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WE ARE ADAPTIVE

WRESTLING-SPECIFIC MEDIA

Patriot sophomore Smith parlays 30-1 season into a state championship

LHSAA State Wrestling Tournament

Division III - 195 Pounds

August 20th, 2023| Written by: Staff Writer

Place	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Podium
Name	Anthony Smith	Will York	Ethan Goss	Damari Drake	Bryce Hanley	Jackson Perdue
School	John Curtis	Evangel	St. Louis	Evangel	Shaw	De la Salle
Seed	1	3	4	5	2	6
Record	30-1	17-13	11-8	20-17	22-14	3-12
Class	10	11	11	9	11	10

Thirty wins in 31 matches does not lie. John Curtis sophomore Anthony Smith has got some game. He won the Mississippi Bulldog Brawl, the Jimmy Vidrine Division III and placed second in the Ken Cole, courtesy of East Ascension's Jacob Schexnaydre who won the Division I state championship. He will be a forced with which to be reckoned in the next two seasons.

Episcopal's Will York started the season at 195 lbs. Technically, his last match at 195 lbs. was a loss to James Nero of Shaw, at the Jacob McMillan. But that was actually a "No Contest." On December 30th he started competing at 182 lbs. He lost to two Division III opponents, though, De la Salle's Jason Krail and Shaw's Jason Brown. So York went back up to 195. He placed second to Smith at the Jimmy Vidrine Division III, then placed fifth at the Ken Cole and fourth at the Greater Baton Rouge Championships. He was seeded third, though, as Shaw's Bryce Hanley, who did not wrestle a match at 195 lbs. until the state championships, and did not place at the Ken Cole, was seeded second.

York squeaked by Hanley in the semifinals 5-4 to gain a rematch with Smith, who pinned him in 0:57 at the Jimmy Vidrine Division III and in 4:46 at the Ken Cole.

Smith scored all of the points he needs 23 seconds into the second period. He led 7-1 after the first two minutes and 10-3 entering the third period. York won the final two minutes 4-2, but it was not enough and Smith won 12-7.

Quarterfinals