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5th ANNUAL Border Wars

645 Greenway Trail

Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

December 1st and 2nd, 2017

* Update 11-30-17: Adam Larriviere of Jesuit has been added to the Blue Jays' roster.

Make no mistake - the South Walton Border Wars may be an early-season tournament, but it can be a grueling event.  On Friday, wrestlers compete in Pool Rounds, often maxing-out with five matches.  The Pool Round results determine which bracket the wrestlers will compete in on Saturday.  In any given year the event features most of the Florida Panhandle schools, and other Florida schools from Jacksonville to Miami.  Georgia and Alabama usually send teams, as does Louisiana, and this year Soddy Daisy of Tennessee will join the fray.  It is not uncommon to see the likes of Tampa Prep's Anthony Artalona, a four-time Fargo Nationals winner and three-time Florida state champion, or Joey Silva of Lake Highland Prep, a four-time Florida state champion whose only loss as a junior came from Spencer Lee of Franklin Regional in Pennsylvania.  Silva won the event in 2014 and Artalona won in 2015 (both will be wrestling their senior years in the 2017-18 season).

Intermixed in all of those teams are Louisiana squads who have had a lot of success in the event.  In the previous four South Walton Border Wars tournaments, Louisiana teams have won twice, placed second twice and placed third twice.  They have won 15 championships and 11 Louisiana have been runners-up.

Below are some Louisianan highlights of the previous four tournaments.  Also included are the accomplishments of the Pickren brothers: Cody, William and Ethan.  While a freshman at South Walton High School, Cody placed 5th in the 2011 Trygg.  In 2012 he placed second at the Trygg to Rummel's two-time defending Division I state champion Matt Calcote.  In 2013, he and his freshman brother William, each won the Trygg.  William defeated Brother Martin's Steven Shields in 3:10, and Cody handed Brother Martin junior Danny Evans his first loss of the season in a 3-2 affair (Evans would not lose again until the Louisiana state championships).  The Pickrens have been regular participants in the Deep South Bayou Duals and the Jazz Town Duals.  While William will be at Arizona State this season, Ethan is back at South Walton, where he started, after he and William spent 2016 at Arnold High School. 

2013: Brusly handily won the inaugural event in 2013 behind the efforts of champions Kendon Kayser, Noah Landry and Dyllon Prejean and runners-up Baret Sanchez, Wyatt LeJeune, Trevor Schermer and Jovonte Wheeler.  Kayser, then a freshman, was voted the Outstanding Wrestler in the lower weight classes.

Brusly placed first with 168.5 points, outdistancing runner-up Clay, FL, by 61.5 points.	Kendon Kayser - 1st @ 126 lbs.	Noah Landry - 1st @ 138 lbs.	Dillon Prejean - 1st @ 195 lbs.	Kayser with the lighter weight classes Outstanding Wrestler belt

St. Paul's placed third with a championship by Tanner Leblanc.  East Ascension also had a champion in Conor Karwath.

St. Paul's placed third, 1.5 points behind Clay, FL	Tanner Leblanc - 1st @ 160 lbs.	East Ascension placed 11th	Conor Karwath - 1st @ 285 lbs.	SWHS freshman William Pickren - 1st @ 106 lbs.

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2014: Jesuit, Rummel and St. Paul's participated in the event.  The event had an amazing team race in which Vestavia Hills of Alabama defeated Springstead High School and Lake Highland Prep, both of Florida, by 1/2 of a point.  Jesuit placed 4th.  Louisiana had its share of champions though via Jesuit's Guy Patron, Jr., who was voted the outstanding wrestler in the heavier weight classes, and Dominic Carmello.  Rummel's Blake Mateu won a title, as did Colin Francis of St. Paul's.

Jesuit placed 4th	Guy Patron, Jr. - 1st @ 195 lbs.	Patron, Jr. with his OW belt...and his parents Guy, Sr. and Marie	Rummel placed 9th	Blake Mateu - 1st @ 106 lbs.

St. Paul's placed 10th	Colin Francis - 1st @ 220 lbs.	SWHS sophomore William Pickren - 1st @ 120 lbs.	SWHS senior Cody Pickren - 4th @ 145 lbs.

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2015:  Vestavia Hills repeated as team champions.  Holy Cross placed second and Jesuit third.  While not having any champions, the Tigers had four runners-up in Jacob Spahn, Cole Clement, Joey Foret and Randal Amos.  Patron, Jr. won his second title and was declared to have one of two "Best Match" awards for his finals victory.  Nathan Koenig placed second for the Blue Jays.

Holy Cross placed second	Jesuit placed 3rd	Guy Patron, Jr. - 1st @ 195 lbs.	Heavier weight classes "Best Match" winner, Guy Patron, Jr.	Arnold H.S. freshman Ethan Pickren - 1st @ 106 lbs.	Arnold H.S. junior William Pickren placed 3rd while freshman Ethan Pickren placed 1st

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2016: Last season the Holy Cross went "wire-to-wire" in winning the 2016 event, scoring 292.5 points.  Championships for the Tigers were won by Jake Rando, Joey Foret, Michael Benton and Spencer Rayes.  Jesuit placed second with 247 points behind Eli Larriviere's championship.  Shane Ulfers won a championship for St. Paul's, which placed seventh.  Rummel placed 15th with Blake Mateu placing second at 120 lbs.

