2012-13 Results and Media Coverage
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| Twenty-three area schools opened competition Friday for this weekend's Baton Rouge City Championship wrestling meet. - (Jerit Roser, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune) | Donald Johnson, Brusly |
Cody Hill, Live Oak
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Brusly's Donald Johnson gave Baker's George Sterling IV the obligatory post-match handshake, then grabbed his opponent for a full hug. The gesture was one of the more familiar on a Friday evening full of them as area wrestling teams began this year's Baton Rouge City Championship meet. "He was pretty good," said Johnson, who eventually advanced to Saturday's 222-pound semifinals. "He was a guy I knew from school and stuff in Baker because my mom used to live in Baker. This is his first year wrestling, and I wish him the best of luck."
The names atop the leader board were no strangers to the position, either.
Host Catholic leads the way with 124.0 heading into Saturday's semifinals with Live Oaks (99.0), Dutchtown (95.0), Brusly (79.0) and East Ascension (66.0) rounding out the top five. Zachary (44.5), St. Michael (38.0), Episcopal (24.0), St. Amant (21.0) and Central (15.0) and Parkview Baptist (15.0) complete the top 10 of the 23-team tournament.
"We've wrestled all these guys, so it's difficult," Catholic Coach Tommy Prochaska said. "It's very predictable, so you've gotta be comfortable trying to change something that's gonna take them out of their groove. The people that do that the best are the ones that'll be successful this weekend."
HILL BACK IN ACTION: Live Oak's Cody Hill suffered through a first-round bye as the 128-pound bracket's top seed before finally getting a chance to pin Parkview Baptist's Corbin Clouatre in the second round. The junior had been anxiously awaiting his return to the mat after leaving the Louisiana Classic two weeks ago with blood dripping from the top of his head.
"It's all feeling good now — it's all healed up," he said. "It's awesome. (The bye) kinda sucked. I wanted to wrestle and get those first two solid matches."
The Eagles weren't initially sure how quickly their standout might return.
Hill was eager to compete this weekend, though, and defend his city championship. "It's a motivation for me and the team to do more and for me go out there and defend the title," he said.