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It has been too long since the Louisiana Wrestling News has covered full events, and the reader's patience is asked for a little more time before the pieces on the Jefferson Invitational, the Holy Cross @ Brother Martin dual meet and the Jacob McMillan Memorials will be completed.  Plus, little things like Christmas and attaining a third apartment tenant has delayed the editor's staunch drive to keep this Website fairly up to date.  As such, another "Update" is merited to not be completely remiss.

Jacob McMillan Memorial - December 16th at Lafayette High School - more on this event will come on the Louisiana Wrestling News Website

The Parkway Panthers showed they are definitely the team to watch in Division II, or any other tournament.  Garnering three championships, three runner-up spots and a third-place finish, the Panthers scored 229 points to win the Jacob McMillan Memorial Tournament.  Winning titles for the Panthers were Trey Fontenot at 132 lbs., Carson Sanders at 170 lbs. and Kaleb Garcia at 182 lbs.  Fontenot, a defending Division II state champion, scored a five-point throw with 20 seconds remaining in the third round to wrest the title from Church Point's Jacob Routon, who had stubbornly held a 2-0 lead for most of the match.

Comeaux High School, with175 points, came in second, followed closely by Teurlings Catholic with 172 points.  Dylan Ames at 145 lbs., Charles Hudson at 152 lbs. and Evan Richards at 160 lbs. won titles for the Spartans.  For the Rebels, Matthew Carrier at 106 lbs. and Miles Santiago at 285 lbs. won championships.

The lower weight classes Outstanding Wrestler vote ended in a tie, and the award was shared by St. Louis's Alex Yokubaitis at 113 lbs. and Rayne's Cooper Simon at 126 lbs.  Comeaux's Evan Richards, whose finals match was only his seventh since being injured at the 2017 Ken Cole Invitational won the Outstanding Wrestler award for the heavier weight classes.

The Jacob McMillan champion Parkway Panthers	Jacob McMillan runner-up Comeaux

Outstanding Wrestler award winners Alex Yokubaitis of St. Louis, Cooper Simon of Rayne and Evan Richards of Comeaux.

Church Point's Jacob Routon (2nd at 132 lbs.), Bruce Arseneaux (3rd at 160 lbs.) and Haven Dominguez (1st at 182 lbs.)

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Zachary Big Horse - December 16th at Zachary High School

In the fourth tournament in which St. Amant and East Ascension participated, the Spartans finally came out on top.  Icing on that cake may be that they broke St. Amant's three-year ownership of the Zachary Big Horse team title.  Trent Mahoney (138 lbs.), Deon Clark (220 lbs.) and Jordan Campbell (285 lbs.) won titles for the Spartans, who scored 215.5 points.  The Gators were 35.5 points behind the Spartans, but had championships from Tyree Morris (113 lbs.), Corey Brownell (120 lbs.) and Hunter Hawkins (160 lbs.).  Live Oak, with 160 points and champions in Anthony Dobson (145 lbs.) and Camdyn Ingram (152 lbs.), placed third.

Left to right: Big Horse champion Trent Mahoney, with his father and East Ascension coach Pat Mahoney and his younger brother, Zachary Colt winner Brad Mahoney; St. Amant champions Tyree Morris, Hunter Hawkins and Corey Brownell; Live Oak champion Anthony Dobson; the third-place Live Oak team

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Jefferson Parish Championships - at Grace King High School

Rummel beat 10 other teams to win the Jefferson Parish Championships by 55 points over Bonnabel.  The Raiders scored 166 points to the Bruins' 111, while Shaw placed third with 95 points.

Eight Raiders won championships: Chris Montalbano at 126 lbs., Logan Bock at 132 lbs., Matthew Schwing at 138 lbs., Alex Konnerup at 145 lbs., Dylan Hezeau at 152 lbs., Dawson Mire at 160 lbs., Peyton Kospelich at 170 lbs. and Ian Landry at 182 lbs.

Chad Baradell (106 lbs.), Sergio Maldonado (113 lbs.) and Henry White, IV (at 195 lbs.) won championships for the Bruins.  Grace King's Christian Ledet (120 lbs.) and Roberto Rivero (285 lbs.) won championships, as did John Drake (220 lbs.) of John Curtis.

4A District Duals - December 16th at Teurlings Catholic High School

Teurlings Catholic scored 155.5 points to win the Division IV, 4A Championships.  Carencro placed second with 100 points and Sam Houston placed third with 94 points.

