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Place	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Podium						No photo available
Name	Kaul Kayser	Luc Johnson	George Kim	Ja'Cory Tyler	Cole Bartlett	Hayden Meche
School	Brusly	Basile	St. Michael	Bossier	Hannan	Church Point
Seed	1	2	3	4	6	5
Class	12	10	12	12	12	10
Final Record	20-4	14-2	18-4	7-2	10-12	12-7

Final records include Louisiana losses but all wins

Weight Class Synopsis

Kaul Kayser was two points away from matching his older brother Kendon with two Division III state championships in 2020.  He gave Basile's four-time Division III state champion Alex Menier his closest of four finals matches, a 4-3 Menier victory.  In his 21 matches prior to these state championships he only lost four.  All of them were against Division I opponents.  Two were against future Division I state champion Jacob Houser of St. Paul.  Another was to the third-place winner in Division I, Watts Goodson of Catholic, in a match that kept him from placing at the Louisiana Classic.  He won the Brusly Invitational over his state championship finals opponent, Luc Johnson of Basile, and he placed third at the Jacob McMillan Memorial over Basile's Andre Johnson, just to "cover all bases" re Johnsons from Basile.

Luc Johnson's only loss prior to the state championships was to Kayser.  He won the Jacob McMillan, the Acadiana Inferno and the Brusly Invitational.  Third-seeded George Kim of St. Michael spent his season competing against Division I and Division II opponents unless they were teammates of his.  He won 11 matches over Division I competition and lost only to Ken Burandt of Brother Martin, a two-time Division I finalist.  He was 1-2 against Division II competition, with losses to Coen Begnaud of Comeaux in early December  and Shaw's Glenn Price.  Kim could easily have been the second seed, but the semifinals were expected to solve any controversy re his seeding.  It did not get a chance to, however, as Hannan's Cole Bartlett beat Kim with a first-period fall in 1:25.  Kim had to take the "long road" to justify his seeding, and he travelled it with gusto via three falls and a major decision.

Ja'Cory Tyler of Bossier, seeded fourth, was upset by fifth-seeded Hayden Meche of Church Point, but battled back to make the consolation finals.

Hannan senior Cole Bartlett placed fifth, which was higher than the seeding committee expected, and on the podium he was smiling with Tyler.  He should be happy this season is over, and not just because of the pandemic-associated problems.  Among the opponents he faced this season before the state championships began (the 2021 state championship results are listed) were Shaw's three-time Division II state champion Glenn Price, Division III state champion Kaul Kayser, Division I third-place finisher Michael Rader of St. Paul, Division II runner-up Carter Burgess of Rummel, Church Point's 2019 Division III state champion Timothy Routon, 2020 state champion Isaac Dees of North Desoto and 2020 Division I third-place finisher David Cuccia of Fontainebleau.  Mr. Bartlett deserved to end this season, his last, with a win. Seniors Cole Bartlett and Ja'Cory Tyler chat on the Division III 120 lbs. podium.

Quarterfinals

(1) Kaul Kayser (BRU) pinned Camden Gautreaux (DEQ) in 1:22

(5) Hayden Meche (CP) defeated (4) Ja'Cory Tyler (BOS) 20-12

Cole Bartlett (HAN) pinned (3) George Kim (StM) in 1:25

(2) Luc Johnson (BAS) pinned Shane Barbarin (DLS) in 1:23

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Semifinals

(1) Kaul Kayser (BRU) defeated (5) Hayden Meche (CP) via a 15-0 technical fall

(2) Luc Johnson (BAS) pined Cole Bartlett (HAN) 1:21

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Championship Consolation Rounds

(3) George Kim (StM) pinned Ja'Cory Tyler (BOS) in 4:36 to place 3rd

Cole Bartlett (HAN) pinned (5) Hayden Meche (CP) in 2:04 to place 5th

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Finals

Top-seeded Kaul Kayser of Brusly defeated second-seeded Luc Johnson of Basile 5-2   This match was not decided until the third period.  In the first period Johnson scored a takedown 15 seconds after the starting whistle.  Kayser immediately escaped.  Nobody scored again until Johnson sat-out, turned and escaped with 1:40 left in the second period.  No more points were had until deep into the third period.  At that point the score was 2-2. With 20 seconds remaining Kayser took a 3-2 lead after a standing Granby roll.  The two went out-of-bounds and a restart was had with 19 seconds on the clock.  Kayser could have stalled with a one-point lead this late and both wrestlers on their feet.  Instead, Johnson pushed Kayser back not even trying to hide that he wanted to throw the Brusly senior.  Kayser easily just stepped under Johnson's outstretched arms, causing Johnson to fall on the mat.  Kayser fell with him and scored the last two points with two seconds remaining.

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