By Trey Hunter
Sports Editor
SHAWNEE – A slow, inauspicious start didn’t phase Erik Ford or his third-ranked Wildcats.
Even after dropping the first two matches and a sub-par performance from the team’s star at heavyweight, Ford remained patient. He knew Piedmont’s run was coming.
The Cats eventually fell behind, 21-6 after the first six matches. But from 126 pounds on, they didn’t miss a beat, winning the final eight matches on rout to a 48-21 win over No. 8 Coweta and advancing to the Class 5A Dual State tournament semifinals at Firelake Arena Friday.
“I knew that once we got to 126 pounds, that was our opportunity to start winning,” Ford said after the dual. “Getting to that spot was important and Mitchell Lance goes out and gets a fall, like he does, and it just kind of steamrolled from there.”
Junior Austin Cooley lost a tough, 6-1 decision to returning 170-pound state champion Talen Borror, opening the dual at 195 pounds. Freshman James Maguire followed with a close, 4-3 loss at 220. The sluggish start continued as senior Oklahoma-commit, Josh Heindselman picked up a first-period fall, but didn’t seem his usual, dominant self.
“It was kind of a weird start,” Ford said of how his team opened the dual. “They ran out a state champion against Austin (Cooley) and it was just slow to get going. Josh (Heindselman) really didn’t even wrestle well.”
After Heindselman tied the dual, 6-6, Coweta picked up three straight wins to build a 21-6 lead.
Freshman Jace Jantz avoided a major decision loss, falling 10-3 at 106 pounds before sophomore Tyler Tewell lost by fall in the first period at 113. Freshman Alan Flores lost by fall in the second round at 120 before senior Mitchell Lance turned things around for the Cats.
Lance started Piedmont’s eight-match win streak with a first-period fall at 126 pounds followed by a first-period fall by junior Tabor McClure at 132 and a second-period fall by Bryce DiGiacinto at 138 to re-gain the lead, 24-21. Junior Bo Hardy made it four straight falls, winning in the first period at 145.
Juniors Landis Scoon and Thomas Jenkins kept the team’s momentum rolling with two wins by decision at 152 and 160 pounds. Senior Braden Culp and freshman Makaveli Ramirez closed out the victory with a pair of first-period falls at 170 and 182.
“Scoon picked up a tough win against a good kid,” Ford said. “and Thomas (Jenkins) had to grind out another tough win. Both of those matches, I felt like if we got those there wasn’t much Coweta could do to beat us.
“So for them to go out there and get wins against tough guys, that’s always awesome. Plus all of those guys who got pins, we’ll take that every time.”
Piedmont moves on to face second-ranked Collinsville in the Dual State tournament semifinals. The Cardinals went 9-2 during the 2018-19 season, falling to Neosho (Mo.) and top-ranked Skiatook. They defeated No. 5 Lawton Mac Friday in the quarterfinals, 48-33.
“I know they’re tough,” Ford said of his team’s next opponent. “There is a path if we wrestle really well. They’re loaded from 106 pounds to 145 pounds and then we’re tough from 152 to 285. So hopefuelly we go out and wrestle like we can and leave it up to bonus points or win a match we’re not supposed to.”
The semifinals are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Saturday at Firelake Arena. A win would send the Cats to the state championship dual at 6 p.m.
