#1 Sandite wrestling will take on #7 Westmoore in State Quarterfinals

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126 Jack Karstetter pins Collinsville's Pete Flippo in 0:29. Photo by: Virgil Noah

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Photo: Virgil Noah, Staff

The No.1 ranked Charles Page High School varsity wrestling team finally found out their first opponent in the Class 6A Dual State Tournament Monday. 

Friday night at 6:00 p.m. the Sandites (11-0) will meet the No.7 Westmoore Jaguars (9-2) at Firelake Arena in Shawnee. Semifinals will be held Saturday at 2:00 and finals will be Saturday at 6:30. 

The Jaguars' only losses are to No.5 Edmond North (9-2) and 4A No.1 Tuttle (14-3). 

At 106 the Sandites will likely be putting up #7 Riley Weir (16-8). However, the freshman has been battling an elbow injury that has sidelined him for a couple of duals this season. His backup is fellow freshman Scott Patton (7-2) who saw action at the District Duals, the Jenks dual, and the Yukon tournament. 

Westmoore has heavy talent at the lowest weights including 106 #2 Canon Randall, 113 #2 Wes Hardin, and 120 #2 Dalton Duffield. 

The Sandites have #5 Michael Ritchey (19-14) at 113, and #5 Blake Sargent (31-9) at 120. Sargent has already met Duffield once this season and was defeated 13-5 at the Geary Invitational.

Sand Springs has the clear edge in the next two weights with 126 #3 State-Qualifier Jack Karstetter (31-6) and 132 2X undefeated State Champion Daton Fix (36-0). Westmoore has 132 #10 Brett Graham. Fix has yet to meet Graham, but he has beaten Duffield three times and 138 #8  Zach Johnson once.

Fix has actually been up at 138 in duals since John Jiminez got hurt so its likely we'll see Derek Davis (11-5) at 132. Meanwhile 138 State-Qualifier #2 Beau Bratcher (34-6) will probably go to 145.

Both teams have excellent options for 152. Sandite sophomore Payton Scott (11-4) is ranked third and Jaguar Trey Painter is ranked #4. Should Painter cut down to 145, Bratcher has already beaten him back in 2014 by 10-0 major decision at the Oklahoma State Freestyle. We could also see Payton go up to 160 as he did against Collinsville and wrestle Cody Mathis (14-12) at 152.

#3 State-Qualifier Zane Basma (27-9) is the typical 160 wrestler for Sand Springs, though he was bumped to 170 at Collinsville, and Westmoore has #9 Deven Brewer.

Bryton Beck (10-14) could come into play at 170, but State-Placer #4 Trace Fleischman (3-2) is finally back in the lineup after battling an injury sustained at the Geary Invitational so barring any big weight change-ups, he'll probably be up against #10 Sean Flandemeyer.

At 182 the Sandites boast State-Qualifier and Southeastern Kansas football-signee #4 Lane Lettich. 

Westmoore has #7 Daevon Newton at 195 while Sand Springs could see either #9 Zach Sims (20-19) or Cole Dixon (4-4).

While Westmoore has ranked wrestlers at both 220 and 285, Sand Springs is lacking in a true heavyweight and has been wrestling Gage Fain (11-16) up for most of the season, though State-Qualifier Delvin Jordan (12-4) stepped into that slot at Collinsville. 

Westmoore's no joke and it's sure to be a great battle, but Sand Springs has been utterly unstoppable this season and its unlikely anyone but #2 Broken Arrow (10-1) or #3 Choctaw (9-2) could really put up much of a stop against a Sandite lineup at near full-strength for the first time this season.