2012-13 Results and Media Coverage
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| Brother Martin beat nearest challenger Catholic-Baton Rouge by 89.5 points to claim the 2013 Louisiana Classic. - (Jerit Roser, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune) | Connor Campo |
The Louisiana Classic's 14 individual
champions gather after the event. - (Jerit
Roser, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
|
Jesuit Coach Spencer Harris rushed to the mat to question the finish of the 172-pound championship match.
Brother Martin's Daniel Albrecht took the 4-3 victory from Jesuit's Jimmy Brown after referees, amid some confusion, initially awarded, but then waved off two points for Brown.
The Crusaders battled through several tight matches along the way, but claimed the 2013 Louisiana Classic by a wide 89.5-point margin and with far from any dispute.
Brother Martin finished with 306.0 points to No. 2 Catholic-Baton Rouge's 216.5 and No. 3 Jesuit's 212.5.
"We wrestled fairly well this weekend," Coach Robert Dauterive said. "I think we looked a little bit tired. Placing 13 kids in the top 5, though, is an accomplishment that we're proud of, especially at this tournament with the high-caliber competition that we have here."
Albrecht was one of seven Brother Martin wrestlers to reach the finals and four to take individual titles. Austin Meyn, Kyle Delaune and Ross Brister garnered the top medals in the 128-, 184- and 287-pound weight classes, respectively.
"Once again, I thought Austin Meyn was just a hammer in the finals, and I was real proud of Ross Brister in this tournament too," Dauterive said. "He's an undersized heavy weight. He weighs about 225, and I thought he was pretty dominating in this tournament, so I was pleased."
As was Meyn, whose victory came in arguably the tournament's most difficult class. The junior defeated defending state champion Matt Calcote of Rummel in the semifinals and Catholic's Brennan Taylor to earn the title.
"It's a little bit of motivation," Meyn said. "It kinda makes it interesting. I would feel kinda worse if they said I had the easiest (class) … It's just a big accomplishment. I was really nervous coming into this weekend. I had to worry about seeding and everything. It just made me a lot more confident in the state tournament."
Jesuit matched Brother Martin's individual titles with a 4-1 showing in the finals.
Ben D'antonio and Mitch Capello started the Blue Jays off well in the 108- and 115-pound championship rounds, and Efosa Eboigbe and Manny Armour took home the 147- and 197-pound classes.
"As a team, I'm really, really pleased with our guys," Harris said. "All of 'em wrestled hard the entire weekend. We had seven in the semis and placed five in the finals, and all five, I thought, came out and wrestled really beautiful matches — I really did."
James Claitor and Brandon Luckett claimed individual titles for host Catholic in the 140- and 162-pound classes, while Taylor, Mitch Napoli and Myles Nash also provided the Bears strong finals appearances.
"I thought we did real well," Catholic Coach Tommy Prochaska said. "We competed real well. Even in the matches we lost, we competed real well. In 126, we lost to Meyn from Brother Martin, but we competed and closed the gap a little bit on 'em, and that 220 was a very good match. It was tough losing a match like that, but I thought Myles did real well."
The individual titles were only mildly bittersweet, said Claitor, just walking off the mat with his awards. "I just always go out there looking for the win no matter what," he said. "It would've been better if our team could've won it as a whole, but you know, it happens."
Holy Cross finished No. 4 with 129.0 points, followed by St. Paul's (127.0) and Comeaux (117.0).
Jacob Dale (122-pound) and Tyrek Malveaux each took individual titles to move the young Spartans up to No. 6. "We have a mixture of some seniors and some younger kids out there wrestling," Comeaux Coach Keith Bergeron said. "Our older kids are doing what they're supposed to do and have been having a good tournament."
Rummel (115.0), Teurlings (110.5), Hoover, Ala., (106.0) and East Ascension (91.5) rounded out the top 10 team finishes.
Northside's Daniel Kincade won the 220-pound weight class.
St. Paul's Connor Campo claimed a second-straight title at the Louisiana Classic as he held off Rummel's Rick LaCava in the 134-pound match en route to the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler award. "I really wanted this," Campo said, looking down at the trophy. "I'm so excited to get this award. I've been trying to get this every tournament, so it's really a great feeling to get this … (Defending the title) meant a lot to me, and every match I tried to win big just to do as much as I can out there, I guess. It feels really good to win twice, and especially to win this award."
The Wolves also earned the event's Sportsmanship Award.
Prochaska was pleased with what he and other coaches all seemed to consider a successful tournament as a whole.
"Minus the (computer) hiccup yesterday — today ran like clockwork," he said. "I can't thank my parents and everybody that helped enough."