152 Pounds


Brusly's Trevor Schermer atop of the podium after winning his fourth consecutive Division III state championship.

Division I

Twenty-four wrestlers competed in the Division I 152 lbs. state championships.

Introduction

At the beginning of the season it appeared that the 152 lbs. weight class would belong to the 2013 Division I runner-up, Efosa Eboigbe of Jesuit.  Eboigbe started out 27-0 (including eight victories over out-of-state competitors) and had championships at the Wildcat Open and the Trey Culotta Invitational.  He had pinned Catholic's Matthew Mire and Brother Martin's Mason Williams (Williams later lost a 7-4 match to Eboigbe).  He also beat the 2014 class 6A state champion from Vestavia Hills, Alabama, Morgan Paugh.  Unfortunately, Eboigbe was unable to continue in the sport after December 28th, 2013.

The two frontrunners to take Eboigbe's place among the elite wrestlers at 152 lbs. were juniors Mason Williams of Brother Martin and Matthew Mire of Catholic.  Williams had a 23-2 record and championships from the Spartan Open, the Trygg Memorial, the Soddy Daisy (TN) Showdown and the Ken Cole.  Mire won the Louisiana Classic.  Williams, however, was not at the Louisiana Classic (the entire Brother Martin team was prevented from participating due to a skin ailment) but he had a victory, albeit one requiring a Sudden Victory period, over Mire in the finals of the Spartan Open.  Hence Williams received the top seed and Mire was seeded second.  Seeded third was John Ehret junior Jack Fontenot.  Fontenot was 38-3 and had tournament wins from the Pearl River Open, the Greater New Orleans Championships and the Jefferson Parish Championships.  But his losses were to Williams (4-3) and Mire (5-3), so he was seeded third.  Jesuit senior Ashton Queyrouze was seeded in the fourth spot.  Queyrouze was 22-1 but had lost to Mire and Fontenot.

Rounds 1 and 2

No upsets were had in the first two rounds of the tournament.

Quarterfinals

One of the top four seeds fell in the quarterfinals.  Sixth-seeded Trey Duhon of Sulphur scored a fall in 4:55 over #3 Fontenot of John Ehret.  The top-seeded Williams defeated #8 Joseph Kerry of Rummel 5-2.  Mire had a second round fall over Jacque Girouard of Comeaux in 3:28 and #4 Queyrouze won a 5-3 match over #5 DeQuan Jackson of East Ascension.

Semifinal #1

(1) Mason Williams (Brother Martin) vs. (4) Ashton Queyrouze (Jesuit)

Williams and Queyrouze had not previously met, and the Jesuit senior gave the top seed all he wanted, but Williams was able to edge the Blue Jay 3-0 to advance to the finals.

Semifinal #2

(2) Matthew Mire (Catholic) vs. (6) Trey Duhon (Sulphur)

The second-seeded Mire has not met #6 Duhon during the year.  Duhon did not actually wrestle a match until the Louisiana Classic in January.  The two provided a good match but it was Mire advancing to another shot at Williams with a 6-3 decision.

Consolation Rounds

The Rummel #8 seed Joseph Kerry used a fall in 3:00 and an 8-4 decision to meet Duhon in the consolation semifinals.  Showing the talent he exhibited by winning the Mandeville Open, Kerry provided a very tough match for Duhon, but Duhon prevailed 4-3.   Fontenot came back on the other side of the consolations bracket with decisions of 7-2 and 7-3, but fell to Queyrouze in the semifinals 6-3.

Fontenot decisioned Kerry by a score of 8-3 to place fifth for the John Ehret Patriots.

Duhon and Queyrouze had a much harder and longer match. The two required a Sudden Victory period and two overtime rounds before Duhon finally earned an 8-5 victory.

Finals: #1 Mason Williams (Brother Martin) versus #2 Matthew Mire (Catholic)

Williams and Mire wrestled to a 3-3 tie after the first six minutes of the Spartan Open finals, forcing the Sudden Victory round that was won by Williams.  This match closely resembled that match.  Neither wrestler could score in the first period.  In the second period Mire scored an escape in the first 25 seconds for a 1-0 lead.  Williams briefly took a 2-1 lead with a takedown, but Mire escaped and then took down Williams to lead 4-2 when the second round ended.  In the third period Williams managed an escape in the first seven second to cut Mire's lead to 4-3, but after that neither wrestler could muster a takedown.  The third period expired and Mire's 4-3 lead became a decision, giving Catholic a second consecutive state championship

Division II

Eighteen wrestlers competed in the Division II 152 lbs. state championships.

