Fini

I thought my choices this year would be a little more difficult, but while some may have been different had the season not been COVIDED (I just coined that - it's mine!) most of them were pretty straight-forward picks.  There were a few choices that required some inordinate amount of research, and one that involved cloning two wrestlers, but I think the choices make sense. 

The reader, of course, has every right to disagree and I will be happy to explain my reasoning further if asked.  Comment and complaints are welcome (but let's keep the death threats at a minimum, please) may be sent to editor@lawrestlingnews.com. 

I sent most of these to the schools.  Ernie Perry, III's was sent to his house.  Jacob Frost and Charles Sauerwin, III were sent to the Frost household.  Brad Mahoney's and Gavin Soniat's were sent to Coach Mahoney's address.

Evan, Evan, Evan...  I notice that it said "Ethan" when I pulled into the Total Postal Solutions parking lot.  I had just returned from Jefferson Trophies and Awards where they changed "Austin Freeman" to "Ashton Freeman" while I waited and at no charge, despite my letting them know the fault was mine re using the wrong names.  I have since fixed Evan's and will mail it Tuesday to the Frost household.

Weight	Winner	Notes
	Landon Reaux Southside 106 Pounds	The sophomore from Southside had a better season than I bet he imagined he would.  In his two biggest matches against opponents who had previously defeated him by margins of 6-5 and 7-5 SV, Reaux came from behind in the two biggest matches of the season.  In the Louisiana Classic finals Reaux was down 7-2 to Teurlings Catholic's Ashton Sonnier in the third round.  Reaux just turned 180 degrees on his knees, jumped forward into Sonnier and pinned him in 5:13.  In the Division I state championship finals against undefeated Dylan Moser of Brother Martin, Moser let Reaux escape with 49 seconds remaining, leading 6-5.  He forced Reaux to score a takedown and maintain control of Moser to win the match in regulations.  With seven seconds remaining, Reaux did both, won the state title 7-6 and was voted the Division I Outstanding Wrestler.  Reaux finished the season 20-2.
	Ernie Perry, III Airline 113 Pounds	Perry remained undefeated and won his second Division I title after a very tough 2-1 finals win over Mason Elsensohn of Brother Martin.  Prior to that he won the Louisiana Classic. where he was expected to meet Elsensohn in the finals.  But the Crusader wrestler was upset by Teurlings Catholic's Ethan Boudreaux, whom Perry beat 12-4.  Only a sophomore, Perry is still on track to become the fifth wrestler to win four consecutive Division I state championships.  (Paul Klein and Steven Shields of Brother Martin did it in 2015 and 2017, and most probably the Holy Cross Frost twins, Evan and Jacob, will do it next season.)  Perry's final record was 10-0.
	Glenn Price Shaw 120 Pounds	Price's first Frost-free season was spectacular.  He won the Louisiana Classic and his third Division II state championship.  He beat the Division I champion, Jacob Houser of St. Paul, and the Division I favorite, Dylan Lauriano of Holy Cross (Lauriano hada great year but he finished fourth in the state championships).  Next season Price is looking to be Shaw's first four-time Division II state champion, and the first Division II wrestler to win four consecutive titles since Teurlings Catholic's Brock Bonin in 2016.  Price was undefeated in his 20 matches.
	Charles Sauerwin, III Holy Cross 126 Pounds	Sauerwin surprised everyone when he beat Brother Martin's two-time Division I runner-up Ethan Castex in a January 6th dual meet.  He surprise more people when he defeated Castex again in the Louisiana Classic finals.  And no doubt many were still surprised when he defeated Castex 7-6 in the Division I state finals.  His only loss was to a Georgia wrestler in the finals of a Georgia tournament, and hence I do not count that loss.  He finished with a record of 24-0.
	Evan Frost Holy Cross 132 Pounds	At some point in her storied career Edith Head had to wonder "Where am I going to put this Academy Award?"  She won eight of them, including four in four years, for designing the costumes for movies including All About Eve, Samson and Delilah, Roman Holiday and The Sting.  It looks as though Evan Frost is facing the same dilemma with these LWN glorified paperweights.  In his junior season the Tiger completed a third season in which he was undefeated in Louisiana, won his third Louisiana Classic title and his third Division I state championship.
