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Division I - 160
pounds: Airline's Walden repeats in front of home town fans |
March 25th, 2016 | Written by:
Editor |
Some might think Airline junior Christian Walden had a "home field" advantage
at the CenturyLink Center, as it is only a few miles away from Airline
High School. If so, then it is a portable advantage that he has taken with
him to New Orleans, Baton Rouge and even Oklahoma City. Still, it must
have been special to win his second Division I title in front of a home town
crowd, which he did via a 9-5 win over Catholic sophomore Jacob Fereday.
And next year, he will have the chance to do it there again.
![](../DI%20Photos/D1%20160/Finals%20D1%20160%20Walden-Fereday/D1%20160%20Walden-Fereday%20-%2006.JPG)
Synopsis
Walden, like Jesuit's Guy Patron, Jr., Rummel's Blake Mateu and Josh Ramirez, and Jake Rando of Holy Cross, did not
lose to a Louisiana wrestler all season. The junior only lost once all
season, at the Texas Outlaw Open, in which he was the runner-up. He
started the season winning the State Games of Oklahoma, and then the Evangel
Eagle Open. After a couple of close matches at the Trey Culotta, he pinned
Vestavia Hills' Hayden Hill, who would later win an Alabama Class 7A state
championship, in the finals. He won the Louisiana Classic as well as the North Louisiana
Regionals. In his 42 wins during the regular season, Walden pinned 34
opponents. Four out-of-state opponents made Walden go the entire six
minutes, as did Brother Martin's Brad Guidry once, Sam Dufour of St. Paul's
once, and twice by Catholic's Jacob Fereday.
Fereday, the second-seeded sophomore from Catholic, stayed a tad under the
radar early in the season as he started at 170 lbs. and had a loss to Sage
Nugent of St. Amant and two to Comeaux's Kole Miller. He dropped to 160
lbs. for the Cy Ridge Classic in Texas, but finished fourth. After that he
did have a nice seven-win streak in dual meets which included wins over Dufour,
Jesuit's Brandon Greer and Owen Mabile of Brusly. At the Trey Culotta he
lost for the first time to Walden in the pool rounds, and then to Hill in the
bracket tournament, and finished fourth after falling to Dufour in the
consolation finals. A runner-up finish at the Hoover Invitational in
Alabama, was, after all, in Alabama, but a week later he solidified himself as a
#2 state seed with a 7-5 SV win over Dufour in the Louisiana Classic before
losing to Walden for the second time. Fereday responded well
by winning the Greater Baton Rouge Championships. In the state tournament
he started with a 15-0 technical fall, a 9-0 major decision, and a 5:25
semifinals fall over Dufour prior to his third match with Walden in the finals.
Fifth-seeded Michael Benton of Holy Cross took third place honors over
Jesuit's Brandon Wolff, who advanced as the sixth seed to the consolation finals
with a 5-1 win, and seasonal series tie-breaker, over #4 Brad Guidry of Brother
Martin in the consolation finals. Things were sweeter for Benton not only placing third but in
defeating the third-seeded Dufour in the consolation semifinals. The two
had met four times previously with Dufour winning each time. Dufour had
aggravated an early season injury and decide to to wrestle the match for fifth
place. Hence, fifth place went to Guidry via a forfeit by Dufour.
Placers
Place |
Name |
School |
Seed |
Year |
1st |
Christian Walden |
Airline |
1 |
11 |
2nd |
Jacob Fereday |
Catholic |
2 |
10 |
3rd |
Michael Benton |
Holy Cross |
5 |
11 |
4th |
Brandon Wolff |
Jesuit |
6 |
12 |
5th |
Brad Guidry |
Brother Martin |
4 |
12 |
6th |
Sam Dufour |
St. Paul's |
3 |
12 |
|
![](../DI%20Photos/D1%20160/D1%20160%20Podium/D1%20160%20Podium.JPG) |
1st |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
![](../DI%20Photos/D1%20160/D1%20160%20Podium/D1%20160%201st%20-%20Walden%20-%2002.JPG) |
![](../DI%20Photos/D1%20160/D1%20160%20Podium/D1%20160%201st%20-%20Walden%20-%2001.JPG) |
![](../DI%20Photos/D1%20160/D1%20160%20Podium/D1%20160%202nd%20-%20Fereday.JPG) |
![](../DI%20Photos/D1%20160/D1%20160%20Podium/D1%20160%203rd%20-%20Benton.JPG) |
![](../DI%20Photos/D1%20160/D1%20160%20Podium/D1%20160%204th%20-%20Wolff.JPG) |
![](../DI%20Photos/D1%20160/D1%20160%20Podium/D1%20160%205th%20-%20Guidry.JPG) |
![](../DI%20Photos/D1%20160/D1%20160%20Podium/D1%20160%206th%20-%20Dufour.JPG) |
Christian Walden |
Christian Walden |
Jacob Fereday |
Michael Benton |
Brandon Wolff |
Brad Guidry |
Sam Dufour |
Friday Early and Consolation Rounds
|
R1: Bonilla (McK) over LeBlanc (FNT) in 5:14. |
|
R2: Toups (COM) over Jones (HNV) in 1:30. |
|
R2: Wolff (JES) over Francois (DUT) in
2:55. |
|
C2: Guillory (ACA) over LeBlanc (FNT) in 4:39. |
Back to Top
Quarterfinals
|
(1) Christian Walden (AIR) pinned (8) Kaelin
Lambert (StA) in 5:52. |
|
(4) Brad Guidry (BM) defeated (5) Michael
Benton (HC) 9-5. |
|
(3) Sam Dufour (StP) pinned (6) Brandon Wolff
(JES) in 1:46. |
|
(2) Jacob Fereday (CAT) defeated Kasey Toups
(COM) 9-0 |
Back to Top
Semifinals
|
(1) Christian Walden (AIR) pinned (4) Brad
Guidry (BM) in 0:48. |
|
(2) Jacob Fereday (CAT) pinned (4) Sam Dufour
(StP) in 5:25. |
Back to Top
Championship Consolation Rounds
|
(5) Michael Benton (HC) defeated (6) Brandon
Wolff (JES) 7-4.to win 3rd place. |
(4) Brad Guidry (BM) received a forfeit from
(3) Sam Dufour (StP) to win 5th place. |
Back to Top
Finals
(1) Christian Walden of Airline defeated (2)
Jacob Fereday of Catholic 9-5. |
|
Back to Top
© 2016 by Louisiana Wrestling News
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