Status: Fini

Holy Cross' George Benoit preserves a state championship by riding Catholic's Matthew Mire as time runs out in the 152 lbs. Division I finals.

Division I Bracket	Division II Bracket	Division III Bracket
Place Name School 1 (1) George Benoit Holy Cross 2 (2) Matthew Mire Catholic 3 (5) Tim Lafranca Jesuit 4 (6) Jack Fontenot John Ehret 5 (4) Sam Dufour St. Paul's 6 (7) David O'Neal Zachary	Place Name School 1 (1) Zach Funderburk Parkway 2 (3) Dakota Hebert Teurlings Catholic 3 (2) Brad Albarado Shaw 4 (4) Austin Many Riverdale 5 (6) Jordan Myles Benton 6 Cory Lafleur Carencro	Place Name School 1 (1) Richard Hunter Brusly 2 (2) Trae Case Kaplan 3 (3) Landon Dorsey De la Salle 4 (4) Jack Bowman Episcopal 5 Cooper Derouen North Vermillion 6 John Michael Waldrop Ouachita Christian

Division I

Season Synopsis

The 152 lbs. weight class started the season as one of the toughest of the year.  In the first tournament at St. Michael's defending Division I Matthew Mire of Catholic defeated the 2014 Division I 126 lbs. third-place finisher Christian Walden of Airline 10-2 in the first round and then won a 7-4 match over  Dutchtown's Brandon Cowell, the 2014 Division I runner-up at 138 lbs.  In the Central Open Cowell got the best of Mire 5-4.  Joining those two at the Spartan Open was Holy Cross' George Benoit, who handled Mire decisively 9-3 in the semifinals prior to his finals match with Cowell.  That match was scary, as Benoit slickly took down Cowell, but after a well-earned reversal by Cowell Benoit stood up and Cowell put him back on the mat hard, albeit accidentally.  Benoit, however, was deemed not able to continue and was awarded the match.  Also in that weight class was John Ehret's Jack Fontenot and later would come Jesuit's Will Lafranca.

After the Spartan Open Mire did not lose another match to a Louisiana wrestler for seven weeks.  He made the weight class much more interesting by falling to Benoit in the Louisiana Classic finals by a mere two points (10-8).  Mire beat Cowell in the semifinals and Cowell dropped to 145 lbs. shortly thereafter.  Walden dropped to 145 lbs. prior to the Louisiana Classic, so come the state tournament all bets were on a Mire-Benoit final which, after the Louisiana Classic match, would be an exciting one.  The one factor that remained in Benoit's favor, aside from his previous two victories over Mire, was the fact that in his 29 matches before the state tournament, including five in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic, Benoit had yet to lose a match.

Preliminary Rounds

No upsets were recorded in the first or second rounds.

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Quarterfinals

In the quarterfinals Jesuit's Will Lafranca, seeded fifth, scored a minor upset when he defeated #4 Sam Dufour of St. Paul's 8-4.  A mathematically larger upset occurred next when third-seeded Seth Johnson of Brother Martin was defeated by #6 Jack Fontenot of John Ehret 4-3.

(1) George Benoit (HC) defeated Sam Nugent (StA) 9-3

(3) Tim Lafranca (JES) defeated (4) Sam Dufour (StP) 8-4.  Dufour had defeated Lafranca 6-5 at the Louisiana Classic.

(6) Jack Fontenot (JE) defeated (3) Seth Johnson 4-3.  Fontenot also beat Johnson in the Louisiana Classic, so this was not much of an upset.

