106 Pounds


Brother Martin's Steven Shields takes down Hahnville's Nicholas Lirette in the Division I 106 lbs. finals.

Division I

Eighteen wrestlers competed in the Division I 106 lbs. state championships.

Introduction

Seeding Notes:

"Bookends" for the East Ascension Spartans originally meant state championships for Alex Betteridge at 106 lbs. and Conor Karwath at 285 lbs.  It was not supposed to describe the circumstances of Betteridge's first and last tournaments of the year.  It certainly was not meant to entail injuries in those events, but that is what happened.  At 113 lbs. at the South Walton Border Wars in Destin Florida, Betteridge partially tore a ligament during his third match against Jacob Geiger of Lincoln High School.  Betteridge was "out" for the next three weeks, returning for dual meets with Zachary and Baton Rouge before finishing second to Brother Martin's Mason Mauro in the Trey Culotta finals.  Through the rest of December and after dropping to 106 lbs. on January 4th, Betteridge won 15 straight matches until he was upset 8-6 by Jesuit's Brody Martin in the Ken Cole finals.  A week later he won his second Greater Baton Rouge championship 9-7 over Catholic's Jonathan Bradley.  Then, on the Thursday prior to the state tournament, Betteridge tore his calcanealfibular ligament in his ankle.  But the senior was determined to compete and see what he could do as the top seed. 

Betteridge was seeded above Martin because, while he split his two matches with Martin, he won the Louisiana Classic after having beat Martin 8-2 in the semifinals, and Martin placed third.  In his loss to Martin, he placed second.

But Martin could not be seeded over Brother Martin freshman Steven Shields.  Shields held a 3-2 match advantage over Martin.  In three tournaments in which they both competed, Shields gets the nod as he won the Trey Culotta (Martin finished 2nd), his 2nd was higher than Martin's 3rd at the Warrior Open, while Martin won the Ken Cole (Shields finished third).   Those factors swing the advantage toward Shields.  If another criteria was needed, it was probably be matches against a common opponent, Live Oak's Colt Olinde.  Olinde defeated Martin at the Wildcat Open whereas Shields defeated Olinde at the Spartan Open and the Ken Cole.

With Betteridge, Shields and Martin at 1, 2 and 3, the next seeding question came for the 4th and 5th spots.  Nick Lirette of Hahnville and Chris Zea of Holy Cross were the legitimate wrestlers for those two spots.  During the season the two split matches in tournaments in which they both participated.  Zea placed second at the Louisiana Classic while Martin placed third.  In the GNO Championships, Lirette beat Zea in the finals.  The tournament win gave Lirette the nod over Zea, as Zea did not win the tournament in which he beat Lirette.  So Lirette was fourth and Zea was fifth.

Rounds 1 and 2

In the first two rounds only one upset was recorded when Kiefer Fuselier of Sulphur upset #7 Jonathan Bradley of Catholic 14-11.  Betteridge did not need full use of his ankle in his round two match which he won by a fall over Clay Celli of C.E. Byrd in 1:04. The other six matches were won by the remaining seeds to set-up the quarterfinals.

Raven Guidry, a freshman at Acadiana High School, became the first female to win a Division I winners bracket match, doing so via a fall in 1:39.  After losing her next match she continued in the consolation rounds with a bye and then an 8-6 win.

Quarterfinals

The top four seeds advanced to the semifinals matches on Saturday morning after winning their quarterfinal matches on Friday night.

This was the third and tie-breaking match between #4 Nick Lirette of Hahnville and #5 Chris Zea.  Zea won their first meeting 12-5 at the Louisiana Classic while Lirette defeated Zea 5-4 in the GNO Championships finals. This was a high scoring and exciting contest.  In the end, though, it was Lirette who advanced to the finals via a close 12-11 decision.  (Photos left)

Photo left:  This was the third match between Betteridge and #8 Seth Oubre of Comeaux.  Betteridge won the first two via a technical fall and a fall in the third period.  In this match he scored another technical fall, 20-5 @ 5:50.  Photo center:  This was the first match between #3 Martin and #7 Fuselier, and Martin posted a major 12-1 decision.  Photo right:  #2 Shields defeated #7 Robert Fairchild of Rummel 4-2 at the Trey Culotta but this time recorded a major 10-1 decision.

Semifinal #1
(1) Alex Betteridge (East Ascension) vs. (4) Nicholas Lirette (Hahnville)

That the top-seeded Betteridge even reached the semifinals after wrestling his first two matches with a torn calcanealfibular ligament is a testament to his determination.  But with an opponent of a certain caliber it was bound to cause problems, and Lirette was of that caliber.  Betteridge was unable to counter the speedy sophomore's takedown shots and fell behind early.  In the second period he dropped Lirette with a lateral but could not pin him, although he did even the match at 10-10.  Lirette then proceeded to use his takedown skills against Betteridge and slowly built a commanding led.  Betteridge managed seven more points, but Lirette added 16 to notch a 26-17 win and a trip to the finals.

