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With only one champion the Brother Martin Crusaders still prevailed at the 2019 Louisiana Classic, besting runner-up Holy Cross by 37 points.  Jesuit placed third with St. Paul's and Teurlings Catholic rounding-out the top five teams.  The old rule prevailed - wrestle-backs win championships.

The Crusaders had finalists in the 132-pound, 138-pound, 152-pound, 160-pound and 182-pound weight classes, but only the junior Massicot was able to secure an individual title via a tough 5-4 win over Carencro's then undefeated Taylor Clay.  At 132 pounds, two-time defending Division I state champion Daniel Croy lost his second match of the season to Basile's Gavin Christ, a three-time defending Division III state champion.  Comeaux's Dyllon Bernard avenged his only prior loss in an overtime Trey Culotta semifinals match, by handing top-seeded Alex Duncan his first loss to a Louisiana wrestler this year.  Senior Seth Alfonso, the third seed, upset second-seeded Dylan Ames of Comeaux before he fell to East Ascension's Trent Mahoney for the second time this season.  Mahoney is the only Louisiana wrestler to defeat Alfonso so far this season and he almost did not make the finals, needing and then scoring three nearfall points with only seven seconds remaining to get past Holy Cross' Brady Butler.  At 182 pounds, Michael Clapp, who, like Duncan, was undefeated against Louisiana competition, made the finals from the third-seed spot but fell to Holy Cross' Caden Mumme

Holy Cross had five finalists, winning three individual titles.  The freshmen Frost* twins won at 106 pounds and 113 pounds, and Caden Mumme won at 182 pounds.  Michael Lundin was upset at 126 pounds by third-seeded Peyton Bass of Airline.  It was Lundin's first loss to a Louisiana wrestler since last year's Louisiana Classic finals.  At 170 pounds second-seeded Cameron Frost (a senior rather than a triplet) lost to top-seeded Hunter Hawkins of St. Amant.

Twins flummox the editor.

The Brother Martin Crusaders won their sixth consecutive Louisiana Classic team title, dating back to 2013.  (In 2014 the Crusaders did not participate in the event due to a team-wide malady.)	2019 Louisiana Classic Individual Champions

Top-10 Team Placers

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Champions from all three LHSAA divisions emerged from almost every wrestling region in the state (if Basile can be considered southwest Louisiana, even though Lafayette is four miles closer to the Lake Charles area, then only northeast Louisiana was not represented).  Five came from the New Orleans area, five came from the Baton Rouge area, three from the Lafayette-Lake Charles areas (that is an easier way to write it) and one came from northwest Louisiana.  Of the 14 weight classes, three were won by Division II schools and one by a Division III school.

Individual Champions by Weight

106 113 120 126 132 138 145 Evan Frost Holy Cross Jacob Frost Holy Cross Clayton Hill Live Oak Peyton Bass Airline Gavin Christ Basile Dyllon Bernard Comeaux Lance Robinson St. Michael

152 160 170 182 195 220 285 Trent Mahoney East Ascension Mason Massicot Brother Martin Hunter Hawkins St. Amant Caden Mumme Holy Cross David Bernard Teurlings Catholic Wes Brady Zachary Perry Ganci Jesuit

For Christ, Mahoney and Ganci, last weekend's wins marked their second Louisiana Classic titles.  Mahoney also recorded his 200th varsity win in the tournament.

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Once thought unbeatable by the editor, and still the favorite to win the Division I team championship, the Crusaders will be wary of Holy Cross.  It should be noted that, for the Crusaders, defending Division I state champion Patrick Evans did not compete in the event (and has not wrestled a match since he was injured in the semifinals of the Trey Culotta Invitational on December 22nd) and defending Division I state champion Connor Hoffman was injured in the quarterfinals and was unable to return.  Holy Cross also felt the sting of injury when Caruso Signorelli, a two-time Division I runner-up, was ruled to be unconscious at a point in his first-round match and, despite a doctor's examination indicating he did not suffer concussive effects, was not allowed to participate in the remainder of the event.  It is hoped all three will be healthy for the state championships.