	Jacob Frost Holy Cross 138 Pounds	At some point in her storied career Edith Head had to wonder "Where am I going to put this Academy Award?"  She won eight of them, including four in four years, for designing the costumes for movies including The Heiress, Sabrina, The Facts of Life and A Place in the Sun.  It looks as though Jacob Frost is facing the same dilemma with these LWN glorified paperweights.  In his junior season the Tiger completed a third season in which he was undefeated in Louisiana, won his third Louisiana Classic title and his third Division I state championship.  (This explanation looks eerily similar to the one above it.)
	Jacob Ramirez Rummel 145 Pounds	Some people might disagree with this choice because the only tournament Ramirez won was at the Division II state championships.  They do not realize, though, that Ramirez wrestles for the best individual wins, not the hardware.  That is why he jumped up two weight classes to 160 lbs. to  wrestle defending Division I state champion Peyton Ward.  It is why he dropped to 138 lbs. at the Louisiana Classic when past matches indicate he could have easily won the event at 145 lbs.  But Holy Cross' Jacob Frost was not at 145 lbs.  He was at 138 lbs.  Ramirez lost both matches, but he showed that he wants to face the most talented competition he can find.  And devastating wins over Andrew Trahan, Voltaire Sanders, Zachary Lauland, Trent Trouth and, well, anyone from Shaw, prove his worth just fine.
	Andrew Trahan Brusly 152 Pounds	I am looking for the wrestler I think had the best season at a particular weight class.  At 152 lbs. I bet Rayden Ingram and Luke Battaglia come to mind.  But did they have the season Trahan had?  Not even close.  Ingram won the Trey Culotta over Battaglia did not appear again until the state championships, at which he lost twice.  Battaglia only had the one loss to Ingram before state, but he did not win a tournament, having been upset by Jacob Romig.  The highlight of his season, understandably, may have been avenging his Trey Culotta loss to Ingram in the consolation semifinals at state via a Major Decision.  As for Trahan, he won the Brusly Round Robin, the Jacob McMillan Memorial, the Brusly Invitational, the Louisiana Classic (over the Division II state champion and with the Division I champion and runner-up in the weight class), as well as his third consecutive Division III state championship.  That is a tough 18-3 season to beat!
	Peyton Ward St. Paul 160 Pounds	Peyton Ward went through this season with quiet determination and a laser focus.  (OK, I wanted to use "blinding focus" as an oxymoron, but neither my mother nor I could really make it work.  She suggested "laser.")  The 160 lbs. weight class was not really mentioned much - everyone knew that Ward owned it, and that Brother Martin's Rocco Horvath was a year away from breaking into Ward's league.  Aside from his second Division I championship he also won the Louisiana Classic title he came so close to winning last season.  Ward finished 16-0 and earned this glorified paperweight.
	Brad Mahoney East Ascension 170 Pounds	Yes, Brad Mahoney's award is bigger than the other ones.  It is not because he was 49-0 with 46 falls, or that he managed to win five tournaments.  The difference in design has nothing to do with the accomplishments of the other wrestlers on this list.  Brad did not earn the extra marble, engraving, pencil sharpener or pen for anything he did this season.  He earned it, nobly, over the three seasons prior to this one.  The other ones are a perfect size.  They are, in fact, the same size as the Gordon C. Atwater Geology Award I received at St. Martin's in 1981.  Of course, in 1981 we had to endure a world-wide marble shortage, which is why Jeff Martin's award in 1980 (3rd in Division II in 1978 and 1979) was larger than mine, but not nearly as large as my sister's in 1977.  And that has never, ever, never-ever-never bothered me at all whatsoever who said it did?  (I just cannot believe that Jefferson Trophies and Awards put their sticker on upside-down.)
