By Chuck Reherman, Sports Editor – It was a good day for Yukon’s C4 youth wrestling team.
The team earned 20 medals, including nine gold in the annual Yukon Youth Wrestling Christmas Classic, held at the Yukon Middle School gym.
Of the 20 medals won and long with the nine gold, the team earned three silver and four bronze.
The tournament featured more than 60 teams competiting on eight mats in the gym in different divisions.
“There were a great number of wrestlers competing from our club,” Yukon head wrestling coach Joe Schneider said. “I am very excited to see what the future holds for Yukon wrestling.”
The C4 club’s first gold medal came from Rawlie Schultheis at 52-pounds in Division 2. He pinned Axgon Vanbrunt of Westmoore in 26 seconds in the finals.
He had opened the tournament pinning Keedan Martin of Matrix Wrestling in 2:18. He pinned Baylor Pugh of Cache Bulldog Takedown Club in 37 seconds in the semifinals to advance to the finals.
Jace Reed took first place at 58-pounds in Division 3. He pinned Sam White of Division Bell Wrestling in 56 seconds in the finals.
Reed had beaten White by a 9-2 decision in the opening round.
Ryan Sigler won the heavyweight class in Division 4, winning all three of his matches by fall.
He pinned Jordan Fuston of Piedmont Pride in 1:20 in the finals.
He had pinned Gavin Lewis of the Southern Oklahoma Wrestling Club in 1:53 in his opening round and pinned Calen Roberson of the Oklahoma Wrestling Academy in 2:44 in the semifinals.
Lane Parks on the gold medal in the heavyweight class in Division 5. He won the title when Tuttle’s Aiden Gonzalez was disqualified during their match.
He had opened with an 8-2 decision over Xander Baccus of Yukon, who wrestles for Prodigy by an 8-2 decision.
Cooper Karber took the gold medal in the Novice 1 37-pound weight class. He won by a major decision over Westyn Owerns of the Moore Lions Wrestling Club by a 24-10 score.
He opened his tournament with a pin over Crue Garrett of Sulpher Wrestling Club in seven seconds. In the semifinals, Karber won by a major decision over Cooper Anderson of the Tironook School of Wrestling, 17-6.
Klein Tippins won the gold art 49-pounds in the Novice 1 division. He won by an 8-2 decision over Jacskon Barter of Matrix Grappling in the finals.
Tippins opened his tournament with a sudden victory over Rogan Choate of the Kingfisher PeeWee Wrestling Club, 4-02, scoring a takedown in overtime. In the semifinals, he scored an 8-7 decision over Christian Witten of the Oklahoma Wrestling Academy to advance to the finals.
Caleb Schneider won the gold medal in the Novice 2 division at 55-pounds, winning four matches, two by fall and two by major decision.
He won the title with a 12-1 major decision over Grady Kaiser of the Oklahoma Wrestling Academy.
Schneider opened the tournament pinning Bryson Burton of the Duncan Marauders in 2:37. He then pinned Tommy VanHorn of the Oklahoma Wrestling Academy in 50 seconds.
In the semifinals, he scored a 13-3 major decision over Caine Rackley of Tuttle to advance to the finals.
Maxwell Hembree won the gold medal at 67-70 pounds in the Novice 3 division. He decisioned Parker Madison of Tuttle, 4-0, in the finals to win the title.
Hembree opened his tournament after a first round by with a 15-0 technical fall over Kolby Robertson of the Oklahoma Wrestling Academy, 15-0.
Hembree also wrestled in the Novice 2 Division 67-70 pound class and won a second gold medal. He won that division gold with a 10-5 decision over Huck Kline of the HBT Grapplers.
After receiving a bye in the quarterfinals, Hembree pinned Reilly Neller of the Oklahoma Wrestling Academy.
Ryker Hembree earned two medals on the day. He finished second in the Novice 4 80-84 pound weight class and was fourth in the Novice 3 85-90 pound weight class.
In the Novice 4 class, he won his first two matches, but lost to Tevin Minney of Cushing Wrestling by a 7-1 decision in the finals.
He had beaten Tod Brakebill of Matrix 4-0 in the opening round and scored a 15-0 technical fall over Garrett Bevins of the Deer Creek Wrestling Club in the semifinals.
In the Novice 3 division, he lost to Carlos Martinez of the Cashion Youth Wrestling Club by fall iun 1:45 in the third place match,
He had lost to Martinex by a fall in 1:51 in the quarterfinal round, but won a 9-0 major decision over Sloan Merrill in the consolation first round and a 10-5 decision over Cade Walker of the Olahoma Wrestling Academy in the consolation semifinals.
Noah Majka placed second at 46 pounds in Division 1. He lost a 2-0 decision to Dalton Perkins of Matrix Grappling in the finals.
He opened his tournament in the quarterfinals pinning Blaze Burch of the Southern Oklahoma Wrestling Club in 2;37. He then pinned Chuck Haas of the Bombers of Frisco in 38 seconds to reach the finals.
Eli Stottlemyre placed second in ther 61-64-pound class in Division 2. He lost to Noah Knight of Chickasha Wrestling in the finals.
After getting a bye in the first round, Stottlemyre scored a 7-4 decision over Asher Digby of the Davis Youth Wrestling Club.
Gavin Schultheis placed third at 43-pounds in Division I. He lost by fall to Connor Craig of Division Bell Wrestling in 26 se onds and to Landon Goodgion of Bridge Creek in the round robin bracket.
Waylon Hill placed third at 49-pounds in Division 2 after pinning Kyle Griffin of Chickasha Wrestling in the consolation finals.
He lost to Slaydon Williams of Del City 13-11 and to Jackson Smith of Moore by fall in 1:30 to fall to the third place match.
Beau Hickman placed third at 96-pounds in Division 4 with a fall over Jordan Podest of Division Bell Wrestling in the consolation finals.
He had beaten Podest 4-0 in the quarterfinal round, but lost to Layton Schneider of Oklahoma Wrestling Academy 6-3 in the semifinals. He came back to beat Wyatt Cargill by fall in 2:37 in the consolation semifinals.
Brett Reed placed third in the Novice 4 Division 110-120 pound weight class. He lost to Jace Kelly of Oklahoma Wrestling Academy by fall in 31 seconds, beat TJ Castor of Yukon 6-4 in suddent victory, then lost to Jayson Digby of Davis by fall in 2:36 in a round robin bracket.
Castor finished fourth in the weight class. He lost to Digby by fall in 226 and to Kelly by fall in 46 seconds.
Nate Edmondson placed fourth at 46-pounds in Division 1. He lost to Cru Foster of Chickasha in the consolation finals by a 5-4 decision.
Edmondson lost to Perkins 4-0 in the quarterfinals, then pinned Max Morgan of Westmoore in 1:54. He lost to Haas by fall in 19 seconds in the consolation semifinals.
Justics Schultheis placed fourth at 61-pounds in Division 1. He lost a 6-0 decision to Jarrett Patty of the Southern Oklahoma Wrestling Club in the consolation finals.
He had lost to Patty 7-0 in the quarterfinal round, then pinned Braxton Landis of Bridge Creek in 47 seconds. In the consolation semifinals, he pinned Kyler Lester of Moore in 37 seconds.
