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The Jesuit Blue Jays did what no Louisiana team had done since 2011¹ - beat Brother Martin in a dual meet.  Held at Jesuit on Wednesday, January 11th, the Blue Jays won eight of the 14 matches to earn a 33-28 victory.

¹    SportsNOLA.com 01/11/2017

The student section was vocal but respective of one another's right to cheer.

Pondered since the end of the 2016 state wrestling championship, the Blue Jays showed that the Crusaders bid for a sixth consecutive Division I state championship is not a "lock." 

It was well known that Jesuit was strong in the heavier weight classes while Brother Martin's strength was in the lower weight classes.  On paper, this match was expected to be decided by the middle weight classes.  It was, but not as anyone expected.

Starting at the 195 lbs. weight class, Thomas Arceneaux put the Blue Jays ahead 3-0 with a 5-3 win over Somon Anderson.  Perry Ganci, at 220 lbs., and returning 285 lbs. state champion Corey Dublin followed with two pins, giving the Blue Jays a 15-0 lead.

As expected, the Crusaders rebounded with the lower weight classes.  Daniel Varnado and Daniel Croy scored falls over the Dreuil brothers to cut the Crusader deficit to three, 15-12.  Things were expected to get worse for the Blue Jays as Brother Martin still had two returning state champions left in the lower weight classes. 

But then, something unexpected happened that the Crusaders did not intend.  Luke Eccles, who had losses to Justin Leal of Brother Martin, Connor Oviedo of St. Paul's and Blake Mateu of Rummel, convincingly beat last year's 106 lbs. state champion, Luke Cotton, 9-6.  Eccles controlled the match with relentless offense which only ended when the match did (photo right).

Jesuit now led 18-12, but trouble loomed.  The Crusaders strung together three victories via a 7-3 decision by Lane Boudreaux, a fall by three-time defending state champion Steven Shields, and a 12-4 major decision by Benjamin Wisniewski.  All of a sudden the Crusaders were ahead 25-18.

It was time for the middle weight classes to decide the dual meet winner.

The Blue Jays' other defending state champion, Eli Larriviere, was next, and while a close match was expected against the Crusaders' Patrick Evans, one did not expect it to be a 1-0 decision in favor of the Blue Jay.  The score was now only 25-21 in favor of the Crusaders.  Nathan Koenig cut the Crusader lead to 25-24 with a 4-3 win, and the Blue Jays took a 27-25 lead after a 9-7 win by William Rosevalley.

Two matches remained - 170 lbs. and 182 lbs.  One pin by the Blue Jays would put the match away.  A regular decision win would leave the Crusaders a chance for a one-point team win with a Crusader pin in the last match.  A pin and a regular decision...

It is doubtful Treuting thought of any of the consequences riding on this match.  With only eight matches to his credit last season, this season the junior was 10-2 in Louisiana and 23-13 counting out-of-state matches.  His opponent, John Stemke, was 22-9 last season against Louisiana opponents and 18-12 this season (including out-of-state matches).  Treuting came out fast and pinned Stemke in 1:18.  That clinched the match for the Blue Jays.

(A great photo of Treuting shooting a double-leg and taking Stemke off of the mat, missed because the photographer was sipping his Sprite.)

The last match between a very improved Nathaniel Perdue vs. a "good to see you healthy enough to get on the mat" Brandon Greer.  The match was exciting, but Greer appeared "winded" near the end.  That will be remedied shortly, one would think.

Perspective

This was an exciting match to watch, and the Blue Jays certainly deserve the feeling that must have accompanied the win.  Yet anyone thinking that Brother Martin might not win the Division I Brother Melchior trophy again based upon this dual meet best think again:

1. Five of the Jesuit wins were won by a total of nine points: 9-6, 1-0, 4-3, 9-7 and 5-3;
2. Brother Martin still has the depth needed to tweak its line-up if Coach Robert Dauterive desires to do so;
3. The Crusaders lost a dual meet to Katy High School on November 11th, and then beat them by 66 points in the Cinco Ranch "Big 12" the next day;
4. Holy Cross has yet to be seen in an event including both Jesuit and Brother Martin.

Suffice to say this was an eye-opening match for both teams (as well as a few Holy Cross coaches who were in attendance).  The Crusaders are not unbeatable this season, so they no doubt will be training harder.  Jesuit will do the same as it does not take a John Nash-type mathematician to know that one or two points by Brother Martin could have resulted in a win for the Crusaders.

(More photos are forthcoming.)

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