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Returning Division I State Champions

Ernie Perry Airline	Evan Frost Holy Cross	Jacob Frost Holy Cross	Peyton Ward St. Paul

St. Paul, Brother Martin and Holy Cross

In the 2019-20 season the St. Paul Wolves earned the right to be a slight favorite to win the Division I team championship after they defeated perennial powerhouse and two-time defending Division I champion Brother Martin 34-29 on December 13th.  That the Crusaders won the Louisiana Classic while St. Paul placed third at that event did not phase the Wolves, as neither they nor the Crusaders were at full strength.  At the state championships both teams faltered a bit, but the Crusaders made-up for them via bonus points better than the Wolves did.  That resulted in the Crusaders hoisting their third Brother Melchior chalice via outscoring the Wolves by a mere 5.5 points.

1.    St. Paul

This season the Wolves should be considered a favorite from the start.  Losing the Ulfers twins and Ben Davidson is a tough pill to swallow, but St. Paul has an outstanding team returning led by senior and defending Division I state champion Peyton Ward.  Behind Ward are Division I runners-up Jacob Houser, Carter Duet and Blaine Cascio.  Three Wolves, Michael Rader, Sean Cripple and Grant Nastasi placed fourth and Josh Sabadie placed sixth.  And do not forget junior Trey Faherty, who was 11-3 prior to a season-ending injury at the Trey Culotta Invitational last December 20th.  They may also have senior Grant Vicknair, who was knocked out of a podium spot while seeded fifth, yet he had a record of 21-10 with two tournament championships in 2020.  Sam Davidson, another senior, was 26-8 last season.  Fifteen other Wolves had winning records in 2020, which means the returning starters may have work to do just to get to compete at the Raising Canes Center in February.

2.    Brother Martin

Brother Martin lost two state champions to graduation, Alex Duncan and Mason Massicot (2019 winner), and lost four other seniors, but runners-up Ethan Castex and Kent Burandt are returning, as are four top-six placers in Chase Scott (3rd), Mason Elsensohn (5th), Quinn Williams (5th) and Eli Hope (6th).  Anton Brown and Adam Bourgeois should be available this season also.  Like St. Paul's they also have a lot of talent waiting to break out.  Dylan Moser, Rocco Horvath, Luke Ohler and John DiMaggio all had winning records that included 15 or more wins last season.  

3.    Holy Cross

Should either St. Paul or Brother Martin slip, have no doubt the Tigers will be ready to pounce as Tigers are wont to do.  [NOTE: No bouncing Tigger GIFs here.]  Neither Evan nor Jacob Frost have lost to a Louisiana wrestler in their freshman or sophomore state championship seasons.  Brandon Gainey, Dylan Lauriano, Charles Sauerwin, III, Jacob Romig and Cole Baiamonte also placed in 2020.  Russell Solomon, Kade Morgan and Beau Verdin return from the 2020 team, and Amore Clark had a winning season last year.  (Most Holy Cross non-starters do not have their 2019-20 records on TrackWrestling's "Roster" page for the Tigers.) 

4.    Catholic

Catholic only wishes they were decimated by graduation.  In actuality, that would have meant they only lost two wrestlers to graduation (the number is 1.4, but the thought of 4/10ths of a wrestler flopping around on a mat is a tad gruesome).  They actually lost eight members of their 2019-2020 team, which placed third.  The six new starters will have the leadership of senior and 132 lbs. runner-up Peter Kelly and fellow senior placers Ethan Ourso, Mason Acosta and Chris Mannino.  Ethan Winchester and Andrew Kleinpeter should also return.  While they might vie for third if St. Paul and Brother Martin do not let Holy Cross challenge them, this is what one might call a proactive rebuilding season.  All of the returning wrestlers with state tournament experience will graduate in 2021.  Seniors Christopher Kleinpeter, Adam Callicot and Noah Riche could also be on the 2021 state roster.   The Bears, however, have a large squad.  It includes 24 sophomores and juniors with winning records from the 2019-20 season.  Sixteen of those had 10+ wins.  Four had 20+ wins.  Come the 2021-22 season Catholic should be a prime contender to win their fourth team championship.

5.    East Ascension

The Spartans will be led by returning senior runner-up Gavin Soniat and fourth-place finisher Brad Mahoney.  Returning placers include Josiah Wakefield and Santos Ramos, but expect very good things from Alyssa Quezaire, Anthony Krass, Nicholas Russell, Jamarius Koshko and David Bourgeois.

Returning Division I State Runners-up

Jacob Houser St. Paul	Kent Burandt Brother Martin	Carter Duet St. Paul	Ethan Castex Brother Martin	Peter Kelly Catholic	Blaine Cascio St. Paul	Gavin Soniat East Ascension

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6.    Jesuit - Senior 2020 third-place finisher Luke Battaglia should lead the Blue Jays who should surprise no one if they crack the top-five..

7.    Byrd - Senior J.W. Fuller placed sixth in 2020 and should lead whomever Coach Yawn finds a way (sleight-of-hand, bribery, plastic surgery, Caribbean island birth certificates) to get on his team to place this well. 

8.    St. Amant - Watch out for senior Conrad Mitchell, who was 5-2 before the Louisiana Classic and 15-2 after it, including placing third at the state championships.  Two of those losses were to Catholic's Ian Wyble, who has since graduated.  The other two were to East Ascension's Santos Ramos, whom Mitchell pinned in the state consolation semifinals.

9.    Live Oak - Anthony Dodson is dangerous after a season in which he might not have dome as well as he had hoped.  Rayden Ingram is Camden Ingram's younger brother.  While he is not in Camden's shadow in Louisiana wrestling any longer, one can bet they did not play tiddlywinks all summer.

10.    Parkway - Much like Catholic, Parkway was hit hard by graduation, losing seven of their 2020 state tournament roster.  David Viers' progression this season should be very interesting, as the state is rife with really good lighter wrestlers. 

Did I mention anything about Airline's Ernie Perry, III?  He is the Airline sophomore who last year was defeated only once as a freshman.  That was to a non-Louisiana wrestler in the Mid-America Nationals, in which he placed third.  He then won the Louisiana Classic title in a 7-2 finals match and the Division I state title via a fall in 1:07.  I thought he might be worth mentioning.

Not to Forget

The following wrestlers may find themselves in the last match of the night in their weight classes on Saturday, February 27th.

David Viers Parkway - 3rd	Brandon Gainey Holy Cross - 4th	Mason Elsensohn Broth. Martin - 5th	David Cuccia Fontainebleau - 3rd	Chase Scott Broth.Martin - 3rd	Kyle Thibodeaux Sulphur

Luke Lafleur Acadiana	Luke Battaglia Jesuit - 3rd	Brad Mahoney East Ascen.- 4th	Conrad Mitchell St. Amant - 3rd	Nawab Singh Live Oak - 3rd	Ashton Freeman Zachary - 4th

[GO FIGURE!]

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