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WE ARE ADAPTIVE

WRESTLING-SPECIFIC MEDIA

Bates continues the family tradition

LHSAA State Wrestling Tournament

Division II - 160 Pounds

August 20th, 2023| Written by: Staff Writer

Place	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Podium
Name	Lake Bates	Isaac Dees	Owen de Boisbanc	Beau Rabalais	Cameron Gandolfi	Kaleb Sanders
School	North Desoto	Caddo Magnate	Teurlings	Brusly	Rummel	Lakeshore
Seed	2	1	3	6	4	5
Record	35-4	20-3	13-5	35-19	39-18	33-20
Class	11	12	12	111	11	11

The editor is taking a chance the Lake Bates' first name is Christian. There is not a Bates listed on North Desoto's 2021-22 TrackWrestling roster. There is one listed on the 2020-21 roster, though, and then he was a freshman. That fits his being a junior in the 2022-23 season. TW has bates with a 2-0 state championships record. One of those was a consolation semifinals win, though, which indicates another match. As a freshman Bates was 4-2 at the state championships and placed 4th at 145 lbs.

Bates is the younger brother of Chase Bates, North Desoto's first state champion in 2017. He was seeded third and knocked of #2 Ryan Huckaby of Parkway before prevailing over top-seeded Eduardo Garcia of Shaw 5-3.

For a kid with six varsity matches to his credit, Bates had an amazing junior season. His losses came from Jesuit's Arthur Schott (D1 3rd), Brother Martin's Rory Horvath (D1 2nd), Fontainebleau's Aiden Lindsey (D1 1st) and to former North Desoto state champion Isaac Dees, who now competed for Caddo Magnate. Bates also had a win over Lindsey, as well as Benton's Cooper Reagan (D1 6th), Luke Fontenot of Basile (D3 3rd), Jacobi Clement of East Ascension, Neil Borne of Rummel (D2 6th) and Michael Gilreath, now a two-time D3 state champion.

Bates placed sixth at the Louisiana Classic but handily won the Ken Cole and the North Louisiana Regionals. It was at the LACL that he fell to Dees 4-3, and that was just enough to yield the top seeding spot to Dees. In the finals, though, Bates never trailed. He scored the only points with a takedown in the first round, allowed only an escape in the second, and scored an escape and a takedown in the third period, in which he only allowed Dees an escape and a penalty point.

Dee's senior season, after he took a year off of the sport also, was exceptional in itself. His only losses prior to the state finals came from Nicholas DiGeralamo (D1 1st) and to Reagan. He defeated Schott, Zachary's Sergio Houston (D1 4th), and Gilreath, twice. He won the David Beeson Memorial, the North Louisiana Regionals and placed third at the LACL. And do not feel too bad for the senior. He won a Division II state championship in 2020, 12-9 over some Teurlings Catholic kid named Ethan Boudreaux.

Quarterfinals