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Piedmont will send a program-record number of wrestlers to this year’s state tournament, which begins Friday morning at 10:30 at State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City.
A total of 11 Wildcats qualified at regionals in Duncan on Friday and Saturday, besting the previous high of 10 set last season.
“I’d say it was the best we’ve wrestled as a team all year long and it was a good time to do it,” head coach Erik Ford said.
Topping the list is 220-pound junior Josh Heindselman, who improved to 41-2 on the season with a win by fall over Brandon Lawton of MacArthur on his way to a regional championship.
Joining Heindselman are freshman Jayce Jantz (106 pounds) sophomore Tabor McClure (113 pounds), sophomore Bo Hardy (120 pounds), senior Logan Chappell (126 pounds), senior Nathan Morse (132), sophomore Bryce DiGiacinto (138), junior Thomas Jenkins (145) senior Fisher Johnson (152), junior Braden Culp (160) and senior Will Heindselman (195).
Heindselman enters state as Piedmont’s lone top seed and a favorite to capture his first state title after taking second last season. He will await the winner of a play-in match between Morgan Lau of Bishop McGuinness and Zane Collinsworth of Coweta to determine his first round opponent.
“If Josh wrestles like he can and like he has all year, he will have a tremendous chance to win it all,” Ford said.
Chappell is making his fourth consecutive trip to state where he’ll try to become the first Wildcat to place at state for four straight seasons. Chappell takes on Tagen Jamison of Durant, a freshman with a 34-1 record on the year.
“I know it’ll be a tough match, but we feel good about where we’re at,” Ford said. “When Logan wrestles well, he can beat anyone.”
Jantz, Culp, Morse, McClure, DiGiacinto and Jenkins are all making their first trip to state while Johnson and Will Heindselman will wrestle at state for the second time.
Culp fought off defeat twice to earn his spot. First, rallying from behind in the final 30 seconds to win by two in the consolation semifinals, then earning an escape point to emerge victorious in a grueling three overtime match for third place.
Morse took advantage of the additional slot added to the state tournament field this season to make his first state tournament appearance, but he didn’t do it the conventional way. Trailing 7-2 in the second period of the fifth place match, the senior won by fall to secure his spot.
He’ll look to make good use of the opportunity when he faces Connor Henson of Collinsville.
DiGiacinto, the hero of Piedmont’s win over Pryor at Dual State, wiggled into the field as a fourth-placer finisher at regionals with a 12-10 win in overtime of the third place match. He’ll wrestle Dylan Priddy of Claremore in a do-or-die match for the right to face top seed Cougar Anderson of Skiatook.
Jantz and Jenkins will also wrestle in the pigtail match, with win or go home odds.
“The most important match is that first one,” Ford said. “It’s a do-or-die or mindset and I like our chances in quite a few of them. It’ll be nerve-racking, though.”
Ford said he hopes as many as eight of his wrestlers can place in the top four this weekend, with Chappell, Johnson and Heindselman seen as legitimate contenders for state titles.
“We’re looking for a top three finish as a team,” he said.
