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This was one of the most exciting duals meets this
writer has ever witnessed. It was the Dolphins vs.
the Chiefs in 1971. It was the USSR-USA Olympic
basketball finals of 1972.
Such was the case Saturday afternoon
in the Baton Rouge River Center.
The championship of the Deep South Bayou Duals
appeared at first, in a very unlikely manner, to belong to
the Brother Martin Crusaders.
When the last whistle was blown the teams scores read
Brother Martin 29 – Jefferson, GA 28.
Brother Martin and Jefferson High School of Georgia were as
closely matched as any teams could, or should, be.
A synopsis of the match is presented below. Each weight
class mattered. For that matter, each point in each
match mattered.
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285 Pounds |
Jackson
Brown pinned Matthew Montalbano in 2:29.
The Dragons took the early lead. |
| Brother
Martin - 0 |
Jefferson -
6 |
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106 Pounds |
Mitchell
McGhee defeated Steven Shields by a major
decision, 13-2.
Brother Martin spotted an early 10 points to
Jefferson. |
| Brother
Martin - 0 |
Jefferson -
10 |
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113 Pounds |
Mason Mauro
defeated Price Joiner 7-4.
The defending state champion put
the Crusaders on the scoreboard. |
| Brother
Martin - 3 |
Jefferson -
10 |
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120 Pounds |
Ben Kelly
defeated Ryan Genco 3-0.
The replacement and perhaps new
Crusader starter wrestled a good match. |
| Brother
Martin - 3 |
Jefferson -
13 |
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126 Pounds |
Taylor
Gambill defeated Kyle Kashuba 5-1.
Gambill started a Crusader streak. |
| Brother
Martin - 6 |
Jefferson -
13 |
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132 Pounds |
Paul Klein
defeated Tanner Thurmond by a major
decision, 14-5.
The Crusaders crept to within one match of
tying. |
| Brother
Martin - 10 |
Jefferson -
13 |
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138 Pounds |
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Blaine Eisensohn pinned Josh Lester
in 0:17. |
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This is where the Brother Martin coaches
gambled a little bit. They knew 138
lbs. was not Jefferson's strongest weight
class. Eisensohn did his job, and then
some, by scoring a fall, and the Crusaders
took their first lead. |
| Brother
Martin - 16 |
Jefferson -
13 |
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145 Pounds |
Jack Dollar
defeated Austin Meyn 10-7.
The Crusaders crept to within one match of
tying. |
| Brother
Martin - 16 |
Jefferson -
16 |
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Eisensohn maneuver worked. Brother
Martin's coaches knew Jack Dollar was very,
very good. They reasoned that their
regular 145 lbs. starters, Danny Evans or
Pierce Williams, would not have fared very
well against Dollar, and might give up a
major decision, a technical fall or even a
pin. They were probably right as
Dollar handed Austin Meyn his first loss of
the year. But in doing so, the
Crusaders earned three points via the 138
lbs. and 145 lbs. weight classes, instead of
managing just a draw. |
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152 Pounds |
Mason Williams defeated Jeremy
McCloskey by a major decision, 13-5.
Another extra point proved to
be crucial as Brother Martin opened up
their second lead of the afternoon. |
| Brother
Martin - 20 |
Jefferson - 16 |
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160 Pounds |
| Caleb Little pinned
Travis Quarterman in 1:30. |
| Little was voted the
Outstanding Wrestling in the
higher weight classes for good
reason. In his seven
matches, not one opponent lasted
into the second period. |
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| Brother
Martin - 20 |
Jefferson -
22 |
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170 Pounds |
Zach Reimer
defeated Nick Comardelle 8-2.
Jefferson pulled away a little, but
one match could catch them. |
| Brother
Martin - 20 |
Jefferson -
25 |
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182 Pounds |
The Crusaders had three matches left to
make up five points. Two of the
matches put experienced Brother Martin
wrestlers on the mat, in Yehia Riles and
Josh Tapia. The third and final
match was a game but untested sophomore
in Jacob Clapp, and they did not know
what to expect from Jefferson in the
last match.
Riles had to win. If he didn't
Jefferson would have an eight point
lead, and one more win would clinch it
for the Georgia wrestlers.
Riles started off with the same
aggressive style that he used to beat
Jesuit's Guy Patron, Jr. earlier in the
day. He was the stronger wrestler,
but the Dragon wrestler was proving hard
to turn to his back. By the third
period Riles had a healthy lead but not
enough time to score enough takedowns,
then giving up escape points, to garner
a 15 point lead. But with a little
over 30 seconds remaining Riles was able
to get under Paolozzi with a double-leg
and take Lester straight to his back.
At 5:32 he scored the fall. |
Yehia Riles
pinned Johnathan Paolozzi in 5:32.
