#1 Sandites finish regular season undefeated with 64-6 domination of Jenks

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The top-ranked Charles Page High School varsity wrestling team iced the cake of their perfect 11-0 season at Frank Herald Field House Thursday night, winning thirteen matches and forfeiting one. 

The dual started at 182 with Lane Lettich (11-6) taking down Naimul Islam almost immediately and pinning him in only 44 seconds for a 6-0 team lead.

195 #9 Zach Sims (20-19) received a forfeit to make it 12-0.

220 Delvin Jordan (12-4) had a close match against #10 Sam Wilson. The linebacker took a 2-1 lead in the first period and made it 3-1 in the second with an escape. Wilson started the third on bottom and managed an escape with about thirty seconds left, but Jordan got his hooks in and held on to neutral for a 3-2 decision.

Gage Fain (11-16) wrestled up to 285 as usual, and pulled out the pin despite being heavily outweighed by Alex Chavez. The first period was a stalemate and Fain chose bottom for a quick second period escape point, then took Chavez down for a 2:24 fall.

Rounding back to 106, Scott Patton (7-2) scored a 9-0 major decision over Jacob Patrick with a takedown in each period and near-fall points to wrap it up and make the team score 25-0.

113 #5 Michael Ritchey (19-14) got a rematch against Chase Slatton whom he defeated 5-1 at the Yukon tournament. This time the Trojan would make it a lot closer. Ritchey started off hot with a takedown and near-fall, but Slatton battled out of it for a reversal to end the first period 5-2. From there it was Ritchey on the defensive end, getting taken down twice in the second period and barely holding a 7-6 lead with a pair of escapes. Slatton started the third on bottom and tied things up with the escape. With thirty seconds left, the pressure was on and Ritchey found an opening for a takedown. Slatton slithered out with a few seconds left, but it was too late and the Sandite got the 9-8 decision. 

120 #5 Blake Sargent (31-9) had total control of his match against Matthew Hillburn, scoring a takedown in the first period, a reversal in the second, and wrapping it up with a 2:11 pin and a 34-0 team lead.

126 #3 Jack Karstetter (31-6) also had little difficulty taking a 4-1 lead before pinning Austin Daniels in 1:07.

132 Derek Davis (11-5) ran up the points on Ryan Weiss, outscoring him 4-1 in the first and 5-1 in the second, then the two remain neutral for the entirety of the third for a 9-2 decision and 43-0 team score.  

138 Daton Fix (36-0) did what Daton Fix does and took down Thomas Lewis for a near-fall before the sophomore battled out of it and was given an escape point. Fix continued to run it up to 14-2 before pinning Lewis in 2:10, marking his 19th fall of the season.

Beau Bratcher (34-6) received a forfeit at 145 to make the team score 54-0.

152 Cody Mathis (14-12) took on Chase Kelvington in a come-from-behind victory by decision. The Trojan held a 2-0 lead after the first period and the two started the second neutral. Mathis tied things up briefly, till Kelvington escaped, but took a 4-3 lead into the final period with an inside trip. The Sandite started on bottom and scored a quick reverse. Kelvington escaped, just to be taken down one final time just before the buzzer for a 10-5 decision. 

The last match of the night was 160 #3 Zane Basma (27-9) versus Antjuan Overton. The Sandite was well on his way to a tech fall, practicing takedowns and letting the Trojan free. Basma had two near-falls and a 16-2 lead when he finally pinned his man in 2:34.

The Sandites had no wrestler for 170 and forfeited to #3 Drew Hinkle to give the Trojans their only points of the night. The junior high match was also won by the Sandites, 39-32.

The next stop for the Sandites will be Firelake Arena in Shawnee for the Dual State Championships on February 12-13. The brackets have yet to be released, but there's likely only one team that could potentially throw a wrench in the Sandites' plans. Sand Springs already beat #2 Broken Arrow 33-19, but neither team was at full strength when they last met.