2011-12 Season Newspaper Articles
Ready to defend
Written by Kevin Foote
11:00 PM, Feb. 9, 2012
In no way is Teurlings Catholic wrestling coach Kent Masson saying that his Rebels can't repeat as Division II state champions at this weekend's State Wrestling Tournament at the Ponchartrain Center in Kenner.
Masson just understands that doing so in the same dominating fashion as last year isn't verg possible. After all, Teurlings scored a record 313.5 points including seven first-place finishes and 13 of 14 wrestlers placing.
For starters, records of that nature aren't exactly set every year. Secondly, last year's Division III champion Holy Cross is now in Division II and the overall talent in Division II appears to be up this year.
"It's exciting," Masson said. "It's definitely going to be different. In my mind, Holy Cross is the favorite going in. They're a very talented team. They're strong in 13 of the 14 weight classes.
"I think Holy Cross is capable of putting together the kind of performance we had last year, but I also feel like we're capable of winning it too. I've tried to figure out the best case scenarios each way and it's potentially real close."
Both have three No. 1 seeds.
"They're seeded in 13 of 14 classes and we're seeded in 10 of 14," Masson said. "We're hoping to be able to make up some of that ground with pine points. We're a pinning team and Holy Cross isn't necessarily a pinning team."
For the Rebels, it's probably a good thing that the state tournament wasn't held in a month earlier, because they were still getting molded mentally at that point.
"We struggled early, because we had the bull's eye on us and we didn't know how to deal with that," Masson said.
In addition to Holy Cross, St. Michael and Live Oak should make charges and a potential dark horse is Northside.
Last season, the Vikings finished seventh with seven wrestlers, but coach John Simmons has a more complete roster this season.
"I definitely think Northside's got a chance to make a run," Masson said. "They're kind of under the radar, because they didn't do a lot of traveling, but John's put together a remarkable team."
The Vikings are led by No. 1 seeds Traven Lemalle (23-3) at 138 pounds and Orlando Calhoun (22-3) at 195 pounds.
"I like both of their chances, but you've got to wrestle," Simmons said. "I've had No. 4 seeds beat No. 1 seeds before. That seed doesn't do you any good if you're watching the finals in the stands."
The Kincade Brothers — Daniel No. 6 at 220 and Allen No. 3 at 285 — give the Vikings another boost.
"They've really been doing an excellent job," Simmons said. "They're wrestling really well, so I could see them doing well at state."
The dark horse Viking may be unseeded Tashad Dixon (15-6) at 145.
"He's a good kid and a hard worker," Simmons said. "He was battling an injury and then he lost some matches that he shouldn't have, so that's why he's not seeded. But he has a good draw, so all of that could end up being a blessing in disguise."
The defending champion Rebels, meanwhile, are loaded with heavy favorites and dark horses.
The slam dunks appear to be No. 1 seeds Trey Bonin (37-2) at 106 and Philip Miller (40-1) at 145, as well as Nick Schneider (41-9) at 182.
"A lot of the better wrestlers left Philip's weight class because he's been so dominant," Masson said. "But there are still some good wrestlers there, like that Dixon kid from Northside.
"Trey has been just as dominant as Philip, but he has the Soileau kid from Holy Cross or the Chenevert from Live Oak."
At 170, No. 2 Jean-Luc Guilbeaux (27-12) figures to make a big run at a state title.
"I haven't seen Jean-Luc this focused before," Masson said. "I really like the way he's wrestling right now."
At 160, No. 2 Travis Thibodeaux (37-15) will face stiff competition, but is another top Rebel title contender.
"Travis is kind of like a utility player in baseball," Masson said. "He's wrestled everywhere from 145 to 152 to 160 for us, and we know we can count on him no matter where we put him. He's been an unbelievable team player for us this year."