(2) Matthew Mire (CAT) defeated (7) David O'Neal (ZAC) 13-4

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Semifinals

(1) George Benoit (HC) defeated (5) Tim Lafranca 14-5

(2) Matthew Mire (CAT) defeated Jack Fontenot (JE) 13-5

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Consolation Rounds

3rd Place Match: (5) Tim Lafranca (JES) defeated (6) Jack Fontenot (JE) 14-2

5th Place Match: (4) Sam Dufour (StP) defeated (7) David O'Neal (ZAC) 5-1

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Finals

(1) George Benoit (HC) defeated (2) Matthew Mire (CAT) 13-5 This was Benoit's fourth appearance in a state finals match.  In 2012 he lost to then top-seeded Cody Hill of Live Oak.  In 2013 as a #1 seed he was upset by another Live Oak wrestler, Seth Bosarge.  He was the #1 seed over Paul Klein in 2014, but came out second again in a 3-1 match.  This was Benoit's last chance to earn a state championship title, and, as he had all season, he made the most of it. Benoit scored two takedowns to Mire's one escape in the first period for a 4-1 lead.  In the second period Benoit reversed Mire to take a 7-1 lead and near the end of the match the two traded reversals, and Benoit maintained his six point lead at 9-3.  Mire escaped to start the third period but Benoit answered with another takedown for an 11-4 lead.  That scenario repeated itself once more with about 20 seconds remaining, in which Benoit rode Mire until the last buzzer sounded.  After four attempts Benoit had not only a state championship, but a Division I state championship over a defending Division I titlist.  Benoit finished the season a perfect 29-0.  Mire was 25-4 against Louisiana competition and 37-8 against all opposition.

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Division II

Season Synopsis

Defending Division II state champion Zach Funderburk of Parkway brought a very good record into the state tournament, having won 32 matches against only five losses, all to highly rated Division I opponents (and one Texan).  Funderburk won the Lone Survivor and North Louisiana Regional championships, placed second to Ehret's Jack Fontenot in the Ken Cole and was an obvious #1 seed.  Two of those wins were over Shaw's Brad Albarado, who was seeded second over Teurlings Catholic's Dakota Hebert due to a 17-1 technical fall over Hebert at the Trey Culotta.

Preliminary Rounds

One minor upset was recorded in the second round when unseeded Cory Lafleur defeated #8 Sean O'Flynn of East Jefferson 9-5.

Round 2: (5) Tyler Carierre (RAY) over Jatavian Hemphill (NW) in 4:55

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Quarterfinals

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Semifinals

Disregarding the technical fall loss to Albarado at the Trey Culotta, #3 Dakota Hebert of Teurlings Catholic upset #2 Brad Albarado of Shaw 3-2 in the second semifinals match.

(1) Zach Funderburk (PKY) defeated (4) Austin Many (RIV) 12-0

(3) Dakota Hebert (TC) defeated (2) Brad Albarado (SHW) 3-2

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Consolation Rounds

Consolations Round 1: Brandon Yonnes (BOS) defeated Scott Bonnot (GK) in 1:43

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Finals

(1) Zach Funderburk (PKY) pinned (3) Dakota Hebert (TC) in 3:09 Funderburk controlled this match methodically, scoring a takedown in the first minute, and then another takedown after an escape by Albarado in the second period for a 4-1 lead.  At 3:09 in the match, however, Hebert was forced to retire from the match due to an injury and Funderburk had his second state championship, Parkway's third of the night.  Funderburk finished the season 36-5 against Louisiana competition and 39-6 against all opponents.  Hebert finished 30-11 and 32-13.

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Division III

Season Synopsis

Top-seeded Richard Hunter of Brusly pinned second-seeded Trae Case of Kaplan in the finals of the Brusly Invitational, and Case was given the second seed as he had not lost to any other Division III wrestlers.  He defeated third-seeded Landon Dorsey of De la Salle in the quarterfinals of that tournament.

Preliminary Rounds

One upset was recorded in Round 1 when Dunham's Jonathan Breaux defeated #6 Cameron Barzas of Basile in 4:36.

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Quarterfinals

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Semifinals

(1) Richard Hunter (BRU) defeated (4) Jack Bowman (EPI) in 5:55

(2) Trae Case (KAP) defeated (3) Landon Dorsey (DLS) in 1:04

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Consolation Rounds

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Finals

(1) Richard Hunter (BRU) defeated (2) Trae Case (KAP) 11-5 The sophomore Hunter and the freshman Case had met previously in the finals of the Brusly Invitational, which Hunter won via a fall in 4:35.  Case did not succumb to a fall in this match, but Hunter controlled the match with single-leg takedowns and tilts en route to an 11-5 win and his first state title.  Hunter finished the season undefeated against Division III opponents, 24-10 against Louisiana wrestlers and 26-10 against all competition.  Case finished the year with a 21-7 record.

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