Division I 120 Lbs.

Fini

Holy Cross junior Michael Lundin is sole Tiger on the top of the podium

LHSAA State Wrestling Tournament

Division I, 120 Pounds

May 30th, 2018 | Written by: Editor

Weight Class Synopsis

Early Championship Rounds

3rd and 5th

Division I state champion Michael Lundin of Holy Cross with the 120 lbs. bracket. At right, runner-up Justin Leal of Brother Martin, with legendary Crusader wrestler and official James Casadaban.

Place	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Name	Michael Lundin	Justin Leal	Peyton Ward	Josh FitzPatrick	Peter Kelly	Tyler Eckman
School	Holy Cross	Brother Martin	St. Paul's	Fontainebleau	Catholic	Airline
Seed	1	3	2	4	5	Unseeded
Class	Junior	Senior	Freshman	Senior	Freshman	Senior

Weight Class Synopsis

Holy Cross junior Michael Lundin literally "tilted" himself to the top of the Division I 120 lbs. seeding. His 22-1 Louisiana record included three wins over second-seeded Peyton Ward of St. Paul's and one over the third seed from Brother Martin, Justin Leal. Ward put Fontainebleau's Josh Fitzpatrick in the fourth spot via two wins over the Bulldog, and Leal put Catholic's Peter Kelly in the fifth spot. Lundin had defeated Corey Brownell, the eighth seed, via a technical fall in a dual meet, and did so again in the quarterfinals after a bye and a fall in 1:34. He had no experience against fourth and fifth seeds Josh FitzPatrick of Fontainebleau or Peter Kelly of Catholic this season. It was Fitzpatrick advancing to the semifinals, and Lundin handled the Bulldog senior easily in a 13-4 major decision.

Leal, who posted a pre-state record of 20-6 in Louisiana, had previously lost to Payton Ward, the second seed from St. Paul's, twice, but fared much better in a 3-1 second match than his first one, in which Ward pinned him in 1:21. The Crusader sophomore continued to progress after that match, losing only to Lundin by a 13-4 major decision in the Division I Dual Meet State Championships. Leal received a first round bye and pinned his next two opponents in 0:26 and 1:09 to set-up another match versus Ward in the semifinals. This time the Crusader's progression hit its nadir as he won 9-2 to advance to the finals.

Leal continued getting better and upended the talented freshman 9-2 in their third meeting to advance to the finals. His progress showed in the finals, also. Lundin defeated him via a 14-5 major decision in the January 19th Tiger-Crusader dual meet. The finals were a different story.

Lundin was initially the aggressor, but Leal countered an overstretched single-leg shot by the Tiger and spun behind him for what was briefly a 2-0 lead. The call was immediately overruled by the same official when he saw that Leal was actually out of bounds when he got behind Lundin. Later in the round it was Lundin pulling Leal down by controlling his right wrist and shoulder, which allowed him to sprawl on the Crusader and spin around for a 2-0 lead, which was how the period ended. Lundin had a little trouble escaping in the second period, but when he did he scored on a single-leg shot for a 5-0 lead. As time was running out in the second period, Leal stood up and Lundin tried to control him by inserting a cross-body ride leg. Leal, however, caught Lundin's foot, lifted it high, and the two dropped back onto the mat with Leal gaining control. The match went into the third period with Lundin holding onto a 5-2 lead, and Leal starting on the bottom. It took 35 seconds for Leal to escape Lundin's grasp and reduce Lundin's lead to 5-3. Once again the aggressor, Leal shot and lifted a high single-leg and put Lundin on the mat, tying the score at 5-5. Rather than face a Sudden Victory period, Leal decided to go for the win in the regular six minutes and he let Lundin escape and take a 7-6 lead. The strategy backfired, though, when Leal turned a single-leg shot into a double-leg takedown for an 8-5 lead. Leal escaped with 20 seconds remaining, but he could not convert his final single-leg attempt.

Ward defeated Kelly in the consolation semifinals 4-2, and faced FitzPatrick, who scored a 10-2 major decision over Airline's unseeded Tyler Eckman. As both wrestlers were based on the Northshore, they had met twice before, with Ward winning both matches via 5-3 and 7-4 decisions. Ward completed a trifecta over FitzPatrick with an 8-4 decision to place third. Kelley placed fifth, as he was seeded, defeating Eckman 5-3 to place fifth.

Early Championship Rounds