WE ARE ADAPTIVE WRESTLING-SPECIFIC MEDIA

There was a lot going on last weekend, but I simply could not find the time to but briefly cover the Walker Invitational and the Brusly 8ish.  But I have only one more garden bed to fix, and that will be done by early next week.  Hopefully I can do better by then.

Last Weekend Walker hosted the Walker Invitational while the Brusly 8is was contested at Brusly.

Walker Invitational

Shaw coaches Michal Cronin and Richie Dixon  with Kade Muscarello	The Walker Wildcats boys and girls teams.

BOYS

The Holy Cross Tigers held off a sturdy challenge by the host Walker Wildcats to win the Walker Invitational.  The Tigers outscored the Wildcats 145 to 139.5.  Teurlings Catholic finished third with 119.5 points, followed by Fontainebleau (100 points) and Sulphur (93.5 points).

With wins by major decisions, technical falls and first-period pins in the Warrior Open and the Walker Invitational, one can safely say Acadiana's Ozias Gray is no fluke.  Wait a minute, we knew that already.  I meant Holy Cross senior Robert Morse.  His last high school match was on December 1st, 2023, when he was injured in the quarterfinals of the Trygg/Sara Memorial.  That ended his sophomore season and he sat out his junior year after transferring to Holy Cross.  He did have one close match at Walker -  a 7-5 semifinal win over Mandeville's Gabriel Mertz.

Gray and Morse were in the 144 lbs. and 150 lbs. weight classes, respectively. 

Something may be brewing at 113 lbs. as the finals of the Warrior and the Walker were contested by NOMMA's Edan Nguyen and East Ascension's Ian Keller.  Nguyen won the Warrior with a 5-2 decision.  Keller won at Walker via a fall in 2:49.

The host Walker Wildcats drew first blood in the finals with three round-one falls by Colton Lanier at 106 lbs.  Defending Division II state champion Kade Muscarello of Shaw dominated at 120 lbs. with two first-round falls and a technical all.  At 126 lbs. the winner was Alex Rozas of Teurlings Catholic, who won via three (take a guess) technical falls.  Fontainebleau's Braden Sellers scored two pins in 0:34 before scoring a 19-2 technical fall in the finals.  Holy Cross' Matthew Krail won the 157 lbs. weight class with three technical falls, and then the hosting Wildcats won their second championship via two falls by senior Hunter Frederick at 165 lbs.  Rylee Reeves chalked-up the Tigers' third championship via a 47-second fall and two technical falls at 175 lbs.  Acadiana scored another championship at 190 lbs. with Landon Olds prevailing by a technical fall and first-period pin.   Fontainebleau notched their second win at 215 lbs. via two first-period falls by Gabriel desBordes.  The host team garnered its third champion after Chris Godso, III survived a tough 4-3 semifinal match and a finals fall in 1:33.  Godso was voted the Outstanding Wrestler for the Walker boys squad.

(LEFT TO RIGHT)  Chris Godso, III winning the 285 lbs. finals; Godso III with OW Award and Coach Godso, II; Third place team Teurlings Catholic

GIRLS

On the girls' side, Mandeville took the team title with 62 points, followed by Acadiana with 45 points and Walker with 44 points.  No other teams scored more than 13.5 points.  The Skippers had five individual champions.  The host Lady Wildcats had two champions, as did the Lady Rams of Acadiana.

OK - y'all know I cannot let that slide.  Rams are male sheep.  Female sheep are called ewes.  That poses a bit of a problem, as yelling "Go Ewes" should be followed by "guys," as in "Go ewes guys."  But that opens another gender can of worms, doesn't it (as well as moving to New Jersey)?  (Does that bothering me make me "woke?)  Surely the "powers that be" figured out something over the years to fix that semantic conundrum.  So I checked, and, well, the "powers that be" had more pressing things to worry about (IMAGE RIGHT). One really cannot use the easiest fix and just call them all "sheep."  LEARNING TIDBIT: Which came first: the noun or the verb?  I mean, are rams called rams because they ram things, like battering rams once did to castle doors?  That's what I thought at first, but I learned that the Old English word for a male sheep was "ramm."  The verb "to ram" came from what those male sheep did to other ramms to prove their "rammhood" in mating season.  Swa he wundra gehwæs!  (That is not a real exclamation in Caedmon's Hymm, but it should be.)

OK - Natalie, Chevy and Sarah all graduated, so I know very little about any of the girls stepping onto the mat this season.  Willow Dixon I recall because I saw her at the Swamp Owl 8ish, which she also won.  And I met and had a nice chat with East Ascension's Isabella Guillory at the Swamp Owl 8ish.

Lady Wildcat placers, including Nayeli Erazo (center) with her OW award	Walker and Acadiana girls	Walker and Mandeville girls

The last two photographs above I find very impressive.  Can you imagine the Blue Jays and the Crusaders posing with each other for a photo after the Louisiana Classic?  (They will on the podium after the state championships are over, but that is different.)  It shows that, while for the six minutes between the whistles they will try to destroy one another, off of the mats they each know and respect what the others do to prepare for these matches.  And they know they all need to work together to get more girls to start or join girls wrestling teams.

Girls Finals Matches

Brusly 8ish

Girls

Were team scores kept this would have been very close between Baton Rouge and Lafayette, with the edge probably going to the Lady Lions.

Girls Finals Matches

With four champions and a runner-up each, Catholic and Baton Rouge were the strongest teams at the Brusly 8ish.  Lafayette should be third with two champions and two runner-ups.  Brusly's Dylan Ricks won his second tournament of the season, having dominated the Swamp Owl 8ish on November 8th.

Central coach Dennis Parker with Wildcat placers Locke Ware (3rd), Jackson Ellis (2nd) and Jackson Deason (3rd).*

*    I assume those are the correct names if medals were given to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners.

Boys Finals Matches

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