Fini

Early in the 2017-18 Basile phenom Gavin Christ told the editor that freshman Alex Menier was his protégé.  So far, Christ's tutelage has worked, as the now sophomore Bearcat wrestler won his second consecutive Division III championship.

Place	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Podium
Name	Alex Menier	Taurio Grisby	Dohnavan McMichael	Bryce Oufnac	Destin Woods	Blair Olivier
School	Basile	Lakeside	St. Louis	De la Salle	Brusly	Bolton
Seed	1	2	3	Not Seeded	Not Seeded	Not Seeded
Class	Sophomore	Freshman	Junior	Freshman	Freshman	Junior
Final Record*	35-4	20-5	22-18	5-11	12-15**	5-8

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

Weight Class Synopsis

Sophomore Alex Menier, a defending state champion from Basile, and freshman Taurio Grisby of Lakeside, owned this weight class in Division III.  Menier had not lost to a Division III opponent and had previously defeated the second and third seeds.  He defeated Grisby 4-2 in the finals of the Brusly Invitational and had four falls over McMichael.  He also had a win over Bryce Oufnac of De la Salle, who placed fourth.  Grisby had wins over Brusly's Destin Woods and Bolton's Blair Olivier.

Menier won the Spartan Invitational, the Brusly Invitational and the Rayne Invitational.  He placed second at the Jacob McMillan and Ken Cole, losing both finals matches to Division II runner-up Joshua Keeler of Parkway.   He had some high-quality wins over Shaw's Glenn Price (a Division II 106 lbs. state champion), Bonnabel's Sergio Montalbano (3rd in Division I), St. Amant's Ty Didier, Brother Martin's Mason Eisensohn and Comeaux's Seth Menard.  Aside from Keeler his only other Louisiana losses were to Price and Matthew Carrier of Teurlings Catholic.  En route to the finals Menier recorded a quarterfinals fall in 1:03 and a semifinals fall over Woods in 1:41.

Grisby won the Riot on the Red, the Evangel Eagle Open, placed second at the Brusly Invitational, third at the Northwest Louisiana Regionals and fourth at the Lone Survivor.  He pinned his quarterfinals opponent in 0:33 and third-seeded McMichael of St. Louis in 1:51 to earn a rematch with Menier.

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Quarterfinals

(1) Alex Menier (BRU) pinned Juniper Windham (HAY) in 1:03

(5) Destin Woods (BRU) pinned (4) Blair Oliver (BLT) in 2:00

(3) Dohnavan McMichael (StL) pinned Bryce Oufnac (DLS) in 3:17

(2) Tario Grisby (LKS) pinned Wingston Avila (EVA) in 0:33

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Semifinals

(1) Alex Menier (BAS) pinned (5) Destin Woods (BRU) in 1:41

(2) Tario Grisby (LKS) pinned (3) Dohnavan McMichael (StL) in 1:51

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Consolation Rounds

C2: (3) Dohnavan McMichael (StL) pinned (4) Blair Olivier (BLT) in 2:06

CSF: Bryce Oufnac (DLS) pinned (5) Destin Woods (BRU) in 1:47

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Championship Consolation Rounds

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Finals

(1) Alex Menier of Basile pinned (2) Tario Grisby of Lakeside in 5:02

In the first period Menier was able to get several single and double leg-shots on Grisby but the Warrior wrestler fended them off, and the period ended scoreless.  Menier won the toss and started on the bottom.  Menier sat-out and turned several times in the first 10 seconds but Grisby was able to follow him.  After another sit-out Menier tried hipping-over Grisby.  While that did not work, the move forced Grisby to ride high on Menier and the two ended up facing each other, but with Grisby still in control.  Menier changed that by dropping to a double-leg and lifting Grisby off and then back on the mat for a reversal.  With 30 seconds remaining it looked as if Grisby had a switch, but slowly but surely Menier re-switched him.  In the finals period Grisby decided to start standing, possibly because Menier rode him solidly in the last minute of the second period.  Grisby went-for-broke with a head-and-arm attempt, but Menier knew it was coming and rolled through it to score another takedown, extending his lead to 4-0.  Menier then used a double chicken-wing to turn Grisby to his back, securing his second Division III championship via a fall in 5:02.

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