Status: Fini

"Just a lazy Saturday afternoon..." (Tell that to a modern pentathlete, IOC!)

Seventeen wrestlers hailing from as far away as Connecticut converged at the SROTC at Rummel on Saturday for the annual Masters/Old-Timers wrestling tournament. Some came carrying a torch for Olympic glory, others for the pure competition and others for the sake of simply helping and staying away from an orthopedist.  The tournament found a home at Rummel in the early 2000s after stints at the Metairie YMCA, L.W. Higgins High School and at Acadiana High School in Lafayette, where the first one was held in 1982. [Back row L-R] Stan Kotteman (tournament director), Justin Stafford, Alex Mena, Roy Fontenelle, Romalice Thomason, John Fogarty, (timekeeper plenipotentiary), Kevin Hill, Garrett Bailey, Martin Muller (Keeper of the "Senior Moments"), Ryan Luna, Carlis McCarthy, Jeff Domangue (official), Dominic Lorino, Josh Kotter, Jim Ravannack (president - USA Wrestling).  [Front row L-R] UNK., UNK., UNK., Roy Mistretta, Yazan Hamide, Trevor Manuel, Casey Perino, Ezra Garza, Michael Miller.

Five weight classes of either three-man round robin or four-man formats were contested, which were determined after the competitors arrived.  Matches consisted of three one-minute rounds with folkstyle rules, except for the one match that went into overtime, which was determined to be settled in a "first one to drop no matter how long it takes" manner.

Participants ranged in weight from 130 to 215 pounds.  The youngest entrant was 19-years-old.  The two oldest were a score older.  The age factor was not an issue as one of the 39-year-olds won the heaviest weight class in a four-man bracket.

The Wrestling Club at LSU was well represented by five of the entrants: Garrett Bailey, Roy Fontenelle, Kevin Hill, Carlis McCarthy and Kevin Hill.

There were winners in each weight class (as well as just happy survivors), and individual winners may or may not be gleaned from the photographs below.  The photos do not necessarily depict the outcome of each match, nor the enthusiasm of the participants.

Stan Kotteman directed the tournament, Jeff Domangue officiated with early help from Mr. Fontenelle and John Fogarty (Destrehan coach and Bonnabel state champion in 1979) ran the clock and kept score.  After the event USA Wrestling president Jim Ravannack addressed the group about coaching and officiating opportunities and how every local aspect can play a role in designating wrestling as a core Olympic sport.

(Click on photos to enlarge them.)

130 lbs. - 150 lbs.

Garza vs. Mistretta	Garza vs. Mistretta	Garza vs. Mistretta	Garza vs. Perino	Garza vs. Perino

158 lbs. - 163 lbs.

Hamide vs. Manuel	Hamide vs. Manuel	Hamide vs. Manuel

Hamide vs. Manuel	Hamide vs. Miller	Manuel vs. Miller	Manuel vs. Miller

170 lbs. - 180 lbs.

Kotter vs. Lorino	Kotter vs. Thomason	Kotter vs. Thomason	Kotter vs. Thomason

Lorino vs. Mena	Mena vs. Thomason	Mena vs. Thomason

185 lbs. - 200 lbs.

Fontenelle vs. Luna	Fontenelle vs. Luna	Luna-Stafford	Luna-Stafford

195 lbs. - 215 lbs.

Bailey vs. McCarthy	Coles vs. Bailey	Coles vs. Bailey

Coles vs. Hill	Coles vs. Hill	Hill vs. McCarthy

Hill vs. McCarthy	Hill vs. McCarthy	Hill vs. McCarthy

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