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The Brusly Panthers and their 2014 Greater
Baton Rouge Championships victory, stopping Catholic's run of 11 straight
from 2003 to 2013. The Panthers edged the Bears by six points,
269-263, behind wins by Kendon Lee-Kayser, Noah Landry, Koby Mancuso and
Donald Johnson. Wyatt LeJeune and Trevor Schermer placed second
for the Panthers |
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The Louisiana Wrestling News for taking a full
week in finishing the piece on the Ken Cole Invitational.
(Granted, a Super Bowl was during that time frame, but that only accounted for
about an hour.) |
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Brusly's Trevor Schermer for
moving up from 138 lbs. to 145 lbs. to face Catholic's James Claitor for
a 2013-14 season tie-breaking match (the two split their two previous meetings).
Claitor prevailed in this match 8-3, but Schermer was under no
obligation to move up from the weight at which he had been competing
since January 16th. |
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Brother Martin, Holy Cross and Jesuit
for putting their best wrestlers forward in dual meets held on
Wednesday, Saturday and Monday between the three GNO powerhouses.
Wrestlers who may have already been top seeds at the state championships
were not
allowed or did not wish to rest on their laurels. As such, a few
top seeds that may have been "locks" after last week will probably
change. (Some wrestlers competed at heavier weight classes, or not
at all, but not in situations that had state championship seeding
implications.) |
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The archaic seeding criteria
used for the NW LA Regionals. Seeding is meant to benefit those who
have fared better than others over the course of the season. Yet
the #3 seeds in four weight classes (106, 126, 145 and 285) and one #4 seed (132) had to
wrestle "pig-tail" matches when other non-seeded wrestlers were
available to participate in them. The rules did state that after the seeds
were
determined, the remainder of the draw would be chosen at random, this
time by numbered poker chips. So the rules were followed as far as
determining the pigtail matches. But look at what other
tournaments do. The Ken Cole had 45 "pig-tails." None of
them involved the top eight seeded wrestlers. "Pig-Tail" matches
at the Louisiana Classic were also common. When all of the
non-seeded wrestlers were placed in "pig-tail" matches in a few weight
classes, the remaining "pig-tail" matches were allotted to the #8, #7,
#6 and #5 seeded wrestlers in that order. That is how it
should be done. (Click
here for the seeding criteria used.)
The seeding of Miss Brittany Bates of Doyline caused
some controversy, and it had merit. Miss Bates was seeded third,
behind #2 Zack Denton of Haughton. Meaning no
disrespect to Mr. Denton, Miss Bates should have been seeded second via
the "Common opponent" clause in the "Seeding Criteria" used, according
to that which was provided to the Louisiana Wrestling News.
Both had defeated North Desoto's Rusian Satarov. Mr. Denton did so
via a fall in 3:46. Miss Bates did so via a fall in 0:38.
"Type of win" is the stated criteria used in such situations, and a 38 second pin is vastly
better than a 226 second pin. Miss Bates did so at 113 lbs., not
106 lbs., but that factor is not addressed in the "Seeding Criteria."
Mr. Denton had a record of 5-2 entering the tournament*. Miss Bates
had a record of 33-7*, including out-of-state matches. If the fact that six of her victories
were over female wrestlers (as were two losses) was a mitigating factor,
then so should have the fact that she won championships at
Brusly, Lamar, TX (women's division), John Curtis and the Jacob
McMillan, earning Outstanding Wrestler awards in the last three events.
Miss Bates advanced to the finals with a win over Denton, but it was
Denton who should have been seeded third and required to wrestle the
"pig-tail" match determined by the poker chips. |
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The Catholic High School Men's Club for
underwriting the streaming of the Greater Baton Rouge Championships, and
the stellar commentary provided by Coach Phil Bode and official Bobby
Prochaska. |
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Live Oak's Cody Hill for setting four more
"all-time high school wins" records en route to his third Greater Baton
Rouge championship, bringing his career total wins mark to 239.
Of course, since he set that record the previous week at the Ken Cole
Invitational, it goes without saying that he sets a new record every
time he wins a match from now on. But additionally, Mr. Hill tied
St. Paul's Connor Campo's record of 73 wins in a season, one he is
almost certain to break during the state championships. |
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