No. 1 Sandites take first place at Jerry Billings Invitational with four champions
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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief
Team Scores
- Sand Springs (229.5)
- Broken Arrow (226.5)
- Collinsville (174.5)
- Ponca City (154.0)
- Union (102.5)
- Cascia Hall (95.0)
- Bixby (93.0)
- Sperry (91.5)
- Sapulpa (91.0)
- Sallisaw (55.5)
- Pryor (23.0)
Tournament Champions
106 - Riley Weir (Sand Springs)
113 - Caleb Tanner (Collinsville)
120 - Gunner Hamm (Collinsville)
126 - Jet Taylor (Sallisaw)
132 - Daton Fix (Sand Springs)
138 - Jack Karstetter (Sand Springs)
145 - Nate Keim (Collinsville)
152 - Tanner Skidgel (Cascia Hall)
160 - Caleb Wise (Broken Arrow)
170 - Dalton Abney (Cascia Hall)
182 - Gavin Potter (Broken Arrow)
195 - Zach Marcheselli (Broken Arrow)
220 - Delvin Jordan (Sand Springs)
285 - Trenton Lieurance (Broken Arrow)
The No. 1 ranked Charles Page High School varsity wrestling team traveled to the Jerry Billings Invitational tournament in Sapulpa this weekend and narrowly defeated No. 3 Broken Arrow for first place with eight finalists and four champions.
The tournament alternates annually between Sand Springs and Sapulpa, with the Sandite counterpart being dubbed the Bobby Lyons Invitational. Last year the Sandites sat out five varsity wrestlers with injuries and forfeited one weight class, and still managed to take third place. This year they voided three weight classes and still managed to take first place, dethroning the back-to-back champions from Broken Arrow.
Riley Weir (106), Daton Fix (132), Jack Karstetter (138) and Delvin Jordan (220) all took first place in the 54th annual tournament, while Tanner Ward (113), Michael Ritchey (120), Beau Bratcher (145), and Zane Basma (170) claimed second place.
Weir (20-6 season, 41-18 career) sat out last year's tournament with an elbow injury, but dominated this year's competition, pinning all four of his opponents in a total of 8:45. He took down Chance Granger (Sapulpa) in 1:21, Martezz Carnes (Ponca City) in 0:50, Jackson Cockrell (Broken Arrow) in 1:36, and finished the weekend with Rocky Stevens (Collinsville) in 4:58.
Fix (25-0, 143-0) continued his undefeated career with his fourth-straight championship win in the tournament. He breezed through his competition in 12:05 with three pins and a technical fall. He took down Tanner Frew (Sapulpa) in 3:10, Ashad Rufia (Union) in 1:09, and Dylan Schickram (Ponca City) in 2:32. In the finals he scored a 22-7 victory over State Qualifier TaJuan Daniels of Broken Arrow in 5:14.
Karstetter (11-1, 84-16) won the tournament for the third straight year, in dominating fashion. He pinned Johnathan Donahue (Sapulpa) in 0:21 and Derek Vandyke (Bixby) in 0:52, then majored Bryce Mattioda (Broken Arrow) 14-5. In the finals he scored an 8-3 decision over Louden Akin (Sperry).
Jordan (23-2, 54-14) took third place in the tournament as a freshman and hasn't competed since. He made his return to the tournament by manhandling his way past some tough competitors. He pinned Ben Downs (Sapulpa) in the first round and scored a 5-1 decision over State Qualifier Austin Fry (Ponca), then wrapped up the tournament with a pin of State Qualifier Cody Adams (Bixby) in 2:22.
Ward (16-8, 92-20) also wrestled in the tournament for the first time, having been at Berryhill for the past three years. The senior State Runner-Up pinned Kaleb Harris (Sallisaw) in 0:49 and received a forfeit from Brandon Blose (Sapulpa) to earn his way to the finals. In the Championship round he was defeated 3-1 by Caleb Tanner of Collinsville.
Ritchey (18-8, 47-32) improved over his last year's fourth-place finish by majoring his first two opponents 10-1. He made his way to the finals by defeating Caron Watson (Union) and Michael Harjo (Sapulpa), but was defeated 3-1 by Gunner Hamm of Collinsville.
Bratcher (21-6, 112-29) was the defending tournament champion at 145 pounds and went to the finals for the second straight year. He majored Bryce Carter (Sperry) 11-3, pinned Nenebah Biggoose (Ponca City) in 1:04, and scored a 4-0 decision over Miles Waller (Cascia Hall), but fell 7-1 to State Qualifier Nate Keim of Collinsville in the championship match.
Basma (9-2, 67-26) was the defending tournament champion at 170 pounds and earned his way back into the finals with three-straight pins in only 3:28. He took down Joe Hall (Broken Arrow) in 0:44, Aaron Lytle (Sapulpa) in 1:10, and Lane Newlin (Ponca City) in 1:34. In the finals he was defeated 5-1 by Dalton Abney of Cascia Hall.
Blake Sargent (19-7, 71-21) was the defending tournament champion at 126 and pinned Verdell Schoats (Union) in 1:35, but was defeated 11-8 by State Qualifier Spencer Schickram of Ponca City. In the consolations he had a tough matchup against teammate Irwin Portillo, but won 3-1 in overtime, then he pinned State Qualifier Xavear Cullors (Collinsville) in 3:43 for third place.
Noah Almy (11-12) competed at 160 and took fourth place. He defeated Grayson White (Ponca City) 9-4, but was majored 13-5 by State Qualifier Caleb Wise of Broken Arrow. He defeated teammate Mikey Burns 2-1 to earn his way into the consolation finals, but was defeated 6-4 by State Qualifier Ryce Haymaker of Collinsville.
Portillo (3-2, 6-5) suffered a first round pin in 3:05 by State Champion Jet Taylor of Sallisaw, but rebounded with a 3-2 decision over Bennett Sherrer (Pryor). After his defeat by Sargent he scored a 5-2 win over Zach Phares of Broken Arrow for fifth place.
Mikey Burns (3-3) competed at 160 and took fifth place. He was pinned in 1:12 by Jake Hall (Cascia Hall) in the opening round, but rebounded with a pair of consolation wins. He pinned Joey Cook (Sperry) in 4:59 and scored a 4-2 decision over Skylar Johnson (Union) before falling 2-1 to teammate Noah Almy. In the placement match he defeated Dalton Turner (Cascia Hall) 5-3.
Gage Fain (15-9, 28-31) competed at 220 and took fifth place, one spot better than his last year's performance. He was pinned in 4:48 in the opening round by State Qualifier Cody Adams of Bixby, but pinned Noah Cortes (Broken Arrow) in 1:40. He came out on bottom of a close 4-3 decision to State Qualifier Austin Fry (Ponca City), but majored Noah Davis (Sallisaw) 11-3 in the placement match.
Derek Davis (2-2, 19-14) made his season debut at 145 pounds, but was eliminated one round short of placement. He was pinned in 5:07 by State Qualifier Nate Keim (Collinsville) in the opening round, but rebounded with a dominating 15-0 tech fall over Colton Konell (Sapulpa) in only 3:37. He scored an 8-4 decision over Nenebah Biggoose (Ponca), but was pinned in 4:19 by Braden Roller of Bixby. Davis didn't compete at the Bobby Lyons Tournament last year, but took fourth in Sapulpa the year prior.
The Sandites (5-0) will return to action next Thursday when they host the district dual quad. They will take on U.S. Grant (3-3), Enid (1-6), and Putnam City West (1-5) and the winner of the series will advance to Dual State this February.
