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CCCXIV	XXJXXIV	XLXVIII	CXXXIX	CXXXI	CXIX

In days of yore an event like the Crusader Duals, at which six teams competed against each other in dual meet formats, may have been reported akin to the above visual.  OK, without the school logos or mascots (certainly without the new Teurlings Catholic logo).  And perhaps the Roman numerals are a tad much, but the text could have easily read "Host Brother Martin won the Crusaders Duals on Saturday, outscoring second place Teurlings Catholic 314 points to 274 points.  In third place was East Ascension with 168 points, followed by De la Salle with 139, Rummel with 131 and Sam Houston with 119."

The concept of adding dual meet scores to determine the winners of tri-meets, quad-meets, etc., appears to have been eradicated, thankfully. 

What one should take away from the Crusader Duals is how Brother Martin completely dominated their opposition.  In their closest match they dismantled Teurlings Catholic 48-21.  That is a 27-point margin against the second strongest squad in the event, as well as the heavy favorite to win the Division II state championship for the 10th time in the last dozen years.  The Rebels had five defending Division II state champions competing – Ashton Sonnier, Ethan Boudreaux, John Paul Travasos, Reid Bergeron and Joel Lanclos.   Three Division I finalists, Mason Elsensohn, Kent Burandt and Rocco Mediate, were on the Brother Martin roster.  Some may consider that “a wash,” strength-wise.  But then add the Crusaders’ freshman Richie Clementi and sophomores Jacob Elsensohn and Hunter Chabert to the Brother Martin mix.  That makes the Crusaders something that “starts with a capital ‘T’ and that rhymes with ‘P’ and that stands for pool.”  (Lesser geeks might not recall 1962’s The Music Man and “Ya Got Trouble.”  That is probably a good thing.)

(I did not take any photographs at the Crusader Duals.  I spectated, in public, for all to see.  People may talk, but I have not spectated at a wrestling event in over a decade.  I did not evenput my camera gear in the car  OK, I left a point-and-shoot Canon in the car, but I do not think the Alcatel flip-phone camera in my pocket even counts.)

The Crusaders are already more “Trouble” than anyone wants in Louisiana…or Texas or Alabama, so far.  And let us recall that Crusader senior Luke Ohler did not compete at 195 lbs.  Ohler was 12-0 before he was injured at the Gulf Coast Clash.  (Ohler was 19-6 in the 2020-21 season before a Louisiana Classic injury sidelined him for the season.)

The Crusaders won the first seven matches against the Rebels to build a 30-0 lead.  Freshman Richie Clementi held off Sonnier 3-0.  Jacob Elsensohn and Hunter Chabert followed that match with falls, setting up the third match of the season between Elsensohn the Elder and Boudreaux.  Last season Elsensohn won the first meeting between the two handily, 13-6, at a dual meet.  Eighteen days later Boudreaux surprised Elsensohn with a 4-3 Louisiana Classic semifinal win.  In their first two matches this season Elsensohn prevailed 3-0 and 3-1.  This time Elsensohn gave up an early takedown but replied with seven unanswered points to win 7-2.  Nick Cusimano followed that match  with a 7-0 Crusader win, followed by another Crusader fall by two-time Division I runner-up Ken Burandt.  Next, Crusader Samuel Riles, the younger brother of two-time Division I state champion Yehia Riles, outdueled Brayden Hebert 10-9. 

Defending Division II state champion John Paul Travasos put the Revels on the board with a 10-3 win, but Rocco Horvath, many peoples' pick to win the Division I 170 lbs. state title, replied with a fall in 2:16.  The Rebels were not done, though.  In the following three matches defending Division II state champions Reid Bourgeois and Joel Lanclos, and between them, John Wayne Prejean, III, scored falls for the Rebels.  The Crusaders ended the match with a forfeit and a fall by Logan Dacuyan.