Holy Cross Tigers - 1st	Jake Rando - 1st @ 152 lbs.	Joey Foret - 1st @ 170 lbs.	OW Foret with South Walton coach Carey Nick	Michael Benton - 1st @ 182 lbs.	Spencer Rayes - 1st @ 195 lbs.

Jesuit Blue Jays - 2nd	Eli Larriviere - 1st @ 145 lbs.	Shane Ulfers of St. Paul's - 1st @ 138 lbs.	Pickren Report 1: Senior William placed 2nd	SWHS sophomore Ethan Pickren placed 5th

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Louisiana teams scheduled to participate in the 2017 South Walton Border Wars, marking the fifth year of the event, are Holy Cross, Jesuit and St. Paul's.

This year it should be an interesting race to see which Louisiana team places above the others.  Jesuit should have 2017 LHSAA Division I state champion Nathan Koenig, who placed second in this event in 2015 and sixth last year, and 2017 LHSAA Division I state champion Perry Ganci, who placed fifth in this event last year.  Sam Dreuil, Paul Treuting and Thomas Arceneaux placed third for the Blue Jays in 2016, but it does not appear that either Eli Larriviere, who won the event last year, or Adam Larriviere, who placed second, will participate, as the brothers are yet to be listed on Jesuit's TrackWrestling roster.  Colby Queyrouze place eighth for the Jays in 2015.

St. Paul's is also bringing two LHSAA Division I state champions in Cole Houser and Jared Thieler, and as a team the Wolves should have five wrestlers who placed in the Border Wars' top-six in 2016.  Houser placed fourth last year via a last second score by Chace Curtis of Columbia High School (Florida).  While Thieler placed fifth, Brandon Stein placed third for the Wolves.  Grant Hughes and Jake Arena each placed 6th.

Defending tournament champion Holy Cross should not be overlooked as a possible repeat champion.  The Tigers will have 2016 Border Wars champion Spencer Rayes, fourth-place winners Jacob Spahn and Brady Butler, and fifth-place winners Caruso Signorelli and Michael Lundin.  In the 2017 LHSAA state championships, Signorelli placed 2nd while Lundin and Brady Butler placed third.  Tigers competing for the first time and who placed in the top-six at the 2017 Louisiana state championships, are Caden Mumme, who placed 4th, and Mason Macaluso, who placed fifth.  The Tigers also have the Frost brothers, Jacob and Cameron, and Colin Clement, the younger brother of 2016 Tiger graduate David Clement, and 2017 graduate Cole Clement, who won a Louisiana Division I state championship in 2016 and placed 2nd in 2017.

Louisiana State Champions Expected at the 2017 South Walton Border Wars

Cole Houser, St. Paul's 2017	Jared Thieler, St. Paul's 2017	Nathan Koenig, Jesuit 2017	Perry Ganci, Jesuit 2017

How the Louisiana state champions fared in previous Border Wars

Cole Houser - 4th for St. Paul's in 2016	Jared Thieler - 5th for St. Paul's in 2016	Nathan Koenig - 2nd for Jesuit in 2015 (5th in 2016)	Perry Ganci - 3rd for Jesuit in 2016

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Other Louisiana 2017 LHSAA state championships and/or 2016 South Walton Border War placers expected to compete include the following (2017 LHSAA state championships place, 2016 SWBW place):

Paul Treuting - Jesuit (3rd, 3rd)	Thomas Arceneaux - Jesuit (3rd, 3rd)	Sam Dreuil - Jesuit (4th, 3rd)

Caruso Signorelli - Holy Cross (2nd, 5th)	Michael Lundin - Holy Cross (3rd, 5th)	Jacob Spahn - Holy Cross (5th, 4th)	Brady Butler - Holy Cross (4th, 3rd)	Brandon Stein - St. Paul's (3rd, 3rd)	Grant Hughes - St. Paul's (3rd, 6th)

The competition in 2017 will not be easy, but no particular team stands out as a favorite. Non-Louisianan state champions expected to participate are Jack Johnson of Niceville, FL and Gavin Kane of Cambridge, GA.  Cole Maddox of Marietta High School was a Florida state runner-up for Arnold High School last year.  Luella, GA, placed 5th in the Georgia 4A Class and will have senior Daniel Reed, who was a Georgia state runner-up.  Tennessee's Soddy Daisy will have AAA runner-up Tony Wilson.  South Walton has Ethan Pickren, who won this event in 2015.  The toughest Florida team may be Clay High School of Green Cove Springs, Florida, outside of Jacksonville.  Clay placed second as a team in Florida's 1A Classification in 2017, and should bring a very solid team with transfers Daniel Porter and Stevie Chopek, as well as Peyton Hughes, who placed third last season.  Wakulla High School should also be a team championship contender and features heavyweight Darius Wilkins.  Wilkins was considered the second-best heavyweight in Florida last season.  Unfortunately for him, the best heavyweight was also from Wakulla (and won a state title).

Jack Johnson of Niceville, FL	Gavin Kane of Cambridge, GA	Cole Maddox of Marianna, FL	Tony Wilson of Soddy Daisy, TN

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