Status: Fini

Travis Gardner of Holy Cross completed the Tigers' undefeated run in the Spartan Open finals with an 8-3 victory over Shaw's Matthew Blair.

Semifinals

Top: Matthew Blair of Shaw defeated Baker's Christopher Banks 13-6.  Bottom: Travis Gardner of Holy Cross scored the only takedown in a 2-0 win over Travis Santiago of Teurlings Catholic.

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Consolation Finals

Travis Santiago of Teurlings Catholic pinned St. Amant's Joe Baluch, Jr. in 2:43 to place third.

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Finals

Travis Gardner (Holy Cross) defeated Matt Blair (Shaw) 8-3

Almost a minute-and-a-half of standing grappling passed before Gardner was able to get behind Blair and force him down to the mat for a 2-0 lead, which is how the first period ended.  Blair was awarded a false start penalty point 45 seconds into the second period and then, after turning into Gardner and grabbing a leg, rolled over his back and ended up on top of Gardner for a reversal and a 3-2 lead.  Gardner managed an escape to tie the match at 3-3 and then, once again, got behind Blair and brought him down to the mat for another takedown and a 5-3 lead as the round ended.  Gardner started the third period on the bottom and in 25 seconds scored another escape, and then he tacked on one more takedown when he countered a Blair lateral drop attempt, ending the match with an 8-3 win and his first tournament title.

Seeding Implications: With titles at the Warrior and Mandeville Opens over Brusly's Jo'Vonte Williams and Fontainebleau's Christian Ponson, Dominic Carmello of Jesuit is the early favorite at 285 pounds.  Ponson gets the nod for second due to his state runner-up status, but primarily due to a 12-1 victory over Blair at Mandeville.  Gardner and Blair round out the top four so far, but this is a weight class that always has surprises when football players come back to the mats.

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