As a freshman, Brother Martin's Taylor Gambill
started with 28 straight wins against Louisiana
wrestlers. His only losses to Louisiana foes came
in the two hardest tournaments in the state: the
Louisiana Classic and the Division I State
Championships. So far in the 2013-14 season, he
stands at 8-0 with wins at the Mandeville Open and now
the Spartan Open.
Fifteen wrestlers vied for the Spartan Open 126
pounds championship. One was Rummel's Tyler Mire,
who finished fifth at State in 2013 and netted the
second seed at East Ascension. Holy Cross' Collin
Guerra was the third seed, followed by Live Oak's
Brennan Webb (#4) and Matt Ashford (#5) of the home
Spartans.
Guerra may be one of the most improved wrestlers of
this early season. The junior, who finished
runner-up to Cody Hill of Live Oak in 2013, is 8-2, only
losing to Gambill so far (they met in the Mandeville
Open semifinals, in which Guerra placed third) by a
combined score of eight points. |
Gambill and Guerra advanced to
the finals.
Gambill started the scoring by countering a head and arm
shuck of Guerra's with one of his own, ducking behind
for a takedown. Gambill the used knee blocks and
crab rides to keep Guerra controlled, but in attempting
to turn the Tiger wrestler he was called for an illegal
hold, giving Guerra a point. The round ended in a
2-1 Gambill lead.
In the second period Gambill again controlled his
opponent with knee blocks and crab rides. At the
end of the round a spectacular flurry of activity was
started when Guerra tried a Granby roll which ended with
both wrestlers facing each other on their knees.
Gambill immediately tried a lateral drop and was able to
turn Guerra over, but the wrestlers went out of bounds.
No points were awarded and the match score remained 2-1.
In the third period Gambill rolled Guerra for a reversal
and a 4-1 lead. But he again rode his crab ride a
little high, and Guerra took advantage by backing out of
it. Facing each other again (with Gambill still
holding onto control) Gambill tried to throw Guerra.
Guerra rolled through the throw but ended up under a
Gambill crab ride again. But somehow Guerra got an arm
around Gambill's back while in that position, which was
enough for the official to score a reversal as the two
wrestlers went out of bounds. It was Guerra's turn
to throw in the legs and he strained to put Gambill in a
guillotine, but to no avail. Eventually he rode
too high and Gambill was able to roll him for a reversal
before the match ended, preserving a 6-3 win. |
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| Taylor Gambill defeated Holy Cross'
Collin Guerra for the second time this season, 6-3. |
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QUARTERFINALS 2: (Left)
Live Oak's Brennan Webb rides Matthew Ashford
of East Ascension, but the fifth-seeded Ashford proved
dominant in a 9-2 win, advancing to the semifinals vs.
Gambill. (Right) Gambill scored a 20-5 TF
on North Desoto's Christopher Hall. |
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SEMIFINALS: Gambill
defeated Ashford for the second time this season
with a fall at 1:10. On the other side of
the bracket, Guerra of Holy Cross upset Tyler
Mire of Rummel 5-2. |
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