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Division III - 132 pounds: Maturin avenges Brusly Invitational losses to win another Patriots title

March 25th, 2016 | Written by: Editor

At the Brusly Invitational North Vermillion junior Rhett Maturin lost in the quarterfinals via a 9-0 major decision to De la Salle's Raekwon Thomas. In the consolation semifinals he lost to Lakeside's John Watson 8-4. Maturin did not compete against Gerald Barthelemy of South Plaquemines during the season, but Barthelemy placed fourth at the Brusly Invitational, so the seeding went Thomas, Watson, Barthelemy and then Maturin. In Bossier City Maturin did not care as he dispatched top-seeded Thomas 9-4 in the semifinals and the Watson 4-1 to win a state championship.

Synopsis

Maturin only wrestled two matches in December prior to the Deep South Bayou Duals, one of which was to a junior varsity wrestler from Kaplan. He did not win a match in that event, but Shaw's Collin Ballas, Brother Martin's Taylor Gambill, Brusly's Austin Franklin and Dutchtown's Brendan Warner, plus two out-of-state competitors makes for a tough two days for anyone. He was also at 138 lbs. at that time, and dropped to 132 lbs. in January. Aside from his woes at the Brusly Invitational, though, he only lost to some tough Division I wrestlers, namely St. Amant's Jesse Breaud, Ehret's Joseph Davis-Lucas, Cole Clement of Holy Cross, Comeaux's 132 lbs. double-threats Jake Verret and Connor Hudson, and to Blaze Seaux, II, of Division II Carencro. Maturin had, however, better seasons his sophomore and, particularly, his freshman year when he placed second in the state championships to Brusly's Baret Sanchez. For the 2016 state championships he seemed to remember what being on the finals mat felt like, and, perhaps even more importantly, what it felt like to see the other guy's hand raised at the end. He also did it in a hard way by defeating the #5, #1 and #2 seeds along the way.

Thomas earned his top seed at this event. He was undefeated in Division III, lost one match to a solid Division II opponent in Rummel's John Doyle, and his Division I losses were to wrestlers who placed first, second, third and fourth in Division I. Thomas also went the full six minutes in all of his losses to Division I opponents. Thomas won the Brusly Invitational over Franklin, won the Greater New Orleans Division III District tournament and placed second at the Trygg Memorial. Thomas shook off his loss to Maturin and easily placed third for the Cavaliers, helping them toward their Division III team championship. He is also only a junior, and with a runner-up finish in 2015, will be looking for another spot on the podium in 2017.

Lakeside sophomore John Watson also did not compete in his first match until early December, and was out for almost a month between winning the Evangel Eagle Open and placing third at the Brusly Invitational over Barthelemy.

Notice should be taken of Basile's Isaac Cortez who placed fourth behind Thomas. Cortez placed second at the Jacob McMillan Memorial, the Rayne Invitational and won the Lafayette Metro championship. And he is only in eighth grade.

Placers

Place	Name	School	Seed	Year
1st	Rhett Maturin	North Vermillion	4	11
2nd	John Watson	Lakeside	2	10
3rd	Raekwon Thomas	De la Salle	1	11
4th	Isaac Cortez	Basile	5	8
5th	Gerald Barthelemy	South Plaquemines	3	12
6th	Alec Verrett	St. Louis	7	11