Brother Martin rarely goes to the
Trygg Memorial. In the early days of the event the
Crusaders opted for the De la Salle "Big Eight," which
pitted the top eight Division I teams from the previous
year's state tournament that could schedule it. More
recently they have been attending the Blackhorse
Invitational in Memphis, Tennessee. But after they
travelled to Memphis and destroyed Christian Brothers 62-6
in a Wednesday night dual meet, the Blackhorse was cancelled
due to inclement weather on Thursday. Preferring not
to wait another week for their next scheduled match against
Catholic, the Crusaders, at the last minute of Thursday's
registration deadline, entered the Trygg.
They dominated the event. They scored 317 points and
had 12 finalists (11 from their "A" squad and one from their
"C" squad). They had 10 champions, at one point
winning five weight classes in a row. Only one weight
class did not have a Crusader place in the top four spots. |
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| The 2013 Trygg
Memorial champion Brother Martin Crusaders |
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A surprise team runner-up finish
went to Pearl River, which edged out St. Paul's 133 to 121.
While the Rebels had no champions (only three weight classes
were won by schools other than Brother Martin) they had
three runners-up, one third and one fourth place winners.
Four previously undefeated grapplers lost their first
matches, two in one weight class. First, Brother
Martin's Yehia Riles lost in the first round at 195 pounds
to Covington's Brendan Allen, who was also undefeated.
In the 145 pounds finals, South Walton's Cody Pickren marred
Brother Martin's Danny Evans' 14-0 start to the season.
At 160 pounds, Tanner Leblanc of St. Paul's was defeated by
De la Salle's Alex Martin. Two matches later, it was
Allen's turn to fall, losing by a point to Travis Viener of
the Crusader-C squad. Taylor Gambill (126), Paul Klein
(132) and Mason Williams (152) of the Crusaders, and Belle
Chasse's Robert Kennedy (285) remained undefeated after
participating in the Trygg. |
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| The 2013 Trygg
Memorial runner-up Pearl River Rebels |
Tournament director and Grace King Coach
Roberto Furtado presents the "Ray Gremillion
Coaching Distinction Award" to St. Paul's
coach Craig Ketelsen. |
Pearl River's Jacob Spohrer received the
"Philip J. Romig Warrior Award.
Spohrer placed second at 195 pounds but was
unable to compete in the finals due to an
injury. |
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Brothers Cody and William Pickren made the
most of South Walton's trip from Florida to
the Trygg, winning the 145 and 106 titles. |
A young Crusader looks with trepidation at a
loose "Happy Fun Ball." |
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The Louisiana Wrestling News wishes to apologize to
the finalists of the 106, 113 and 120 weight classes for not
photographing their matches. While the editor believes
he was present as the matches started, he did not realize
the finals had started until the 126 pounds match
began. If anyone has photographs from these matches
that they would like published, please forward them to the
editor@lawrestlingnews.com.
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106 Pounds |
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The Seahawks of South Walton High School,
located in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, made
their finals presence known early. In a
battle of freshmen, William Pickren of the
Seahawks defeated Brother Martin's Steven
Shields in 3:10. Earlier this season
Pickren won the first annual South Walton
Border Wars tournament, while Shields won a
Spartan Open championship on November 27th. |
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
Tucker Boesch of Rummel pinned
St. Paul's Mason Rader in 0:40 to place
third.
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113 Pounds |
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Brother Martin crowned their first champion
when junior Kyle Dunn pinned Fontainebleau's
Gabe Peterson in 2:19. It was the
third pin of the day for Dunn, whose only
blemish on a record of 4-1 came to teammate
Mason Mauro in the Mandeville Open finals. |
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
Grace King's Mauricio
Ballesteros defeated Dutchtown's Brandon
LeBlanc 11-7 to place third.
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120 Pounds |
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Brother Martin's next champion was junior
Ryan Genco, who scored a 10-1
decision over Pearl River's Matt Mears.
A junior, Genco improved his 2013-14 record
to 11-7. Genco's losses have been
against very stiff competition, including
Catholic's Mitch Napoli and Jonathan
Matthews, and Christian Brothers' Elijah
Oliver. He has a 1-1 record against
East Ascension's Jacob Bernard. |
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
St. Paul's Stevie Van Zandt
defeated South Walton's Alex Cao 6-5 to
place third.
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126 Pounds |
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Brother Martin
sophomore Taylor Gambill extended his
undefeated streak to 13 in winning his third
tournament of the year. His opponent
was Jesuit's Ben D'Antonio, a 2013 third
place winner at the state championships, as
well as the winner of the Louisiana Classic
and Ken Cole that year.
In what was a close match early, D'Antonio
threw Gambill to his back in the first
period to open a 5-0 lead, but Gambill
reversed and put D'Antonio on his back to
end the first round in a 5-5 tie.
Gambill owned the next two rounds in very
different ways.
Starting the second round on top, Gambill
rode his Blue Jay opponent for the entire
round, and near the end placed the Blue Jay
on his back to increase his lead to 8-5.
