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C.E. Byrd standout seniors Demetri Teddlie and Jacob Yawn had a signing party in Shreveport last Tuesday as they signed letters of intent with King College of Bristol, Tennessee and Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Full article, with interviews, by Jimmy Watson

Demetri Teddlie defeated East Ascension's Jamarius Koshko via a 15-0 technical fall in the 2019 Spartan Invitational finals	C.E. Byrd coach Mark Yawn (center) with the 2019-20 Byrd Yellowjackets wrestling team (Photo provided by Jimmy Watson of the Shreveport-Times)	Jacob Yawn defeated Anthony Bennett of East Ascension via a fall in 3:30 in the 2019 Spartan Invitational semifinals.  He won the finals via a 16-0 technical fall.

Both wrestlers had outstanding seasons despite being plagued with injuries and ill health. 

Teddlie amassed a 58-3 record, with only two losses coming from Louisiana competition.  His tournament wins included the St. Michael Warrior Open, the Parkway Riot on the Red, the Dutchtown Griffin Open, the East Ascension Spartan Invitational, the Parkway Lone Survivor and Big Cat Brawl and the Northwest Louisiana Regionals.  His only setbacks were at the Brother Martin Trey Culotta Invitation, in which he placed second (losing to a Georgia state champion but defeating a former and soon to be again Brother Martin state champion), one 10-7 dual meet loss and a runner-up finish at the Ken Cole Invitational to a Division II state champion.  Teddlie capped the season off in style by defeating Holy Cross' Caruso Signorelli 7-5 to win the Division I's 138-pounds state championship.  Teddlie became Byrd's first state champion since Quin Gilliam went undefeated at 220-pounds in 2014.  (Byrd would get one more championship that evening when eighth-seeded Cameron Vaughns won a Sudden Victory match in the 160-pounds finals.)

Teddlie will be joined at King University in Bristol, Tennessee, an NCAA Division II program, by three-time Division I state champion Trent Mahoney of East Ascension High School.

Yawn's season record was 43-3.  Two of those losses were at the Trey Culotta Invitational at which he placed fourth despite having slightly injured himself (which is enough to do harm against that competition).  He injured himself again in late December which cost him two weeks off of the mat, and then he was ill on the weekends of the Louisiana Classic and the Ken Cole.  When he returned in earnest on February 1st his only loss came from Brother Martin's defending state champion Alex Duncan in the Division I 145-pounds weight class.  During the season he also won the Warrior Open, the Riot on the Red, the Griffin Open, the Spartan Invitational, the Big Cat Brawl, the Northwest Louisiana Regionals as well as the Lafayette Jacob McMillan Memorial and the Shreveport City Championships.

The Louisiana Wrestling News thanks Jimmy Watson of the Shreveport Times for allowing the link to his article.

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