By Trey Hunter
Sports Editor
Piedmont’s wrestling team hits the mats for the first time this season Saturday and Sunday and head coach Erik Ford is excited about what lies ahead.
The Wildcats return seven state placers to a squad that finished fourth at last season’s State Tournament, a foundation to build upon according to Ford.
“Our goal is to continue to get better and find ways to have a better finish,” the ninth-year coach said. “We have 10 guys in the room that have wrestled in the state tournament and we’re going to look to have a better run this year maybe into the top one, two or three in the state.”
Piedmont returns four of seven state qualifiers from a year ago, including 220-pound state champion and Oklahoma-commit Josh Heindelman, Bo Hardy and Tabor McClure also return as state placers, Hardy placing third last year at 120 pounds and McClure finishing fourth at 113 pounds.
“Josh is a phenomenal wrestler and finished as high as sixth-ranked in the country last year,” Ford said. “He’s a workhorse and wants to get better every day. He’s also grown in the aspect of being a leader. He’s going to make sure the whole team is pushing in practice.”
Ford will look to Hardy and Tabor to build off their sophomore campaigns.
“Bo is just a really good competitor,” he said. “He’s a guy we know will preform when the lights are the brightest. Tabor was really consistent and competitive last year. He’s a good athlete on the mat and uses it to his advantage.”
Culp, who is currently still playing football as well as Hardy, could be used at different weight classes this season.
“Braden was a close match away from being a placer last year,” Ford said. “He’s a methodical worker and super talented. He should separate himself and gain some distance on those guys from his weight class last year. We might bump him up to 170 pounds this year and maybe use him at 182 too.”
Mitchell Lantz, Jace Jantz, Bryce DiGicinto and Thomas Jenkins will also be keys for the team according to Ford.
Lantz could plug in at 126 or 132 pounds. His high school career has been plagued by injuries, but he was regional champion and state qualifier as a freshman before being derailed during his sophomore or junior campaigns.
Jantz wrestled last year at 106 pounds as a freshman and has become somewhat of a team favorite Ford says. Ford also says Jantz has improved tremendously and could knock on the door of being a state placer his season.
DiGicinto stepped into the lineup at 138 pounds and wrestled up to 152 pounds as sophmore last year. He has already wrestled in a tournament in October and will be ready to step up this weekend.
Jenkins, a senior, wrestled all over the lineup for Piedmont last year and has been a state qualifier at 145 pounds. Ford will look to his athleticism and grind-it-out style this year.
The Wildcats will also feature a pair of newcomers this season, including Landis Scoon and Austin Cooley. Scoon has been a state qualifier at Yukon and Cooley a state qualifier from Texas, adding even more firepower and depth to Piedmont’s squad.
Ford’s main goal for his team coming into the year is to be fundamentally sound.
“We’re all going to do what we consider the basics,” he said. “It starts with position, hand fighting and aggressiveness on our feet. Outside of that I wouldn’t say we have a style. We try to coach to the kids’ individual styles, but the basic principals are the same.”
The season gets underway this Saturday as the Wildcats travel to Yukon for the 2018 Yukon Open. The Cats will wrestle in the Midwest City Open on Nov. 17 and the Pre-Turkey Tournament in Tuttle on Nov. 22 before hosting the first dual of the season against Yukon on Nov. 29.
“We’ve had a good month or so of working and getting ready for the start of the season,” Ford said. “We’re starting to ramp things up and guys are starting to get more focused. The first competition is always a little shock. You can’t mimic live wrestling in a practice room. It’s just a different feel. But it’s on to the next phase and then the next until we get to our ultimate goal of reaching Dual State and the State Tournament.”
The Yukon Open is set to start at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
