Fini

It took three years, but a team finally defeated Brother Martin in a dual meet.  Jefferson High School from Georgia avenged a Deep South Bayou Duals finals loss to the Crusaders in 2013 (a match that ended in a tie which required "Criteria H" to break in favor of Brother Martin) with a 36-26 finals win over the Crusaders at the Baton Rouge River Center on Tuesday.  Brother Martin last lost a dual meet in the 2012 Bayou Duals versus MacArthur, Oklahoma, who defeated the Crusaders in the semifinals prior to defeating Catholic for the championship.

The Crusaders, wrestling without two-time Division I state champion Steven Shields, still had chances to win matches that might have propelled them to a third straight Bayou Duals championship.  Yet, as so many teams have learned against the Crusaders, the better teams find ways to win crucial matches.  The Crusaders won five bouts, three by falls and two by major decisions, but Jefferson matched the number of falls and scored six decisions in their nine wins. 

The St. Paul's Wolves placed fourth, losing in the semifinals to Jefferson 48-24 and to Altus, Oklahoma, 39-22 in the consolation finals.  The Wolves, though, confirmed that they will be Brother Martin's prime concern at the 2016 state championships.  On Monday, against Louisiana teams, they handily defeated Division II favorite Teurlings Catholic 49-27, St. Amant 55-12 and Belle Chasse 63-18.  After their Tuesday semifinals loss they beat a tough Wrightstown, Wisconsin, team 45-24 to advance to the third-place match.

Jesuit was the next highest Louisiana team to place in the championship bracket.  The Blue Jays placed 7th, and in their path defeated Catholic 42-34.  The Bears placed 9th with a 40-28 win over Cypress Bay, Florida, and en route defeated Holy Cross 42-34.  Teurlings Catholic placed 12th and Holy Cross 13th.

Five-dollar Cokes were not enough to keep the power very long after the last match, which had an effect on the team photographs below:

The champions from Jefferson High School (after the lights went dim)	Runner-up Brother Martin (before the lights went dim)

Jefferson wrestlers won both Outstanding Wrestler awards.  Tanner Thurmond won in the lower weight classes (132 lbs. vs. Brother Martin) and Caleb Little won in the heavier weight classes (182 lbs. vs. Brother Martin).  (After asking a Jefferson coach their names, a handy pneumonic, "Little Uma Thurman," kept the editor from having to write down their names.)

Tanner Thurmond	Caleb Little

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The following are a sample of photos from Tuesday (most of which entail the semifinals, consolation final and final matches, and hence will be published at a later date):

The times in which we live...	It's fun to have Adam Larriviere back	Hunter Bourgeois about to land a devastating cradle

Colten Sonnier of Teurlings Catholic (as promised to his mother)	The writing on the opponent's shoulder indicates this is Holy Cross' Jake Rando	Official Jacoby Guillory calls the rare "party foul" during a match

Yesterday's birthday boy Taylor Gambill scored a fall in the finals...	...but was earlier amused by family members while the rest of the Crusaders were getting a pre-match pep talk	William Pickren of Arnold, FL, defeated Colby Singletary of Somerset, FL, in a match between the 2nd and 3rd ranked Florida Division I 126 lbs. contenders

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