Del City Wrestling (7-1) bounced back from its first dual loss of the season to Southmoore with a dominating performance against the Norman Tigers. 

A great week for 5A’s fifth ranked team was highlighted by winning their district and taking the Piedmont tourney championship. It came to a screeching halt however when the number six ranked team in 6A hit the Eagles with a 41-25 road loss.

As a result, the Tigers found themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time when they came to John Smith Fieldhouse last Thursday as Del City got back on track with a dominating 50-21 win.

“I thought it was real important for our team to bounce back tonight after that loss over there Tuesday night at Southmoore,” said Del City Head Coach Ronnie James

Del City started off quickly with two pins to start the night.

Eagles’ wrestler Donte Brewer (106 pounds) had Yoshi Orikasa on the mat for much of the first period but it was the third takedown of the match that led to a pin at the 2:31 mark.

Teammate Zack Reed (113) followed suit immediately returning Ty Moyer to the mat after a near fall to complete the pin this time around at 1:27 to give DCHS a 12-0 lead.

Norman’s Lucas Stanfield (120) halted the Eagles momentum briefly with a pin on Kyle Alexander 2:29 seconds into the match to cut the Del City lead in half at 12-6.

The Eagles would take over the match from there with six straight victories to run their lead to a commanding 41-6.

The run started with Tre Wright (126) taking a decision victory over Jeffery Adams. Wright had control of the match with four takedowns but could never move into position for the pin.

Next, Clayton Lamb (132) took out Jordan Gedosh after a similar bout to the Wright-Adams match-up. However, this battle ended with a Lamb pin of Gedosh at the 2:56 mark.

The streak continued with Ray Merriman (138). He had a firm grasp on his dual with Daniel Mbainayel when the bout was cut short when a Mbainayel injury in the second period.

Galvin “The Monster” Millhouse (145) lived up to his nickname making quick work of Nick Popp with a pin 32 seconds into their dual. Dalton Addington (152) managed a technical fall victory over Kurt Pasque which started a string of longer matches.

“The matches at the end were all grinders. Our kids stayed in there and grinded them out,” said James. “I was really proud of the young kids at first with all the pins they got. It kind of gave us a cushion for those guys to go out and wrestle.”

The Del City run was capped off by a decision victory of Kevin Figueroa (160) over Isaiah Davis. Figueroa and Davis spent much of the match feeling each other out. Tied at 2 going into the last period, Figueroa pulled an escape late in the third period and sealed the bout with a takedown.

Lane Stephen (170) broke the streak for Norman with a decision victory after a slow paced battle with Xavier Sanders. Stephen narrowly escaped 5-4 after stalling out Sanders who desperately looked for one last takedown for the win.

Collin Kappel (182) followed up with another Tiger victory, pin at 5:26, after a slow paced battle with Matt Lamb.

Next, Nate Daniels (195) pinned Cale Stumpff for the Eagles followed by Code Parker pinning Michael Cooper for the Tigers.

The dual ended with yet another slow paced match as Laquan “Nasty” Johnson beat Nick Webb 3-1 for a decision victory. Scoreless after the first period, a second period takedown would prove decisive in Johnson’s victory and cap off the Del City dual victory 50-21.

“The biggest thing right now is to keep them aggressive, on edge and always thinking there’s something to achieve out there,” said James

The next achievement up for grabs would have been the Suburban Conference Championship but unfortunately weather has forced the championship to be rescheduled.

If weather allows, Del City will get back on the mat Thursday, Feb. 6 at home against Putnam City West.