Fifteen wrestlers weighed-in for the 120 pound championship.
The home team's Jacob Bernard was seeded first after wins over Basile's
Raymond Bushnell and Brother Martin's Ryan Genco at the Griffin Open.
Bernard also owned a 6-3 victory over Catholic's Joshua Matthews in a
November 7th dual meet. It was the top two seeds who met in the
finals.
This weight class was replete with talent. Basile's two-time defending Division III state
champion Raymond Bushnell was seeded fourth behind Genco, who had
the #3 spot. Holy Cross' Beau Bush was seeded 5th. |
Bernard and Matthews advanced
to the finals.
The top seed started off with a takedown quickly,
scoring on a double-leg at Mathews' ankles.
Matthews was able to escape to cut the lead to 2-1 and
while very aggressive wrestling followed, neither
competitor was able to score again in the first period.
Starting on top in the second period Matthews applied a
far-arm-near-leg on Bernard, turning the Spartan over,
scoring two nearfall points and taking a 3-2 lead.
Bernard was able to stand up and escape to tie the match
3-3 before the round ended.
Starting on bottom in the third period Matthews stood up
for an escape and a 4-3 lead. Neither wrestler
held back - Bernard knowing a takedown could win the
match and Matthews knowing a stalling point could lead
to a "Sudden Victory" period. At the end Bernard
shot a deep double-leg, but the two wrestlers ended up
out of bounds as time ran out, preserving Matthews' 4-3
championship. |
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| Catholic's second
seed Josh Matthews eked out a 4-3 win over top seed Jacob
Bernard of East Ascension. |
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| QUARTERFINALS: |
| #4 Bushnell and # 5 Bush finished 6-6 at the end of regulation
in their quarterfinals match. In the Sudden Victory
period, Bush appeared to have the upper hand early but Bushnell
somehow, for lack of a better word, "squirrelled" his way out of
a single-leg which initially placed him on his back, and ended
up on top for the win (photos below). |
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| Comeaux's Hunter Fitch gave Genco a tough quarterfinals match,
but the Crusader prevailed 5-1 to reach the semifinals (photos
below). |
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| In the other two quarterfinal matches Bernard pinned Dutchtown's
Charlie Pettiss while Matthews did the same to Byrd's Alex
Williams. |
| SEMIFINALS: |
| At the Griffin Open East Ascension senior Jacob Bernard shut out
Raymond Bushnell 3-0. Bushnell made this match even harder
but Bernard won again, this time 4-2 (photos left). |
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| Matthews and Genco had met in the Warrior Open, a match won by
Matthews by a 2-1 score. In this match Matthews dominated
his Crusader opponent, allowing only one point while scoring six
of his own (photos right). |
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