Division I 285 Lbs.

Fini

Lakeside's Harvey follows Sparks' lead, upsets top-seed for the Indians' second championship

LHSAA State Wrestling Tournament

Division III, 285 Pounds

May 30th, 2018 | Written by: Editor

Weight Class Synopsis

3rd and 5th

D.J. Harvey (left) won a title just after teammate Mason Sparks did (right photo: right)

Place	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Name	D.J. Harvey	Datremecio White	Jeremiah James	Tony Gibson	Drake Griffin	Frank Bretey
School	Lakeside	Evangel	De la Salle	Church Point	North Vermillion	Hannan
Seed	2	1	3	7	4	5
Class	Junior	Sophomore	Senior	Freshman	Senior	Junior

Weight Class Synopsis

Evangel sophomore Datremecio White entered the state championships with a 25-5 record. Of those wins, the most important ones were a fall in 1:14 of De la Salle's defending state champion Jeremiah James, and a fall 5:29 and a 7-5 decision over Lakeside's D.J. Harvey. Harvey had also defeated White twice via falls in 3:56 and 2:55, but White's two wins were in tournaments, and only one of his losses to Harvey was in a tournament. White at least assured himself that he would not have to face both of those wrestlers in this tournament, as they were the obvious choices for the #2 and #3 seeding positions. Last season White finished sixth, which is commendable for a freshman in the 285 lbs. weight class. This year as a sophomore White reached the finals with pins in 2:36 and 0:42, and an 18-5 technical fall over Drake Griffin of North Vermillion.

Also reaching the finals as a sophomore in 2017 was Lakeside's D.J. Harvey. There he lost to James via a fall in 2:29. James and Harvey did not meet during the regular season, but White's win over James assured Harvey of being seeded second. Harvey's two losses to White were the only blemishes on a record which included 23 victories. That record often would merit a #1 seed, but there were the two tournament losses to White. Harvey advanced to the semifinals with falls in 0:32 and 3:40. Then he got a chance for a rematch of the 2017 finals against James, and he took full advantage of the opportunity with a 9-5 win.

As only one of their four previous matches did not end in a fall, both wrestlers were cautious about making any mistakes that might result on one being atop of the other. Hence, the first period was scoreless. In the second period, White used a sit-out with good wrist control to spin out from under Harvey for an escape. And that was the only point of the second period. Five seconds into the third period it was Harvey's turn to score an escape, knotting the match at 1-1. With a Sudden Victory round next, this looked as if it might go to an Ultimate Tie-breaker round. But a little aggression prevented the need for extra rounds. Locking their arms high, White appeared to force Harvey out of bounds, but then Harvey pushed White back. While moving backwards, White either was tripped-up by Harvey's foot, or just lost his balance, but the end result was that he fell backward to the mat. White got off of his back but not before Harvey had pounced on top of him, scoring the winning takedown in a 3-1 match.

James did not waste any time after his semifinals loss to Harvey. He made the consolation finals with a 33 second fall over fifth-seeded Frank Bretey of Hannan. His opponent in the match for third place was Church Point freshman Tony Gibson, who recorded falls in 1:57 and 2:09 prior to a grueling 3-2 win over Griffin. The defending state champion senior from De la Salle spent little time to place third, pinning Gibson in 0:37. Griffin placed fifth with a fall over Bretey in 1:36.

Quarterfinals