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St. Louis senior Robert Christman wins his second consecutive state championship for the Saints.

Weight Class Synopsis

St. Louis defending Division II state champion Robert Christman had a short but very good season.  He was out with injuries from November 19th to December 1st, and again from December 14th to January 20th. When he was competing, he posted a record of 13-1 before entering the championships.  His only loss was to, as everyone else did who faced him, Camdyn Ingram of Live Oak.  One of his wins was a 6-5 match over Ouachita Christian's Matthew Webre, who, in the next match, would win a state championship.  Christman used three falls in 0:11, 1:17 and 3:51 over Loyola Preps' Donnie Scott to reach his second consecutive finals match.

Ouachita's Cole Ringle was the second-seed, mainly due to a Brusly Invitational semifinals match in which he pinned Church Point's Bruce Arceneaux in 56 seconds.  Evidently, that did not sit well with Arceneaux.  After pins in 0:15 and 3:54 he earned another chance against Ringle in the semifinals.  Arceneaux took full advantage of the opportunity, pinning Ringle in a mere 43 seconds.  Prior to the event, Arceneaux was 31-7 and had wins over Dalton Driggers of Parkway, Carlos Femmer of Teurlings Catholic and Zion Marable of Dutchtown.

There was a lot of action in this match, and if not for some mistakes it might have lasted longer than 80 seconds.  Arceneaux started with a hesitant shot which Christman parlayed into a single-leg takedown for a 2-0 lead.  Christman then went for and got a cross-face cradle, but rather than really securing his hold and rolling back parallel to Arceneaux, he opted roll over his back, pulling Arseneaux over himself.  That rarely works on decent wrestlers, and this was a state championship match.  Arceneaux broke Christman's grip during the roll and ended up with a reversal, tying the match 2-2.  Christman turned into Arceneaux while on the bottom, got hold of Arceneaux's right shoulder and wrist, and pulled himself behind Arceneaux for a reversal.  He then locked-up another cross-face cradle, but again rolled over his own back trying to expose Arceneaux's back.  And again, Arceneaux broke Christman's grip and wound up with another reversal, tying the match at 4-4.  Arceneaux tried to lock Christman's head and shoulder to pull Christman back for a pinning combination, but Christman, now in a sitting position, turned with Arceneaux's head in his elbow, which when finished, gave Christman a deep half-nelson to turn Arceneaux to his back - this time to stay.  Christman locked-up the hold and the fall was recorded at 1:40.

Ringle had little trouble getting through the consolation semifinals as seventh-seeded Cameron Berzas of Basile succumbed to a fall in 3:56.  On the other side, Loyola Prep's Donnie Scott needed only 1:41 to advance over De la Salle's Fisher Rojas.  Ringle proved the better of the sophomore flyer, taking third place with a fall over Scott in 2:55.  Berzas used 1:38 to earn fifth-place over Rojas. 

Early Championship Rounds

R1: (4) Donnie Scott (LCP) over Jeremy Reyes (JC) 5-1

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Quarterfinals

(1) Robert Christman (STL) over Joshua (8) Westly (BRU) in 1:17

(4) Donnie Scott (LCP) over (5) Wyatt Coffee (HAN) 19-1 TF

(3) Bruce Arceneaux (CP) over (6) Nathan Sistrunk (KAP) in 3:54

(2) Cole Ringle (OC) over Fisher Rojas (DLS) in 2:46

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Semifinals

(1) Robert Christman (STL) over (4) Donnie Scott (LCP) in 3:51

(3) Bruce Arceneaux (CP) over (2) Cole Ringle (OC) in 0:43

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Consolation Rounds

C1: Vadin Marinelli (BLT) over Ezra Gyles (NV) 5-4

CSF: (2) Cole Ringle (OC) over (7) Cameron Berzas (BAS) in 3:56

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Championship Consolation Rounds

(2) Cole Ringle (OC) pinned (4) Donnie Scott (LCP) in 2:55 to place 3rd

(7) Cameron Berzas (BAS) pinned Fisher Rojas (JC) in 1:38 to place 5th

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Finals

(1) Robert Christman of St. Louis pinned (3) Bruce Arseneaux of Church Point in 1:40

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