The Rebels won nine championships: Matthew Carrier (106 lbs.), Colten Sonnier (113 lbs.), Jacob Pepiton (126 lbs.), Dylan LeBlanc (132 lbs.), Brett Schneider (138 lbs.), Charles Travasos (145 lbs.), Charles Lewis (160 lbs.), Blaise Begnaud (195 lbs.) and Miles Santiago (285 lbs.).

The Clay family of Carencro won three titles: Tyler Clay (120 lbs.), Taylor Clay (152 lbs.) and Billy Clay (182 lbs.).  Sam Houston's Mataius Lavine (170 lbs.) and Kanyn Barton (220 lbs.) won the other two titles.

Scott Pine Duals - December 16th at Airline High School

Arlington-Martin from Texas placed 1st, defeating Mustang High School of Oklahoma in the finals 33-15.  Pulaski Academy placed 3rd defeating Airline 48-25.  The Vikings had wins of 66-17 over Lakeside and 66-6 over Northwood.

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St. Amant 39-Live Oak 35 -  December 20th at St. Amant High School

Two contenders for the Greater Baton Rouge Championships team title met on December 20th, with St. Amant edging Live Oak 39-35.  The Eagles won seven of the twelve contested matches.  Live Oak forfeited two weight classes to the Gators, but had those two weight classes been contested, the match could have been won by either team.

Photos from the St. Amant-Live Oak dual meet

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Trey Culotta Invitational - December 22nd-23rd at Brother Martin High School - more on this event will come on the Louisiana Wrestling News Website

Brother Martin won the Trey Culotta Invitational for at least the seventh consecutive year.  (Records from 2007 to 2010 are not available, but the Crusaders won in 2005 and 2006, also.)  The Crusaders had three champions and scored 781.5 points.  St. Paul's placed second with 509.5 points.  Vestavia Hills, Alabama, placed third (468 points), followed by Parkway (421.5 points) and Strawberry Crest High School of Dover, Florida (414.5 points).

The 2017 Trey Culotta champion Brother Martin Crusaders	Crusader Culotta champions Ethan Castex, Daniel Croy and Connor Hoffman

Connor Hoffman (106 lbs.), Ethan Castex (113 lbs.) and defending Division I state champion Daniel Croy (126 lbs.) won championships for the Crusaders.  Cole Houser (138 lbs.) won for the Wolves and Zachary Harper (120 lbs.) won for the Panthers.  Other Louisiana winners included Camdyn Ingram of Live Oak (152 lbs.), Jacob Fereday of Catholic (170 lbs.), Dane Harter of St. Michael (182 lbs.), Matt Salinas of Airline (195 lbs.) and Wes Brady of Zachary (220 lbs.).  Cullen Tefler of Strawberry Crest won the 145 lbs. weight class and Bowman Hill of Vestavia Hills, Alabama, won at 160 lbs.

At 132 lbs., two-time defending Division III state champion Gavin Christ of Basile defeated Crusader 2016 Division I state champion and 2017 runner-up Luke Cotton, and was awarded the Outstanding Wrestler award for his accomplishments.  During the tournament Christ won with four falls, a technical fall, a major decision and a 9-3 finals victory.

East Ascension's Jordan Campbell won the 285 lbs. weight class and the Trey Culotta award.  Brown pinned all seven of the opponents he faced.

Trey Culotta Outstanding Wrestler award winner Gavin Christ of Basile High School	East Ascension's Jordan Campbell won the Trey Culotta award for winning the 285 lbs. weight class

Several as yet totally unblemished records were marred at this event.  Losing their first match to any opponent were Jared Thieler of St. Paul's and Danny Evans of Brother Martin, both to Tefler at 145 lbs.  Also losing for the first time was Brandon Stein of St. Paul's (to Croy), Trey Fontenot of Parkway (to Cotton) and Eduardo Garcia of Shaw (to Fereday).

Losing their first matches to Louisiana opponents were Luke Cotton of Brother Martin (to Christ), Jared Thieler of St. Paul's (to Evans) and Devon Clark of East Ascension (to Brady).

Remaining totally undefeated on the season were Brother Martin's Daniel Croy, Basile's Gavin Christ, Cole Houser of St. Paul's and Camdyn Ingram of Live Oak.

Remaining undefeated against Louisiana competition were Jacob Fereday of Catholic, Garrett Legendre of Brother Martin and Matt Salinas of Airline.

Listing losses is not an enjoyable aspect of the Louisiana Wrestling News editor, but it is events like this that start the seeding process for events like the Louisiana Classic and the state championships.

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