The Crusaders were up by a point. |
| Brother
Martin - 26 |
Jefferson -
25 |
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195 Pounds |
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With a one point lead a pin by Josh
Tapia would put the match firmly in
Brother Martin's hands.
Jefferson's Deshawn Lester seemed to
also know that, and he knew who was
wrestling behind him at 220 lbs.
Tapia started off with an early lead,
but Lester proved very capable himself.
At the end of regulation the two were
tied at nine apiece. At the end of
the sudden victory period the two were
tied. In the first tie-breaker
round, Tapia reversed Lester and scored
a couple of nearfall points for a 13-9
lead. Lester managed a reversal in
the second half, but no more. |
Josh Tapia
defeated Deshawn Lester 13-11 in a
tie-breaker.
Another must win for the Crusaders. |
| Brother
Martin - 29 |
Jefferson -
25 |
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220 Pounds |
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| Prior to the last match of
the tournament, the teams scores
were: Brother Martin 29 and
Jefferson 25. |
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Sophomore Jacob Clapp
was the only thing
standing in the way of a
Jefferson victory.
Clapp had some
experience in pressure
matches - he won the
Trygg Memorial, but he
had lost five matches on
the season. His
opponent was undefeated.
And his opponent added a
Jason effect, only
without a machete.
The math was simple.
A win and the Crusaders
are guaranteed the
championship. But
nobody was counting on
that. Most
expected Clapp to lose -
it was just by how much
that had people worried.
A regular decision was
fine, as the Crusaders
had a four point lead.
A major decision would
mean a tie. A
technical fall or a pin,
and Jefferson takes home
the championship trophy. |
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Paolozzi came out fast and
strong, immediately getting
inside of Clapp's arms and
bear-hugging his to his back -
but out of bounds.
Everyone knew Clapp was in for a
tough match now.
Throughout the first round
Paolozzi just muscled Clapp all
over the mat, but he could not
put the young Crusader away.
By the second period Paolozzi
looked tired. Clapp gained
some much needed confidence by
getting a bear-hug of his own
and throwing Paolozzi to his
back - but that was out of
bounds as well. Both
wrestlers were tired.
Clapp was penalized twice for
stalling, and once prior to that
for head slapping Paolozzi,
who's aggressive style he found
perturbing.
With about 15 seconds remaining,
Paolozzi had an eight point
lead. But at a restart,
Clapp was on the bottom.
With the match seemingly on the
line, Clapp escaped and time ran
out. The scoreboard read
17-10. |
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Michael
Paolozzi defeated Jacob Clapp 17-10.
Or did he? |
| Brother
Martin - 29 |
Jefferson -
28 |
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The Brother
Martin crowd was elated. They were
proud of their team and the three young
men who "sealed the deal" in the last
three matches.
But then a Jefferson coach had a word
with an official. Brusly assistant
coach Rodney Sutherland came down from
the head table to confer as well.
Word of the ensuing conversation hinged
on the first penalty point against Clapp
for head slapping. |
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The Crusader
jubilation fell faster
than White Star stock
prices on April 15th,
1912. |
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technical violations.
The third one, his
second one for stalling,
should have been a two
point penalty.
Everyone agreed.
But that one point gave
Paolozzi an 18-10
victory - a major
decision - and that gave
Jefferson another team
point, tying the match. |
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“Criteria h.” |
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In politics, that means
President Vilsack.
The current
Secretary of Agriculture
need only be the one not
in the capitol when it
blows up during a State
of The Union address.
The Secretary of
Agriculture is the
eighth in the legal
order of Presidential
succession.
(The Secretary of
the Interior would be
the eighth, as well as
the first female
Commander-in-Chief, but
Sally Jewel was born in
the United Kingdom.)
Wrestling rulebooks are
probably read as often
as automobile owner’s
manuals.
But they come
in handy around Daylight
Savings Time, don’t they
(most certainly to
change a clock on a 2003
Saturn).
Pages 46 and 47 came in
handy on this day
(photo: left).
As
luck would have it the
venerable rules
interpreter Cliff
Strider was on the
scene.
A conference at
the scoring table began
to determine how to
break the tie.
No
team points were
deducted for flagrant
misconduct on the part
of any wrestlers or team
personnel.
No team points
were deducted for head
coaching misconduct.
No team points
were deducted for
wrestler misconduct.
Each team was
found to have won seven
matches.
Each team had the
same number of falls
(1), and there were no
disqualifications,
defaults or forfeits.
Each team had the
same number of technical
falls (0).
Each team had the
same number of major
decisions (2).
Then came “Criteria h.”
The team with the
most total first match
points was declared the
winner.
Brother Martin
had 15.
Jefferson had 12.
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By the skin of their
teeth - nay - by the
valence shells of the
skin of their teeth,
Brother Martin had their
first Deep South Bayou
Duals championship.*
[* Reference made on
behalf of Live Oak's
Coach Chris Collier.] |
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