Fini

Airline's Peyton Bass tries to get a single-leg takedown on Jesuit's Luke Eccles.  A hard cross-face by Eccles thwarted the attempt and it was Eccles who scored the two points

Place	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Podium
Name	Luke Eccles	Peyton Bass	Michael Lundin	Connor Hoffman	Demetri Teddie	Seth Signorelli
School	Jesuit	Airline	Holy Cross	Brother Martin	C. E. Byrd	St. Amant
Seed	1	2	4	5	3	6
Class	Senior	Senior	Senior	Junior	Junior	Senior
Final Record*	34-4	36-3	27-3	17-2	37-11	41-16

*    Louisiana opponents only, not including any types of forfeits, byes or junior varsity events.

Weight Class Synopsis

Jesuit's Luke Eccles started the season at 132 lbs., and had a very good seven weeks in it, only losing to Daniel Croy in the Trey Culotta (Eccles placed 3rd), Rummel's Chris Montalbano (whom he had defeated previously) and Caruso Signorelli of Holy Cross.  But he was able to cut down to 126 lbs. and did so for the Catholic League District Championships, which he won with a 6-5 decision over defending state champion Michael Lundin of Holy Cross.  The difference between Eccles' and Airline's Peyton Bass' record, aside from Eccles' 126 lbs. experience only consisting of two matches, is that Bass lost a 126 lbs. match to Byrd's Demetri Teddie, while Eccles' only losses were at 132 lbs.  Bass also had a loss to Division II's Trey Fontenot of Parkway, but Eccles had the loss against Montalbano, also in Division II.  Bass won five tournaments at 126 lbs., including the Louisiana Classic and the Ken Cole.  Eccles placed third at the Louisiana Classic, but, as previously mentioned, he competed at 132 lbs. 

Regardless of the seeding, this was arguable the toughest weight class of the tournament.  It contained two defending Division I state champions, Connor Hoffman of Brother Martin and Michael Lundin or Holy Cross, neither of which were seeded in the #1 or two spots (Lundin was seeded 4th and Hoffman 5th).  It also had two returning runners-up from the 2018 tournament, Eccles, seeded first, and Bass, seeded second.  A "wildcard" third seed was junior Demetri Teddie of Byrd, whom Eccles had defeated twice at the Trey Culotta, and whom Bass lost to in the Eagle Open.  Bass did defeat Teddie in the Eagle Open later and finished higher than Teddie at the Louisiana Classic.  That Teddie did beat Bass is why Lundin was bounced to the fourth spot in the seeding.  Hoffman might have been seeded higher, but an injury at the Louisiana Classic cost him matches via an injury default and a forfeit, both factors of seeding criteria.

Only one of the defending state champions had a chance to make it to the finals, and that was Hoffman, who defeated Lundin in the quarterfinals 5-3.  But Hoffman's luck ran-out against Eccles in the semifinals in a 5-1 loss.

Prior to his semifinals win over Hoffman, Eccles scored first period falls in rounds one and two, and an 11-3 major decision in the quarterfinals.

With no defending state champions on his side of the bracket, Bass appeared to easily have the best draw.  It looked as if he did, pinning his round one and two opponents in under a minute each, and scoring a fall in 2:35 over seventh-seeded Hunter Broussard of Comeaux in the quarterfinals.  But his third match against Teddie would be much more difficult.  The Byrd junior pummeled Bass for the first two periods, outscoring the Airline wrestler 8-2 in the first period and 6-3 in the second.  Hoping to add to his 14-5 lead, Teddie chose to start in the bottom position.  That turned out to be a terrible mistake.  After 30 seconds Bass caught Teddie in a nearside cradle and pinned him in 4:39. 

Early Championship Rounds

R1: Luke Eccles (JES) pinned Carter Duet (StP) in 1:19

R1: (3) Demetri Teddie (BYR) pinned Mario Garcia (Time UNK)

R1: Austin Sharpley (EA) pinned Cade Monte (CEN) in 0:46

R1: Jacoby Mark (ZAC) pinned Raymond Favaza (FNT) in 4:54

R2: (1) Luke Eccles (JES) pinned Frank Clavelle (HNV) in 1:45

R2: (4) Michael Lundin (HC) pinned Trent Trouth (SUL) in 1:08

R2: (6) Seth Signorelli (StA) defeated Ashton Sharpley (EA) 14-0 MD

R2: (7) Hunter Broussard (COM) pinned Jacoby Mark (ZAC) in 2:38

R2: (2) Peyton Bass (AIR) pinned Kylie McDonner (DES) in 0:52

Back to Top

Quarterfinals

(1) Luke Eccles (JES) defeated (8) Martin Helouin (CAT) 11-3 MD

(5) Connor Hoffman (BM) defeated (4) Michael Lundin 5-3

(3) Demetri Teddie (BYR) pinned (6) Seth Signorelli (StA) in 3:43; (2) Peyton Bass (AIR) pinned (7) Hunter Broussard (COM) in 2:35

Back to Top

Semifinals

(1) Luke Eccles (JES) defeated (5) Connor Hoffman (BM) 5-1

Starting the third period with a 14-5 deficit, (2) Peyton Bass (AIR) pinned (3) Demetri Teddie (BYR) in 4:39

Back to Top

Consolation Rounds

C1: Mario Garcia (JE) defeated Ellis Hathaway (MND) 5-0

C2: Collin Marras (BRB) defeated Jacoby Mark (ZAC) 11-2 MD

Back to Top

Championship Consolation Rounds

Defending state champion (4) Michael Lundin (HC) defeated (5) Connor Hoffman (BM) 3-0 to place 3rd, avenging his quarterfinals loss to the defending state champion from Brother Martin.  (Note: the editor asked Lundin to redo the sign he made after his consolations finals match was over.  Incorrectly, the editor thought Lundin would pull up his singlet, first.)

(3) Demetri Teddie (BYR) defeated (6) Seth Signorelli (StA) 7-2 to place 5th

Back to Top

Finals

(1) Luke Eccles of Jesuit defeated (2) Peyton Bass of Airline via a 10-2 Major Decision

Eccles opened the scoring with a takedown after a minute elapsed, defending a Bass double-leg shot by pushing the Airline wrestler's head to the mat and spinning behind him.  Bass escaped after only a few seconds, but Eccles was able to get a takedown again by fighting a single-leg shot with a hard cross-face, feigning going around Bass' head with a barb-wire, and then moving behind Bass as Bass reacted to the feint.  The takedown was scored with a scant four seconds remaining in the period.  In the second period, down 4-1, Bass quickly escaped but was then taken down when Eccles flipped him over with a hard quarter-nelson to two nearfall points, giving Eccles an 8-1 advantage entering the third period.  This time Eccles chose the bottom position and, when cited for stalling with 52 seconds remaining, worked for a reversal which he got with 22 seconds remaining.  As Eccles mentioned to the editor earlier in the day, there would be another Eccles state champion when this event was over.  Confident throughout the tournament, he was true to his word.

Back to Top