	Shad Sheffie St. Michael 182 Pounds	I stand by my choice but understand that Jude Monaco has every right to feel slighted.  Both wrestlers had great seasons.  Monaco was 12-0 and won both a Louisiana Classic and a D2 state championship.  Sheffie was 23-0 and won the Spartan, the Jacob McMillan and his second D3 state championship.  The two did not have any common opponents so I needed a good reason to lend credence to my choice.  I found one, the Central High School type - an Austin Reason, who placed third in D1 behind Cascio and Driggers.  Reason and Monaco did not meet during the season, but both have St. Paul state champion Blain Cascio in common.  Monaco defeated Cascio twice by scores of 3-1 and 4-3 TB-1.  That puts Cascio and Monaco pretty close talent-wise; close enough in this scenario to call them Monacascio.  Monacascio decisioned Reason 10-2.  Sheffie pinned Reason in 2:12.  Steven Driggers and Cascio were tied 2-2 when Driggers was forced to withdraw from the 182 lbs. state finals match.  Driggers pinned Reason in 3:12.  That can give Driggers a theoretical edge over Monacascio, although we will never know if that is true.  D3 state champion Baylor Waggoner defeated Driggers 8-4.  Sheffie pinned Waggoner in 4:00.  Aside from Cascio, Monaco's "quality wins" were over Wade Rist, who placed third in D3, Neil Borne, who placed 5th in D2 and Lawrence Hoffman, a D1 sixth-place finisher.  Sheffie also had wins over D2 state champion Reid Bourgeois, D3 runner-up Trace Morrow, D1 4th-placer Brennan Bennett, 2x D2 5th-placers and a D3 fifth-place winner.  Nothing ill may be said about Monaco's season.  I simply believe Sheffie persevered against stronger competition.
	Corey Hyatt Sulphur 195 Pounds	In 2020 Corey Hyatt was two matches away from the consolation placement matches as a freshman.  This season, he just skipped that side of the brackets.  Out of nowhere this kid, now a sophomore, introduced himself as a third seed at the Louisiana Classic and never looked back.  His closest match in his 12-0 season was a 7-4 win over North Desoto's Dylan Olivier.  That was one of only four matches in which he did not pin his opponent.  Four of those pins came in the state championships.  Two more years of Hyatt should be fun.  (Yes, I could have used "a riot," but thought better of it all on my own.)
	Ashton Freeman Zachary 220 Pounds	Freeman probably had the toughest 13-0 record in the state.  At 285 lbs. he won a 3-2 match against East Ascension's Gavin Soniat in a January 9th dual meet.  In the Louisiana Classic semifinals he survived a 6-5 UTB match against Jesuit's Spencer Lanosga.  After that he had another overtime match, again versus Soniat, which ended in a Freeman pin in 7:53.  After that one should relish going down to 220 lbs. if they can.  Getting to the Division I 220 lbs. finals was easier than getting to the LACL 285 finals.  Getting out of them with a win - well, that's another story altogether.  Freeman faced Holy Cross' Cole Baiamonte in the finals, and that finally ended in Freeman's favor in a 3-2 UTB match.  Freeman also has to know that while Soniat will graduate, Baiamonte and Lanosga will just get better come the start of the 2021-22 season.  (The photo to the left is the original paperweight that I had emended.)
	Gavin Soniat East Ascension 285 Pounds	Soniat's two losses were both to Freeman.  He won his 20 other matches, which included a Jacob McMillan Memorial championship.  Prior to the state championships Soniat defeated the D3 state champion, John Drake of John Curtis, Division I fourth-place winner Caleb Harris of Sulphur (twice), Division I third-place winner Christian Mannino of Catholic and Division III fifth-place winner Anphrony Guillory of Basile.  In the state finals he did what nobody else could do all season - he pinned Jesuit freshman Spencer Lanosga in 1:19.
	Camille Tyra Photography	I cannot thank my daughter enough for helping photograph this event.  Too many times when I saw a very good picture I checked the properties and the details of it, an much more often than not it was taken with a Canon 70D or 80D, and not the 7D Mark II I used through the event.  I'll keep her, if she will let me.
	Martin Muller Rocks	That award to the left, my friends, is the awe-inspiring Atwater, short for "Gordon Atwater Memorial Geology Award," which is given to the Outstanding Geology Student at St. Martin's.  It is also 3"x3"  of marble.  Geology, of course, entails much more than just the study of rocks.  It is also includes mineralogy, erosion, tectonics and a slew of other things.  Hence, when "Martin Muller Rocks" is read, it should be read with gusto and without a pause - just "Martin Muller Rocks," and an exclamation point or many should be inferred behind that.  I mean, many of you must have seen the varying types of sunglasses I wear in the gyms and other venues.  That is too "kewl" to not want to say "Martin Muller Rocks!!!"

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