Fini

Top-seeded Jake Rando of Holy Cross pinned second seed Patrick Evans of Brother Martin in 1:06 to win his third consecutive Division I championship. For his prowess on the mats, Rando was named the Division I Outstanding Wrestler.

Two-time consecutive Division I state champion Jake Rando brought a 29-0 record into the state tournament.  Actually, to break an article rule, he was 29-1, losing 5-4 in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic to Utah State Champion Cooper Skinner.  Before that match Rando won the Cashio-Schriever tournament at Jesuit and the South Walton Border Wars.  After his runner-up finish in Las Vegas, Rando won his second Louisiana Classic.  Rando wrestled the vast majority of his matches at 152 lbs.  It was not until his last match before the state championships, against Jesuit, that he dropped to 145 lbs.

Sophomore Patrick Evans of Brother Martin had one blemish in 29 matches.  That was a 1-0 loss to Jesuit's Eli Larriviere at the Brother Martin/Jesuit dual meet.  Larriviere had to forfeit his match against Evans in the semifinals of the Louisiana Classic due to an injury.  Evans placed third at the Cinco Ranch Big 12, and then won the Blackhorse, the Trey Culotta and then the Louisiana Classic over a very improved Grant Hughes from St. Paul's.

In the state championships Rando pinned his first two opponents in 1:25 and 3:35 respectively.  In the semifinals, he defeated fourth-seeded Grant Hughes (StP) via a 25-10 Technical Fall in 6:00.

The difficulty of Evans' road to the finals seemed to increase geometrically¹.  He first scored a fall in 0:39.  In the quarterfinals he scored a 12-4 Major Decision.  Against Jesuit's Eli Larriviere inthe semifinals, he won 3-1.  And then there was the finals.

 ¹    Event 35 years away from their last math class, "linearly" and "logarithmically" were discussed but cast aside by the editor and his University of Texas roommate..

1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Jake Rando	Patrick Evans	Grant Hughes	Eli Larriviere	Nakia Brown	Marcus Hills
Holy Cross	Brother Martin	St. Paul's	Jesuit	St. Amant	McKinley
#1 Seed	#2 Seed	#4 Seed	#3 Seed	#6 Seed	#5 Seed
Senior	Sophomore	Junior	Junior	Junior	Senior

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Early Championship Rounds

Round 1: Brandon Bivin (EA) defeated D'Quincy Prejean (LAF) via a 19-8 Major Decision.

Round 1: Joseph Elbert (ZAC) defeated Na' Jee Langley (BYR) 13-8.

Round 1: Jarin Meyer (BR) pinned Matthew Nichols (DES) in 2:54.

Round 1: Nathan Roach (CHL) defeated Laine McCully (HNV) 10-8 in Sudden Victory

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Quarterfinals

#1 Jake Rando pinned #8 Jeremy Flieg (CAT) in 3:35.

#4 Grant Hughes (StP) defeated #5 Marcus Hills (McK) 10-7.

#3 Eli Larriviere (JES) defeated #6 Nakia Brown (StA) via a 24-7 Technical Fall in 5:47.

#2 Patrick Evans (BM) defeated #7 Charles Hudson (COM)

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Semifinals

#1 Jake Rando defeated #4 Grant Hughes (StP) via a 25-10 Technical Fall in 6:00.

#2 Patrick Evans (BM) defeated #3 Eli Larriviere (JES) 3-1.

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Consolation Rounds

C2: Hunter Verrett (COV) pinned Matthew Nichols (DES) in 1:50.

C2: Kaleb Hanisee (ACA) pinned Zachary Rabalais (FNT) in 0:45.

C2: Nathan Roach (CHL) pinned Na' Jee Langley (BYR) in 2:32

C2: Jack Manchego (WLK) pinned D'Quincy Prejean (LAF) in 4:26.

C3: #5 Marcus Hills (ZAC) pinned Hunter Verrett (COV) in 1:35.

C4: #5 Marcus Hills (McK) defeated Jeremy Flieg (CAT) 7-4.

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Championship Consolation Rounds

#4 Grant Hughes (StP) defeated #3 Eli Larriviere (JES) 3-1 to place 3rd.

#6 Nakia Brown (StA) defeated #5 Marcus Hills (McK) 12-8 to place 5th.

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Finals

#1 Jake Rando of Holy Cross pinned Patrick Evans of Brother Martin in 1:06.

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