Status: Fini

Louisiana wrestlers have succeeded quite well this year in national competition - 32 have earned All-American status in USAW, USGWA and AAU events held in California, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Virginia and Tennessee.

Many of the names are not surprising and have previously been covered: Catholic's James Claitor, Brother Martin's Paul Klein and Dunham's Mason Rabel at the 2014 NHSCA Nationals in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in March; Hahnville's Kendrick Jones, Jesuit's Guy Patron, Jr. and Rummel's Robert Fairchild at the 2014 USAW/Cliff Keen Folkstyle Nationals in Cedar Falls, Iowa in April; also in April, Dutchtown's Brandon Cowell, Airline's Christian Walden and Lafayette's Rodrigo Diaz at the 2014 Brute Nationals in Independence, Missouri. 

It should come as no surprise that Doyline sophomore Brittany Bates earned All-American honors again this year in women's events.  Actually, she did it three times in April.  At the 2014 USGA High School Girls Open in Napa, California, Bates placed second in the High School Open Division in a class in which if boys were entered they could weigh no more than 111 lbs.  At the 2014 USAW Girls Folkstyle Nationals in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Bates placed sixth in both the Cadets and Juniors competitions (boys could weigh no more than 108 lbs. at the Cadets level and 112 lbs. at the Juniors level). USAGW Juniors 112 lbs. Bracket USAW Girls Folkstyle Cadets 108 lbs. Bracket USAW Girls Folkstyle HS-Open 111 lbs. Bracket

Miss Bates is in the gray shirt on the left.

Twenty-two other Louisiana wrestlers also placed well enough to earn All-American honors in national competitions (2014 Brute Nationals in Independence, Missouri).  Some are approaching voting age in a few years.  Some will be able to get drivers licenses in a few years.  And some, well, if Pontchartrain Beach were still open, would be a few years away from being allowed on the rides.

Two younger grapplers deserve a little more recognition than they were previously afforded in earlier articles*:

Darrius Evans, a 3rd-grader wrestling for the Northwest Louisiana Warriors, and Nick DiGerolamo, a 1st-grader at St. Francis Xavier School in Metairie who competes for the Crusader Wrestling Club, have had remarkable seasons.  Both are undefeated against Louisiana competition.  Both are USAW Louisiana state champions and both have placed high enough in national events to merit All-American status.   A summary of their 2014 seasons so far is presented below:

Darrius Evans (Third Grade): Northwest Louisiana Warriors Louisiana record: (Intermediate class - 95-103 lbs.) 13-0 (12 wins via falls) Interstate competition record: 3-0 (Brute Nationals)

Date Event (Click for brackets) Place Record Scores March 1st 2014 Cavalier Open (Calvary Baptist) 1st 3-0 0:47, ?:??, 1:19 March 8th 2014 Lafayette Open (Lafayette) 1st 2-0 0:56, 1:22 March 15th 2014 Jr. Storm Open (Sulphur) 1st 2-0 0:46, 1:56 March 22nd 2014 Junior Spartan Open (Comeaux) 1st 3-0 0:22, 2:19, 6-2 March 29th 2014 Louisiana Folkstyle State Championships (Baton Rouge River Center) 1st 3-0 0:59, 0:42, 0:54 April 5th 2014 Brute Nationals (Independence, Missouri) 1st 3-0 2:15, 0:37, 0:36

Nicholas DiGerolamo (First Grade): Crusader Wrestling Club  Louisiana record: (Bantam class - 70 lbs.) 13-0 (11 wins via falls) Interstate competition record: 9-3 (Red Bank Open, AAU Spring Youth Nationals, USAW/CK)

Date Event (Click for brackets) Place Record Scores January 11th 2014 Red Bank Open (Chattanooga, TN) 1st 4-0 TF, 3 falls March 1st 2014 Greater Baton Rouge Open (Zachary) 1st 4-0 2:10, 0:17; 0:16,10-8 March 8th 2014 Tiger Open (Holy Cross) 1st 3-0 0:16, 0:46, 0:39 March 15th 2014 Jr. Storm Open (Sulphur) 1st 3-0 0:38, 0:41, 2:21 March 22nd 2014 AAU Spring Youth Nationals (Kingsport, Tennessee) 2nd 3-1* 13-5, 2:00, 1:41, 9-11 (L) March 29th 2014 Louisiana Folkstyle State Championships (Baton Rouge River Center) 1st 3-0 1:32, 0:15, 11-9 April 6th USAW/Cliff Keen Kids Folkstyle (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 7th 2-2 2:42; 7-9 (L), 0:26 (L), 4-2

USAW LA State Champion AAU Spring Nationals - 2nd place (2nd from left); certificate and medal 7th place at the USAW/Cliff Keen Nationals

* This is not to say others do not deserve similar recognition, but the editor only ran across Masters Evans and DiGerolamo so far.

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