182 Pounds

#1 Kyle Delaune of Brother Martin vs. #2 Gage Grush of Jesuit in the Division I finals.

Division I

Twenty-five wrestlers competed in the Division I 182 lbs. state championships

Introduction

Of the seven Division I wrestlers who were undefeated in Louisiana during the 2012-2013 wrestling season, Kyle Delaune by far is the most fun to watch.  "Unorthodox" only begins to describe the tall, underweight, double-jointed and, to use his own word, "funky" wrestler.  Whatever it may be called, Delaune converted his style into something other wrestlers could not decipher.

Delaune entered the tournament 26-0 against Louisiana competition.  Including out of state competition, his record was 48-1, with his only loss occurring in the finals of the Blackhorse Invitational at Houston High School in Germantown, Tennessee.  Delaune started the season winning the Mandeville Open with a 15-3 decision over Holy Cross' Porter Dazet.  He then won the Cinco Ranch "Big 12" with a 9-2 finals win.  After his one mishap in Tennessee he won the Trey Culotta Invitation on his "home" mats with a 6-2 victory over Jesuit's Gage Grush in the finals.  At the Louisiana Classic he beat two returning state champions: Division III's Billy Marcantel of Rayne (13-10), and, in the finals, Division II's Nick Schneider of Teurlings Catholic (8-2).  Two weeks later he won the Greater New Orleans Championships.  Marcantel and Mandeville's Jack Ingalls provided Delaune with his closest matches in Louisiana, both losing by only three points.

The Blue Jays' Gage Grush, the #2 seed, aside from his loss to Delaune and to two out-of-state wrestlers, only had two other losses all season.  One was a pin by Holy Cross' Porter Dazet in 5:47 on November 10th.  He later avenged that loss with 3-2 and 9-3 victories over Dazet.  His other loss was to Teurlings Catholic's Nick Schneider in the semifinals of the Louisiana Classic, from which he rebounded and placed third.  Grush also had an 8-4 win over Brother Martin's Daniel Albrecht during the Crusaders' experiments with Delaune at 170 lbs. and Albrecht at 182 lbs.

Third seeded Michael Daiy of Lafayette had one win over Teurlings Catholic's Nick Schneider, while fourth seed John Brands of St. Paul only had a loss to Schneider.  Daiy had not wrestled Delaune or Grush during the season while Brands lost to Delaune by two falls and two technical falls, and to Grush by two falls. 

Rounds 1, 2 and Quarterfinals

The first round went as predicted.  The second round did as well, with the top eight seeds advancing by falls ranging from 0:11 to 4:29.

The weight class avoided the contagious #5-over-#4 affliction in the quarterfinals when Brands pinned #5 Christian Pittman in 5:00, Brands' fourth victory over the Catholic senior.  Delaune pinned #8 Aaron Maddox of Rummel in 1:33.  Third-seeded Michael Daiy had the hardest match, a 7-4 win over Dutchtown's Alex Medine.  Grush cruised past #7 Brendan Allen for the second time of the season in 3:23.

Semifinals #1

Having defeated #4 Brands four times previously Delaune was not expected to slip in the semifinals against the St. Paul wrestler, and he didn't.  Delaune was relentless and scored his third technical fall over Brands, repeating his 19-4 score of January 19th, and besting the time required to do so by 10 seconds to 5:29.

Delaune controls Brands with a "ball and chain."	Brands struggles for wrist control.	Delaune prepares to turn Brands to his back.

Semifinals # 2

Third-seeded Michael Daiy of Lafayette wrestled 59 times before the state championships and had a pretty impressive 46-13 record.  He won the Griffin Open over later Greater Baton Rouge Championships winner Christopher Wright of Zachary.  He won the Spartan Open with a "Sudden Victory" fall over Nick Schneider.  He placed second at the Central Invitational and at the Teurlings Classic Rebel Open, and third at the Jacob McMillan.  The majority of his losses came to returning or soon to be Division II and III state champions.  But he had not wrestled someone with Gage Grush's experience or talent yet.  Grush had five victories over wrestlers to whom Daiy had lost.  The Blue Jay senior was simply too good, and he pinned Daiy in 2:44 to make it to the finals match.

