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All season long the Louisiana Wrestling News touted the North Desoto Griffins as the team to beat in Division II.  In 2019 they placed third behind champion Parkway, who would be in Division I in 2020, and Teurlings Catholic.  They were returning 14 wrestlers including 2019 state champion Joshua Sarpy and five others who were on the 2019 podium.  The Teurlings Catholic Rebels were returning only seven from the 2019 state championships.  Their sole returning state champion was David Bernard, and only three other Rebels made the 2019 podium. 

Champions - Teurlings Catholic Rebels	Runners-up - North Desoto Griffins

The editor never said, "there will be no math!"  The seeding for the 2020 state championships could be manipulated to make the Griffins the favorites.  North Desoto had 11 seeded wrestlers, averaging 2.86 per seeded wrestler the lower the number the higher the place.)  The Rebels had 14 seeded wrestlers and an average 3.25 seeding.  When all was said and done, each Rebel averaged placing 2.7 while each Griffin averaged 2.9.

That is not how the tournament "played out," however.

Head-to-head matches were not much of a factor.  In their nine matches against each other through the tournament, the Rebels won four to four for the Griffins.  Four of those matches were in the finals, and each school won two of them.  North Desoto winners in finals matches against Teurlings Catholic were Isaac Dees over Ethan Boudreaux 12-9 at 106 lbs. and Richard Mack, III, over Ivan Hale 7-6.  For Teurlings Catholic Charles Travasos defeated Hunter Hanson via a 9-1 major decision, followed by Vaughn Romero's 9-5 decision over Andrew Gonzales at 170 lbs.  In the nine matches Teurlings Catholic had a little edge re team points, scoring 72 of them to North Desoto's 70.  Part of that is from how the Rebels and Griffins ended their matches. 

Thirteen members of the Teurlings Catholic team placed in the top-six and their remaining wrestler scored three points.  Only 11 Griffin wrestlers placed in the top-six, and the three who did not only manage to score a total of three points.  The Rebels also had three runners-up to the Griffins' two.  North Desoto had three wrestlers place third while the Rebels only had one, but in the 4-6 spots, Teurlings Catholic had five wrestlers who placed no lower than fifth.  North Desoto only had two wrestlers in those places, and one place sixth.

While there was only a two-point differential between the two teams, a major difference between the two was the number of bonus points scored.  Teurlings Catholic scored 32 pins and one technical fall for 65.5 bonus points.  The Griffins scored 25 pins and one technical fall, scoring 51.5 bonus points.  Those points, plus the ones scored by the two more Rebels wrestlers who placed, was a vast part of the difference between first and second place.

The editor has a theory about why Teurlings Catholic fared better.  The Griffins did not compete against Louisiana competition south of Interstate 10 until January 9th, preferring to find matches against quality teams found in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, which are closer to Stonewall than, say, Baton Rouge or New Orleans, and cost less to travel to them.  A little first-hand knowledge of whom one might face in the state championships cannot be discounted.   Having matches in common with opponents may prevent wrestlers and coaches from underestimating the Louisiana opponents they will face in the state championships.

Teurlings Catholic champions were Charles Travasos at 160 lbs., Vaughn Romero at 170 lbs. and David Bernard (his second) at 182 lbs.  North Desoto's four champions were Dees, Joshua Sarpy at 120 lbs., Mack and Dylan Olivier at 195 lbs.

Teurlings Catholic coaching staff: [Front] Kent Masson, Brad Macha, Kirby Lee, Jacob LaFleur, Dane Langley; [Back] Mike Willeford	David Bernard of Teurlings Catholic, and Parkway's Peyton Miller suffering an identity crisis.	North Desoto champs Richard Mack, III, and Joshua Sarpy with coach Dustin Burton

Shaw champs Glenn Price and Raheem Bonnet with coach Brandon Surrency	Rummel Raiders - 6th place	Ramirez with Rummel coach KeVon Dre Powell

Shaw placed third behind victories by Glenn Price and Raheem Bonnet.  Price, a sophomore at 113 lbs., has completed 50% of his quest to be a four-time Division II state champion.  Bonnet could easily have been seeded over top-seeded Matthew Carrier of Teurlings Catholic at 126 lbs., but for an injury he suffered at the Louisiana Classic.  The injury occurred in a semifinals match against Live Oak's Clayton Hill.  While he probably should have withdrawn from the match at the time he was leading 4-2 and decided to try to finish it.  He could not and ended-up losing via a fall to Hill.  Worse than that, he had to forfeit his next two matches and ended up being a three-seed rather than second.  At the state championships Bonnet did not care about his seeding and gave "no quarter" to either of his four opponents, winning the championship as well as the Division II Outstanding Wrestler award.

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Outstanding Wrestler

Raheem Bonnet - 126 lbs. Shaw   After two injury-plagued seasons, Teurlings Catholic's Matthew Carrier reached the finals (he placed fifth as a freshman in 2017).  He had a 35-2 record upon entering the match, losing only to Division I opponents, and he was the top-seed at 126 lbs.  Shaw's Raheem Bonnet was 37-3 with a Division I loss and two out-of-state losses.  But he was injured in the Louisiana Classic and thus had to forfeit two matches, which led to his being seeded third.  North Desoto's Lance Ferguson was seeded second. This was not the match anyone expected.  Bonnet perhaps had an edge as he was a Division II runner-up in 2019.  Bonnet needed only 3:20 to best his first two opponents, and then he scored a fall over Ferguson in 2:38.  In the finals he just man-handled Carrier.  He used a hip-throw for a takedown after 18 seconds, but the wily Carrier did not stay on his back long enough for nearfall points.  Carrier almost escaped but Bonnet threw him again, and again Carrier would not yield any back points.  A cradle by Bonnet almost worked, but Carrier scored a reversal off of it and the first round ended in a 2-2 tie.  Bonnet chose to start the second period standing and just after a minute had elapsed, after fending off two good shots by Carrier, he scored a takedown with a single-leg which he turned into a nearside cradle, ending the match with a fall in 3:31.

Rayne and Rummel placed fourth and fifth respectively.  Ryder Hawley won the 145 lbs. finals for the Wolves, and Joshua Ramirez won at 138 lbs. for the Raiders.  Carencro placed sixth and had two state champions: Tyrick Clay at 132 lbs. and Zavione Willis at 220 lbs.  Lakeshore, which finished in eighth-place, ended the Division II finals matches with a winner in David Bernard at 285 lbs. and Carencro placed 4th-6th and each had a state champion.
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Final Team Scores

Division II

Division II Brackets in PDF

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Individual Champions and Runners-up

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