Introduction

Returning Division II runner-up Andre Dean, II, posted a 26-2 record and won championships in the Airline Invitational. ARK-LA-TEX tournament and the Northwest Louisiana Regionals.  His only loss in Division II was to Bossier's Avery Jones, and Dean came back to defeat Jones three times after that match.  Dean was the top seed and, with a record of 16-6, Jones was seeded second.  Riverdale's Austin Many, who was 24-9 on the year but suffered a loss to Dean, was seeded third, and Jacob Courts of Teurlings Catholic, with a 13-6 record, garnered the #4 spot.

Round 1 and Quarterfinals

No upsets of the top eight seeds were recorded in the first or second rounds.

One upset occurred in the quarterfinals when Northside's #5 Cozinski Alfred eked by #3 Courts 9-8.   Dean used 3:27 to pin #8 Jonathan Hagen of Live Oak.  Jones use 4:54 to do the same to #7  Austin Smith of Parkway while #3 Many only required 1:01 to score a fall over #6 D'Aunta Anderson of Huntington.

Semifinal #1

(1) Andre Dean (Benton) vs. (5) Cozinski Alfred (Northside)

Alfred had a Jacob McMillan credit to his name but he was no match for the experienced Benton senior.  Dean used single-legs shots and riding to score an 8-2 victory and a second trip to the finals.

Semifinal #2

(2) Avery Jones (Bossier) vs. (3) Austin Many (Riverdale)

The photo to the left is not indicative of how close this match actually was.  Jones evidently needed the nearfall points as he only won the match by a score of 8-6

Consolation Rounds

Finals: #1 Andre Dean (Benton) versus #2 Avery Jones (Benton)

This was the fifth meeting between the Benton senior and the Bossier junior, with the senior holding a 3-1 edge by winning their last three matches.  Jones almost put an end to that quickly when he took Dean down to his back for a 4-0 lead with just over a minute having elapsed in the first period.  But Dean came back in the second period with reversal and nearfall points of his own.  With just over a minute remaining in the match Jones had an 8-7 advantage but Dean reversed him again and put Jones on his back again, this time for three nearfall points, and took a 12-8 lead.  Jones managed to avoid a pin and score an escape point, but as time expired Dean once again proved the victor in a 12-9 match.

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Division III

Eleven wrestlers competed in the Division III 152 lbs. state championships.

Introduction

Brusly's Trevor Schermer had his pick of three weight classes from which to choose in the Division III state championships.  His overall record, including out-of-state competition, was 48-3.  He was 17-0 at 138 lbs., 20-3 at 145 lbs. and 11-0 at 152 lbs.  One of his three losses (all at 145#s) occurred at the South Walton Border Wars (an event in which he competed with dislocated cartilage in his ribs).  It was to Adam Breindel of Clay High School in Florida.  Breindel won the Florida 1A (as in the bigger schools) state championship at 145 lbs. this year.  His other two losses were to Catholic's James Claitor, who won his second Division I state championship in 2014.

His wins were very impressive.  He earned one over Claitor at the Deep South Bayou Duals.  (Schermer did not have to, but he chose to compete at 145 lbs. at the Greater Baton Rouge Championships in order to get a tie-breaking match with Claitor, Schermer's last loss.)

At 152 lbs. he beat Catholic's 2014 Division I state champion Matthew Mire via a fall in 2:38.  He beat the defending Division III state champion Marshall Hill of Parkview Baptist in 1:36.

At 145 lbs., aside from his 5-4 win over Claitor, he beat his nemesis of last season, Rummel's Rick LaCava, in 3:04.  He beat Jesuit's Ashton Queyrouze 13-2 and Dutchtown's 2014 Division I 145 lbs. finalist Brandon Cowell 13-3.  He beat Evangel's 2x Division III runner-up Benjamin Kirkiksis in 2:00.

At 138 lbs. Schermer dominated everyone.  He beat Live Oak's defending Division II state champion Seth Bosarge in 4:35 and via a 17-1 technical fall.  In the Louisiana Classic finals he beat the defending champion and defending Division I state champion, Brennan Taylor of Catholic, 10-4.  In the Ken Cole finals he gave the 2014 138 lbs. Division I state champion, Austin Meyn of Brother Martin, his only loss to a Louisiana wrestler in an 8-3 match.

