Blane Culp's upset propels Piedmont past Deer Creek

Piedmont wrestling coach Erik Ford likes where his team is headed early in the season.

The Wildcats upset Class 5A No. 4 Deer Creek 31-30 in a dual Thursday night, aided by Blane Culp’s upset of defending state champion Cole Pacheco.

“We’ve wanted that matchup all season since he got out of football,” Ford said. “We had been talking about wrestling Pacheco and how we want to use it as a measuring stick to see where we’re at this year.”

Ford added that it’s probably been 10 years since Piedmont last beat Deer Creek in wrestling.

And the next-to-last match sealed it all.

Pacheco jumped to a 2-1 lead before Culp landed a takedown in the second period. Culp went on to win the match 9-4.

Rallying was the theme of the night.

Piedmont, ranked No. 5 in Class 4A, fell behind 18-3 before winning five straight matches.

“We weren’t going to give it up easy just because we got down early,” Ford said.

– By Jacob Unruh