2012-13 Results and Media Coverage
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| Wrestlemania has rewards |
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Byrd High School wrestling coach Scott Martin may have found an inadvertent way to publicize the annual Wrestlemania event the Yellow Jackets host.
"I had a guy from South Louisiana send me an e-mail (Tuesday) morning, wanting to know, 'How come y'all don't give awards?'" said Martin, whose school hosted the ninth annual event Tuesday night.
Although no trophies or medals were handed out following Tuesday's action, which stretched across three mats that went past each baseline on the Yellow Jackets' basketball court, coaches and competitors alike walked away with intangible benefits.
"It gives the kids a chance to wrestle and to see some of the kids they may compete against at the regional level or on the state level, so they know what they need to do or what they don't need to do in a match coming up," Huntington coach Gene Strogen said. "There's a lot of scouting going on, a lot of scouting. We're in the home stretch now, so we're going to have to cut fat and get with the ones who can score for us."
While there was competition -- as in any wrestling meet -- the atomsphere was much more relaxed. After Byrd's Dakota Rothell pinned his opponent from Tyler (Texas) Bishop Gorman, he was greeted with a bear hug from another competitor, a Bossier High wrestler.
That scene was typical of Tuesday night in a setting that was more celebration than cutthroat competition. "I know a lot of people from each team," said Bossier senior Oscar Telez, who wrestled at 138 pounds. "We come here to have a good time. We wrestle. Just talking to everybody, talking about different moves and how we did in tournaments is what it's all about." Telez admitted to doing a little scouting but said he enjoyed watching his longtime rivals on the mat from a "friendly competition" standpoint. "We watch each other, watch each other's moves to find out each other's styles," Telez said. Bossier coach Bo Shelton and the Bearkats used Tuesday's Wrestlemania to work through the pain associated with the death of Ricky Brown, an assistant football coach who died Tuesday morning of a heart attack.
In much the same way, each Wrestlemania has served as that kind of extension for Rothell, who shared a bond with event namesake Ray Doyle, who coached wrestling at three local high schools. "It's a tribute to a coach, who was my brother (Dustin Rothell's) football and wrestling coach," Dakota Rothell said. "It keeps his memory alive -- what my brother loved about him and everyone else loved about him. He was always there for you. If you needed something, he always pushed you harder, just a great guy."