The Del City Eagles face only two challenges on their road to dual state and district champion: the Deer Creek Antlers and the Carl Albert Titans.

They crushed the first of these two 51-15 in Tuesday night’s match at Deer Creek.

The Deer Creek duel started out rough for the Eagles as Zeke Lora dominated Tanner Cole with quick accurate movements that often ended on the floor.

Eventually Cole ran out of steam and was defeated 8-0 bringing the team 5-0 in favor of the Antlers.

The next match didn’t go much better as Deer Creek’s Zack Reed pushed Patrick Cocklin all over the mat. Cocklin did manage to score 1 point with 1:29 seconds left in the third period on an escape. However it was too little to late as Reed won 5-2.

Finally Del City found the strength and agility to win a match on the back of 120 pounder Tre Wright. He used his excellent offensive skills to prevail over opponent Dayton West. Wright scored 12 points to West’s 3.

Wright also bumped the team score from 0 to 4, bringing the Eagles within 3 as they headed into the 126-pound match.

Gary Stices drew from his teammate’s momentum to out-last opponent Brennan Banks.

In the first period, both sides fought hard to control the bout, but as the periods continued, Stices won the battle for control scoring several near-fall points and tying the dual at 7 all.

If Del City ever needed a pin to fully swing the momentum their way it was now, and the Eagles delivered.

They pinned not one wrestler, but three in a row as Clayton Lamb, Ray Merriman and Gavin Millhouse pinned their men in 2:40, 1:55 and 1:09 respectfully. The Eagles were now in control of the match 15-7.

After rounds of speed and agility, Dalton Addington switched tactics for the Eagles as he beat Shaun O’Brian with brute strength. This slowed the match down some, but the excitement was just beginning. O’Brian almost had Addington down at one time, but Addington spun out of his grasp flipping over himself in the process.

Del City went on to win the round 24-9.

At 160 pounds, Kevin Figueroa also stayed with the slow tempo tactic as he took on Jacob Schimmels. It took Figueroa some time to get going, but once he did, he out hustled Schimmels to win the match 8-2.

Next proving that quickness and agility are not necessarily related to size, Xavier Sanders floated around the mat with very active, hard to attack footwork. The match looked like it would be over very quickly as Saunders held Preston Stockton to the mat for what seemed like plenty of time for a pin, but the referee didn’t see it that way. After the near pin, the Antlers took over and Stockton won 9-5. This brought the team score to 10-33.

Deer Creek still had some fight in them as Cole Pacheco controlled his match against Matt Lamb. Pacheco wrestled extremely aggressively. This tactic worked as he won 18-3. Pacheco’s hard work was too late as the score stood 33-15 with only three matches to go. Deer Creek had no chance at victory. 

Even so there was more wrestling to be had, as the 195 pounders, Del City’s Nate Daniels and Deer Creek’s Eli Hooks, were up next. Daniels made quick work of Hooks pinning him in 1:18 seconds.

The final match of the night came at 220 pounds, as Deer Creek would forfeit their final match. Although neither Michael Cooper of Del City nor Josh Housted of Deer Creek moved very quickly, they both pushed each other across the mat throughout the first period. The crowd will never know if the pushing would have continued in the later periods because Cooper pinned Housted with 20.4 seconds left.

With that, Del City pounded through their first opponent on their way to the title winning 51-15.

"I thought we performed pretty well for the most part," said Del City Head Coach Ronnie James. "I thought there was some spots we could have done better, and we came out flat in a few weights especially early. Normally we get off to an early start. We didn’t tonight but some other guys picked up the slack down the road. All in all it’s a great team win. We got one more win to win the district title"

The Eagles plan to stay healthy and ready to go as they prepare to face the Titans Jan. 23.