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A once-in-five-year dual as Brother Martin travels to St. Paul

December 12th, 2019 | Written by: Editor | Amended 12-13-19

A dual meet this important this early in the season is rare. Usually one is looking in late January for matches between Brother Martin, Holy Cross and Jesuit for those schools to put the finishing touches on their lineups for the state championships. But I do not believe new head Crusader coach Andrew Nicola nor St. Paul coach Matt Pinero will deprive the public of throwing their best at one another this Friday evening at St. Paul.

I mean, why not? The teams will meet again in the Trey Culotta Invitational, the Prep Slam in Atlanta and the Louisiana Classic. The final kinks can be worked-out after those events. A dual meet like this was last seen on January 11th, 2017, when Jesuit gave Brother Martin their first Louisiana dual meet loss 33-28. And at the end of that season it was Holy Cross holding the Division I Brother Melchior Trophy. If the Crusaders and the Wolves provide as close a match as expected, and with a number of wrestlers from other Division I schools dominating their weight classes, it is possible someone else, Catholic, perhaps, could slip into being a very legitimate Division I contender.

Getting back to this match, the reader must know that the editor does not know the starting lineups and is hoping Brother Martin held back a little bit against Rummel to let some guys rest or heal. St. Paul hopefully will submit the same line-up they did on Wednesday in their 47-12 win over Catholic. And at 57 now, the editor tends to start "sundowning" about 2 p.m.

The editor gives the edge in matches to St. Paul 8-3 with three toss-ups, although the editor favors the Crusaders in two of the toss-ups. This keeps the editor alive for now, makes the editor want to stay home, but he will be available for after match chastising Friday evening. This match should come down to major decisions and pins.

Weight	Brother Martin	Record	Notes	St. Paul's	Record	Notes	Pros/Cons	Match Edges
106	Mason Elsensoln	13-1	1st at Mandeville and Blackhorse; 2nd at GCC	Jacob Houser	15-0	1st at Dale Ketelsen and Border Wars	Toss-up. Elsensohn's loss was to a 2019 Alabama 6A 3rd-placer and who remains undefeated as of 12/11/19.	Toss-up
113	Dylan Moser	12-5	9th at GCC; 5th at Blackhorse; Lost to Cuba in 2:44	Trey Faherty	10-4	2nd at Dale Ketelsen; 3rd at Border Wars; Beat Cuba 5-2	Matches vs. Catholic's Cuba gives Faherty the edge.	St. Paul
120	Jake Spellman	14-2	1st at Mandeville; 3rd at GCC; 3rd at Blackhorse	Carter Duet	13-3	2nd at Dale Ketelsen and Border Wars;	Still a toss-up. Duet's losses were to a very good Raheem Bonnet of Shaw and Jacob Frost, and both pinned Fontainebleau's Gray in the second period	Toss-up
126	Ty Duncan	5-9	15th at GCC; 7th at Mandeville and Blackhorse	Michael Radar	15-2	2nd at Dale Ketelsen; 5th at Border Wars	Radar has the varsity experience and gets the edge.	St. Paul
132	Ethan Castex	11-4	5th at GCC; 4th at Blackhorse	Sean Cripple	15-3	1st at Dale Ketelsen; 4th at Border Wars	Not enough data but Castex gets the edge via experience.	Brother Martin
138	Connor Hoffman	1-0	Beat Ramirez 5-3	Grant Nastasi	14-2	1st at Dale Ketelsen; 5th at Border Wars	Hoffman only has one match to his credit this year, but it was a good one - 5-3 over Rummel's Jacob Ramirez. Nastasi has not faced that caliber of wrestler from Louisiana. Advantage Hoffman.	Brother Martin
145	Alex Duncan	16-1	1st at Mandeville and Blackhorse; 2nd at GCC; R1 Pin over Fontan	Grant Vicknair	7-8	1st at Dale Ketelsen; R1 Pin over Fontan	Duncan's resume and experience are too much to dismiss. Advantage Duncan.	Brother Martin
152	Riley Horvath	15-2	1st at Mandeville; 2nd at GCC; 3rd at Blackhorse	Peyton Ward	15-0	1st at Dale Ketelsen and Border Wars	Horvath has worked hard for years to be a Crusader starter. Ward is more experienced in difficult matches and gets the edge.	St. Paul
160	Mason Massicot	14-2	1st at Mandeville; 2nd at GCC and Blackhorse; Beat Wyble 3-1; Beat Williams 2-1	Ben Davidson	12-1	1st at Dale Ketelsen; 2nd at Border Wars; Beat Wyble 12-2, Beat Teurlings Catholic's Travasos 14-5; Beat Shaw's Armando Amaya R2 Fall	Toss-up, and it may be the match of the evening. On paper Davidson looks stronger with his dominance of Catholic's Wyble,12-2 and his wins over Travasos and Amaya. At the Gulf Coast Clash Massicot only beat Wyble 3-1. Massicot also had a tough 2-1 win over Zachary's D'Tre Williams. Ward's closest match was a 7-4 win over Daphne, Alabama's Ethan Lassere. This match between a defending Division I state champion and a defending Division I runner-up may determine one or the other's future weight class. And again, betting against a defending state champion is tough.	Toss-up
170	Eli Hope	13-6	1st at Mandeville; 10th at GCC; 5th at Blackhorse	Blain Cascio	12-2	1st at Dale Ketelsen; 2nd at Border Wars; Beat Hunt R2 Pin	Catholic's Canon Hunt is no easy wrestler to beat and that win gives the edge to Cascio.	St. Paul
182	Anton Brown	1-0	Beat Monnerjann of Rummel	Joshua Sabadie	8-3	5th at Border Wars	Sabadie has much more experience.	St. Paul
195	Cameron Frederick	13-3	3rd at Mandeville and GCC; 2nd at Blackhorse	Evan Ulfers	12-1	1st at Dale Ketelsen; 2nd at Border Wars	Evan Ulfers appears to have learned a lot from his 2019 "out of nowhere" Division I state champion Cole, each having only one loss from the finals of the Border Wars. Advantage Ulfers.	St. Paul
220	Kyle West	0-0	No matches yet this season	Cole Ulfers	9-1	2nd at Border Wars	West is a defending Division I runner-up, but with no matches to his credit yet, he will find Cole Ulfers a tough one to beat. Advantage Ulfers.	St. Paul
285	Adam Bourgeois	1-0	Beat Delarosa of Rummel	Matthew Gros	9-5	1st at Dale Ketelsen and Bulldog Brawl	The senior Gross has too much experience for any Crusaders at 185 lbs.	St. Paul

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