WRESTLING-SPECIFIC MEDIA
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WE ARE ADAPTIVE WRESTLING-SPECIFIC MEDIA |
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| Crusaders win another Culotta - December 20th recap |
| December 23rd, 2025| Written by: Staff writer |
| Trey Culotta | Prairieville Women's | Women's Battle on the Lakefront | Men's Battle on the Lakefront |
| Ark-La-Tex Girls | Ark-La-Tex Boys | Tiger Clash | Ronnie Suarez Girls | Ronnie Suarez Boys | WrestleMania Boys |
| St. Edmund Duals | Knockout XMAS Classic Girls, FL | Knockout XMAS Classic Boys, FL | Beast of the Beach Girls |
[NOTE: Click on the event name to be taken to the FloW page for that event. If you want TrackWrestling coverage, you know, coverage that is user-friendly and just plain better, find a TW tournaments list page and use the "Search Events" option to find a link to that event's coverage. Then use the "Viewer Classic" option to see the brackets and other information in its TrackWrestling format. There, you can also print individual brackets. The FloW format does not allow for printing brackets. TW, however, does not let one use the TW URLs if more than one event is linked on the same web page. And yes, I have complained about that. Say it with me: "FWS!, FWS!"]
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Three Lafayette area wrestlers competed in the Beast of the East, held on
December 20th and 21st in Newark, Delaware. Alex Rozas of Teurlings
Catholic, fresh off of a
fifth-place finish at the Walsh Ironman, was seeded third and finished third at
120 lbs. Ozias Gray, a defending Division I state champion for Acadiana,
was seeded 9th and placed 7th, and Braedon Simoneaux, a three-time
Division II state champion for Teurlings Catholic prior to moving to New
York for his senior season, was seeded 8th and placed 6th [Left to right] Braedon Simoneaux, Alex Rozas and Ozias Gray. |
Beast of the East Lafayette area placers and their match results
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To nobodies surprise, Brother Martin won the 2025 Trey Culotta Invitational, held at Brother Martin on December 19th and 20th. This was the fifth year in a row in which the Crusaders came out on top. Brother Martin scored 275 points. Perhaps unexpectedly (well, to me at least, having been away for a couple of years), St. Thomas More of Lafayette placed second with 256 points. Vestavia Hills, AL was right behind the Cougars with 254 points. Holy Cross was fourth with 251 points, followed by Teurlings Catholic with 247.5 points.
A lot can be discerned from this tournament. The Crusaders won despite having only one champion (William Fontenot at 113 lbs.) and two runners-up. And one of the runners-up, Alex Diaz at 215 Lbs., did not score any team points. The point-scorer at 215 lbs. went 2-5 on the day and only scored six points. Yet, not counting the three Crusaders who made it to the finals, seven other Crusaders placed in the top-six. This means the Crusaders have depth. That is certainly not surprising, but it is a reason several coaches from the top teams in the state were in attendance.
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| 1st: Brother Martin | 2nd: St. Thomas More |
Despite the circumstances to be related below, St. Thomas More was very impressive. The Cougars had five in the finals and came out with four champions, the most of any other team by far (or, like, two). One of those championships was over an opponent from Teurlings Catholic.
Now, this is not to say St. Thomas More is a stronger team than Teurlings Catholic. Both teams only had 13 scoring wrestlers, and Teurlings Catholic, well, they were missing a game-changer in Alex Rozas, who was in Delaware taking third-place at the Beast of the East. The TC 120 lbs. scorer only scored six points. Rozas would have scored somewhere around 30 points, so they would have easily placed second were Rozas there.
A problem for St. Thomas More is that aside from their five finalists, only one Cougar wrestler placed in the top-six. TC, had three runners-up, but would probably had a champion had Rozas been there. But the Rebels had four wrestlers place in the third through sixth. Of their three runners-up, only one was defeated by a Division II opponent.
Most of the above speculation is tommyrot. With schools from six states competing, very little can be deduced that will mean anything come February. But I had fun speculating at the reader's expense. ("Grizzled" grows exponentially after 60, and I just made 63!)
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Jordan Sherrod of Vancleave, MS was voted the
tournament's Outstanding Wrestler. Competing at 215 lbs., Sherrod dispatched his opponents with wins as follows: 13-2 MD, 1:27 Fall, 12-0 MD, 3-1, 7-3 and 7-0 in the finals. |
Of note, remaining undefeated after the event were Brother Martin's William Fontenot, Southside's Zane Blanchard and St. Thomas More's Foster Peterson, Enzo Lopez and Jules Deshotels.