Consolation Rounds

The surprise wrestler of the weight class was Rummel junior Aaron Maddox.  After losing in the quarterfinals to Delaune, the 8th-seeded Raider pinned Comeaux's Calvin Griffin in 1:49, defeated #5 Pittman of Catholic by a 17-4 major decision and scored another major decision, 13-3, over Daiy to reach the consolation finals.  #6 Medine of Dutchtown had a similar trip prevailing over Ehret's Andrew Blanchard in 2:11 and Mandeville's Tyler Adkins in 2:00, but he fell to Brands in the consolation semifinals in 4:20.  Medine met Daiy in the match for fifth place, but fell to the Lion 11-8.  Brands had met Maddox in the Louisiana Classic and pinned him in the second round.  The Raider's progress stopped in a similar fashion in the consolation finals as Brands pinned him in 4:08.

Finals: #1 Kyle Delaune (Brother Martin) versus #2 Gage Grush (Jesuit)

Delaune was on the wrong end of a finals match in 2012, but he had a small advantage entering this match.  The top-seeded Crusader and the second-seeded Blue had met in the finals of the Trey Culotta Invitational on December 22nd, and Delaune prevailed by a 6-2 score.  The match was close enough, though, to place Grush in the category of an opponent not to be overlooked by Delaune in the future.  Grush reminded Delaune of that early, matching Delaune's four points with four of his own 1:20 into the first period.  In the remaining 40 seconds Delaune took Grush down with a double-leg takedown but Grush was able to escape and the period ended with Delaune holding a 6-5 lead.  Delaune started the second period in the top position and Grush was able to escape to tie the match 6-6, but Delaune took him down and "rode out" the rest of the period which ended 8-6 in Delaune's favor.  In the third Delaune escaped and took Grush down again for an 11-6 lead.  Delaune was close to putting Grush on his back as the match ended.  Delaune's senior record was 30-0 (52-1) while Grush's was 31-4 (48-6).

Despite his height Delaune is very capable at wrestling "low."	Grush attempts to trip Delaune for a takedown.	Delaune backs out from underneath Grush.	Delaune takes Grush down with a double-leg shot.

Delaune gets set before the third period starts.	Delaune starts to turn over Grush with a bar-arm chicken-wing...	...but then takes a look at the clock and sees no need to pursue the matter.	Delaune receives Grush's congratulations after the match.

"All business" right after the match...	...Delaune's demeanor quickly changed...	...and remained that way  the rest of the evening.

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Division II

Sixteen wrestlers competed in the Division II 182 lbs. state championships.

Introduction

This weight class featured returning Division II state champion Nick Schneider of Teurlings Catholic.  Schneider entered the tournament with a 37-4 record.  Two of those losses were to Brother Martin's Kyle Delaune.  A third was to returning Division III state champion Billy Marcantel of Rayne, and the fourth was an early season loss to Lafayette's Michael Daiy in the Spartan Open.  Schneider was able to avenge the loss to Daiy later with 6-0 and 3:43 wins.  He won the Jacob McMillan and the Teurlings Catholic Rebel Open and placed second at the Spartan Open, the Louisiana Classic and the Ken Cole.  He also scored a 5:47 fall over Division I runner-up Gage Grush of Jesuit.

Seeded second was St. Michael's Donnie Berg who entered with a 19-7 record.  Berg won the Baton Rouge High School "Bulldog Open" and the Brusly Invitational.  But one of his losses in a dual meet was by a fall in 4:59 by Schneider.

