By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
Highly ranked teams from as far away as Missouri and New Mexico will travel to tiny Geary, America (population 982 as of 2021) this week for the nation’s oldest continuously running invitational wrestling tournament, which begins Friday morning at Geary High School.
Piedmont’s wrestling program will be part of the 78th annual invitation-only field this year, an honor head coach Erik Ford does not take for granted.
“We’ve built up a competitive enough program to be invited back and I think that says a lot about the health of our program,” he said. “We wrestle a tough schedule, but this is the toughest tournament we enter all season.”
The fun part is the invitation to compete, but the stress begins once the wrestling is underway. The tournament isn’t seeded from best to worst, instead the organizers use blind draws to map out the bracket. Which means the top two wrestlers at any given weight could meet in the opening rounds.
“It’s a meat grinder,” Ford said. “You know almost every match will be a barn-burner.”
Piedmont’s best-ever finish at Geary is fifth in 2019. With a relatively young roster, that could be a difficult bar for this team to reach, but the Wildcats have a handful of wrestlers that could earn a prestigious Geary medal. Those are handed out to the top five wrestlers at each weight.
Depending on the how the brackets shake out, competitors have to win a minimum of three matches and possibly as many as five to place top five.
“Geary will not be indicative of how we’re wrestling, depending on how it goes,” Ford said. “It’s a growth opportunity for our kids because it won’t get any tougher than this weekend.”
Piedmont’s Cash Donnell, Brogan Hardy, Jayden Fuston and Jesse Knapp have wrestled well early in the season, but depending on individual draws, several Wildcats could earn medals.
In its final match before Geary, PHS on Tuesday hammered Mustang, 56-24.
“We’re in a good spot coming out of the break,” Ford said.
Piedmont will make the 50-minute drive back and forth to Geary, but teams from farther away — particularly the ones from out of state — find some interesting accommodations. There are only a few hotels and motels in the area, so teams stay in homes and churches in Geary and it’s not unheard of for some teams to sleep in classrooms at the school.
“People really want to wrestle in this tournament,” Ford said.
DONNELL OUT TO DEFEND TITLE
In more than a decade, Piedmont has had two champions emerge at Geary. Josh Heindselman, a two-time state champ who now stars at the University of Oklahoma, won his weight class as senior. Donnell, a 120-pound junior, is the ‘Cats’ other champion and he will set out to defend his crown this week.
Donnell won the 113-pound bracket last year and will put his 45-match winning streak on the line in what could be the biggest challenge he faces this season.
“He has a chance, but it’ll be a tough route,” Ford said. “He could wrestle three or four of the best guys he will see all year long.”
Donnell’s won’t shy away from being everyone’s top target this week, Ford said.
“Everyone is aware of who he is, but (Cash) takes every match the same. He expects their best shot every time he gets on the mat,” Ford said. “He loves to compete and he enjoys the process of getting prepared.”
