Trent Coots Wins State Wrestling Title; Three Other Mat Cougars Earn Medal

The turning point in his 2018-2019 wrestling season is something that Trent Coots can quickly point out.

The Piedmont Academy junior went from the 138 weight division to 132. The move paid big dividends at Coots captured the GISA state wrestling title this past weekend in Americus.

“I thought wrestling at 132 would be my best opportunity,” Coots said. “Winning state is a big accomplishment and it has been very exciting for me.”

Coots, who won each of his state matches by pin, also considers it an unique accomplishment to be coached by his brother Kaden Miller. In fact Coots talked about Piedmont’s family wrestling history as he recalled the school’s first state champion, Ryan Young, was coached by his father, Darrell.

“It’s neat to have those family connections,” Coots said.

Once the Mat Cougar standout reached the championship match it appeared his run for the first-place medal might come to an end. He trailed 10-0 and another take down by his opponent would have ended the match on a technical fall.

As the second period began Coots chose the neutral position and was able to get his opponent on the mat for the pin.

Coots said he is now set to prepare for the upcoming Piedmont track season. Last season Coots won the region title in the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs. He said earlier this week his goal is to compete for state championships in those events this spring as well.

The Piedmont wrestling team also brought home state medals from Logan Conner (third, 195), Gray Morgan (fifth, 285) and Eric Tobler (sixth, 170.)

Going into the state finals coach Kaden Miller said he believed the Mat Cougars would be able to excel on the state’s biggest wrestling stage.

“Trent’s performance was very impressive,” said the coach. “You could tell he really wanted it. We felt the drop down in weight class would benefit him and it certainly turned out that way because of his hard work.”

Coots also trailed 5-0 in his semifinal match before rallying for a win by pinfall.

“The program hasn’t had a state championship since the early 2000s,” Miller said. “It is special to be a part of it this year.”

Conner narrowly missed winning a state title himself.

“I was very pleased with his performance,” Miller said. “Logan had a tough match in the semis and his opponent outlasted him by a point. To wrestle a match that went into overtime and then come back and win two more matches to get third is an accomplishment. Logan’s goal was to win state so he had to put the disappointment of that loss behind him.”

Morgan wrestled well, his coach said, but had a couple of matches go against him.

“It is tough being on the big state,” Miller said. “He was upset in the quarterfinals but he bounced back as well.”

Tobler’s sixth place finish gave him experience at the state level.

“We like the future for this program,” Miller said. “We increased our number of wrestlers this year. We believe that Trent winning state will help generate more participants for our team next season.”