Division III 120 Lbs.

Fini

Cole Houser defends 2016 title; Brother Martin's Cotton places second

LHSAA State Wrestling Tournament

Division I, 120 Pounds

May 12th, 2017 | Written by: Editor

Early Championship Rounds

3rd and 5th

Cole Houser of St. Paul's puts Brother Martin's Luke Cotton safely back onto the mat. Houser won the match 6-3 for his second state championship.

The 120 lbs. weight class was a battle of two defending state champions. St. Paul's Cole Houser was seeded first. Brother Martin's Luke Cotton was seeded third due, in part, to a loss to Houser in a dual meet. Oddly, Holy Cross junior Jacob Spahn was seeded second. This may be explained via three matches. Against Jesuit, Luke Eccles beat Cotton 9-6. Against Holy Cross, Spahn defeated Eccles 17-12. Hence, the seeding went Houser, Spahn, Cotton and Eccles. If those matches were the criteria used, Eccles should have been seeded third and Cotton fourth. But actually, Jacob Spahn was a bit of an unknown entity this season. Against Louisiana opponents Spahn was 3-2. He beat Anthony Ribando of Shaw, Ben Davidson of St. Pauls' and Eccles. His losses were to Rummel's Blake Mateu and Brother Martin's Alex Duncan (not a Crusader starter). Most of his matches were out-of-state ones in Florida and Las Vegas. In his out-of-state matches Spahn was 8-4. Make no mistake, Mr. Spahn is very good, but it is questionable if he had the kind of season to merit a second seed at the state tournament. Make no mistake, though - the state tournament may not have been his best, and he should be a force to be reckoned with next season.

Houser was seed first due to a 40-1 record, with his only loss coming from Brother Martin's Steven Shields. He placed first in the Raider 8, won the Mandeville Open, placed fourth at the South Walton Border Wars, was a runner-up at the Trey Culotta and then won the Louisiana Classic and the Ketelsen Memorial.

Cotton, the number three seed from Holy Cross, has a record of 37-3. His losses came from Blake Mateu of Rummel, Houser and Eccles. He won the Cinco Ranch Big 12, the Spartan Invitational, the Blackhorse and the Trey Culotta, and placed second at the Prep Slam and the Louisiana Classic.

The seeding, luckily, had little impact on the tournament. Houser scored fall in 2:33 and 3:33 before winning his semifinals match against #4 Eccles 4-1. Cotton Scored falls in 4:56 and 5:11 to make the semifinals. Joining him there was Spahn, who scored falls in 1:14 and 0:50 before meeting Cotton in the semifinals. Cotton won that match, and the right to meet Houser in the finals, via a fall in 3:37.