Round 1

The first round featured one upset when Sam Houston's Mason Ramirez defeated #8 seed Nick Simeneaux of Live Oak 12-8.  Everyone else advanced via pins (and one forfeit) except Holy Cross's #3 seed Porter Dazet, who won a close 3-1 match over Belle Chasse junior Lucas Thompson.

Quarterfinals #1

In his 41 matches prior to the state tournament Schneider had not wrestled his western Louisiana neighbor from Lake Charles, Sam Houston's Mason Ramirez.  But Schneider showed no signs of concern using cradles (bottom left), reverse nelsons (bottom right) and basically anything he desired en route to a 17-0 technical fall in 4:35 and a trip to the semifinals.

Quarterfinals #2

Benton's #4 seed Robert Chenevert and Haughton's #5 seed Mitchell Doran both hail from northwest Louisiana and they met once during the year.  Chenevert defeated Doran 5-3 in that match on December 11th.   In this match Chenevert won again, pinning the Haughton senior in 5:30 to set-up a semifinals match with Schneider.

Quarterfinals #3

At the Holy Cross Division II Duals #3 seed Dazet pinned Parkway's #6 seed Andre Henson in 4:34.  But, as evidenced in his 3-1 round 1 win, it appeared that nothing was going to be easy for Dazet in this tournament.  Dazet found himself "in a hole" early in the match and had to struggle back to end regulation in a 9-9 tie.  In the "Sudden Victory" round, and in front of a very lively Holy Cross contingent in the stands, Dazet dove for Henson's ankle (bottom left), worked his body around it and the attached leg, and trapped the far leg, taking Henson down to the mat and scoring the winning takedown.

Quarterfinals #4

#7 seed Jaime Balleza had an "up and down" record, but it did include wins over Doyline's Peyton Goerner and Dutchtown's Alex Medine.  But Berg proved the superior wrestler, turning Balleza over with bar-arm nelsons and cradles to record a 13-5 major victory.

Berg turns Balleza with a bar-arm nelson.	Berg scores nearfall points with a cradle.

Semifinals #1

Scoring a technical fall in his second match, #1 seed Schneider had yet to wrestle a full six minutes in his previous two matches combined.  Chenevert wrestled four seconds less than Schneider, but he received a forfeit in the first round.  This one went the distance.  Chenevert had a chance to "put Schneider away" but could not score the fall, and Schneider was able to pull away from him for an 11-5 win and a second trip to the Division II finals.

Holy Cross' Porter Dazet was not supposed to struggle to win his first two matches, but he was expected to in this one.  Though seeded one ahead of Berg in 2012, Dazet finished sixth to Berg's fourth in the state championships that year.  At the Live Oak Duals on January 26th Berg defeated Dazet 9-8, so everything indicated this would either be a very close match or a "walk" for Berg after his relatively easy matches in round 1 and the quarterfinals.  It was neither.  Dazet took down the Warrior with a single-leg standing cradle and led 2-0 after the first period.  In the second, Dazet turned Berg again, this time keeping Berg on his back and scoring a fall in 2:38.  A combined three points away from wrestling in the consolation rounds, Dazet now found himself in the state championship finals.

Consolation Rounds

Haughton's #5 seed Doran found Belle Chasse's Thompson a little less difficult than Dazet, defeating the Cardinal 5-0.  He then beat Ramirez of Sam Houston 9-4 before succumbing to a fall by Berg in 2:30.  Henson won his first two consolation matches rather easily over Northside sophomore Jimmy Greene (0:37) and Shaw's Balleza (16-6).  But Henson did not stop winning there, as he pinned Chenevert in the consolation semifinals in 1:50.  Doran proved his seeding correct with a 2:28 fall over Chenevert for fifth place.  The #6 seed Henson had one more surprise left, which was a pin over Berg in 1:00, earning him a third-place finish.