On bottom to start the third period, Gambill
escaped and took down D'Antonio in the first
11 seconds to lead 11-5. After Gambill
added two more nearfall points, D'Antonio
managed an escape and took Gambill down,
reducing Gambill's lead to five at 13-8. But
that was all for the Blue Jay as Gambill
escaped at the end and prevailed 14-8.
This was D'Antonio's first event of the
season, and it is very likely these two will
meet each other later in the season. |
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
Justin Sentilles of Brother
Martin-A placed third via the 5-match
rule, which prevented his match vs.
Chalmette's Dano Miller.
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132 Pounds |
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Crusader Paul Klein
has entered three tournaments, winning them
all, and has also netted three Outstanding
Wrestler Awards. It could be lamely
argued that he gets treated a little
differently because he has been a Division I
state champion since he was a freshman, and
he netted the 2013 Division I OW Award.
But despite the unexpected upsets that
occurred during the Trygg Memorial, one fact
remains that more than justifies his third
OW of the season:
In four matches Klein spent a whole 138
seconds on
the mat. That's just 18 seconds more
than a single round of a wrestling match.
He downed Grace King's Perry Juli Hawxhurst
in 17 seconds. Brian Ricks of
Destrehan took twice the effort - 34
seconds. Holy Rosary's James Netherly
must have all but exhausted Klein by lasting
66 seconds. But with a rest after the
semifinals, Klein responded with a finals
pin over Northshore's Ray Dupre in 21
seconds.
Seven of Klein's nine victories this season
have been by falls. One was by a 15-0
technical fall, and the only opponent to
last six minutes with him was two-time
Division II state champion Cody Hill of Live
Oak, whom Klein defeated 9-3 in the Spartan
Open finals.
To borrow from Mel Brooks' 1981 History
of the World, Part I, "It's good to be
the Klein." |
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
Pearl River's Tim Hillard
placed third with a fall in 4:45 over
James Nethery of Holy Rosary.
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138 Pounds |
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Brother Martin junior Blaine Eisensohn took
over the 138 pound duties for Austin Meyn
for this tournament in impressive fashion,
pinning Jesuit's Evan Palmisano in 2:46.
A third place finisher at the St. Michael
Warrior Open at 145 pounds, Eisensohn had
built a 5-1 lead over his Blue Jay opponent
prior to scoring the fall. |
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
Matthew Rader of St. Paul's
defeated James Graham of South
Plaquemines 14-4.
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145 Pounds |
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This was Cody
Pickren's third appearance at the Trygg.
The South Walton High School wrestler placed
5th as a freshman in 2011, and was a
runner-up to Rummel's two-time defending
Division I state champion Matt Calcote in
2012.
Pickren, seeded second, faced top seed Danny
Evans of Brother Martin in the finals.
Evans was 14-0 with Mandeville and Griffin
championships to his credit.
Evans attacked a single leg early, and
managed a takedown in 46 seconds for a 2-0
lead. Evans then rode Pickren for the
remainder of the first period.
On top in the second round, Pickren
demonstrated stifling leg rides and held
Evans scoreless. Evans, though, still
maintained a 2-0 lead.
Beginning the third round on the bottom,
Pickren scored on a stand-up to halve Evans'
lead with 1:23 remaining. Fending off
Evans' single-leg attack this time, Pickren
upended Evans, spun around and forced Evans
to cede a takedown to avoid exposing his
back. Pickren then rode Evans for the
remaining 41 seconds to notch his first Trygg Memorial championship. |
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
Dutchtown's Brandon Cowell
defeated De la Salle's Dominic Bioc 6-0.
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152 Pounds |
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This was the second
time in a little over a week that Brother
Martin's Mason Williams faced Division III
state champion Marshall Hill of Parkview
Baptist. In the Spartan Open
semifinals the junior Williams defeated Hill
10-1 on his way to a title. In this
match Williams was even more dominant.
Hill started with some quick leg attacks but
Williams defended them, waiting to set up an
attack of his own. After starting with
a single and switching to a double, Williams
was able to turn Hill to his back for
nearfall points. Hill got out of that
predicament but could not get away from
Williams and his constant arm bars and wrist
control. Williams finally turned Hill
with a bar-arm half-nelson to put Hill on
his back for good, ending the match with
four seconds remaining in the second period.
Williams is now 8-0 on the season.
Hill is 18-4. |
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
Sam Dufour of St. Paul's pinned
Allen Blanchard of Pearl River in 1:18
to take third place.
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160 Pounds |
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In the 2013
Division I State Championships St. Paul's
Tanner Leblanc placed third at 152 pounds, a
weight class that was dominated by Comeaux's
Tyrek Maleveaux all season. Before the
Trygg Finals Leblanc was 18-0 and won
championships at the Mandeville Open and the
South Florida Border Wars. His
opponent was De la Salle senior Alex Martin,
a two-time defending Division III state
champion. Martin had a 13-1 record prior to
the finals, including a Pearl River Open
championship. Both wrestlers pinned
their opponents to reach the finals.
Leblanc dominated the first period with
shots to Martin's legs, and with 38 seconds
remaining Leblanc scored a takedown for a
2-0 lead.
