again. I was watching the whole tournament because I knew he was going to be most likely who I’d face in the finals.”

“He was wrestling really defensive through the tournament so I knew I was going to face a true heavyweight match where it’s just a lot of bear-hugging,” said Harris.

“First period that’s what we did, we just bear hugged the entire time, just working for position, fighting each other’s hands. And then going into the second (period), I got lucky and won the toss…escaped to a reversal, rode him out for the rest of the second.”

In the third period Ritter selected neutral but Harris successfully fended off the Spartan’s attacks to earn his first tournament title of the season after a pair of runner-up finishes at Enid and Jenks. He improved to 25-2 on the season with his second career victory.

“I’ve been in the Bobby Lyons tournament every year of high school and haven’t ever won it,” said Harris. “I’ve placed once or twice. It feels good winning our home tournament in the actual Dubie. It’s a good win to have for your senior season.”

Emphasis on “in the actual Dubie” because the tournament rotates annually with Sapulpa, where it’s called the Jerry Billings Invitational in odd-numbered years.

Allen, Texas won the tournament for the second time in the past three years, taking the trophy back from defending champion Bixby. Allen scored 368.5 points with eight finalists and three champions while Bixby had 327.5 points with three finalists and two champions.

Harris’s victory in the final match of the day helped Sand Springs to tie Garden City, Kansas at 308 points. It was the best finish for the Sandites at their home tournament since 2018.

“We were coming off the District Champ high,” said head coach Ty Bowling. “I think we started a little slow but overall I thought we wrestled really well.”

Co-host Sapulpa placed 8th for its best finish since 2021, but trailed rival Sand Springs for the 12th consecutive year.

Harris was the only finalist for the Sandites, but David Ritchey, Isaac Sensintaffar, Brody Ensten, Zander Grigsby, and Jaxon Trotter all advanced to the consolation finals.

“We had a real strong consolation semi,” said Bowling. “I think we only lost one match there. We had a good finish to the day.”

Ritchey (9-4) placed third at 120 with his only loss coming to tournament champion Bryson Humphries, from Owasso, in the semifinals. In the placement round he won 6-0 against Missouri State qualifier Paxton Martin.

Sensintaffar (15-6) placed third at 150, winning six matches in a row after dropping his first match 5-4 to Bixby’s Rhys Novosad. He won an 11-3 rematch with Novosad in consolation and pinned Collinsville’s Cable Golden in the placement round.

Zander Grigsby (24-1) saw his undefeated start to the season come to an end in the 165-pound semifinals in a 3-1 decision to Brady Benham, a three-time State Champion from Sperry.

“We knew who he was, we just didn’t know much about him just because we never see Sperry,” said Bowling. “If we had known more going into it we would have had a better game plan, but he wrestled really well, made one minor mistake and that kid was able to capitalize on it.”

“But I think (Grigsby) wrestled solid and I think we could get him if we wrestled him again.”

He bounced back handily with a pair of pins in consolation for third place, taking down Prosper’s Jack Ringger for third place.

Jaxon Trotter (24-6) pinned his first two opponents before falling to State Champion Jayden Moore from Tahlequah in the 175-pound semifinals. In consolation he won a pair of major decisions, taking down Bixby State qualifier Colton Kaiser 9-1 for third place.

Ensten (20-8) placed fourth at 157, winning his first two matches before falling to top-seeded Texas State qualifier Carter Nekvapil in the semifinals. In consolation he won a 15-9 upset over four-seed Isaac Colon-Arce before falling 3-1 to Sapulpa State qualifier Blake Hurt.

Peyton Callis (25-7) placed fifth at 190, Hunter Spencer (4-4) placed fifth at 126, and Kase Skaggs (20-6) placed sixth at 120.

No. 5 Sand Springs (10-0) will look to wrap up a perfect regular season when it travels to No. 3 Broken Arrow (7-0) Thursday at 6:00 p.m.

“That has seeding implications for Dual State,” said Bowling. “If we can find a way to beat Broken Arrow, we would probably be the three seed. If not, we’ll probably be at four or five. Broken Arrow’s a traditionally tough wrestling squad so we’re going to have to have all our guys show up mentally prepared.”

Sand Springs will also compete in the one-day Skiatook Tournament on Friday with both its varsity and JV squads.