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Division III - 160 pounds: Hunter caps stellar year with second state title

March 25th, 2016 | Written by: Editor

Brusly junior Richard Hunter became the second Panther to defend a 2015 championship with a 3:59 fall over second-seeded Trae Case of Kaplan.

Synopsis

Defending Division III state champion Richard Hunter started the season at 182 lbs. and placed second in the Raider Invitational and the Brusly 8, losing both times to Rummel's Josh Ramirez, but defeating the later crowned 182 lbs. Division I state champion Matthew Putnam of Holy Cross. After that the Panther junior won his next 23 of 24 matches, varying from 160 lbs. to 182 lbs., and beating St. Amant's Sage Nugent and Shaw's Cameron Bertot (who would be the Division II state champion at 182 lbs.) along the way. In that period, Hunter won the Brusly Invitational, the only tournament he would win prior to the state championship, over Kaplan's Trae Case, whom he would meet again in the Division III finals. Next was the Louisiana Classic in which he placed fourth, losing to runner-up Kole Miller of Comeaux in the semifinals and to soon-to-be Division I state champion Pierce Williams of Brother Martin in the consolation finals. In the Greater Baton Rouge Championships Hunter also placed second, losing a close 9-7 match to Nugent. In the state championships Hunter recorded three pins and a semifinals major decision to win his second Division III title.

Kaplan sophomore Trae Case placed second to Hunter at the Brusly Invitational but then won the Rayne Invitational and placed fourth at the Ken Cole before winning the Lafayette Metro Tournament. Aside from Hunter, Case's only other two losses were to Division I opponents from Jesuit and Comeaux.

Being the most valuable wrestler for Calvary Baptist this season was easy for junior Cole Bedgood as he was a one-man team. Bedgood, whose season did not start until January 9th, placed third at the John Curtis Invitational, fifth at the Ken Cole and second in the North Louisiana Regionals prior to the state tournament in which he was only seeded fifth. He had losses to Case and Hunter, as well as to Paul Treuting of Jesuit and Airline's Christian Walden, but he had not competed against the third and fourth seeds, and he had a win over Joseph Venable of Carencro, the Division II second-seed. If he felt he was slighted re his seeding, he more than made up for it with a quarterfinals win over fourth-seeded James Hebert of South Cameron, an 8-1 win over third-seeded Matthew Webre of Ouachita Christian, followed by another decision over Hebert to win third place honors.

Fifth-seeded Cole Bedgood of Calvary Baptist made it to the semifinals and, after losing to Hunter, defeated third seed Matthew Webre of Ouachita Christian and, for the second time in the tournament, South Cameron's James Hebert to place third.

Placers

Place	Name	School	Seed	Year
1st	Richard Hunter	Brusly	1	11
2nd	Trae Case	Kaplan	2	10
3rd	Cole Bedgood	Calvary Baptist	5	11
4th	James Hebert	South Cameron	4	12
5th	Cooper Derouen	North Vermillion	6	10
6th	Matthew Webre	Ouachita Christian	3	10