Semifinal #2
(2) Steven Shields (Brother Martin) vs. (3) Brody Martin (Jesuit)

This was the sixth match between the Brother Martin freshman and the Jesuit junior.  Shields defeated Martin in the Warrior Open 7-4.  Martin defeated Shields in the Friday pool competition at the Trey Culotta 6-4, but Shields came back in the finals with an 8-5 win.  Martin had a 5-2 win over Shields in the Ken Cole semifinals but Shields rebounded 6-4 at the Jesuit-Brother Martin dual meet, to lead the series 3-2 (and earn the higher seed).  This was another fairly close match, but Shields gained and maintained control throughout to garner a 6-2 win.

Consolation Rounds

After his quarterfinals loss to Lirette #5 Chris Zea used a fall in 1:46 and then a 9-2 decision to reach the first consolation semifinals against #3 Brody Martin of Jesuit.  The two had not previously encountered each other this season, and it was the Tiger who prevailed 5-2.  Rummel sophomore Robert Fairchild rebounded from his quarterfinals defeat with a 2:17 fall and a 5-2 decision.  Next he faced the seasoned Betteridge, who had previously defeated Fairchild 10-0 at the Louisiana Classic.  But Betteridge had given about all he could to make the semifinals, and Fairchild took advantage of that in an 11-5 win.

In the fifth place match Betteridge tried gamely enough but Martin took the season's tie-breaking match between the two 4-0.

The third place match was the fourth of the year between Zea and Fairchild.  Zea won the previous three via scores of 4-1, 7-1 and 13-3.  This match was little different as Zea dominated it, scoring a 10-0 major decision to place third for the Tigers.

Finals: #2 Steven Shields (Brother Martin) versus #4 Nicholas Lirette (Hahnville)

Second seed Steven Shields of Brother Martin and fourth seed Nick Lirette of Hahnville had not met in the 2013-14 season.  Both had impressive records, though.  Shields had a 36-4 Louisiana record with wins at the Trey Culotta Invitational and the East Ascension Spartan Open.  Lirette was 44-3 with wins at the Jefferson Invitational, the Greater New Orleans Championships, the St. Paul's Invitational and the District Tournament, which included public schools from the greater New Orleans area.

Shields opened with a takedown in the first period followed by a Lirette escape and another Shields single-leg takedown.  Lirette managed a reversal in the second period but Shields escaped and the round ended with Shields ahead 5-3.  Shields dominated in the third period, though.  Lirette managed two escapes, but Shields countered with double-leg takedowns and put the Tiger on his back twice for two nearfall points each time.  When the match ended the Crusader freshman had a 13-5 major decision and his first state championship.

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Division II

Thirteen wrestlers competed in the Division II 106 lbs. state championships.

Introduction

A Division II runner-up in 2013, Live Oak junior Colt Olinde was an obvious top seed at the 2014 Division II state championships.  His only loss to a Division II opponent came at the hands of teammate Jacob Chenevert at 113 lbs.  Central freshman Austin Gouedy was an obvious second seed, as his only Division II losses came at the hands of Olinde.  Garrett Strozier of Parkway was seeded third and Josh Hebert of Teurlings Catholic was seeded fourth, but it was Olinde and Gouedy about which the weight class revolved.

Round 1 and Quarterfinals

#1 seed Colt Olinde of Live Oak used a double-chicken-wing sit-out to pin Northwood's Kymani Bryan in the quarterfinals (photos left).   A minor upset was recorded in the quarterfinals when Zach Denton of Haughton, the #5 seed, defeated Parkway's #4 seed Garrett Strozier by a major 12-4 decision.  Strozier had pinned Denton in 2:30 and 5:10 in their previous two meetings (photo right).

Hebert, the #3 seed, had not met Gouedy this season, and he gave the #2 seed a tough match.  But Gouedy's cross-face cradle put the match away, leading to a 10-5 victory and a trip to the finals.

Consolation Rounds

Shaw freshman Collin Ballas made it to the consolation semifinals with pins in 0:41 and 1:17 to face the fifth-seeded Denton.  The Haughton junior proved too much for Ballas, though, and scored a fall in 3:20.  Parkway's #4 Strozier also advanced to the consolation finals quickly with falls in 0:51 and 1:44.  In the consolation semifinals he won via an injury default when #3 Hebert was unable to continue.

Hebert's injury gave fifth place to Ballas of Shaw.

Haughton's Denton placed third with a 10-5 decision over Strozier.

