Fini

#1 Steven Shields of Brother Martin defeated #2, defending state champion Cole Clement of Holy Cross, 5-2, to become the second wrestler in the modern era to win four consecutive individual Division I state championships.  (Paul Klein of Brother Martin did it from 2012 to 2015.)

Only two years ago Brother Martin's Paul Klein won his fourth consecutive Division I state championship.  In the finals at 132 lbs. Crusader senior Steven Shields had a chance to match that mark.  Previously he defeated Nicholas Lirette of Hahnville (a 2016 state champion), Beau Bush of Holy Cross and Joseph Dupree of Jesuit.  His opponent would be Holy Cross senior Cole Clement, who won a Division I state championship in 2016..

Shields wrestled at 126 lbs. through the Prep Slam in Atlanta and them moved up to 132 lbs. for six dual meets before the Louisiana Classic.  He had already won the Cinco Ranch Big 12, the Spartan Invitational and the Trey Culotta, and finished in third place at the Prep Slam.  Feasibly Brother Martin may have wanted to test Shields against Clement, as knocking off a defending state champion would benefit the Crusaders more than Shields winning at 126 lbs. and Clement at 132 lbs. at the state championships.

At the Louisiana Classic nothing went as expected.  After a first round bye second-seeded Cole Clement, a defending Division I state champion from Holy Cross, lost to Jesuit's Jackson DeGruy 5-3.  DeGruy would make it to the finals, but not versus the top-seeded Shields.  The Crusader was shocked by East Ascension freshman Trent Mahoney, who was seeded fourth, via a fall in 3:21.  DeGruy and Mahoney made it to the finals, and Mahoney scored a fall in 2:57 to win the championship.  Mahoney was also voted the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

As for Shields and Clement, they met in the consolation finals in a match won by Shields 3-1.  Shields would probably have been the top seed at the state championships as he would bring in a record of 42-1, whereas Mahoney had 12 losses to go with his 56 wins.  Just to be sure, though, Shields joined a Brother Martin "B" team at the Ken Cole, and in the finals Shields beat Mahoney 9-2.

Shields advanced to the finals with falls in 0:56, 0:49 and then advanced out of the semifinals due to an injury to fourth-seeded Cameron Carpenter of Catholic.

Clement brought a 27-2 record to the state championships.  He won the Cashio-Shriever, placed third at the South Walton Border Wars and placed fifth at the Louisiana Classic.  He started the state championships strong with a fall in 0:20, an 11-0 Major Decision and a 1-0 decision over the third-seeded Dyllon Bernard of Comeaux.

In a tight match Shields won 5-2 to become the second Crusader to win four consecutive Division I individual championships. 

1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Steven Shields	Cole Clement	Jackson DeGruy	Dyllon Bernard	Patrick Mahoney	Cameron Carpenter
Brother Martin	Holy Cross	Jesuit	Comeaux	East Ascension	Catholic
#1 Seed	#2 Seed	#6 Seed	#3 Seed	#5 Seed	#4 Seed
Senior	Senior	Senior	Sophomore	Freshman	Senior

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Early Championship Rounds

Round 1 (left two photos): #8 Isaiah Johnson (McK) pinned Jarden James (BRB) in 5:52 | Round 1 (right photo): Hunter Gustin (SUL) defeated Joseph Cagayo (StA) 7-4.

Round 1: Gianni Toce (MND) defeated Jacob Yawn (BYR) 17-11.

Round 2: Kendrick Sandifer (HNV) pinned Tanner Mergist (ACA) in 5:03.

Round 2: #4 Cameron Carpenter (CAT) defeated Mason Impastato (StP) via a 21-9 Major Decision.

Round 2: #3 Dyllon Bernard (COM) defeated Jude Torres (DST) 8-1.

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Quarterfinals

#1 Steven Shields (BM) pinned Kendrick Sandifer (HNV) in 0:49.

#4 Cameron Carpenter (CAT) defeated #5 Patrick Mahoney (EA) 8-5.

#3 Dyllon Bernard (COM) defeated #6 Jackson DeGruy (JES) via a 14-5 Major Decision.

#2 Cole Clement (HC) defeated #7 Tucker Almond (AIR) via an 11-0 Major Decision.

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Semifinals

#1 Steven Shields (BM) defeated #3 Cameron Carpenter via an injury @ 5:35.

#2 Cole Clement (HC) defeated #3 Dyllon Bernard (COM) 1-0.

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Consolation Rounds

C1: Seth Poret (COV) defeated Gianni Toce (MND) 9-4

C1: #8 Jarden James (BRB) defeated Kaleb Verdin (WLK) in 0:14

C3: #6 Jackson DeGruy (JES) defeated Seth Poret (COV) 5-2.

C3: Trent Mahoney (EA) defeated Charles Pocorello (FNT) 12-6

C4: #6 Jackson DeGruy (JES) defeated #7 Tucker Almond (AIR) 12-5.

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Championship Consolation Rounds

#6 Jackson DeGruy (JES) defeated #3 Dyllon Bernard (COM) to place 3rd.  Bernard defeated DeGruy via a Major Decision 14-5 in the quarterfinals.

#5 Trent Mahoney (EA) received a forfeit from #4 Cameron Carpenter (CAT) to place 5th.

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Finals

#1 Steven Shields of Brother Martin defeated #2 Cole Clement of Holy Cross, 5-2.

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