Finals: #1 Nick Schneider (Teurlings Catholic) versus #3 Porter Dazet (Holy Cross)

Schneider met the #3 seed Dazet on January 4th, and pinned the Tiger in 3:35.  But Dazet had done nothing in an ordinary manner throughout the tournament.  The match was scoreless in the first and the second periods.  In the third period Schneider chose the bottom position and scored the first point of the match, an escape with 54 seconds remaining.  But then Dazet took him down for a 2-1 lead.  Schneider, however, was able to score a reversal and was ahead 3-2 when time ran out, successfully defending his 2012 state title.  Schneider finished the year with a record of 41-4 (42-5) while Dazet's junior season tally was 21-8 (22-9).

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Division III

Fourteen wrestlers competed for the Division III 182 lbs. state championship.

Introduction

Bossier's Jaden Oliver had a short but very successful season, entering the tournament with a record of 10-1.  His sole loss came to North Desoto's Stetson Keen, 11-9, but Oliver had pinned Keen a week before in 2:33, and Oliver's one loss versus Keen's six justified Oliver being a higher seed.  North Vermillion's Colin Vaughn entered the tournament with 12 losses, but his win over Benton's Robert Chenevert, to whom Keen lost, placed Vaughn in the second seed spot and Keen at #3.  As yet, none of the top three seeds had won a tournament during the regular season.  South Plaquemine's Kevin Drury was seeded #4 but only had a 2-2 record.

Round 1 and Quarterfinals

The top two seeds received byes in the first round.  Two wrestlers received forfeits, three matches ended in first round pins and only #8 Josh Schweiger of John Curtis and Trent Landry of Kaplan went the full six minutes, with Schweiger winning 6-1.  In the quarterfinals the #5 seed again defeated the #4 seed when Calvary Baptist's Chris Thompson outscored South Plaquemines' Kevin Drury 12-8.   Oliver defeated Schweiger in 0:52, #3 Keen defeated Basile's #6 Clintrell Sias in 5:14 and #2 Vaughn pinned #7 Christian Free of Brusly.

Bossier's Jaden Oliver thwarts a takedown shot by Calvary Baptist's Chris Thompson.	Oliver secures Thompson's arm prior to a head-and-arm throw.	Oliver celebrates his semifinals victory.	Official Jed Person slaps the mat at 5:21 as North Vermillion's Colin Vaughn pins North Desoto's Stetson Keen.

Consolation Round

After his quarterfinal upset loss to Thompson, South Plaquemines' Kevin Drury, Jr. pinned Rayne's Andrew Arceneaux in 2:33, Curtis' Schweiger in 3:40, and pulled off another upset by pinning #3 Keen in 2:41 to reach the consolation finals.  Basile's Sias ruled the other half of the consolation bracket, pinning Loyola College Prep's Taylor Wilmore in 5:00, Brusly's Free in 3:28 and #5 Thompson in 4:51.  Thompson and Keen met for fifth place in a match won by Keen in a fall in 3:25.  In the consolation finals Drury continued his run, pinning Sias in 4:40. 

Finals: #1 Jaden Oliver (Bossier) versus #2 Colin Vaughn (North Vermillion)

Oliver, who placed fourth in 2012, took Vaughn down early but Vaughn reversed him before he could score any nearfall points.  Oliver stood up on Vaughn, turned around and threw him for two reversal points.  With Vaughn on his back, Oliver made it count, scoring a fall in 1:38.  Only a junior, Oliver won three matches, his first tournament of the year and a state championship in three minutes and fifty-six seconds of wrestling and finished the season 13-1.  Vaughn, also only a junior, finished with a record of 24-13.

After a takedown Oliver threatens to put Vaughn on his back.	After a quick stand-up Oliver sets up a throw.	Oliver secures a pin over Vaughn in 1:38.	1:38 remained.

Vaughn congratulates Oliver on his win.	Oliver celebrates his win with his coach.	Drury, Oliver and Vaughn on the awards podium.	The six medal winners at 182 lbs. (The winner is in the center!)

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