WE ARE ADAPTIVE WRESTLING-SPECIFIC MEDIA

The 2022 St. Michael Warrior Open, held on Saturday, November 5th, at St. Michael the Archangel High School in Baton Rouge, might not have included a lot matches we will see in February, but it had some that would be on anybody's wish list.  Twenty-one 2022 state placers were in the field, including five state champions and five runners-up.  Three of the state champions lost.  Three of the runners-up did not make the finals.  Oh, and that was just the seven lightest weight classes.

The heavier weight classes were not as talent-laden as the lighter ones, but that is to be expected during the high school football season.  There were two 2022 runners-up in that half of the field, but only nine 2022 state placers overall.  There were still several matches which may influence seeding in January and February, though.

Brackets in PDF

With a tournament high three champions, Coach Chase Cox of Airline fittingly stands-out in a crowd shot at the 2022 Warrior Open

Three 2021 Warrior Open champions defended their titles.  Tyson Roach at 120 lbs. (106 lbs. in 2021), Caleb Lavine at 138 lbs. (126 lbs. in 2021) and Ty Parker of Airline at 170 lbs. (152 lbs. in 2021). 

Team scores were not kept at the event, but a few teams could claim a piece of a team title.  Airline had the most champions with three: Logan Olsen, Ernie Perry, III, and Ty Parker (photo left).  Michael Finders, Danon Walker and Joey Juneau place third for the Vikings.  Sam Houston had champions in Tyson Roach and Caleb Lavine, as well as a runner-up in Pollex Coleman.  De la Salle could assert a case for team superiority as Luke Robertson and Liam O'Connor won for the Cavaliers.  Dylan Duvernay placed second, Shane Barbarin was third, Jason Krail finished fourth and Jewel Scott fifth for De la Salle.  Jesuit had a champion in Arthur Schott, runners-up in Bodi Harris and Jackson Calderaro, third place finishes by Michael Barnett and Chase Haydel, a fourth-place winner in Max Belsome and a fifth-placer in Grant Herbert. The 126 lbs. weight class might have been shunned by some, and for good measure, for it was a safe bet the three-time Division I state champion Ernie Perry, III, would be there.  Nobody who placed higher than fourth at the 2022 state championships entered the 126 lbs. arena.  Sure, he certified at 132 lbs., but nobody bought into that.  After a first round bye, Perry scored two falls in under a minute and won the finals with a third period fall over a very game Pollex Coleman of Sam Houston.

The Louisiana Wrestling News coverage of this event is highly weighted toward the lower weight classes.  The event's format had the 106-145 lbs. weight classes in one gym and the 152-285 lbs. matches in another.  This included matches in all of the tournament rounds, and the matches were wrestled as soon as time allowed and mats were available.  Keeping track of who was wrestling where was not an option for the "rod-cone impaired" editor via the video screen in the gym with the lighter weight classes, and after a while an executive decision was made to just find a spot between the two mats in that building and stay there.  Even then, without a P.A. system, only sheer luck enabled photographing some of the better matchups.  As for having no photographs of the 145 lbs. weight class, the editor apologizes but, in his defense, he could not have done that on purpose.

In order to avoid a potential slew of 5-match forfeits the event placed the losers of the semifinals matches into matches for third and fourth place.  Additionally, three weight classes had preliminary rounds.  Those who did not qualify for the championship bracket wrestled a consolation bracket, and the championship bracket in these weight classes allowed for seventh and eighth place finishes.

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