Status: Fini

2015 LHSAA State Wrestling Championships - 120 pounds
April 25, 2015 | Written by: Editor; Photographs by Editor and Camille Tyra

 

Jesuit's Ben D'Antonio attempts a "flying squirrel" against Brother Martin's Stephen Rumney in the 120 lbs. finals match.

Division I
Bracket
Division II
Bracket
Division III
Bracket
Place Name School
1 (1) Ben D'Antonio Jesuit
2 (3) Stephen Rumney Brother Martin
3 (2) Nicholas Lirette Hahnville
4 (5) Collin Guerra Holy Cross
5 (4) Javarious Jones Airline
6 (6) Nicholas Des Bordes Mandeville
Place Name School
1 (1) Daniel Trappey Carencro
2 (2) Dylan Holliday Haughton
3 (4) Trevor Tamburo Parkway
4 (5) Dawson Vallee Shaw
5 Tyler Bryant Northwood
6 (6) Mauricio Ballesteros Grace King
Place Name School
1 (1) Raymond Bushnell Basile
2 (7) Alex Beraud North Vermillion
3 (3) Christopher LaNeve Leesville
4 (6) Chris LeBoeuf South Plaquemines
5 (4) Adam Verrett St. Louis
6 (5) Brandon Mockbee John Curtis

Overall Synopsis

The weight class of 120 lbs. started off with a slew of talent.  In the first notable tournament of the season, the St, Michael Warrior open, the top four placers were all current or past Division II and Division III state champions.  Basile's Raymond Bushnell, a year removed from winning Division III championships in 2012 and 2013, got past 2012 Division III state champion Logan Griffin of Thomas Jefferson in the semifinals, and then Brusly's current Division III champion, Austin Franklin, in the finals.  A week later Bushnell defeated Live Oak's Division II state champion Colt Olinde in the Central Wildcat Open finals.  To add more fun to that event were East Ascension's Landon Wheat and Christopher Marson of Denham Springs.  Also in that week Holy Cross' Beau Bush made the most of his 120 lbs. debut by winning the Mandeville Open.  The following week at the Dutchtown Griffin Open the Brother Martin Crusaders entered their first Louisiana competition, and the torch passed to the Crusaders' Stephen Rumney, who defeated Olinde in the semifinals and Bushnell in the finals.  In the next week Bush claimed the Spartan Open title against Olinde, who had defeated Bushnell in the semifinals.

After the Thanksgiving break 120 lbs. became even more difficult as Jesuit's returning 120 lbs. state champion Ben D'Antonio wrestled his first match on December 13th, defeating Rumney 6-5.  (D'Antonio waited to wrestle until the cross country state championships were held, where he placed 29th of 334 5A runners to help Jesuit to a state championship.)  On December 20th, Rumney and Brother Martin were gearing up for the Trey Culotta (which started on the 22nd) while Olinde won the Zachary Big Horse and Bushnell won the Evangel Eagle Open.

The Trey Culotta was the first tournament for 2014's Division I runner-up Nicholas Lirette, and he dominated Rumney twice, 11-5 in the pool rounds and via a fall in 4:00 in the finals.  By the time the Louisiana Classic came around most who were planning on cutting down to 113 lbs. had done so, including Franklin, Olinde and Wheat.  Rumney and Lirette met in the finals, which Rumney won, but a new name appeared in third place - Javarious Jones of Airline, who beat Marson and Carencro's Daniel Trappey (a winner over Bushnell) in the consolation rounds.  Five days later Lirette defeated Rumney again, which was enough to make him the second seed at the state tournament behind D'Antonio, who won the Ken Cole two weeks after the Louisiana Classic.  By that time Holy Cross' Bush had dropped to 113 lbs., leaving D'Antonio, Lirette, Rumney and Jones at the top seeds at the state championships.  As if that was not enough, 2013 state runner-up Collin Guerra of Holy Cross, who, at 126 lbs., had won the Mandeville and Spartan opens and placed second at the Louisiana Classic, dropped to 120 lbs. as did Nicholas Des Bordes of Mandeville, who had won the Warrior Open and the St. Tammany Parish Championships.

