By Trey Hunter
Sports Editor
The Wildcats checked off a box Thursday night that had been empty for eight years.
In front of a packed house, No. 4 Piedmont knocked off Canadian County rival Yukon 39-24, marking the first time the Cats have started the dual season 1-0 under coach Erik Ford.
“We’ll take it,” Ford said after the victory. “We wrestle them every year to start the season and that’s the first time we’ve beaten them. So it’s definitely a big win for us.”
After starting slow and falling behind 9-0 through two matches, Alan Flores and Jeremy Stuckett tied the dual and sparked the team’s comeback.
Flores grinded out a two-overtime decision over Toby Gilbert, sealing the win with a two-point reversal in the second overtime. Stuckett followed with a second-period fall over Kylon Chaparro to tie the dual 9-9.
“Alan’s win kind of woke us up and got us started,” Ford said. “It got the crowd going and everybody into it. Then we followed with another big win at 126 pounds. Those were a couple of matches I wasn’t sure how they were going to go. For them to go in our favor was really big.”
The Class 6A No. 8 Millers jumped back out to a 18-9 lead after a fall at 132 pounds and a decision at 138 before the Cats ran off six wins in the final seven matches to seal the victory.
Tabor McClure picked up a technical fall at 145 pounds, knocking off Jimmie Knight with 16 straight points to cut Yukon’s lead to four. Former Miller, Landis Scoon, tied the dual once again with a major decision over Seth Cortez at 152 pounds.
Bryce Digiacinto regained the lead for good, defeating Austin Billy at 160 pounds before Thomas Jenkins pinned Shane Scott for a 27-18 advantage. Newcomer Austin Cooley, a move-in from Texas, grinded out his first win at Piedmont, 2-1 over Brandon Donoho, followed by Braden Culp who picked up a major decision over Conner Columbus at 195 pounds.
The Cats forfeited at 220 pounds before Josh Heindselman wrapped up the victory with a technical fall over Ashton Aldridge at 285.
“They’re a good team,” Ford said of Yukon’s squad. “We wrestled well in spots and just well enough in other spots and figured out a way to win it. Definitely a good way to start the season.”
Piedmont looks to keep things rolling in a second of three Canadian County clashes to start the year. The Cats travel to No. 8 El Reno Tuesday before hosting Class 6A No. 3 Mustang next Thursday at home.
