WE ARE ADAPTIVE WRESTLING-SPECIFIC MEDIA

This week public school teams converged on the Lamar-Dixon EXPO Center in Gonzales for the Louisiana Public School Wrestling Championships.  Most Catholic teams rested, except for the Bears of Catholic, who went to Alabama and won the Scott Rohrer Hoover Invitational.

Forty-four public school wrestling teams participated in the third annual Louisiana Public School State Championships (LPSSC), held on December 29th-30th at the Lamar-Dixon EXPO Center in Gonzales, Louisiana.  The St. Amant boys took the crown from East Ascension, which had won the first two LPSWCs in 2022 and 2023.  On the girls side Lafayette dominated as they have in every event they have entered. 

7th (G) and 6th (B) Walker	32nd (G) and 5th (B) Fontainebleau	Live Oak champions Billy Edmonston and Laken Griffin

[Q: How does one get their team photo at the top of the article?  A: take team photographs with both ladies and gents in it.]

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Girls Summary

With two champions, one runner-up, three third-place winners, one 4th-place finisher and two fifth-place winners, the Lafayette Lady Lions outscored the runner-up Mandeville Skippers by 59 points to win yet another team title.  Ryleigh Blanchard and Quetzicalli Guevera-Tapia took home brackets, and Gabriella Parra was a runner-up.  Shyla LeBraun, Jhoana Torres-Sanchez and Dea'Jorie Williams took home third-place medals.  Haylee Johnson placed 4th while Elliana Schreiber and Lilly Velasquez placed 5th.  Of 11 wrestlers entered, nine placed in the top-five.  The Lady Lions also scored 26 falls, which was seven more than Mandeville.  To reiterate (or iterate - same difference), tournaments are won via success in the consolation round and bonus points.

Having 11 point-scorers helped the Lady Lions, but do not expect them to apologize for having more scorers.  To iterate (or reiterate - see, that works!), one can only wrestle those who show up.

Girls Final Team Points

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Left to Right: 100 lbs. champion Willow Dixon of Walker; 107 lbs. Champion Layla Higgins of Riverdale; 114 lbs. champion Lilly Johnson of Dutchtown: 145 lbs. Champion Savannah Camarata of Albany with Lilly Johnson.

LAPSWC Individual Champions

[Left] East Ascension's Breanne Cullen was voted the Girls Outstanding Wrestler award.  Hutto was 13-0, including a 3:43 pin over Cullen.  But this time Cullen returned the favor with a fall over Hutto in 3:10.  Her prior three matches were also won by fall, and only one went into the third period. [Right] Fifth Place: East Ascension Lady Spartans

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The list of individual champions does not change much tournament after tournament.  Walker's Willow Dixon is 24-1, with her one loss coming from MiKayla Byington of St. Amant.  That was at 107 lbs.,  The sophomore is 4-1 at 107 lbs., and thus 20-0 at 100 lbs.

Byington did not compete in the event, which allowed someone else to win at 107 lbs.  That was Layla Higgins of Riverdale.  Higgins is 21-2, with her two losses coming from Byington.

Dixon is by now expected to win tournaments.  When Byington is present, she is expected to win at 107 lbs.  And that is no sleight on Higgins.  To reiterate and iterate (now that is redundancy on top of itself) Higgins is the Louisiana Public School Wrestling Championship gold-medalist, 'nuff said (mike drops).

Also expected to win are Lilly Johnson of Dutchtown (114), Ryleigh Blanchard of Lafayette (120), Quetzicalli Guevera-Tapia of Lafayette (126) and Laken Griffin of Live Oak (132).  East Ascension's Isabella Guillory (138) has been out for a couple of weeks, but she has not lost a match yet.  Her weight class became harder as Baton Rouge's Olivia Maxie dropped to 138 lbs. and won the weight class at the LPSWC.  Savannah Camarata of Albany is undefeated at 145 lbs. with a record of 24-0.  Maxie and South Beauregard's Sarah Cervenka are the only opponents Camarata did not pin.

The 152 lbs. weight class has not been dominated by anyone.  Baton Rouge's Jonnika Pitts, Mandeville's Gabriella Maldonado and Chalmette's Karmindi Grosch are just a few of the ladies who are looking to be dominant in this weight class.