There were matches of distinction from other duals.  Santos Ramos of East Ascension gave Travasos his first loss of the season 10-7.  Tyson Roach and Caleb Lavine remained undefeated for Sam Houston.  Roach defeated Dacuyan 18-1 TF and Dylan Duvernay of De la Salle in 4:28.  Lavine scored first-period falls over Begnaud and Chabert.  Rummel’s Kaiden Triche marked a second victory over potential Division II state foe Daniel Daspit of Teurlings Catholic, the Griffin Open champion.  Also with Division II implications, the Rebels’ Begnaud defeated Raider Cole Curry for the second time this season.  De la Salle was the only Division III team at the event, but they placed ahead of Division I Sam Houston and Division II Rummel.  Dylan Duvernay deserves mention as he went 4-1 on the day.  His only loss was to Roach.  Actually, in his 16-4 record, his losses have all been to Roach.  If one has to lose...

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Trackwrestling results for the Crusader Duals

OK, it is way too early to start naming favorites for the Louisiana Classic, STATE, or even the Trey Culotta Invitational.  So, what then?  Am I supposed to stream Squid Game?

Some kids are off to tremendous starts.  I saw seven of the at the Crusaders Duals, two at the Warrior Open and one at a dual meet and via a Facebook stream.  I have listed those wrestlers in the table below: 

Keep in mind, though, that there are other who have yet to make much noise...yet.  They include Wolves, Vikings and Sharks (not David Alvarez, or, although he would be my second choice, George Chakiris).

Keep in mind, though, that there are others who have yet to make much noise...yet.  They include Wolves, Vikings and Sharks (not David Alvarez, or, although he would be my second choice, George Chakiris).

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And...well...there are Lions and Tigers and Bears!

OK, not the 1971 Lion, 1972 Tiger or 1971 Bear on the above trading cards (each of which I owned at one point in my youth).  (OK - I gave away the football cards in the early 1990's and sold the baseball cards in 2008.)  And not the 1939 depiction of neither a lion, a tiger or a bear (a lion showed up shortly thereafter) in The Wizard of Oz scene.  There was a Hungry Bear in L. Frank Baum's third book (1907) of his The Wonderful Wizard of Oz series, and there were bears in the fourth.  The bears, though, were invisible, unless they accidentally stumbled into an arcade and were shot dead, at which point one could see them.  (Like I said - this or Squid Game.)

[Emended December 5th]  "Liona and Tigers and Bears" can refer to several teams, but in this case (based on my limited my knowledge to date), I am referring to certain individuals: Lion Landen Carroll of Covington (Warrior Open and Bulldog Brawl champion) who is 9-1 with eight falls, and whose only loss came from current 160 lbs. favorite Santos Ramos of East Ascension;Tiger Nick DiGeralamo, whose December 1 match is mentioned below; and several bears, but in particular, after the December 4th Catholic Duals, Richard Carroll.  After a first match loss to Corey Holmes of East Ascension, Carroll has gone 11-1, losing only to Brother Martin's Rocco Horvath but defeating Baton Rouge's Kade Moran twice in SV matches, 3-1 and 5-3.

A big piece of the early-season favorites puzzle may be clarified on Wednesday night when St. Paul travels to Holy Cross.  The potential exists for a match between the Wolves' senior defending Division I state champion Grant Nastasi and Tiger freshman Nick DiGeralamo, who placed fourth in Division I last February as an eighth-grader.  DiGeralamo was upset in the Spartan Invitational finals by Dutchtown sophomore Foster Shank, but do not expect DiGeralamo to often lose this season.  Nastasi is only 4-0 but has been a scoring machine aside from the one time he let a pin get in the way.  His other three wins included two major decisions and a technical fall.  The two met once during the 2020-21 season.  Nastasi won a 5-3 quarterfinals match in a Louisiana Classic that both would probably rather forget. 

Shank cannot be overlooked.  He has a 14-2 record, suffering his only losses at the Warrior Open on November 6th.  Since then, aside from DiGeralamo, he has defeated Hannan's Preston Gautier (3rd in D3 in 2021) and De la Salle's Spencer Hughes (2nd in D3 in 2021).

[Having no photographs from the Crusader Duals, I was starved for graphics.  I found some...but then some dogs of war slipped, something brillig came this way, it rained in California and just all heck broke loose.]

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