Schermer won the Warrior Open, the Brusly Invitational, the Louisiana Classic and the Ken Cole Invitational.  He was undefeated at the Deep South Bayou Duals and the Ft. Walton, FL "Beast of the Beach."  A state championship would give him wins in what has been called "Louisiana's Big Three," the LA Classic, the Ken Cole and a state championship.  At the 2014 state championships, only C.E. Byrd's Quin Gilliam, at 220 lbs., had the same opportunity.

Schermer entered the state championships as a 3x Division III state champion with a goal of winning a fourth, equaling a feat his older brother Austin accomplished form 2009-2012.  Of the three weight classes available to him he chose the hardest one at 152 lbs.  It included Colin Laird of North Vermillion, a Division III 3rd place winner in 2013, and St. Louis' defending Division II state champion Lehrue Stevens, IV.  Schermer would have been the top seed in all three weight classes, but 152 lbs. suited him just fine.

Stevens (27-5) was seeded second due to a 9-6 dual meet victory over Laird (22-6), who was seeded third.  Episcopal junior Jack Bowman (14-12) was seeded fourth.

Rounds 1, 2 and Quarterfinals

No upsets were to be had in the first second or quarterfinal rounds.  In the quarterfinals Schermer pinned #8 Devin Ruiz of John Curtis in 2:45.Stevens only took 42 seconds to score a fall against #7 Lee Jackson of Loyola Prep and Laird needed just 1:06 to defeat #6 Landon Dorsey of De la Salle.  Episcopal's #4 Jack Bowman required a little more time that the top three seeds, scoring a fall over #5 Jude Hebert of Kaplan in 4:40.

Semifinal #1

(1) Trevor Schermer (Brusly) vs. (4) Jack Bowman (Episcopal)

Schermer had little trouble getting past the 4th-seeded Bowman, registering a fall in 3:56.

Semifinal #2

(2) Lehrue Stevens, IV (St. Louis) vs. (3) Colin Laird (North Vermillion)

North Vermillion's third-seeded Colin Laird, a 9-6 loser to St. Louis' #2 Lehrue Stevens, IV, on December 7th, turned the tables on Stevens in this match, ousting the defending Division II state champion from the winners' bracket via a 7-3 score.

Consolation Rounds

De la Salle sophomore Landon Dorsey made it to the consolation semifinals against Bowman with a 22-7 technical fall and a pin in 2:32.  But Jackson got the best of Dorsey in an 11-2 major decision to earn the right to wrestler for third place.  Unseeded Tyler Reese of Redemptorist defeated #8 Ruiz of John Curtis in 3:39 and then Kaplan's #5 Jude Hebert to have the honor of meeting Stevens in the other consolation finals match.  But the second-seeded Stevens was not about to eschew redemption for his semifinals loss and pinned Reese in 33 seconds.

The unseeded Redemptorist junior had a tough time in the fifth place match.  Reese and Ruiz combined to score 27 points in five points, with Reese emerging as the fifth place finisher by a score of 17-12.

Stevens took little time in winning third place for St. Louis by pinning Bowman in 2:45.

Finals: #1 Trevor Schermer (Brusly) versus #3 Colin Laird (North Vermillion)

Nobody in their right mind would have been surprised to see North Vermillion's Colin Laird be a little intimidated by and apprehensive about his finals match against a legendary name in Brusly wrestling.  But Laird was anything but intimidated or apprehensive as he took Schermer down in the first 23 seconds to take a 2-0 finals match lead.  Schermer might have been a little taken aback by Laird's takedown, and maybe a little more so by the Patriot's refusal to cede any points easily.  Schermer scored an escape with 46 seconds left in the first period, but the period ended with Laird ahead 2-1.  On top at the beginning of the second period, Laird rode Schermer well before finally yielding a reversal to give Schermer his first lead at 3-2.  On top for the first time, Schermer "changed gears," working Laird's arm and legs and literally turning the North Vermillion opponent on his head prior to putting Laird on his back and finishing the match with a double-grapevine in 3:31.  Schermer matched his older brother's record as well as that of the only other Brusly wrestler to win four state titles, Tim LeBlanc, who did so from 1979 to 1982.  Schermer, who scored nothing but falls during the weekend, was later recognized as the Division III Outstanding Wrestler.