Division III 138 Lbs.

Fini

Shane Ulfers wins a third Division I championship for St. Paul's
Joins his father on that list (Paul Ulfers won a state championship for Brother Martin in 1986)

LHSAA State Wrestling Tournament

Division I, 138 Pounds

May 12th, 2017 | Written by: Editor

Early Championship Rounds

3rd and 5th

St. Paul's Shane Ulfers earned a second state championship title to the Ulfers' family with a 6:00 fall over John Ehret's Joshua Bell. Shane's father, Paul Ulfers, a long-time official, won a state championship for Brother Martin in 1986.

Although the weight class performed as expected, the seeding was a little baffling. Shane Ulfers of St. Paul's and Joshua Bell of Ehret split matches during the season. Ulfers defeated Bell while winning the Mandeville Open, and Bell defeated Ulfers in the finals of the Louisiana Classic. Both had wins over Airline's Joshua Partin, but Partin beat Bell early in the season. That was enough to seed Ulfers higher than Bell. The odd part is that Bell was seeded third, while Brother Martin's Ben Wisniewski was seeded second. The Crusader had a good record of 32-4, but most of his matches were at 132 lbs. Wisniewski also beat Partin, but that was in the Louisiana Classic consolation finals after Ulfers beat Wisniewski in the semifinals before Bell defeated Ulfers in the finals. Regardless, Bell had an outstanding season of which he should be very proud.

The seeding made little difference as Ulfers and Bell were the ones to reach the finals. Ulfers did it with a fall over St. Amant's Seth Signorelli in 1:35, but then had a tough match with Comeaux's Hadley Trahan, which Ulfers won 7-5. Ulfers wrestled better in the semifinals, defeating fifth-seeded Brady Butler of Holy Cross 9-2. Wisniewski dropped out of the championship race in the quarterfinals when he was on the short end of a close 3-2 match against Catholic's Lance Blanchard. Bell had falls of 3:23 and 2:28 before getting past Blanchard in the semifinals 6-5.

During the season Ulfers, who was 37-2, placed second in the Trey Culotta (losing to Brother Martin's Patrick Evans) and the Louisiana Classic (losing to Bell). He won the South Walton Border Wars via a 15-5 Major Decision over Jesuit's Adam Larriviere. Ulfers closed out the season with a win at the Dale Ketelsen Memorial. Bell, with a record of 40-3, placed second at Mandeville, third at the Warrior Open, and then won the Bulldog Brawl, the Trygg Memorial, the Jefferson Invitational, the Jefferson Parish Championships, the Louisiana Classic, the Ken Cole and the District 7A/8A championships.