Matches we may see again:
Fontainebleau's Braden Sellers improved to 51-1 with his second win of the season over Brother Martin's Scott Cascio. After a scoreless first period, Cascio was awarded a penalty point and added an escape to take a 2-0 led into the third round. Cascio chose to start in the neutral position and was fine until the last 30 seconds when Sellers was able to come out of scramble with a takedown to seal a 3-2 win. Sellers now has a 3-1 record against Cascio, counting a split in the 2024-25 season. Sellers' loss, however, was at State, which Cascio won.
A possible Louisiana Classic match may be at 157 pounds between St. Thomas More's Enzo Lopez and Matthew Krail of Holy Cross. Krail took down Lopez in the first period, which ended 3-0. From there, though, it was all Lopez. The Cougar outscored the Tiger 7-2 in the next two rounds, limiting Krail to an escape and a penalty point. Krail took Lopez down once. One more time and he might have the Trey Culotta bracket.
Another match-up between the Cougars and the Tigers was at 175 lbs. Zach Cestia of St. Thomas More and Rylee Reeves of Holy Cross each only sored an escape point for the majority of the match. Reeves scored a takedown with nine seconds remaining in the match to win 4-1.
UNEXPECTED SEGUE!: Quora, whatever that is, says that a fight between a tiger and a cougar will be won by the tiger 60-70% of the time. However, that is based on the generally heavier weight of the tiger. In this case, weight does not really apply, as in this scenario the tiger and cougar would weigh approximately the same. The most bad-ass large feline is the leopard, which has comparable jaw strength to the bigger cats, but is much more agile than a lion or tiger. (Lions and tigers and) Bears come to mind, now, and the consensus is that the most fearsome bears would beat any big cat. Checking which schools have leopards as mascots, only Lafayette College was found. The name looks right for a Louisiana school, but it is in Easton, PA.
The 190 lbs. final looked to be a bonus points situation for TC's Carter Macha.
Macha was ahead 7-0 as the third period started. Deshotels chose to start
in the neutral position, and scored a takedown in 11 seconds. He decided
to let Macha go and take him down twice, leading to scores being 7-0 Macha, 7-3
Macha, 8-3 Macha, 8-6 Macha, 9-6 Macha and then 9-9. Deshotels'
match-tying takedown resulted in putting Macha on his back, and Deshotels scored
a fall in 5:05.
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| 8th Place: Fontainebleau |
17th Place: Slidell |
Baton Rouge won the inaugural Prairieville Woman's Open, held at Prairieville High School on December 20th.The Lady Bulldogs scored 64 points versus only 57 points for the runner-up Dutchtown Griffins.
Mikayla Byington of St. Amant, Lilly Johnson of Dutchtown, Laken Griffin of Live Oak, Savannah Camarata of Albany, Lillian Hutto of Acadiana and Allison Flores-Hernandez of Baton Rouge remained undefeated on the season.
Women's Battle on the Lakefront
The Mandeville Skippers crushed all who opposed them in winning the Woman's Battle on the Lakefront, held on Saturday, December 20th, at Mandeville High School. The Skippers' 136 was more than twice the score of the runner-up Chalmette Owls, who scored 67 points.
The Skippers had five champions and three runners-up. Winning championships for Mandeville were Giada Ruffino, Maria Pascua-Mendoza, Ina De Bastos-Marques, Aurora Avery and Valentina Lopo. The Owls had two champions and one runner-up.
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The Fontainebleau girls finished 12th, but they
posted a photo on Facebook, so they get their names published. If one would, please send me the names of these young ladies, from right to left, at mgmnet@cox.net. |
Archbishop Hannan held off Mandeville by 6.5 points to win the Battle of the Lakefront, held on December 20th at Mandeville High School. Hannan scored 146.5 points to Mandeville's 140.5. Oak Grove topped the 110 point mark with 115.5 points, followed by St. Patrick's (87.5 points) and John Curtis (76.5 points).
Winning championships for Hannan were Johnathan Hoang, Beau Bordelon, Connor Frasier and Ryan Rist. For the Skippers, Lucas Russell, Gabriel Mentz and Keelan Primeaux took home championships.
The Ronnie Suarez District Tournament was held on December 20th at Sulphur High School in Sulphur, LA. The Lafayette Lady Lions won their sixth team trophy in as many tries to go with their victories at the Brusly 8ish, the Griffin Open, the Spartan Classic, the Pink Panther Invitational and the Jacob McMillan.
