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St. Louis' Alexander Yokubaitis is now three-fourths of the way to Division III four-peat after scoring a Technical Fall in 3:09 for his third consecutive Division III title.

Place	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Podium
Name	Alex Yokubaitis	Zachary Lauland	Ethan Langley	Kaul Kayser	Cade Hontiveros	Lance Laurentz
School	St. Louis	De la Salle	Basile	Brusly	Hannan	South Beauregard
Seed	1	3	4	2	6	5
Class	Junior	Sophomore	Freshman	Sophmore	Sophomore	Junior
Final Record*	44-3	22-13	25-12	20-16	14-16	8-11

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

Weight Class Synopsis

Two-time defending Division III state champion Alex Yokubaitis had an "off" year by only losing to two defending state champions and one soon-to-be state champion, something many others would consider fabulous in 43 matches.  But he was the dominant wrestler in this weight class in Division III.   In his 40 wins prior to the state championships, he won the Live Oak 8, the Jacob McMillan, the Brusly Invitational and the Jesse James Southwest Shootout.  He placed third in the Ken Cole and the Louisiana Classic.  His only losses were a 3-1 decision by defending Division I state champion Connor Hoffman of Brother Martin, a 6-5 decision by defending Division II state champion Colten Sonnier of Teurlings Catholic and a relatively unexpected second period fall by North Desoto's Joshua Sarpy in the Louisiana Classic. His record, as expected, included some high-quality wins over the likes of Sonnier, Luke Romano of Catholic, Matthew Carrier of Teurlings Catholic and Ethan Castex of Brother Martin.  As far as this tournament went, He had previously defeated second-seeded Kaul Kayser of Brusly, De la Salle's third seed Zachary Lauland and fourth-seeded Ethan Langley of Basile.

In the Louisiana Classis Kayser soundly defeated Lauland by an 18-4 Major Decision, but that dominance would not hold.  After defeating Hannan's Cade Hontiveros via an 11-1 Major Decision, Lauland advanced to the finals via a 10-7 victory over Kayser.  Lauland had place second at the George Trygg Memorial, third at the Jesuit Invitational and third at the Brusly Invitational.  

Quarterfinals

(1) Alex Yokubaitus (StL) pinned Latajh Bean (SPL) in 0:38

(4) Ethan Langley (BAS) defeated Lance Laurentz (SB) 15-0 TF

(3) Zachary Lauland (DLS) defeated (6) Cade Hontiveros (HAN) 11-1 MD

(2) Kaul Kayser (BRU) pinned Treyton Schexnayder (KAP) in 2:40

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Semifinals

(1) Alex Yokubaitis (StL) defeated (4) Ethan Langley (BAS) 10-1 MD

(3) Zachary Lauland (DLS) defeated (2) Kaul Kayser (BRU) 10-7

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Championship Consolation Rounds

(4) Ethan Langley (BAS) defeated (2) Kaul Kayser (BRU) 8-4 to place 3rd

(6) Cade Hontiveros (HAN) pinned (5) Lance Laurentz (SB) in 3:28 to place 5th

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Finals

(1) Alex Yokubaitis of St; Louis defeated (3) Zachary Lauland of De la Salle via a 15-0 Technical Fall

The two-time defending state champion from St. Louis didn't score the first point to take a 1-0 lead.  Yes, you read that right.  Before Yokubaitis scored any points Lauland, "scissored" his head on a takedown attempt, and Yokubaitis was awarded a penalty point.  Hence, in a pro-Cavalier sense, Zauland was not "shut-out."  But after that the match was all about Yokubaitis.  On the restart Yokubaitis grabbed an ankle and pulled it into him, forcing Lauland onto the mat for the first takedown.  He then tilted Lauland for two nearfall points and as time was running out forced Lauland into a head-and-arm position to earn three more nearfall points, taking an 8-0 lead into the second round.  Lauland won the toss and elected to start standing as he needed to score a lot in a quick manner.  Yokubaitis had other ideas, though.  He grabbed Lauland's neck and shoulder and forced the Cavalier over to his back enough for Lauland to avoid nearfall points while giving up another takedown.  He then tilted Lauland for two more back points, and as Lauland got out of that and sat-up, Yokubaitis pulled him back to his back and held him long enough to earn three points, completing a 15-0 technical fall in 3:09 for his third Division III state championship.

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