In 2017, however, the Crusaders defeated the third-place Tigers by 58 points at this event, but Holy Cross and Jesuit took home the champion and runner-up awards.  Brother Martin was favored to win that championship but were hindered a bit as they entered 11 wrestlers with no state tournament experience.  Come February 8th, if Evans and Hoffman are able to compete, the Crusaders will enter four defending state champions (Hoffman, Croy, Evans and Mack Brown), a 2018 runner-up (the undefeated Massicot) and seven others with experience from one or more state tournaments.  Only Chase Scott at 106 pounds and Logan Bertot at 120 pounds will lack experience at that level.  If Holy Cross enters the same roster at the state championships as they did last weekend, they will have five new-to-state wrestlers: Evan Frost (who is undefeated), Dylan Lauriano, Logan Lacoste, Jake Romig and Ryan Doody (Doody place second last weekend).  The Tigers will have to "up their game" a little and get a little help from other teams if they are to win another team title.  It may come down to what little-known Jesuit wrestlers do, as for the last five years at least, relatively unknown Blue Jays have tended to do a lot more than expected at the state championships.

Outstanding Wrestler and Dale Ketelsen Team Sportsmanship Awards

In continuing his second undefeated season (his last loss was in the 2017 Louisiana Classic finals), Basile's Gavin Christ, who scored two second period falls, a technical fall and a 7-4 finals win over Croy, was voted the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler. The Jesuit Blue Jays won the Dale Ketelsen Team Sportsmanship Award, which was accepted by defending state runner-up Luke Eccles.

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Worthy of Mentioning

North Desoto's Joshua Sarpy, who was injured on January sixth of last season, made a great Louisiana Classic debut.  Seeded fifth, Partin brought a 31-4 overall record into the event, with his four losses coming from out-of-state competition, two of which were at the Beast of the East in Delaware.  After a 43-second pin in the second round, Sarpy defeated fourth seed Ethan Castex of Brother Martin 9-4 in the quarterfinals, and after falling behind in the first period of his semifinals match, used only 22 seconds to reverse and pin top-seeded Alex Yokubaitus, a two-time defending Division III state champion from St. Louis Catholic, to advance to the 113-pounds finals in which he lost a close 2-0 match to Holy Cross' Jacob Frost. 

Division II wrestlers dominated the 145-pounds weight class, taking the top three places and four of the top-six.  St. Michael's Lance Robinson defeated Charles Travasos in the finals in 2:34, and Rayne defending Division II state champion Morgan Manuel, after losing 6-2 to Travasos in the semifinals, defeated Jesuit's Colby Queyrouze to place third.  North Desoto's Richard Mack, III, another defending Division II state champion, defeated Brother Martin's Riley Horvath 10-5 in the match for fifth-place.  If wrestlers stay at the weights they were in this tournament, there may be three defending Division II state champions and a third-place finisher in the 145-pounds Division II weight class.

Miscellaneous

Nobody had a bigger fan than Carencro's Taylor Clay, whose mother brought a larger-than-life sign of her son for support.  Clay was undefeated entering the tournament and lost by a mere point to Massicot in the finals.

Shaw finalist Glenn Price (photo right) and semifinal opponent Sam Dreuil of Jesuit banged heads together in their match, literally, and later Price paid the price (!) as a burgeoning mass of blood closed his right eye. Had the bloody mass started accumulating during the match, one might have asked a medium to resurrect Burgess Meredith's Rocky role. At the very least, coaches may consider bringing jars full of blood-sucking leeches to wrestling events.

More on the 2019 Louisiana Classic will be available at a later date.

Parkway places second at Florida's Gator Brawl

The Parkway Panthers placed second at the Gator Brawl held last Saturday in Wewahitchka, Florida. Taking home individual titles were Trey Fontenot at 120 pounds (pictured left with team runner-up plaque), Caleb Garcia (160 pounds) and Connor Cloinger (220 pounds).  Joshua Keeler (106 pounds) placed second and Jordan Clark (113 pounds), Jacob Chittom (145 pounds) and Peyton Miller (195 pounds) took home third-place honors.

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