Fini

Bee Durham, Deven Durham of Chalmette's father, told the editor that his son "did not have time to be that guy" when the editor said someone might need to "step into" the 132 lbs. weight class.  The editor replied, "he only has to be that guy on one weekend in February."  Bee said, "that's a heck of a way to think about it."  He told Deven and, while Deven did not win at 132 lbs., he did place third, which was three spots higher than he was seeded. Somebody must have relayed similar sentiments to Byrd's Cameron Vaughns.  Seeded eighth, Vaughn, in a "never say die" mentality as he faced a defending Division I state champion, followed by Sudden Victory wins in the semifinals and finals.  He was "that guy" for just the amount of time required.  And the editor cannot recall when a higher seed won the Division I state championship.

Photo
Place	1	2	3	4	5	6
Name	Cameron Vaughns	Ian Wyble	Conrad Mitchell	Ben Davidson	Charlie Cyrus	Santos Ramos
School	C.E. Byrd	Catholic	St. Amant	St. Paul	Jesuit	East Ascension
Seed	8	3	6	2	4	5
Final Record	58-12	28-4	19-4	33-6	32-10	63-10
Grade	Senior	Senior	Junior	Senior	Senior	Sophomore

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Synopsis

Byrd's Cameron Vaughn's was not supposed to be on the awards podium at all.  Someone forgot to give him that memo, though.  Seeded eighth, he had lost a match only to top-seeded Mason Massicot at the Trey Culotta Invitational (10-4) and to Jesuit's Charlie Cyrus, the fifth-seed, in the Louisiana Classic consolation semifinals (6-5).  He had no matches against the other six seeds.  He won one tournament all season - the Northwest Louisiana Regionals.  He placed second at the Warrior Open, the Riot on the Red, the Griffin Open and the Big Cat Brawl.  He placed third at the Spartan Invitational and the Lone Survivor, placed fifth at the Ken Cole Memorial and sixth at the Louisiana Classic.  Yet on the weekend of February 14th and 15th, he simply, but less politely, told himself Rhett Butler's parting words in "Gone With the Wind."

He got through his first two matches easily enough with a fall in 3:10 followed by a 21-4 Technical Fall.  In the quarterfinals, he faced the defending Division I state champion Mason Massicot.  The crowd at the CenturyLink Center must have simultaneously said "What the...?"  (The editor does not know as he left the event at 1:00 on Friday).  Vaughns beat Massicot 3-1.  Then things got difficult.  He needed a Sudden Victory period to get past fifth-seeded Santos Ramos of East Ascension 10-8.  He would need another Sudden Victory period in the finals.

As one half of the expected finalists would not be there, it was less unbelievable to imagine the second half not making it.  But this was not a #8 vs. #1 match.  It was a #3 vs. #2 match, and those upsets are common.  Catholic's Ian Wyble, seeded third, had lost to Ben Davidson of St. Paul twice, once in a dual meet via a 12-2 Major Decision and then in the Louisiana Classic finals 12-6.  Yet Wyble had a good 28-4 season.  He won the Brusly 8 and the Greater Baton Rouge Championships.  He placed second at the Louisiana Classic, third at the Gulf Coast Clash and fourth at the Hoover Invitational.  He defeated his round-one opponent in 0:28 and his round-two opponent in 1:16.  Then he had a bit of a time with Sixth-seeded East Ascension Conrad Mitchell, finally pinning the Spartan wrestler (who would place third) via a fall in 5:31.  In their third meeting, and the one that counted the most, Wyble upended Davidson 12-10 in a Sudden Victory period.

A word should be said about Massicot.  According to Brother Martin head coach Andrew Nicola, Massicot was told his wrestling days were over due to a twisted spine and a spinal fluid buildup in his lower spine.  With doctor-patient privilege into play, his doctors did not tell that to Nicola, and despite the pain Massicot wanted to try to finish his senior year.  Yes, his parents were concerned, but Mason convinced them to let him try to become a two-time Division I state champion.  His back "gave out" against the eighth-seed (Massicot was seeded first) and he was pulled from the tournament.  He only wrestled one match after that, which was a grueling (for Massicot) 4-3 win over Cyrus in the Catholic League District Championships.  Coach Nicola gave him a choice but did not prohibit Massicot from wrestling at the state championships, and Nicola has no regrets about allowing him to do so.  Certainly, it was a disappointing weekend for Massicot, but it showed a lot of character in the young man.  He did not show that he was in pain or noticeably blame his injuries for his losses.  While last season the editor thought he showed a little too much bravado after winning his state championship, when he lost his matches at this event he did not make any excuses and acquitted himself in a manner befitting a Crusader wrestler. Usually when someone uses the phrase "take up the slack" and "Massicot" used together, it means Massicot putting out the extra effort.  But when he needed help, it was fellow Crusaders like Chase Scott, who was seeded fifth yet placed third, seventh-seeded Quinn Williams who placed fifth and Riley Horvath, who placed second as a third seed, who did the work Massicot was unable to do.  Massicot is a warrior, and although he would have preferred a different outcome, he still scored six points, and the Crusaders won by 5.5.

Early Rounds, Quarterfinals

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Semifinals

Cameron Vaughns (BYR) defeated Santos Ramos (EA) 10-8 SV

Ian Wyble (CAT) defeated Ben Davidson (StP) 12-10 SV

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Early Consolation Rounds

Consolation Finals

Finals

After both had won their semifinals matches in Sudden Victory periods, (8) Cameron Vaughns of Byrd defeated (3) Ian Wyble of Catholic 6-4 in a Sudden Victory period

Video

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