WE ARE WRESTLING-SPECIFIC MEDIA

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Fifteen wrestlers and six coaches were at the SORTC at Rummel on Tuesday afternoon practicing for the USA Wrestling Junior and 16U Nationals, sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps, in Fargo, North Dakota. As far as "off season" (if such a thing exists any longer) tournaments go, "Fargo" is the Holy Grail.  The trek to Fargo leads one perilously close, 155 miles perilously close, to Canada.  And inside the doors of the Fargo Dome the perils do not stop.  The best wrestlers in the nation are there, and they have all faced the Rabbit of Caerbannog on the way - and survived without using the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

(Click the event logo for a schedule synopsis and a link to the full schedule of events)

I apologize as I should not beleaguer the reader with baseball inanity (whether it bemajor or beminor).  The important thing is that the  young men will compete with the best of the best in North Dakota, which aside from Roger Maris spawned Angie Dickinson, Louis L'Amour, Eric Severeid and Lawrence Welk.  Without wrestling, most kids would never visit Fargo, or be that close to Canada's bottom.

The young men I saw there, as well as some listed on the Louisiana USA Facebook page, are listed below:

* LHSAA State Champions

**  These wrestlers are  not listed as competing on the Louisiana USA Wrestling Facebook page

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Coaching the young men were Kevon Dre Powell of Rummel and Dustin Burton of North Desoto.  Assisting them were newly tapped Jesuit head coach Jonathan Orillion, 2019 East Jefferson graduate and current Iowa Lakes wrestler Alex Lozano and the 2014 and 2015 Division III state champion for Brusly, after which he spent his junior and senior years in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Kendon Kayser.  Kayser is now a coach at Bayou Elite.

Sam Jones, Coach Dustin Burton and Collin Bell	Coaches Kendon Kayser and Kevon Dre Powell	Michael Klein, Landen Modica and Coach Kayser	Kayser and Coach Jon Orillion

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Want to buy "It," has "It" and invented "It."  Spencer Lanosga, Jeremiah Raney and Ashton Freeman	Alex Lozano giving Trace Morrow a lift somewhere	Nick McClendon, who failed to keep the editor apprised of his growth since February, working with Bell	Klein shooting on Modica

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Logan Olsen giving Kaiden Triche a leg up	Hunter Addison working on Ty Parker	Lozano learning the hard way about "mugging" for the LWN cameras

Dancing, auditioning for the next "Planet of the Apes" series, mocking someone - it is Jacob Ramirez, who has been the best wrestler in his weight class over the last two seasons.  He can do what he wants on his "home" mat.

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While I was at the SORTC Jim Ravannack stopped by for whatever reason he might like.  He asked me what size jacket I wore, and then said "Large?"  I did not know why he was asking, and while I might have answered "42 Regular" to some, my first thought was to ask, "how high?"  Jim has been a great help to me over the years, so, while it is within his purview to do whatever he likes, I did not expect that a mere five minutes later he would give me a set of "Louisiana National Team" gear, including shorts, a shirt and a jacket.  Were circumstances different I would love to travel with a group of young men like the ones I photographed, to the Peace Garden State.  While I cannot go to Fargo, I still have to do battle with FloWrestling's ridiculously not easy interfaces.  I shall try to emulate Edward R. Murrow and report the news from Fargo as Murrow did from London during WWII (sans any aerial bombardment of River Ridge).  If there is no Louisiana National Team cat, I know of a volunteer.)

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