On bottom for the second period Martin
scored a reversal to knot the score at 2-2,
taking advantage of Leblanc overriding him.
Leblanc escaped and led again 3-2, but this
time it was Martin's turn to be the aggressor,
and he grabbed a single and lifted Leblanc
off of the mat before putting him down again
for a takedown, giving Martin a 4-3 lead with 16 seconds left in the second.
Leblanc was on bottom for the third period
and, when attempting to use a stand up to escape,
Martin lifted him several times off of the mat
and gently back on it. But Leblanc
managed to get away for a point and a tied
match. But Martin responded quickly,
grabbing and driving a single-leg
to the mat for a two point takedown and a
6-4 victory.
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
Chase Menendez of Destrehan
pinned Alex Guchereau of Rummel in 4:36
to place third.
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170 Pounds |
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Brother Martin's
Nick Comardelle wrestled his freshman year
but skipped the next two seasons. Now
a senior, he is performing very impressively
and entered the Trygg with 11 wins against
only three losses. His opponent for
the finals was Pearl River's junior Jason
Moran. Moran came into the tournament
with a 12-3 record.
Each wrestler had two victories on the day,
and each won via pins and decisions to make
the finals.
The senior
Comardelle remembers his freshman year well
and showed it early against the Rebel
junior. Comardells took down Moran
and immediately started working his opponent
over to his back. Near the end of the
second period Comardelle was already
enjoying a 7-1 lead when he put Moran on his
back to stay, getting the pin at 4:00 as
time ran out. |
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
De la Salle's Logan Silve
defeated St. Paul's Chase Cochran 9-1 to
place third.
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182 Pounds |
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Nobody seems to
know why two very competent and undefeated
wrestlers would meet in the first round of
the tournament. Brother Martin's Yehia
Riles, a junior, entered the tournament 10-0
with titles at Mandeville and the Spartan.
How he was matched with Covington's Brendan
Allen, who was 4-0 and had a Mandeville
championship to his credit, in the first
round, is unknown. But Allen did not
seem to mind, pinning Riles in 4:31.
Allen's 4-0 record
included wins at the Mandeville Open against
Holy Cross' Porter Dazet and Brother
Martin's Travis Viener, whom he defeated
14-4.
Viener, as it turned
out, made the finals for the Crusader-C
squad.
With the loss to Allen Viener still
held a 6-1 record, also had a Griffin Open
title to his credit.
But this was different. It was a close
match in which the wrestlers traded scores
evenly. In the third round Allen was
on top but trailing 8-7. Allen put his
legs in and tried banana splits and
guillotines, but Viener never yielded enough to
lose points.
The score remained 8-7 for Viener as the
match ended.
Viener is now 10-1 while Allen is 7-1, with
both of their losses coming from the other. |
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
Yehia Riles of Brother Martin-A
defeated Grace King's Aaron Maddox 12-1
to place third.
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195 Pounds |
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Brother Martin's Josh Tapia won the finals
due to a forfeit. Pearl River's Jacob
Spohrer made it to the finals, but he
injured himself in the process. In the
end his coaches decided he should not
wrestle again, but for wanting to he
received the "Phillip J. Romig Warrior
Award," bestowed upon a wrestler deemed
unwilling to yield in the face of adversity.
Tapia had a good tournament, anyway.
In his three matches before the finals he
pinned his opponents in 42, 41 and 63
seconds apiece. |
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
Fisher's Matt Adams and
Riverdale's Corey Stutson tied for third
place due to the 5-match rule.
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220 Pounds |
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In a grueling match between the two
wrestlers, Jacob Clapp of Brother Martin
prevailed with a pin as the second round
buzzer sounded over Belle Chasse's Logan
Thompson.
The senior Thompson entered the tournament
with an 11-2 record, having won the Warrior
and Central opens and placing fourth to
Tapia in the Spartan. Clapp, only a
sophomore, was 3-1
Thomspon started the scoring with a first
round takedown but Clapp refused to quit and
tied the score 2-2 a minute into the second
round. Williams scored two more points
on a reversal, but Clapp answered with a
reversal of his own and two back points.
In the end Clapp caught Thompson trying a
roll and kept him on his back, scoring a
fall in 4:00. |
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
Destrehan's David Thompson
defeated Dutchtown's Travis Goodman 4-0
to place third.
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285 Pounds |
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Belle Chasse was not finished, however, as
Robert Kennedy took to the mat against
Brother Martin's Matthew Montalbano.
After receiving two forfeits so far this
season, this was the first event in which
Kennedy, a senior, was able to actually
wrestle. Montalbano, a sophomore, had
a 6-2 record, although one loss was a
forfeit in the consolation finals of the
Spartan Open.
The Cardinal was too strong and fast for the
younger Crusader. Shooting a single
leg in the first nine seconds, Kennedy
completed the takedown and worked Montalbano
to his back, ending in a reverse-Nelson
hold. Kennedy used that to score a
fall in 1:29. |
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CONSOLATION FINALS RESULTS
Jalen Haydel of De la Salle
pinned Dutchtown's Josh Miller in 1:48
to place third. |
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