2011-12 Season Newspaper Articles
St. Paul’s wrestlers compete in Atlanta
By Mike Pervel
St. Tammany News
Published on Friday, January 27, 2012 12:09 AM CST
 |
St. Paul’s wrestlers competed in the Clinchgear Southeastern Prep Slam IV held Jan. 20-21 in Atlanta. The Wolves made a strong tem showing capturing an eighth place finish in a quality 44-team field. Four St. Paul’s wrestlers placed at the tournament. Pictured from left: senior James Cavaliere (fifth), senior Chris Arms (fourth), senior Shane Burkholder (fifth) and junior Connor Campo (third). (Photo by Karen Hebert, St. Paul’s) |
St. Paul’s wrestling team
traveled to Atlanta last week and made a strong showing in the Clinchgear
Southeastern Prep Slam IV held Jan. 20-21 as the Wolves earned an eighth place
finish in the quality 44-team field. St. Paul’s totaled 116 points edging out
the Archbishop Rummel Raiders (107) for eighth place.
Father Ryan (218) from Nashville, Tenn., won the team title followed by St.
Paul’s, Md. (186.5) and McCallie Tenn., (183) took third. Calvary Chapel,
Calif., (165) came in fourth followed by Kiski School, Pa., (136.5). The Wolves
have made four consecutive trips to Atlanta to compete against some of the best
wrestling programs in the country.
St. Paul’s coach Craig Ketelsen said he was proud of the way his wrestlers
performed and represented the school in such a prestigious event.
“It’s the best finish we have had in the four years we have been competing at
the tournament. This was the most competitive tournament over the last four
years. I thought our team rose to the high level of competition. I expect that
to continue through the upcoming state tournament,” Ketelsen said.
The LHSAA State Wrestling tournament returns to the Pontchartrain Center in
Kenner this year and takes place Feb. 11-12.
Ketelsen said all of his wrestlers put in strong efforts with each of them
exceeding the rankings they entered the tournament with.
St. Paul’s junior Connor Campo, who entered the field ranked 11th sporting a
45-0 record, registered a 6-1 mark to earn a third place finish at 126-pounds
and stood at 51-1 at press time.
Ketelsen said Campo beat five opponents, who were ranked ahead of him at the
tournament with three of them being nationally ranked wrestlers. Campo won his
third place match taking an 8-2 decision. Campo’s only loss came in a closely
contested 5-4 loss to Eric Friedman, ironically enough representing St. Paul’s,
Md. Friedman is a three-time Maryland state champion and a three-time
All-American. Campo said he had some tough matches especially his quarterfinal
match against Friedman. “It was a really tough match. I took him (Friedman)
down nearing the end of the first period. I had the lead at 3-1 at which point
he took me down and then I escaped,” Campo said. “We did really good as a team
with our highest performance in the four years we’ve been competing there. We
went against some really good competition,” Campo added.
St. Paul’s senior Chris Arms competing at 170-pounds, who was ranked fifth, came
away with a fourth place finish, posting a 4-2 mark and now stands at 49-2 on
the season. Arms said he went against some solid competition. “I gave it my
all, but a better wrestler beat me. What happens on the mat just happens. He
caught me with a good move and pinned me in the first period,” Arms said. Arms
talked about he and his teammates being focused on the upcoming state meet. “We
need to keep practicing hard and we want to peak at the right time heading into
state,” Arms added.
St. Paul’s James Cavaliere garnered a fifth place finish, competing at
160-pounds, posting a 5-2 record. Cavaliere moved to 40-8 on the season. “It
was a whole new level of competition compared to the wrestling in Louisiana.
There are so many more top of the line wrestlers that you have to go through to
be successful. Being out of state competing your opponents don’t know you and
you don’t know them. I felt like that gave me an advantage over my opponents,”
Cavalier said. “I was very pleased with my performance. I take any loss hard,
but placing at such a quality tournament helps to overcome those losses. This
year is probably one of our stronger teams over the pest past couple years. We
are a very confident team,” Cavaliere said.
Senior Shane Burkholder (32-9) posted a 3-2 record and also earned a fifth place
finish, while competing in the 285-pound category. “I thought the team did an
outstanding job finishing in eighth place. At one point, we were actually in
third place. Our underclassmen stepped up their performances and did a great job
in their respective weight classes,” Burkholder said. “We want to build on the
momentum from this tournament heading into the upcoming state tournament. We are
all looking forward to competing at state,” the senior added.