Haylee Johnson, Ryleigh Blanchard, Quetzicalli Guevera-Tapia, Shyla LeBrun and Dae' Jonie Williams all won championship for the Lionesses, who scored 92.5 points. The runner-up Barbe Pirates scored only 13 points.
Lafayette High School swept the Ronnie Suarez District Tournaments, held at Sulphur High School on December 20th. Not letting the Girls team get the best of them, the boys squad won with 162 points, 34.5 points more than runner-up Sam Houston's 127.5. Sulphur, usually a safe bet in this event, placed third with 113 points.
Winning titles for the Lions were Vincent Morvant, Austin Langlinais, William O'Neal, Greyson Bernard and Jackson Lavin.
The C.E. Byrd Yellow Jackets topped the Whitehouse, TX team 55-24 to win Wrestlemania, held on December 20th at Byrd High School in Shreveport, LA.
Terrebonne High School outscored their nearest competitor by 84.5 to win the 2025 Tiger Clash, held at Hahnville High School in Luling, LA. The Tigers scored 184 points to runner-up Destrehan's 109.5. There was a decent run for second as 3rd-place Fontainebleau scored 103.5 points and fourth place De la Salle scored 101 points. Just under the 100 point mark were the host Hahnville Tigers, who placed fifth with 98 points.
Winning titles for the Tigers were Bryden Chauvin and Chance Knoblock. Five Terrebonne wrestlers placed second.
Rosepine won eight of the 12 matches contested in the championship dual meet at the St. Edmund's Duals, held December 20th at St. Edmund's High School in Eunice, LA. They defeated defending Division III state champion Basile 48-24. St. Edmund defeated Rayne 48-36 to place third and Erath defeated Opelousas Catholic 42-24 to place fifth.
Bearcat fans need not worry, yet. Five 2025 state placers did not compete for the Bearcats, but they are on the Basile roster. Only one 2025 state placer wrestled for the Bald Eagles who is on the Rosepine roster. Two state placers, the Yost brothers Kyler and Kolson, are not on the Rosepine roster and may have moved elsewhere. These two squads should meet each other at full strength later in the season.
Poteau, OK won the 2025 Ark-La-Tex Duals, held on December 20th at North Desoto High School in Stonewall, LA. The host North Desoto Lady Griffins defeated Parkway 42-6 for the right to meet Poteau in the finals. Oddly, only one match was contested in which Parkway's Ashlyn Crawford pinned North Desoto's Audriana Barnstable in 4:54. But North Desoto scored 42 points on forfeits. Poteau advanced to the finals with a 36-0 shutout of Parkway. It was pretty much all Poteau in the final match against North Desoto. Only five matches were contested in the championship finals. Poteau won four of them via falls and another via a disqualification.
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| 2nd: North Desoto |
The Boys Division was much more substantial than the Girls event. Six teams vied against each other, and it was the North Desoto first team that won a 41-33 finals dual against St. Paul. The Griffins won six of the 11 matches contested. Winners for North Desoto were Sy Stouts, Connor Locke, Bryce Chambers, Jacob Kershaw, L.J. Williams, William Erdolac. For St. Paul the winners were Jameson Ritchie, Connor Ayaya, Liam Ritchie and Oliver Scarpelli.
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| Ark-La-Tex Champions: North Desoto Griffins |
Brusly's Iranie Harrison and Kaitlyn Walker travelled to Fort Walton, Florida for the Beast of the Beach - Girls, held on December 20th at Fort Walton High School
At 155 lbs. Walker placed fourth. At 235 lbs. Harrison took home the gold. spending only 4:17 on the mats for her three wins.
Knockout XMAS Classic Girls, FL
East Ascension took seven young ladies to the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida for the 2025 Knockout Girls Christmas Classic in December 19th and 20th. The Lady Spartans place tied for 29th with 36 points. Isabella Guillory added three more notches to her undefeated season.
Knockout XMAS Classic Boys, FL
At first I thought Rummel might have bit off a little too much by competing
in the 2025 Knockout XMAS Tournament. I am just not used to seeing the
Raiders place 39th in a tournament, only scoring 49.5 points. Yet the
Raiders knew what they were doing. In 2024 they placed 33rd with 54.5
points and in 2023 they placed 45th with 44 points. This is only
guesswork, but perhaps Coach Rod Cusachs wanted to expose them to some premium
competition. Not one Raider placed in the top-six of their bracket, but
almost all of them got to wrestle four or five matches. Luckily, as I do
not count losses to out-of-state competitors but do count wins, Landon Modica
and Dominick Durham earned four and three wins respectively in the Undefeated
list.
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