Finals: #1 Colt Olinde (Live Oak) versus #2 Austin Gouedy (Central)

Olinde brought a 50-10 Louisiana record into the state championships and aside from one loss to teammate Jacob Chenevert, had not lost to a Division II opponent.  Gouedy lost to only one Division II opponent, but that was to Olinde four times which included technical falls of 16-1 and 20-2, a fall in 2:51 and a 4-2 decision at the Greater Baton Rouge Championships.

Olinde started scoring fast and often.  He took a 2-0 lead in the first 24 seconds of the first period.  Gouedy managed escapes, but Olinde kept taking him down.  With 21 second remaining in the match Olinde held an 8-3 lead. By the end Olinde increased the margin to eight points, 14-6, scoring a major decision and Live Oak's first state championship of the evening.

Photos by Shannon Miller of

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Division III

Thirteen wrestlers competed in the Division III 106 lbs. state championships.

Introduction

Loyola College Prep. junior Armand Zachary had a 17-1 Louisiana record, although he did compete against several Texas and Arkansas schools during the season.  His only loss was to Doyline sophomore Brittany Bates.  Zachary won the Brusly Open, the Tri-State Regionals and the Northwest Louisiana Regionals, and twice avenged his loss to Miss Bates.  Miss Bates won the Brusly Invitational as well as the John Curtis Division AA, A, B & C tournament, the Eagle Open, the Jacob McMillan Memorial and a girls' event in Texas, the Lamar Invitational in Texas.  Hence, Zachary and Bates were easy picks for the #1 and #2 seeds.  Brusly freshman Austin Franklin (25-11 in Louisiana) had a loss to Zachary at the Brusly Open, which put him behind Miss Bates as Bates had one win over Zachary.  But Franklin's losses were to some top caliber competition: Chris Zea (Holy Cross), Brody Martin (Jesuit x 2), Colt Olinde (Live Oak x 2), Jonathan Bradley (Catholic), Alex Betteridge (East Ascension), Steven Shields (Brother Martin), Nick Lirette (Hahnville) and Prentice Spurlock (John Ehret).

Round 1 and Quarterfinals

One upset occurred in the quarterfinals, and it was a big one.  Ouachita Christian eighth-grader Matthew Matherne shocked #1 Armand Zachary 6-2.  Matherne entered the tournament with a 2-1 record, with one of those losses a fall to Zachary in 1:07.

Semifinal #1

(2) Brittany Bates (Doyline) vs. (3) Austin Franklin (Brusly)

Miss Bates scored the first two points of the match but then found Franklin to be a lot tougher than expected.  He was able to get in on Bates with single-leg shots and resisted Bates' attacks with a savvy defense.  One has to imagine working out with teammate Kendon Lee-Kayser was very valuable to Franklin, who pulled off a 6-5 win to advance to the finals.  Of little consolation to Bates was the fact that her one point loss to Franklin was as close as anyone came to beating him in the tournament.

Semifinal #2

(4) Brendon Wilcox (John Curtis) vs. Matthew Matherne (Ouachita Christian)

Matherne did not stop at Zachary.  He dominated John Curtis seventh-grader Brendon Wilcox, the #4 seed, pinning him in 1:07 to reach the finals.  Hence, rather early in the tournament the #1 nor #2 seeds were denied the opportunity to be crowned champions.

Consolation Rounds

The top-seeded Zachary needed just 54 seconds to pin both of the opponents standing between him and the consolation semifinals.  There he met Miss Bates for the fourth time this season and secured a victory with a fall in 1:53.  On the other side of the bracket Basile's #6 seed, seventh-grader Kyle Teele, advanced to face Wilcox in the consolation semis.  In the battle between the two seventh-graders, #4 Wilcox prevailed with a major 13-4 decision.  Bates took care of Teele in 1:48 to earn the fifth place spot on the podium.

Zachary wasted little time in placing third, pinning Wilcox in 0:49.

Finals: #3 Austin Franklin (Brusly) versus # (8) Matthew Matherne (Ouachita Christian)

Third-seeded Austin Franklin of Brusly started a string of what would be eight consecutive state champions from Brusly.  After three-and-a-half minutes he had a 6-1 advantage, controlling and turning Matherne to his back with a strong leg ride.  With a minute remaining Franklin had an 11-1 lead.  He allowed Matherne an escape and subsequent takedown, but then reversed him to make the final score a major 13-4 decision.

Missing the podium in 2013 by one point, Doyline's Brittany Bates made it in 2014 as a sophomore.  No longer subjected to the forfeits she received as a freshman and a middle school wrestler, Miss Bates won five tournaments in the 2013-14 season and garnered Outstanding Wrestler awards at the Eagle Open, the Brusly Invitational, the John Curtis AA, A, B & C tournament and the Jacob McMillan Memorial.

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