Fini

St. Michael senior Lance Robinson celebrates his state championship by jumping out of camera range.

Place	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Podium
Name	Lance Robinson	Carlos Femmer	Richard Mack, III	Jonathan Ramirez	Steven Driggers	Jack Manchego
School	St. Michael	Teurlings Catholic	North Desoto	Rummel	Parkway	Live Oak
Seed	1	2	4	Not Seeded	Not Seeded	3
Class	Senior	Senior	Junior	Senior	Sophomore	Junior
Final Record*	48-4	39-9	18-6	4-2	26-14	35-24

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

Weight Class Synopsis

There were three viable finalists in this weight class: #1 seed Lance Robinson of St. Michael, #2 seed Carlos Femmer of Teurlings Catholic and #4 seed Richard Mack, III, of North Desoto.  Perhaps oddly, Mack is listed here instead of #3 Manchego.  The reason Manchego was seeded higher than Mack took some effort to determine, and the findings are nothing one should bet on.  Manchego did not defeat anyone who defeated Mack, nor did he place lower than Mack in any tournaments.  Mack won a state championship in 2018 and Manchego did not place.  Yet the first state championships seeding criterion is the winning percentage over a common opponent in the same division (Division II).  It is highly probable Manchego got the third seed rather than the fourth because he wrestled 17 Division II opponents while Mack wrestled just seven and had a higher winning percentage over one of those than Mack did.  And in this case, the seeding really mattered.  Robinson only defeated Mack by one point in the Louisiana Classic, and Mack finished third while Manchego did not place.  Meaning no disrespect to Mr. Manchego, Mack just had a better season than the Eagle wrestler..

Robinson's four losses came from Live Oak's Camdyn Ingram, who was not a factor at the state championships, Trent Mahoney of East Ascension (twice) who also was not a factor as he was in Division I, and Seth Alfonso of Brother Martin, another Division I wrestler.  During the season Robinson won the Live Oak 8, the Spartan Invitational, the Battle of New Orleans, the Ken Cole Invitational and the Louisiana Classic.  He finished second in the Warrior Open and the Zachary Big Horse and placed fifth at the Trey Culotta.

Femmer won the Dale Ketelsen Memorial and the Lone Survivor.  He placed second at the Jacob McMillan Memorial and fourth at the Ken Cole and the Trey Culotta Invitational.

Mack won an out-of-state tournament, placed second at the NWLA Regionals, placed fourth at the Lone Survivor and fifth at the Louisiana Classic.

Robinson reached the finals via a first-round bye, a second-round forfeit, a quarterfinals win in 4:58, and, as expected, a very close 7-6 decision over Mack in the semifinals.

Femmer's path included a first-round bye, a second-round fall in 3:32, a quarterfinals 12-3 major decision in the quarterfinals and a 5-1 decision over Manchego in the semifinals.

Early Championship Rounds

R1: (8) Keith Bagent (LAK) pinned Leo Savoie (BC) in 5:12

R2: (4) Richard Mack, III (ND) defeated Steven Driggers (PKY) 11-2 MD

R2: (2) Carlos Femmer (TC) pinned Jonathan Ramirez (RUM) in 3:32

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Quarterfinals

(1) Lance Robinson (StM) pinned (8) Keith Bagent (LAK) in 4:58

(4) Richard Mack, III (ND) defeated (5) Armando Amaya (SH) 12-3 MD

(3) Jack Manchego (LO) pinned Ryker St. John (HAU) in 2:51

(2) Carlos Femmer (TC) defeated (7) Emile Richard (RAY) 12-3 MD

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Semifinals

(1) Lance Robinson (StM) defeated (4) Richard Mack, III (ND) 6-5

(2) Carlos Femmer (TC) defeated (3) Jack Manchego (LO) 5-1

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Consolation Rounds

C2: Gabe Reed (SthM) defeated Leo Savoie (BC) via an injury default

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Championship Consolation Rounds

(4) Richard Mack, III (ND) defeated Jonathan Ramirez (RUM) 7-2 to place 3rd

Steven Driggers (PKY) defeated (3) Jack Manchego (LO) 10-4 to place 5th

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Finals

(1) Lance Robinson of St. Michael defeated (2) Carlos Femmer of Teurlings Catholic via a 13-5 major decision

Robinson started the scoring with a double-leg shot that was similar to a football tackle after 10 seconds went by.  Femmer fought well against being turned over by some intense pressure by Robinson, and with 50 seconds remaining stood-up and escaped with 30 seconds left Robinson shot another double-leg takedown to take a 4-1 lead.  Robinson attempted a cradle but was unable to turn Femmer before the period was over. Femmer won the toss and deferred to Robinson who chose to start standing.  In this period both wrestlers attempted shots but were not able to complete any for the first minute.  Then shot another tackling double-leg to increase his lead to 6-1.  Again, under extensive pressure, Femmer held his ground and would not be turned. Trailing 6-1 Femmer started the third period on the bottom.  Having little luck turning Femmer in the first two rounds when he was on top, Robinson gave Femmer an escape point so the round would start with the wrestlers on their feet.  After 20 seconds Robinson shot a single-leg which knocked Femmer off of his feet.  Almost out of bounds, Robinson smartly grabbed Femmer's other leg and stretched to keep his feet inside the circle, earning another takedown.  Robinson decided to try riding Femmer, and as the whistle blew, he almost locked up a nearside cradle, but Femmer was able to kick out of it and escape, cutting the lead to 8-2.  With 90 seconds left Robinson shot the double-leg that worked for him three times before and increased his lead to 10-3.  Femmer appeared exhausted by the constant pressure put on him by Robinson, and Robinson finally locked up a cross-face cradle and used it to score three nearfall points.  Femmer was able to kick out of the cradle with 35 seconds remaining, and he did so by rolling toward Robinson's head and exposing his back.  Robinson had no choice but to give up the reversal rather than be put in a pinning combination.  But Robinson proved as tough on the bottom as Femmer was during the first two period.  When the time ran out, Robinson had won via a 13-5 major decision.

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