Fini

Dwight Johnson pins his way to a championship for the first-year program at Iowa
LHSAA State Wrestling Tournament
Division III, 220 Pounds
May 8th, 2019 | Written by: Editor





Weight Class Synopsis Early Championship Rounds Quarterfinals Semifinals Consolation Rounds 3rd and 5th Finals

As the only wrestler on Iowa's first year of wrestling, Dwight Johnson pinned everyone, taking only 6:07 to win four matches and a state championship

Place 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
Podium
Name Dwight Johnson Kyle Guidry Brian Amis Gabe Duplechin Michael Lotief Connor Fritsche
School Iowa St. Louis Brusly Basile Kaplan North Vermillion
Seed 2 4 1 3 Not Seeded 6
Class Junior Senior Sophomore Junior Senior Junior
Final Record* 16-6 27-9 18-7 21-10 11-6 14-14

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

Weight Class Synopsis

This looked to be a contest between Brusly's Brian Amis and Dwight Johnson, formerly of Sulphur High School, but now the only wrestler representing Iowa High School, located about 25 miles to the east.  Amis owned the top-seed due to a 5-0 decision over Johnson in the Ken Cole semifinals.  Amis placed second in that event while Johnson placed fourth. 

Evidently, Kyle Guidry, a senior from St. Louis, did not get that memo about the Amis-Johnson rematch as he upset Amis 11-5 in the semifinals.  Neither Amis nor Johnson had faced the St. Louis wrestler, though all three were in the Ken Cole Invitational.

Guidry went 2-3 vs. Basile sophomore Gabe Duplechin, which placed Duplechin in the third spot and Guidry in the fourth.  Duplechin was the only Division III wrestler to defeat Guidry.  Four of his losses were to Division I opponents and two came from Division II opponents.

Johnson's losses came from Teurlings Catholic's state champion Miles Santiago and Lafayette's Jackson Carter in the finals of the Spartan Invitational, both while Johnson competed in the 285 lbs. weight class.  At 220 lbs. Johnson lost to Connor Cloinger of Parkway, Zavione Willis of Northside, Amis and former teammate Jace DuFresne of Sulphur, also at the Ken Cole.  Johnson avenged his loss to Cloinger at the Parkway Lone Survivor, which he won.  Johnson also placed second to Carter in the Spartan Invitational.  Amis was Johnson's only Division III loss, and his most significant wins were a 5-3 SV win over Duplechin and a fall in 4:13 over Northside's Division II runner-up David Norris.  Johnson advanced to the finals with falls in 0:56, 1:13 and 2:28 over Duplechin in the semifinals.

In 2018 Johnson was the fourth-seed in Division I for Sulphur but was injured in his first match and unable to continue.

Guidry placed second to Duplechin in the Brusly Invitational and the Rayne Invitational.  Duplechin won three of their five matches.  He also lost to four Division I opponents and two Division II foes.  Notable wins for Guidry, aside from the two wins against Duplechin, were over Sam Houston's 2018 runner-up Kanyn Barton and Christian Mannino of Catholic, who placed fourth in Division I.  Guidry's path to the finals was not easy.  He survived in the quarterfinals against 5th-seeded Michael Lotief of Kaplan via a 3-2 Tie-breaker and then defeated Amis 11-5 in the semifinals.

Early Championship Rounds

(5) Michael Lotief (KAP) pinned Charleston Givens (SPL) in 1:42
R1: (6) Conner Fritsche (NV) pinned Jackson Jeter (DUN) in 1:09

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Quarterfinals

(1) Brian Amis (BRU) pinned Ben Bonnaffee (HAN) in 0:58
(4) Kyle Guidry (StL) defeated (5) Michael Lotief (KAP) 3-1 TB-1
(3) Gabe Duplechin (BAS) pinned Conner Fritsche (NV) in 2:36
(2) Dwight Johnson (IOWA) pinned Caleb St. Pierre (TJ) in 1:13

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Semifinals

(4) Kyle Guidry (StL) defeated (1) Brian Amis (BRU) 11-5
(2) Dwight Johnson (IOWA) pinned (3) Gabe Duplechin in 2:28

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Championship Consolation Rounds

 (1) Brian Amis (BRU) defeated (3) Gabe Duplechin (BAS) 4-1 to place 3rd
 (5) Michael Lotief (KAP) pinned (6) Conner Fritsche (NV) in 2:25 to place 5th

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Finals

(2) Dwight Johnson of Iowa pinned (4) Kyle Guidry of St. Louis in 1:30
Johnson made short-work in his first state championship finals appearance.  After 40 seconds had gone by Johnson shot a quick and deep double-leg that knocked Guidry backwards for the only takedown Johnson required.  Guidry did not land on his back, though, but that did not bother Johnson as he used a bar-arm half-nelson to slowly (as it should be done) turn Guidry to his back and score a fall in 1:30.

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