Alex Sarabia (15U - HWT) and Brayden Valles (15U 134 lbs), took the Silver and Bronze medals respectively at the Oklahoma Open at Midwest City High School. Both wrestlers are freshmen in Madill representing WarHammerWrestlingClub in Kingston. Both have set the tone for their 2025/26 semesters.
Sarabia is becoming well known in southern Oklahoma. This summer he made Madill history becoming the first wrestler from Madill to qualify and go to the 2025 USMC Junior Nationals for Freestyle in Fargo, ND… as an 8th grader. Now that he has started high school, folks in Madill have high hopes for his future and what it means to the local wrestling community.
Valles is right alongside his friend and teammate, Sarabia. His showing at the Oklahoma Open has lit a fire and confirmed that he has every reason to be a wrestling leader in his own right. And, both Sarabia and Valles are working hard to lead by example.
Both freshmen gave up their summer to work with their coaches Peter Hammer and Roger Frizzell, as well as with their beloved training partner, Jayden McCain. All that Sarabia and Valles do in wrestling is out of love for and in dedication to the memory of Jayden, who recently went home to Heaven after a tragic car accident. Both noted that hewasawonderfulteammate at Madill High School and would have set the world on fire at Murray State.
Sarabia said he wouldn’t change a thing if he could go back in time.
“I’d go back and sacrifice the summer again: the lifts with other coaches, my place on the football team… all of it. Wrestling is already teaching me lessons that will take me much further in life.”
“As far as the Oklahoma Open, this tournament came up at the last minute for me, butIwantedtouseitasaprep to the future Pre-Season Nationals,” Sarabis continued. “To win silver was amazing becauseIdevotedtheOpento Jayden, my training partner. Although I just missed gold, I could hear Jayden telling me to keep getting 1% better everyday and to keep having fun. I couldn’t be happier that I took silver at Coach Roger Frizzell’s alma mater. In the 1970s, his team dominated wrestling from Midwest City, even winning Nationals.”
Valles agreed wholeheartedly with Sarabia.
“Sacrificing the summer was not a hard decision at all. It was exciting and fun. All I sacrificed was my free time and activities that would not have benefitted my future. Coach Hammer has made me a better person in life, but more specifically he’s taught me how to execute in the clutch,” Valles said. “That alone is a huge lesson that I willtakewithmebeyondhigh school. Winning bronze was special because the Open was such a big start to the season.”
How important is the Oklahoma Open?
Coach Roger Frizzell gave a brief history on the prestige of this event at his own alma mater, Midwest CityHigh School (before attending OU andbecomingaNationalHall of Famer): “I wrestled in the Oklahoma Open for 14 years from junior high and all the way after OU,” Frizzell said. “The Open was always an important start to the wrestling season. It continues to be so. My senior year at MCHS, I wrestled Andre Metzger in the finals, losing a tight match in overtime. We later became teammates at OU.”
“Originally, the tournament was held in OU’s Lloyd Nobel Stadium, then moved to McCasland Gym,” Frizzell continued. “It always drew the top high school talent throughout Oklahoma and neighboring states, as well as many top college teams.”
Coaches Hammer and Frizzell are immensely proud of Sarabia and Valles. The day after the Open, both freshmen were back at practice with Hammer. That was on a Sunday night of what is still Fall Break.
Their grit and determination is lighting the way for an even brighter future.
As Folkstyle Season begins, WarHammer Wrestling’s coaches are providing university-level wrestling techniques to further the aspirations of motivated Southern Oklahoma and North Texas wrestlers.