Hence, even with the departure of Bush, Franklin and Olinde from the weight class, 120 lbs. remained a very competitive weight class, particularly in Division I.

Division I

State Synopsis

When state rolled around Jesuit's Ben D'Antonio only had 20 matches to his credit.  Five of those were losses to out-of-state wrestlers at the Kansas City Stampede and the Deep South Bayou Duals.  While he was undefeated against Louisiana opponents, he had tough times with the better ones, evidenced by his 6-5 win over Rumney in his first match and a 5-3 win over Nicolas Des Bordes of Mandeville in the Ken Cole finals.

Lirette held a 3-1 advantage over Rumney and hence was seeded second.  Jones had a loss to Rumney and a win over Des Bordes, as did Guerra who, although he only had four matches at 120 lbs., was seeded 5th. 

Preliminary Rounds

No upsets were had in the preliminary rounds of this weight class.

Top - Round 1: (Left three photos) Marson (DS) defeated Fautheree (COV) in 4:47;
Top - Round 2: (Right photo) (5) Guerra (HC) over Hazlett (DUT) in 1:29
Bottom - Round 1: (Left two photos) Ulfers (StP) defeated Oubre (COM) 11-9 SV;
 Bottom - Round 2: (7) Dewey (CAT) defeated Babin (StA) 14-4; (2) Lirette (HNV) defeated Willie (FNT) in 0:36

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Quarterfinals

A mild upset was recorded when #5 Collin Guerra of Holy Cross defeated #4 Javarious Jones of Airline in the quarterfinals 5-3.

(1) Ben D'Antonio (JES) defeated (8) Landon Wheat (EA) 8-0
(5) Collin Guerra (HC) defeated (4) Javarious Jones (AIR) 5-3
(3) Stephen Rumney (BM) defeated (6) Nicholas Des Bordes (MND) 8-4
(2) Nicholas Lirette (HNV) defeated (7) Dominic Dewey (CAT) 11-2

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Semifinals

(1) Ben D'Antonio (JES) defeated (5) Collin Guerra (HC) 4-3
(3) Stephen Rumney (BM) defeated (2) Nicholas Lirette (HNV) 9-8
Lirette won three of his five matches against Rumney, but his two losses were big ones: the Louisiana Classic finals and the state semifinals.

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Consolation Rounds

3rd Place Match: (2) Nicholas Lirette (HNV) defeated (5) Collin Guerra (HC) 5-0
5th Place Match: (4) Javarious Jones (AIR) defeated (6) Nicholas Des Bordes (MND) 18-5

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Finals

(1) Ben D'Antonio (JES) defeated (3) Stephen Rumney (BM) 6-4
D'Antonio knows how to win the big matches, and only a mere point or two will suffice.  Last year he scored the winning takedown in the Division I finals with three seconds left.  In this match D'Antonio jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 90 seconds.  Rumney, though, tied the match at 2-2 with 15 seconds left in the second period, but D'Antonio came back with a reversal of his own eight seconds later to take a 4-2 lead into the third period.  D'Antonio scored an escape to take a 5-2 lead, but Rumney took the Blue Jay down 40 seconds later to narrow D'Antonio's lead to 5-4.  D'Antonio, however, escaped five seconds later and was able to hold off Rumney and preserve a 6-4 win and his second consecutive Division I state championship.  D'Antonio finished the season 19-0 against Louisiana competition and 19-5 overall.  Rumney completed his junior year at 17-5 and 30-9.

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Division II

Season Synopsis

Carencro's Daniel Trappey earned the top seeding in Division II over Haughton's Dylan Holliday due to one win over Comeaux's Seth Oubre (against three losses) while Holliday was 0-1 against Oubre.  Both finished in the same place at the Ken Cole (the only tournament in which both competed) and both had losses to Javarious Jones.  Trappey may have also received the nod as he faced some tougher opponents during the season, including Bushnell, Lirette and Des Bordes.  Both defeated the #4 seed, Parkway's Trevor Tamburo, who was seeded behind Live Oak's #3 Seth Minard.

