DEJA WOW! Dad, son help lead Bartlesville soccer to state semifinals 30 years apart
Bartlesville High School goalie Klayton Bastings, center, with his parents Jeff and Andrea during senior night. Father and son played for Bruins soccer teams that made it to the semi-finals 30 years apart.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
May 19, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Bill Clinton, Donald Trump.
“Batman Forever,” “A Minecraft Movie.”
Netscape, Hostinger.
Ford Taurus, Subaru Forester.
“ER,” “Andor S2.”
Needless to say, much has changed in the past 30 years.
But during this spring sports season Bartlesville High School’s athletic program produced a unique wrap-around that ties 1995 with 2025.
In 1995, an up-and-coming Bruin freshman boys soccer player named Jeff Bastings filled a pivotal role in Bartlesville's charge to the state semifinals.
Forward to 2025. A senior goalie named Klayton Bastings produced several saves to help spearhead the Bruins’ surge to the state semifinals for the first time in 30 years.
“There’s a lot of similarities on how his high school career went with mine,” said Jeff.
One of the most telling?
Bartlesville made the playoffs all four years during Jeff’s playing days (1995-98); the Bruins also qualified for the postseason during all four of Klayton’s seasons (2022-25).
Both father and son made their impact on the defensive side — Jeff as a sweeper and Klayton as a goalie.
Klayton — who had to endure a two-year apprenticeship as a reserve goalie — blossomed his senior season.
There’s no doubt that without some of his heroics the Bruins wouldn’t have made the push to the playoffs.
Going into the Bixby match on April 15 the Bruins record stood at 4-4 overall, but more importantly at 2-1 in district. A loss against Bixby — with matches against Sand Springs, Broken Arrow and Mustang upcoming — might have knocked the Bruins out of playoff contention.
But Bastings and his defense shut out Bixby in regulation and overtime and then won in a shootout — with Bastings making two penalty kick saves.
A week later, the Bruins needed to win in enemy territory in Sand Springs to clinch the playoffs.
Once again the match went to a shootout. Bastings made two penalty kick saves again and Bartlesville walked away with a 3-2 win, a 4-1 district record and a guaranteed playoff berth.
Bartlesville’s momentum then hit a slippery slope with back-to-back one-goal losses to Broken Arrow and Mustang.
Few gave the Bruins a chance to get past Tulsa Union in the opening round of the playoffs. Bartlesville won, 2-1.
Next up, the Bruins stunned Northwest Classen, 1-0, with Klayton making an incredible penalty kick save to seal the win.
“That victory was just unbelievable in my mind,” said Klayton.
Knocking off NW Classen propelled Bartlesville into the semifinals for the first time since Klayton’s dad Jeff wore a Bruin uniform in 1995 for former Bruin head coach John Timmons.
Bartlesville Bruin Klayton Bastings makes a save during an earlier season game.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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“Once I found out we were going to the semifinals for the first time in 30 years it was mind-blowing,” Klayton said, adding all he really knew about his dad’s soccer career is that he played in the semifinals his freshman year.
Jeff didn’t see a large amount of playing time that season — until the playoffs.
Timmons promoted Jeff to the starting lineup for playoff games against Booker T. Washington and Tulsa Union.
“We decided to go to a double sweeper,” Jeff explained about his promotion. He filled the second sweeper role.
“I was the final defender before the keeper,” Jeff said. “I was the last line of defense. … I wasn’t marking anyone, I just cleaned everything up.”
But following that semifinal season of 1995, the Bruins suffered first-round playoff elimination during Jeff’s final three campaigns (1996-1998) — just the opposite of Klayton’s era where the Bruins couldn’t get out of the first round from 2022-24 but advanced to the semifinals his senior year.
The soccer tradition for the Bastings siblings goes back only one generation but is heavily established.
Jeff was one of seven brothers or sisters that embraced the sport while they grew up in Bartlesville.
“I just loved it from the time I was four years old,” Jeff said. “But, eventually I had to make a choice between baseball and soccer.”
Soccer it would be.
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Bartlesville Bruin Jeff Bastings in a 1995 soccer match.
Photo provided
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Jeff’s personality, tenacity and commitment was reflected in his teammates, as well.
“We were not technical,” he said. “We did not have the skills the boys have today. We would grind it out. We would find ways to win. We didn’t have the same kids scoring every time. We just got our roles. … We had a lot of kids that wanted to win and we just worked harder than other teams.”
Although the style comparison for the 1995 and 2025 teams features some stark differences, there were some vital similarities.
“Everyone was so willing and so eager to work … as a team,” said Klayton. “The biggest differences were our team chemistry and the willingness to work with each other.”
Truth is that prior to that Klayton didn’t perceive great success for the Bruins.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect to do much this season,” said Klayton. “I didn’t have much high expectations. I mainly just wanted to enjoy the season.”
But after an 0-3 start, the Bruins began to win. And win. And win. And win.
“I think a lot of that comes down to the willingness to work hard,” Klayton said. “Sometimes it’s questionable who the better team was. Individually, other teams might have two or three players that are unbelievable, but mainly for us it was working together.”
Klayton credits head coach Cedric Muteshi for preparing the team to compete at a high level and assistant head coach Hosteen Walsh for focusing on conditioning that would later help carry the Bruins through their grueling run to greatness.
When the Bruins knocked off Sand Springs to earn a playoff spot, Klayton believed the team was capable of something special in the postseason.
First the Bruins knocked off Tulsa Union, “which was supposed to be the team to go all the way,” Klayton said.
Next up Bartlesville clipped Northwest Classen in a shootout — with Klayton making the golden save.
In the semifinal against Broken Arrow, the Tigers scored early and held on to inch past the Bruins, 1-0, into the state title game.
“We had an awesome season,” Klayton said. “I’m really proud of my guys and our team."
In addition to Klayton, other senior starters included Braxton Decker, Klayton’s cousin Austin Bastings, Lucas Vaclaw, James Wehmeyer and Jacob Robledo.
Klayton felt sharing this experience with Austin was an extra bonus. Austin established himself as one of the team’s most potent offensive forces.
“Ninety percent of our relationship comes from soccer,” Klayton said, noting they’ve been on the same teams since childhood.
But now they will be going separate ways, Austin on to college soccer. Klayton also plans to attend college but wants to play semi-pro soccer with the Bartlesville Buffaloes.
“Austin was probably one of the better players to play for the Bruins,” Jeff said. “They double-teamed and triple-teamed him all year.”
Klayton isn’t the only of the progeny of Jeff and Andrea — a former cross country runner and swimmer — to carry on the family’s soccer tradition.
Their oldest son Connor — who graduated in 2023 — starred at centerback.
Daughter Cambria focused on volleyball.
Youngest son Carter is nine years old and “will probably be better than the other two (Connor and Klayton),” Jeff said.