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Division I - 285 pounds: Jesuit's Corey Dublin triumphs after over a year off

March 25th, 2016 | Written by: Editor

After a season-and-a-half out of wrestling, Jesuit's Corey Dublin did not take long to prove he was among the elite heavyweights in Louisiana. He put an exclamation point on in the Division I finals with a fall in 5:12 over Catholic's #1 seed K.J. Wilson.

Synopsis

The top two Division I contenders at 285 lbs. started their wrestling seasons late due to football commitments. Jesuit junior Corey Dublin's gridiron season ended on November 20th, but his participation for the Blue Jays on the mat was questionable. He had also not wrestled since the beginning of his freshman year. Wilson's participation evidently was not in question as he posted an 11-1 major decision over then Jesuit starter Caleb Hart on December 9th, a mere four days after the Bears won the Division I football championship over Rummel.

Dublin started for the Blue Jays at the Trey Culotta, but even then his status on the team was unclear as Hart and the majority of Blue Jay starters skipped the event after competing in the Kansas City Stampede a few days earlier. Dublin did well in placing fourth, losing to Wilson 4-2 in the semifinals and to Jacob Edwards of Vestavia Hills 7-4 in the match for 3rd and 4th. But 285 lbs. is a difficult weight class to gauge as points are often few and far between, whereas the simplest mistake against an inferior opponent can lead to a fall. In the pool rounds Dublin pinned Edwards in 47 seconds and only lost to eventual champion Matthew Blair of Shaw 3-2. Dublin definitely "had game," but how much was still in question. A 6-0 record at the Deep South Bayou Duals, which included a 3-2 TB-1 victory over Wilson, put him in the elite of the weight class. A subsequent 7-1 thrashing of Blair in a dual meet against Shaw netted him a second seed at the Louisiana Classic.

Wilson exerted his prowess again by beating Dublin 7-4 in the Louisiana Classic semifinals, where Wilson finished second to Blair while Dublin place third. Dublin later won the Ken Cole and Wilson prevailed at the Greater Baton Rouge Championships, but the finishes at the Louisiana Classic earned Wilson the #1 seed at the state tournament, with Dublin at #2. At #3 was Randel Amos of Holy Cross, followed by Hahnville's Blade Rager, Lafayette's Dominique Williams and Jordan Campbell of East Ascension. The #3-#6 seeds all had tournament championships to their credit, but none fared as well as Wilson or Dublin in the more competitive events.

After a hard semifinals loss to Wilson 7-3, Williams scored two falls in 4:21 and 4:02 to place third. His opponent was Hahnville's Blade Rager, who knocked of Randel Amos of Holy Cross 9-1 in the consolation semifinals. Amos took fifth with a fall over East Ascensions Jordan Campbell.

Placers

Place	Name	School	Seed	Year
1st	Corey Dublin	Jesuit	2	11
2nd	K.J. Wilson	Catholic	1	12
3rd	Dominique Williams	Lafayette	5	12
4th	Blade Rager	Hahnville	4	12
5th	Randel Amos	Holy Cross	3	11
6th	Jordan Campbell	East Ascension	7	10