Division I 145 Lbs.

Fini

Persistent Matherne get his state championship bracket

LHSAA State Wrestling Tournament

Division III, 145 Pounds

May 30th, 2018 | Written by: Editor

Weight Class Synopsis

Early Championship Rounds

3rd and 5th

Matthew Matherne wasted little time in securing his state championship with a fall in 2:00.

Place	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Name	Matthew Matherne	Andrew Verrett	Deionisio Talbot	Hunter Richey	Zachary Biggs	Charles Carr
School	Ouachita Christian	St. Louis	Hannan	Brusly	Summerfield	De la Salle
Seed	1	2	4	3	7	8
Class	Senior	Senior	Junior	Senior	Senior	Senior

Weight Class Synopsis

This weight class featured Ouachita Christian's Matthew Matherne in his fifth consecutive Division III finals. In the previous four years he lost to Austin Franklin three times and Kendon Kayser once, each from Brusly High School. In 2016 he had every reason to think he could have won at 132 lbs., as he had earlier beaten De la Salle's Glen Gebo, who won the 2016 state championship at 132 lbs. Matherne, however, does not avoid challenges. Hence, he stayed at 126 to meet Kayser. In 2017 he might have dropped to 138 lbs., as he had previously defeated St. Louis' Robert Christman, who won the 138 lbs. championship that year, but he opted for another match against Franklin.

In the 2017-18 season Matherne lost only two matches while winning 39. His losses were to Live Oak sophomore Camdyn Ingram in a 152 lbs. match, and to Brother Martin's Patrick Evans in the Louisiana Classic finals at 145 lbs. During the year he beat 145 lbs. finalist Nakie Brown of St. Amant twice, Dylan Ames of Comeaux, Fernando Diaz of Brother Martin and soon-to-be Division II state champion Taylor Clay of Carencro. He won seven of the 10 tournaments he entered. Ingram, Evans and an out-of-state wrestler kept him from winning the other three. His record placed him as the second-best wrestler at 145 lbs. this season, and naturally put him atop the Division III 145 lbs. bracket. Matherne waltzed into the finals via a forfeit, a fall in 1:49 and a 16-3 major decision.

St. Louis senior Adam Verrett brought a 32-7 record into the state championships. His losses were to very good Division I and Division II opponents, but there was one loss to a Division III wrestler. That was Matherne, who won the Brusly Invitational over Verrett with a 22-7 technical fall. Seeded second, Verrett earned another chance against Matherne by also using a forfeit, then a 9-2 quarterfinals decision and a 13-1 major decision in the semifinals.

Matherne started quick using a single-leg to double-leg takedown which gave him immediate access to a half-nelson and a 5-0 lead. Christman escaped from that predicament only to be turned by a bar-arm chicken-wing, which netted Matherne three more nearfall points and an 8-0 lead. Matherne let Verret escape, which was the St. Louis wrestler's only point of the match. In the next few seconds Matherne controlled Verrett's head and shoulder, pulled him to his back and scored a fall as time ran out in the first period. Matherne may only have one state championship title to his credit, but over the years he has proved to be one of the most successful wrestlers in North Louisiana. He is a prime example of the strength and superb coaching of the Ouachita Christian wrestling program, which only started in 2014 and remains the only wrestling program in the Monroe, Louisiana area.

Fourth-seeded Deionisio Talbot of Hannan needed only 35 seconds to advance to the consolation finals over Summerfield's Zachary Biggs. There he met Brusly's Hunter Richey, the third-seed, who had a harder time with Charles Carr of De la Salle, winning 5-1. Talbot proved too strong for Richey, though, as the Hannan wrestler scored a fall in 3:00 to place third. Biggs rebounded and defeated Carr 6-3 to place fifth.

Early Championship Rounds