Fini

Evangel's Datremecious White scores an escape in the Ultimate-tie-breaker round to defeat defending state champion Darren Harvey of Lakeside 3-2.

Place	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Podium
Name	Datremecious White	Darren Harvey, Jr.	Tony Gibson	Anthony Guillory	Brennen Kass	John Drake
School	Evangel	Lakeside	Church Point	Basile	Kaplan	John Curtis
Seed	2	1	3	6	Not Seeded	5
Class	Junior	Senior	Sophomore	Freshman	Sophomore	Sophomore
Final Record*	28-3	29-3	14-3	17-8	9-9	20-11

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

Weight Class Synopsis

One of the wrestlers in the 285 lbs. weight class, Evangel junior Datremecious White, only had three losses upon entering the state tournament.  Two others, defending senior state champion Darren Harvey of Lakeside and Church Point sophomore Tony Gibson, only had two.  Harvey lost to Lafayette's Jackson Carter in a 4-3 Ultimate Tie-breaker, and once to Evangel junior Datremecious White.  White's losses included two from Harvey and the other from Teurlings Catholic state champion Miles Santiago.  Gibson also lost to Santiago and later, in the Lafayette Metro finals, to Donald Paul of Comeaux via a fall in 2:42.  Harvey was an obvious choice for the #1 seed spot.  Cancelling out the losses to Santiago meant White had only lost to the defending state champion, whereas Gibson lost to someone who was not a defending state champion.  That may have been why White was seeded second, but it did not matter as the two were destined to meet in the semifinals.

Harvey won the Riot on the Red, the Evangel Eagle Open, the Brusly Invitational, placed second to White in the Northwest Louisiana Regionals and third in Parkway's Lone Survivor.  He scored falls in 0:50 in round-two after a round-one bye, a quarterfinals win in 2:09 and a semifinals fall in 3:39 over John Curtis' John Drake to reach the finals.

 White had a little tougher path to the finals.  Also receiving a first-round bye, he pinned his round-two opponent in 0:31 and won his quarterfinals match in 0:54.   Gibson proved much harder, but White prevailed 6-3 to reach his second finals match against Harvey.

Harvey took a 2-1 season record against White into the state tournament.  Harvey won their first two meetings by a score of 7-3 and a fall in 1:13.  White scored his only victory over Harvey via a 5-1 decision in the Northwest Louisiana Regionals.  This was the first time White defeated Harvey in two seasons.  In 2017-18 Harvey defeated White six times without a loss, including the Division III 285 lbs. finals, won by Harvey in a 3-1 SV match.

Early Championship Rounds

R1: (3) Tony Gibson (CP) pinned Trent Bowers (BRU) in 1:05

R2: Kristopher Breaux (NV) pinned Timothy Donelon (DLS) in 1:24

Round 2: Trey Jeffries (SB) defeated Brennen Kass (KAP) 5-2; John Drake (JC) pinned Dezmund Logan (TJ) in 1:12

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Quarterfinals

Darren Harvey (LKS) pinned Kristopher Breaux (NV) in 2:09

(5) John Drake (JC) evened his season record against (4) Frank Bretey (HAN) to 2-2 via a pin in 1:53

(3) Tony Gibson (CP) pinned (6) Anthony Guillory (BAS) in 2:22

(2) Datremecious White (EVA) pinned Trey Jeffries (SB) on 0:54

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Semifinals

(1) Darren Harvey (LKS) pinned (5) John Drake (JC) in 3:39

(2) Datremecious White (EVA) defeated (3) Tony Gibson (CP) 6-3

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Consolation Rounds

C2: Bryce Edgerson (SPL) defeated Trent Bowers (BRU) 4-2 SV

C3: Bryce Edgerson (SPL) defeated Dezmund Logan (TJ) 5-3

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Championship Consolation Rounds

As he did in the quarterfinals, (3) Tony Gibson (CP) pinned Anthony Guillory (BAS) in 2:52 to place 3rd

Brennen Kass (KAP) defeated (5) John Drake (JC) via a forfeit to place 5th.  Drake had defeated Kass in 0:59 in the first round of the Ken Cole Invitational, but an injury caused him to forfeit his consolation semifinals match and the match for fifth-place.

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Finals

(2) Datremicious White of Evangel defeated (1) Darren Harvey of Lakeside 3-2 in an Ultimate Tie-breaker match

This match also went into overtime.  In the first round neither wrestler could score.  Harvey attempted one shot, but for the most part they just grappled with each other's heads and arms.  It was obvious neither wanted to have the other pounce on top of him in an unbalanced manner one in allowed to start the second or third, or fifth or sixth or seventh round, as would be the case here.  Harvey won the toss and deferred, and White chose to start on the bottom.  Harvey almost put White on his back with a bar-arm chicken-wing, but White did not yield to the pressure.  After 40 seconds went by White was able to stand-up and escape from Harvey to take a 1-0 lead.  The rest of the period looked like the entire first period, and the two entered the third period with White ahead 1-0.  Taking bottom for the start of the third period, White did not even try to ride Harvey and gave a match-tying escape to even the score.  In the first minute White was able to get behind Harvey but could not bring the defending champion down to the mat.  Regulation time ended with the score tied 1-1.  The one-minute Sudden Victory period also went as the first period did.  Neither could take the other down.  White almost scored with a bear-hug as the final seconds went by but was not successful.  Harvey won the toss again to start the Tie-breaker rounds.  He again deferred to White, who chose the bottom position again.  Harvey scored an escape in the first 10 seconds and the two kept fighting with arms and heads for the remainder of the round.  This time letting Harvey escape again was not an option for White - just riding Harvey for 30 seconds would mean a championship.  White was close to "pulling that off" but with five seconds remaining Harvey, who had been standing and moving around the mat with White hanging onto him from behind, finally escaped to tie the match at 2-2.  An Ultimate-tie-breaker round was needed to determine the outcome.  The starting position was up to White, who had to decide whether he had a better chance riding Harvey for 30 seconds or escaping from Harvey in 30 seconds.  After consulting with his coaches, White chose the latter option.  Harvey broke White down twice, but the Eagle wrestler kept getting back on his knees.  After the second time White was able to stand on his feet, but his head and back were still pointing down to the mat.  This proved advantageous as it made Harvey ride a little high.  White was able to turn on Harvey and grab a leg.  Harvey was still in control and put White back on his knees again, but White would not relinquish the leg.  He finally stood up all the way, and with 20 seconds having gone by, the match ended 3-2 in White's favor.

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