Division III 182 Lbs.

Fini

Nugent wins the first state title under Coach Brian Hess

LHSAA State Wrestling Tournament

Division I, 182 Pounds

May 12th, 2017 | Written by: Editor

Early Championship Rounds

3rd and 5th

A runner-up last season, St. Amant's Sage Nugent won an 8-4 finals match against Sidney Mitchell of East Ascension.

St. Amant's Sage Nugent fluctuated between competing at 170 lbs. and 182 lbs. all season. At 170 lbs., though, was Holy Cross' Joseph Foret, a defending state champion for the Tigers. Nugent purposely wrestled at 170 lbs. in a dual meet with Holy Cross as well as the Louisiana Classic, but Foret defeated him by two points each time, 6-4 and 3-1. While it is much more common to go down a weight class for the state tournament (Jake Rando in 2015 is a good example), Nugent went up a weight class to compete at 182 lbs. At that weight he only had one loss, which was a disqualification in the Ken Cole finals when he very unintentionally dropped Brusly's Richard Hunter a little too hard to the mat, knocking Hunter unconscious for a brief period. Those were Nugent's only losses, and he brought a 40-3 record into the 182 lbs. weight class of the state championships. Aside from the Louisiana Classic, Nugent won every tournament in which he participated. He won the Central Wildcat with a Technical Fall in the finals. He pinned every opponent he faced at the Griffin Open in the first round. Nugent spent 0:49 to win the finals of the Spartan Invitational.

In the Greater Baton Rouge Championships, he had a much harder time, but that was not unexpected. In the GBRs, Nugent faced East Ascension's Sidney Mitchell for the third time. The first match between the two was a route for Nugent - a 10-1 Major Decision in a dual meet. But, as is often the case, the more one wrestles someone better than one is, the better one becomes. Mitchell faced Nugent again in the Ken Cole semifinals, and Nugent needed a Sudden Victory round for a 6-4 win. In the GBRs, the final score was 3-1 in Nugent's favor.

Mitchell had a very good year also, compiling a 43-12 record before the state championships. He placed second in the Warrior Open, the Spartan Open, the Zachary Big Horse and the GBRs. He placed third in the Louisiana Classic and the Ken Cole. And Mitchell won the Central Wildcat, the Griffin Open and the Trey Culotta Invitational.

Nugent used falls in 1:35 and 1:20 before advancing to the finals with a 14-1 Major Decision over the fourth-seeded Darrell Evans of Airline.

Mitchell's path was much harder. In his first match he scored a 16-0 Technical Fall. In the quarterfinals, though, Jesuit's Brandon Greer, the sixth seed, as well as a 2016 state runner-up, pushed Nugent to a six minute 9-4 win. His semifinals opponent was second-seeded Michael Benton of Holy Cross. While Benton spent five weeks off of the mat from an injury suffered in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic, he won five matches in a row upon his return and earned his second seed. Seeded third, though, Mitchell defeated Benton 8-5 to make the finals. (After that match, Benton won his consolation semifinals match by a fall in 2:40 and then placed third with an 8-5 win over Airline's Evans.)

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

Sage Nugent

Sidney Mitchell

Michael Benton

Darrell Evans

Brandon Greer

Jakobe Durant

St. Amant

East Ascension

Holy Cross

Airline

Jesuit

Destrehan

#1 Seed

#3 Seed

#2 Seed

#4 Seed

#6 Seed

#8 Seed

Senior

Senior

Junior

Senior

Early Championship Rounds

Round 1 (far left): Adam Lampo (FNT) defeated Daijon Bibbs (CHL) via a 10-2 Major Decision;
Round 2: #5 Nathaniel Perdue (BM) defeated Adam Lampo (FNT) via a 15-3 Major Decision.