Fini

Final records only include Louisiana losses but all wins

Weight Class Synopsis

How does one explain Charles Sauerwin, III this season?  Certainly more than one person had to wonder this.  In 2020 he placed only fifth while the seeding committee and this writer thought he would do better than expected, and certainly not worse.  The reason postulated here is actually two reasons.  Two reasons that appear at first glance to be the same, yet they assuredly have differences - only their mother knows for sure.  References like that re the Holy Cross Tigers can only mean the Frost twins.  The Frosts competed at 113 lbs. and 120 lbs. in 2020.  That put Dylan Lauriano at 126 lbs. and Sauerwin at 132 lbs.  They did well during the season, as Lauriano was seeded fourth and Sauerwin third, yet both placed fifth.  If the two were 126 lbs. and 132 lbs. as juniors, but 120 lbs. and 126 lbs. as seniors, and particularly if a growth factor is allowed, it seems safe to say they both were wrestling at least a full weight class higher than they could have last season.  It is safe to say they were doing what was best for Holy Cross as a team.

This season both were able to wrestle at weights at which they could perform at their best.  Lauriano had a great season and was unfortunately in a weight class in which the best wrestler, junior Glenn Price of Shaw, was in Division II.  That kept a Louisiana Classic title from his grasp.  And he simply had an off-weekend at the River Center. 

Sauerwin was in a weight class in which two-time Division I runner-up Ethan Castex of Brother Martin was the favorite.  Well, until January 6th, when Sauerwin was able to recover from a Castex takedown and unexpectedly pinned the Brother Martin senior in 2:00.  That was Sauerwin's first match against a Louisiana opponent, and would be his last until a Jesuit dual meet two days prior to the Louisiana Classic.  He only had one loss, however, to an out-of-state opponent in the finals of a Georgia tournament.  Until his match with Sauerwin, Castex had no losses and had won the Black Horse in Tennessee, the Zachary Big Horse and the Trey Culotta Invitational tournaments.

Both made the LACL finals rather easily, pinning each of their four opponents.  The question lingered, though, as to whether the dual meet win by Sauerwin was a fluke.  Sauerwin showed decisively, via a 7-3 win, that it was not.  Both had three falls on their way to the Division I state finals.  Castex had an additional match which ended in a 15-0 quarterfinals technical fall.  This was the biggest match of Sauerwin's career.  It was the same for Castex, only he had finals experience.  He had been there twice before.  In their first two matches Castex scored the first points.  Would that happen this time if the situation arose?

St. Paul senior Michael Rader placed third, one place better than he was seeded, but very few things did not go the way of the Wolves at this event.  His opponent was Jesuit's Anthony Rosevalley, whom he had defeated in the quarterfinals.  Rader also topped Rosevalley in early December.  That win explains why Rader and Rosevalley were seeded behind third-seeded Kyle Thibodeaux of Sulphur.  Thibodeaux had a fine, if short, season.  He won the Jacob McMillan Memorial and placed fifth at the LACL.  But that was because Rader was forced to withdraw from the LACL after the consolation semifinals.  That gave Thibodeaux the nod over Rader for the third-seed spot at this event.  Rader was bumped to fourth and, accordingly, Rosevalley to fifth.  The two sorted that out and met for the third time in the consolation finals. 

Rosevalley also had a tournament win.  He defeated Ty Duncan of Brother Martin in the Trey Culotta finals.  Castex also won that event as he was competing at 132 lbs. at the time. 

Catholic senior Ethan Ourso only had five matches prior to the Louisiana Classic.  He was unable to compete after December 9th, and then was subject to another six-week hiatus after the LACL.  He and Thibodeaux were sort-of on a "third tier" of this weight class, and even if favored to do so, both did well to place fifth and sixth out of 24 entrants.

Ethan Castex goes on this writer's list of the best wrestlers to never win an individual title.  Fellow Crusaders Taylor Gambill and Paul Schmidt are on that list.  There are many others.  I remember the talk about some Crusader freshman who was tearing the early 2017-18 Crusader opponents to shreds.  Some people wondered why he only placed fourth at the state championships.  The question only arose due to an 8-7 semifinals loss to Catholic's Luke Romano.  Had Castex got past Romano, he would have faced Holy Cross' Caruso Signorelli.  Signorelli also lost three straight finals matches.  One of the two of them would have been happier.  Both of them, however, should be very proud of their high school wrestling careers.  Everyone they care about already is.

Early Championship Rounds

R2: (5) Anthony Rosevally (JES) defeated Hayes Tillman (EA) via a 17-1 TF

R2: (4) Michael Rader (StP) pinned Matthew Born (BYR) in 3:21

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Quarterfinals

(1) Charles Sauerwin, III pinned (8) Brennan Chiasson (HNV) in 2:53

(4) Michael Rader (StP) pinned (5) Anthony Rosevally (JES) in 5:04

(3) Kyle Thibodeaux (SUL) pinned (6) Ethan Ourso (CAT) in 0:31

(2) Ethan Castex (BM) defeated (7) Brandon Turner (PKY) via a 15-0 technical fall

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Semifinals

(1) Charles Sauerwin, III (HC) pinned (4) Michael Rader (StP) in 5:04

(2) Ethan Castex (BM) pinned (3) Kyle Thibodeaux (SUL) in 4:38

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Championship Consolation Rounds

(4) Michael Rader (StP) defeated (5) Anthony Rosevally (JES) 7-2 to place 3rd

(6) Ethan Ourso (CAT) pinned (3) Kyle Thibodeaux (SUL) in 3:46 to place 5th

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Finals

Top-seeded Charles Sauerwin, III put to rest all doubts with a 7-6 win over second-seeded Ethan Castex of Brother Martin       Castex scored the first takedown again and held a 3-2 lead entering the third period.  Sauerwin escaped to tie the match 4-4, but Castex took him down for a 6-4 lead with 90 second remaining.  Sauerwin tried a switch but Castex knew to allow only one point before two, and he let go of the Tiger wrestler to maintain a 6-5 lead with just over a minute remaining.  Sauerwin shot a single, crawled behind Castex for the other leg and was awarded the takedown with 35 second remaining.

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