Fini

34 29

St. Paul answered the question everybody was asking themselves: could they "hang" with the Brother Martin Crusaders.  The answer on December 13th at St. Paul was a resounding "YES" as the Wolves defeated the Crusaders 34-29.  The Wolves won eight of the 14 matches contested

This, of course, leads to question like "could they do it again," "can they defeat the Crusaders in a tournament format?" and "can they defeat the Crusaders in a Louisiana-only (i.e., Division I State Championship) tournament?"

Potential answers to those questions once were in the very spot you are reading right now.  But the editor feels he must give the other events their "due" and save those ruminations for another article next week.  Instead, he just copied the information from his December 14th article into this one to make it look beefier.

Matches

106 Pounds

Jacob Houser (StP) defeated Mason Elsensohn (BM) 3-0

This match was as close as expected but Houser dominated it more than the 3-0 score indicates.  He took a 2-0 lead into the second round, in which he scored his escape point. Herd round and he rode Elsensohn for the entire third period.  One mistake by Houser in their next meeting and there could be a much different result.  Just not on this night.

St. Paul 3 - Brother Martin 0

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113 Pounds

Trey Faherty (StP) defeated Dylan Moser (BM) 8-3

The editor thought this would be closer, but Faherty looked very, very sharp throughout.  Neither should be overlooked by their opponents, but Faherty dominated this one with three takedowns and a reversal vs. only two escapes and a penalty point for Moser.

St. Paul  6 - Brother Martin 0

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120 Pounds

Carter Duet (StP) defeated Jake Spellman (BM) via a 10-0 major decision

NOTE TO SELF: Do not limit Carter Duet's potential to win as a "toss-up."  I knew Duet was good - it took a soon-to-be and a former state champion to give him his two state tournament losses in 2019.  But his two second-place tournament finishes did not appear to entail the caliber of competition that Spellman's two third-place finishes did.  No matter to Duet.  The St. Paul junior held Spellman pointless, and more importantly his extra team point via his 10 point major decision sealed the win for the Wolves.

St. Paul 10 - Brother Martin 0

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126 Pounds

Michael Rader (StP) pinned Ty Duncan (BM) in 3:32

The St. Paul junior was too experienced for the Crusader freshman.

St. Paul 16 - Brother Martin 0

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132 Pounds

Ethan Castex (BM) pinned Sean Cripple (StP) in 3:41

This looked to be an easy match for Castex as the defending Division I runner-up opened with a takedown and a three-point nearfall.  But Cripple put an end to that thought by reversing Castex to his back and scoring five points of his own.  Castex gathered himself in the second round to escape, take Cripple down and pin him, but it is just another example of how one little mistake can mar a match or a meet...or a tournament, for that matter.

St. Paul 16 - Brother Martin 6

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138 Pounds

Connor Hoffman (BM) defeated Grant Nastasi (StP) via a 9-7 score in a Sudden Victory period

Despite that Nastasi had a 14-2 record with a Dale Ketelsen Memorial championship and a fourth-place finish at the Border Wars, while Connor Hoffman's record was only 1-0 (albeit a very good 1-0 coming from a 5-3 win over Rummel's Jacob Ramirez), few if anybody thought Nastasi had much of a chance against a healthy 2018 state champion Connor Hoffman.  All except Nastasi, perhaps.  In the first two periods the two traded two takedowns and two escapes apiece to enter the third period tied 6-6.  An escape gave Nastasi a one-point lead in the third period, and a stalling point on Hoffman gave the St. Paul wrestler a two-point lead.  Hoffman, though, was able to manage a takedown to tie the score at 8-8 and force a Sudden Death period.  Hoffman got the win in the Sudden Death minute, but kudos go to Nastasi who performed more than admirably.

St. Paul 16 - Brother Martin 9

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145 Pounds

Alex Duncan (BM) pinned Grant Vicknair (StP) in 3:04

Vicknair put up a good fight until the middle of the second period.  Trailing only 2-0 after the first two minutes it appeared Vicknair had a better chance than some would have thought.  But the state champion Duncan took just over a minute of the second period to escape, take Vicknair down and score a fall.

St. Paul 16 - Brother Martin 15

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152 Pounds

Peyton Ward (StP) defeated Riley Horvath (BM) 7-6 after a Tie-breaker 1 round

This match was all Ward's until the middle of the second round when Horvath, behind 5-1, took Ward down to his back for a five-point move and a 6-5 lead.  Ward escaped and the first six minutes ended in a 7-7 tie.  Nobody could score during the SV period, and Ward was able to ride Horvath for the 30 seconds of the first half of the TB-1 round.  Horvath, however, could not keep hold of Ward in the second half of the TB-1 period and, after Ward escaped, was unable to score again on Ward.

St. Paul 19 - Brother Martin 15

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160 Pounds

Mason Massicot (BM) defeated Ben Davidson (StP) 5-3

This match lived up to its hype.  Massicot got the win, but Davidson showed he could contend with the defending state champion, and came close to scoring a takedown along with his escape and reversal which could have sent the match to overtime or won it outright for Davidson.  If neither opts to move from 160 lbs., some good matches should be had between these two.

St. Paul 19 - Brother Martin 18

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170 Pounds

Blaine Cascio (StP) defeated Eli Hope (BM) 9-8

Cascio almost ended this quickly with a first period lateral drop, but he could not finish it.  However, after his first attempt at pinning Hope failed, sweat had become an issue and he missed a second lateral attempt and he was only ahead 5-3 after the first period.  After a second period escape and takedown Hope was ahead 6-5, and Hope's second takedown of the round after a Cascio escape put Hope ahead 8-6 entering the third period.  Cascio started on bottom, escaped, took Hope down for a one point lead and held onto the Crusader to preserve the 9-8 win.

St. Paul 22 - Brother Martin 18

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182 Pounds

Joshua Sabadie (StP) pinned Anton Brown (BM) in 1:41

The experience of Sabadie proved too much for Brown, who had only one match "under his belt" before the evening started.  This was how the editor thought the last four weight classes would go.  He was %50 right or wrong, depending on how one views it.

St. Paul 28 - Brother Martin 18

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195 Pounds

Cameron Frederick (BM) pinned Evan Ulfers (StP) in 2:31

Ulfers looked better in the first period albeit only nursing a 2-0 lead.  He escaped to start the second period and looked to end the match with a head-and-arm throw, but Frederick did not let Ulfers settle into his throw and rolled through it putting Ulfers on his back.  Frederick did settle his position and was awarded a fall at 2:31.

St. Paul 28 - Brother Martin 24

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220 Pounds

Cole Ulfers (StP) pinned Kyle West (BM) in 2:48

If this match is repeated over the season it should get better.  The defending Division I runner-up West had not wrestled a match all season while the defending Division I state champion was 9-1.  West got the first takedown for a 2-0 lead, but then Ulfers escaped, took him down, scored two nearfall points and then three more for an 8-2 lead after two minutes.  Ulfers let West escape to start the second round and then took just 48 seconds to take West down again, put him on his back and score a fall. If one remembers last season, West was pinned by Holy Cross's Ryan Duty in his fifth match of the season, but defeated Doody in their next two meetings, including the state championship semifinals.

St. Paul 34 - Brother Martin 24

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285 Pounds

Adam Bourgeois (BM) pinned Matthew Gros (StP) in 1:14

Initially Gros looked better when the two started the match, but he erred and ended up on his back.  Bourgeois, who appears very strong, kept him there.

St. Paul 34 - Brother Martin 30

Less one point via an unsportsmanlike conduct on the Brother Martin head coach - Final Score:

St. Paul 34-Brother Martin 29

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