Acadiana's Lillian Hutto was 16-0 at 165 lbs. upon entering the LPSWC finals, which included a win over East Ascension's Breann Cullen.  In the LPSWCs Hutto was upset by Cullen, now 18-1, in 3:10.  That avenged a Spartan Classic finals match won by Hutto in 3:43.  Cullen received the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler award.  Miss Hutto should know that having a paragraph about her losing a match, as well as that the person who beat her was voted the Outstanding Wrestler, indicates he is doing something right.

Brusly's Iranie Harrison is 18-0 at 185 lbs. and 235 lbs.  Yet, Brusly did not compete in the tournament and that left the door wide-open for Chalmette's Jenelle Rotunda.  Rotunda is 23-3, with all three losses coming from Harrison.  Take nothing away from Rotunda, though.  I will say again (or iterate or iterate) that you can only wrestle those who are there.   At 235 lbs.

Baton Rouge's Allison Flores-Hernandez is 16-0 with 15 falls to her credit.

107 lbs. Podium	138 lbs. Podium	145 lbs. Podium

Girls Finals Matches

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Boys Summary

The St. Amant Gators took an early lead and never looked back.  Prior to the semifinals they led their nearest competitor, Terrebonne, by 47 points.  After the semifinals, they led East Ascension, now in 2nd place, 193.5 to 133.5, or by 60 points.  At the conclusion of the tournament, the Gators won by 71.5 points.

Individual Boys Champions	1st Place: St. Amant Gators	4th Place: Terrebonne Tigers

138 lbs. Podium	150 lbs. Podium	215 lbs. Podium

The public school weight classes have only a few wrestlers that would be favorites to win come February.  Zane Blanchard of Southside, Braden Sellers of Fontainebleau, Ozias Gray of Acadiana, Braylon Stewart of East Ascension and Billy Edmonston appear to have picked the weight classes in which they will compete for in the rest of the season.  Any winners of this event should be treated as dangerous at any time. 

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Boys Final Team Points

Josh and Billy Edmonston	Billy Edmonston and Kent Pearson	Josh, Amy, Billy and Billy Edmonston	Terrebonne place-winners

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Acadiana's Ozias Gray was awarded the Outstanding Wrestler in the lower weight classes.  In the 138 lbs. weight class, Gray pinned his first two opponents in 1:08 and 1:39.  He teched his other three opponents via scores of 18-2, 20-5 and, in the finals, 19-3. 

Lafayette's Gage Robinson, at 150 lbs. was seeded sixth.  As if he cared.  After a first-round bye Robinson pinned his Round Two opponent in 0:42.  After that Robinson defeated the third seed, Acadiana's Ian David, 8-5.  On a mission to show his success was not a fluke, he pinned the second seed, St. Amant's Thomas Abington, in 3:42.  In the finals Robinson defeated the Trey Culotta champion Dominic Ruggieri 12-8.  He beat the #3, #2 and #1 seeds, and very much earned his Outstanding Wrestler award in the heavier weight classes.

[L-R] Ozias Gray with mother Elizabeth; Gray with OW award; Gray with Southside's Zane Blanchard

Boys Finals Matches

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Hoover Invitational

A lot of Division I Catholic schools took a break from wrestling after the Eagle Duals on December 27th, but not Catholic.  The Bears, and current favorites to win the Division I state championship,  brought 16 wrestlers to the Scott Rohrer Hoover Invitational, held on December 29th-30th in Hoover, Alabama.  In a 44 team field, the Bears prevailed, scoring 482.5 points, which was 44.5 points better than the runner-up Oak Mountain scored.  Three Bears, Caleb Kirk, Paul Evans and Kristian Scott, placed first in their weight classes.  Three more Bears took home 3rd-place honors and four others placed in the top-seven.

2025 Scott Rohrer Hoover Invitational champions: Catholic

Scott was just plain ridiculous. In eight matches, the two-time Division I state champion, never let an opponent last for a full minute.  The average time his opponents spent on the ma was 36.6 seconds.  His finals match came close, but Scott recorded a fall in 59 seconds.  Evans scored a 15-0 TF in his finals match, but Kirk was pushed to the limit.  Down 3-1 after the first period, Kirk outscored his opponent 4- in the second period, giving Kirk a 5-3 lead.  The only points scored in the third period was a penalty point awarded to his opponent, making the score 5-4.

Evans, Scott and Kirk	Scott 1st	Scott on podium

Catholic High School Placers

And now it is almost 5:00 p.m., it is New Year's Day, and I am going to catch the rest of the Indiana vs. Alabama game.  And GO HOOSIERS!  My mother got her master's degree at Indiana, so I can claim some connection with the school.

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