Piedmont wrestlers 'rusty' in win

UNIONVILLE -- Piedmont High's wrestling team improved to 7-1 with wins over Ragsdale, Wheatmore and Myers Park on their home mat Thursday night.

Piedmont edged the Ragsdale Tigers 39-37 while steamrolling through the Wheatmore Warriors (57-24) and the Myers Park Mustangs (60-24) by an average score of 59 points. Piedmont won 27 of their 41 individual matches of the day.

Piedmont is a 3A state powerhouse, winning the state title at the individual meet the past two years in a row while also capturing the Dual Team state championship three times in the previous decade (2012, 2017 and 2018).

Ragsdale placed 10th in the state at the individual 4A tournament in 2018-19, with three wrestlers placing among the top five in their respective weight classes.

The Panthers had four undefeated wrestlers on Thursday, including junior 120-pounder Tripp Collins (29-1), junior 152-pounder John Lewis (19-13), junior 160-pounder Brandon Eudy (10-12) and junior 195-pounder Aiden Stegall (9-5).

"I hope that we build a little bit of confidence," said Collins, who won an individual state title last season. "All of this is just practice and warm-ups until February. February is when it matters so hopefully we'll learn from this …"

With the team facing a 10-0 deficit against Ragsdale to start the afternoon, Piedmont earned three straight pins from Locklear, Lewis and Eudy to take the lead for good, 18-10.

Piedmont coach Jamie Belk has a lot of experience at preparing his wrestlers to peak at the right time, and early January isn't the right time.

"We were just rusty," Belk said. "It's been a while since we wrestled in a dual match and we picked up the little things such as staying in good position and focusing on what we do best. … We have to be ready each and every time we step on the mat so we don't get unprepared and don't get caught in bad spots."

Piedmont travels to Hough High School on Saturday, January 4, to compete against 4A schools in the Husky Dual wrestling tournament. The Panthers will compete in a tri-conference meet at Weddington next Thursday, Jan. 9.

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