| East Ascension's Karwath is, so far, the odds
on wrestler to beat at 285 pounds this year. Entering the
tournament, the senior was 14-0 with championships at the Warrior and
Griffin opens, the South Walton "Border Wars" in Destin, Florida, and
wins over Jesuit's Dominic Carmello and Brusly's Jo'Vonte Wheeler.
The second seed was Holy Cross Junior Travis Gardner. Gardner was
also undefeated at 4-0, winning the Mandeville Open and the Rummel
Junior Varsity Tournament. Seeded third was St. Louis' Aaron
Tanner. The fourth seed was Walker's Taylor Bowden, followed by
Lafayette's Matthew Montalbano at #5. |
In the first period the two big men
played with upper body control, but Karwath was actually
attempting bear hugs. Gardner backed out of them twice -
the first time earning a warning for stalling and the second
time giving a point to Karwath, who led 1-0 after two minutes.
Starting on bottom, Karwath immediately grabbed a Peterson hold
and, although Gardner fought it off for a while, succeeded in
the roll. Karwath scored two reversal points and three
nearfall points with the maneuver, stretching his lead to 6-0.
A little later Karwath tried to force a half-nelson, grabbed a
leg in a nearside cradle, and, when Gardner finally turned, let
go of the leg to concentrate on finishing the half-nelson.
Karwath scored a fall in 3:01. |
 |
| Conor Karwath puts Travis Gardner on
his back after a Peterson roll. |
|
|
|
|
| QUARTERFINALS: |
| The top four seeds advance to the
semifinals with ease. None of their matches made it past
the first period. |
| SEMIFINALS: |
| Karwath did not take much time, 1:21 to
be exact, to pin fourth seed Taylor Bowden, but the Walker
senior made it interesting by shooting a fast and deep
double-leg on the #1 seed (photos left). Gardner
was forced to wrestle the entire six minutes against a stubborn
Aaron Tanner of St. Louis. At the end Gardner defeated the
third-seeded Tanner 9-0. |
|
|
|
| CONSOLATIONS: |
| Comeaux's Jamal Campbell was more than
willing to accept third place without a challenge. His
would-be opponent, fifth-seeded Matthew Montalbano of Lafayette,
had previously competed in five matches and was ineligible to
compete again. |
|
|
|