Preliminary Rounds

Round 1 Matches: First 3 photos - (6) Ballesteros (GK) defeated Arbaurgh (BC) in 5:56; Schneider (TC) defeated Norwood (SH) in 0:55

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Quarterfinals

A mild upset was recorded when #6 Mauricio Ballesteros of Grace King defeated #3 Seth Minard of Live Oak in 5:16.

(1) Trappey (CAR) defeated Schneider (TC) via an 18-2 TF 
(4) Tamburo (PKY) defeated (5) Vallee (SHW) 9-3 
(6) Ballesteros (GK) defeated (3) Minard (LO) in 5:16 
(2) Holliday (HAU) defeated Hatfield (EJ) in 2:38

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Semifinals

Left two photos: (1) Trappey (CAR) defeated Tamburo (PKY) 14-2; Right three photos: (2) Holliday (HAU) defeated (6) Ballesteros (GK) in 1:10

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Consolation Rounds

3rd Place Match: (4) Tamburo (PKY) defeated (5) Vallee (SHW) 7-6
5th Place Match: Bryant (NW) defeated (6) Ballesteros (GK) via a forfeit

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Finals

(1) Daniel Trappey (CAR) defeated (2) Dylan Holliday (HAU) 6-4
These two had not met during the regular season.  Trappey started the scoring with a takedown after a minute had passed in the first, and it would be a lead he would not relinquish.  Holliday scored an escape near the end of the second period to halve Trappey's led to 2-1, but early in the third period Trappey reversed Holliday to his back, adding two reversal and two nearfall points to take a 6-2 lead.  Holliday managed a reversal, but Trappey was able to hold him off and leave the mat with a 6-4 win and a Division II state championship.  Trappey finished the season 29-8 while Holliday was 20-7.

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Division III

Season Synopsis

With the Division I and Division II contenders were taken out of the mix, Basile's Raymond Bushnell owned 120 lbs.  After suffering an injury in the Jacob McMillan, Bushnell rested until the state championship, an event he had to watch from the sidelines last year after having won it twice before.

Preliminary Rounds

Round 1: Marc Evans (DLS) defeated David Kent (BRU) in 0:46

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Quarterfinals

Two upsets were recorded in the semifinals.  John Curtis' Brandon Mockbee, the #5 seed, defeated #4 Adam Verrett of St. Louis and #7 Alex Beraud of North Vermillion knocked off second-seeded David Rollins of Episcopal.

(1) Raymond Bushnell (BAS) defeated Marc Evans (DLS) in 1:46 
(5) Brandon Mockbee (JC) defeated (4) Adam Verrett (StL) 10-9 in TB-1
(3) Christopher LeNeve (LEE) defeated Chris LeBoeuf (SPL) 19-11
Alex Beraud (NV) defeated (2) David Rollins (EPI) 10-2

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Semifinals

Beraud continued his seed slashing by defeated the #3 seed, Christopher LaNeve of Leesville, in the semifinals in 5:10.

(1) Raymond Bushnell (BAS) defeated (5) Brandon Mockbee (JC) in 1:40
Alex Beraud (NV) defeated (3) Christopher LaNeve (LEE) in 5:10

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Consolation Rounds

3rd Place Match: (3) Christopher LaNeve (LEE) defeated Chris LeBoeuf (SPL) 17-12
5th Place Match: (4) Adam Verrett (StL) defeated (5) Brandon Mockbee (JC) 6-1

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Finals

(1) Raymond Bushnell (BAS) defeated Alex Beraud (NV) in 3:54
The top-seeded Bushnell wasted little time in the quarterfinals and semifinals, scoring first round pins in both matches.  In the finals against the seventh-seeded Beraud he had a little tougher time, but not too much.  By the end of the first round Bushnell owned a 6-0 lead.  He stretched that out to 9-0 before scoring a fall in 3:54 to win his third Division III state championship.   For his accomplishments Bushnell was voted the Outstanding Wrestler in Division III.  Bushnell ended the season 25-5 against Louisiana competition and 26-5 against all comers.  Beraud finished at 18-14.

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