Mason Mauro gets Brother Martin wrestlers rolling to second consecutive district championship
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There was little not to like from a Brother Martin perspective as the Crusaders wrestling team exited the Jesuit gym Wednesday night as proud owners of a second consecutive district wrestling championship. The Crusaders prevailed in 10 of 14 weight classes while winning eight matches via pins to record a 54-21 victory and equal the school record for regular-season victories.
Brother Martin (28-1) closes its regular season next Wednesday by playing host to Chalmette at the Conlin Gymnasium where the 10-year-old mark first established by the 2003 team is expected to fall.
“Our kids wrestled great tonight,’’ Brother Martin Coach Robbie Dauterive said. “We wanted to prove that we’re the best dual meet team in the state and I think we did that. Now we want to prove that we’re the best team in the state.’’
The Crusaders are reigning Division I state champions, undefeated against Louisiana competition and a prohibitive favorite for a repeat when they enter the LHSAA State Wrestling Championships scheduled for Feb. 15-16 at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner.
“I thought we wrestled exceptionally well, but we can always improve in the state tournament,’’ Crusaders sophomore Paul Klein, who was the team’s lone individual state champion a year ago, said. “It’s awesome to be part of this. Coach Dauterive is a great coach. He’s very strategic in the way he coaches. He gets us ready week in and week out.’
The Crusaders broke from the gate impressively as sophomore Mason Mauro upset Jesuit sophomore Ben D’Antonio, 3-2, in the opening 106-pound match. D’Antonio was an individual champion at last weekend’s prestigious Louisiana Classic Tournament, but fell victim to an escape point by Mauro in the final six seconds. |
’Klein, junior Austin Meyn, sophomore Mason Williams and senior Dominic Casadaban followed with four consecutive victories at 120, 126 132 and 138 pounds respectively to offset a pin by Jesuit senior Mitch Capella at 113, and the Crusaders were off and rolling.
“I thought Mason Mauro wrestled a great match for us,’’ Dauterive said. “He beat a kid that just won in the Louisiana Classic. He really got us going.’’
Klein, Meyn and Casadaban’s victories came via pins as did teammates Logan Labry, Devin LeBlanc, Kyle Delaune, Josh Tapia and Ross Brister at 152, 160, 170, 220 and 285 pounds respectively.
Three of the Blue Jays’ four match victories also came via pins with Capella being joined by Gage Grush and Manny Armour at 182 and 195 pounds respectively.
Jesuit junior Efosa Eboigbe recorded the Jays’ other win by edging Crusaders senior Patrick Hoppe, 1-0, at 145 pounds. Eboigbe scored the match’s lone point with an escape recorded in the final minute.
“They’re a solid team from top to bottom,’’ Jesuit Coach Spencer Harris said of Brother Martin. “There are no gimme matches with those guys. I think this year that they’re obviously stronger. You’ve got to give them all of the credit. They came out and looked very sharp. I really thought they had a good meet.’’
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Mike Strom can be reached at Mstrom@nola.comor 504.232.2517. Follow him at twitter.com/MikeStromTP.
BROTHER MARTIN 54, JESUIT 21
106 pounds: Mason Mauro, BM (21-2) defeated Ben D’Antonio, JES (16-5), 3-2.
113 pounds: Mitch Capella, JES (36-2) pinned Taylor Gambill, BM (34-5) with 22.9 seconds left in first period.
120 pounds: Paul Klein, BM (34-8) pinned Max Grosch, JES (16-24), with 24.9 seconds left in second period.
126 pounds: Austin Meyn, BM (32-8) pinned Will Lafranca, JES (18-14), with 1:21 left in second period.
132 pounds: Mason Williams, BM (36-15) defeated Jackie Robinson, JES (16-14), 5-0.
138 pounds: Dominic Casadaban, BM (23-1) pinned Gaston Eymard, JES (23-10), with 1:16 left in third period.
145 pounds: Efosa Eboigbe, JES (37-5), defeated Patrick Hoppe, BM (27-12), 1-0.
152 pounds: Logan Labry, BM (14-7) pinned Christian Queyrouze, JES (13-23), with 53 seconds left in first period.
160 pounds: Devin LeBlanc, BM (39-5) pinned Robert Lobrano, JES (5-4) with 46.5 seconds left in first period.
170 pounds: Kyle Delaune, BM (46-1) pinned Jimmy Brown, JES (30-11) with 42.8 seconds left in first period.
182 pounds: Gage Grush, JES (44-5) pinned Yehia Riles, BM (36-10) with 12 seconds left in second period.
195 pounds: Manny Armour, JES (38-2) pinned Aaron Gambino, BM (12-6) with 47.5 seconds left in first period.
220 pounds: Josh Tapia, BM (33-11) pinned Dominic Carmello (24-8) with 1:22 remaining in third period.
285 pounds: Ross Brister, BM (44-3) pinned Zac Creel, JES (23-13) with 1:07 left in first period.
Team Records: Brother Martin, 28-1, 2-0; Jesuit, not available.