CRUSADERS THE ONE AGAIN
The athletic unifier in the school has been "One" for the past year or so, wearing shirts that carry the moniker. The number corresponds with the desire to finish on top in all sports. Brother Martin has done an awfully good job at accomplishing the task of late.
The Crusaders claimed their second consecutive state championship, capturing the Division I state title in convincing fashion at the Pontchartrain Center Saturday night.
The theme of "One" carried even more significance on this night. The Crusaders decided to dedicate their effort in reaching a goal of winning another state championship to former Crusader wrestler and football star Jay Rink, who is battling ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The chant of "One for Jay" was prevalent leading up to the event and dominated the awards presentation.
Appropriately, the Crusaders easily outdistanced a Jay of another sort, scoring a new state tournament team record 339 points to Jesuit's 275 points. The previous record of 317.5 points was set by the Crusaders when they captured the title in 2001 in Division l.
Brother Martin had five individual champions, including Mason Mauro (106), Paul Klein (120), Daniel Albrecht (170), Kyle Delaune (182) and Ross Brister (285). The Blue Jays had a pair of individual champions in Mitch Capella (113) and Manny Armour (195).
Just a sophomore, Klein is a repeat state champion and he earned Most Outstanding Wrestler honors in Division I. Klein pinned Jacob Dale of Comeaux in the 120-pound championship match.
Catholic of Baton Rouge was third with 263.5 points and the Bears had champions in Brennan Taylor (126), James Claitor (138), Sidney Rodriguez (145) and Brandon Luckett (160). Luckett captured his second consecutive individual championship. He scored a convincing 17-5 victory over Jordan Peterson of St. Paul's in the final. Taylor overcame a knee injury in 2012 to post perhaps the most impressive win of all. He defeated two-time defending state champion Matt Calcote of Rummel 7-5 in the semifinals before toplling top-seed Austin Meyn of Brother Martin in the championship match 9-3.
The Wolves came in fourth with 229 points, led by repeat state champion Connor Campo (132), who pinned Rummel's Rick LaCava in the first period. Campo finished off a perfect 44-0 record against in-state competition and he is 89-0 in-state in his last two years.
Rummel was fifth with 198 points and though the Raiders had three second place finishers, they did not have an individual state champion.
Other Division one state champions were Tyrek Malveaux of Comeaux (152) and Ora Wayne Broussard of Sulphur (220). Malveaux repeated as an individual state champion, finishing a perfect 45-0 season.
The best championship matches in Division one included a 5-4 win by Rodriguez over Jesuit's Efosa Eboigbe at 145 pounds and a 5-3 overtime victory by Albrecht over Rummel's Michael Darwin at 170 pounds.
For Brother Martin, it was the 14th state championship in the storied history of the Crusaders wrestling program. It was not unexpcted, quite to the contrary. Head coach Robby Dauterive guaranteed a repeat state championship just a couple of days after winning the 2012 title. He set the bar high for his 2013 team and they accepted the challenge and cleared it with room to spare. Dauterive felt it was a special accomplishment.
"My team, I could be prouder of them," Dauterive said. "We placed all 14 of our wrestlers in the top five which is incredible. For the last three years when I returned to Brother Martin, these seniors have stepped up and carried us. All of them placed in the top three. Winning for Jay Rink makes this year so special. We dedicated this to him. I am so happy."
Rink was present, enjoying the experience with his wife, Michelle and watching Brister, his stepson, capture a state title with a 16-0 technical fall victory over Jesuit's Zachary Creel at 285 pounds. Rink was beaming with pride with a special friend beside him in former New Orleans Saints special teams star Steve Gleason, who is struggling from the same affliction. Rink was diagnosed with the disease on June 28, 2011. Gleason publicly acknowledged that he was diagnosed with the same affliction later in 2011. The two have become good friends, with Gleason accompanying Rink to Brother Martin sporting events, as he did recently at a Crusaders basketball game against Jesuit.
Having done some of Jay's high school football games for television while he was at Brother Martin and some of his college games on television when he was at Tulane, I have enjoyed the great pleasure of knowing an outstanding athlete and a better man. His wife, Michelle, has been a personal friend for years and she could not contain her smile or stop taking pictures of her son. On this night, quite simply, the Crusaders were One, thanks to a confident Dauterive, a group of superb, confident wrestlers and the Rink family.
A record crowd of 12,869 attended the two-day event which featured a state record 83 schools competing.
INDIVIDUAL FINALS
106--Mason Mauro, Brother Martin dec. Devyn Breaud, Rummel, 10-5
113--Mitch Capella, Jesuit dec. Connor Stampley, Comeaux, 5-0
120--Paul Klein, Brother Martin pinned Jacob Dale, Comeaux (1:08)
126--Brennan Taylor, Catholic dec. Austin Meyn, Brother Martin, 9-3
132--Connor Campo, St. Paul’s pinned Rick LaCava, Rummel (1:39)
138--James Claitor, Catholic (B.R.) dec. David Englehardt, St. Paul’s 11-6
145--Sidney Rodriguez, Catholic (B.R.), dec. Efosa Eboigbe, Jesuit 5-4
152--Tyrek Malveaux, Comeaux, dec. Devin LeBlanc, Brother Martin 6-2
160--Brandon Luckett, Catholic, maj. dec. Jordan Peterson, St. Paul’s 17-5
170--Daniel Albrecht, Brother Martin dec. Michael Darwin, Rummel (OT) 5-3
182--Kyle Delaune, Brother Martin, dec. Gage Grush, Jesuit 11-6.
195--Manny Armour, Jesuit, pinned Yehia Riles, Brother Martin (2:42)
220--Ora Wayne Broussard, Sulphur, pinned Myles Nash, Catholic (5:06)
285--Ross Brister, Brother Martin, tech. fall Zachary Creel, Jesuit 16-0
FINAL DIVISION I TEAM SCORES
| 1. | Brother Martin | 339.0 |
| 2. | Jesuit | 275.0 |
| 3. | Catholic, BR | 263.5 |
| 4. | St. Pauls | 229.0 |
| 5. | Archbishop Rummel | 198.0 |
| 6. | Comeaux | 168.5 |
| 7. | Sulphur | 127.0 |
| 8. | East Ascension | 116.5 |
| 9. | Zachary | 90.0 |
| 10. | Dutchtown | 85.0 |
| 11. | Mandeville | 80.5 |
| 12. | Lafayette | 78.5 |
| 13. | Fontainebleau | 76.0 |
| 14. | John Ehret | 56.5 |
| 15. | Destrehan | 54.0 |
| 16. | St. Amant | 52.5 |
| 17. | Airline | 51.0 |
| 18. | Acadiana | 47.0 |
| 18. | Hahnville | 47.0 |
| 20. | Carencro | 46.0 |
| 21. | Chalmette | 39.0 |
| 22. | Covington | 38.0 |
| 23. | C.E. Byrd | 35.5 |
| 24. | Barbe | 21.0 |
| 25. | Northshore | 13.5 |
| 26. | Walker | 5.0 |
| 27. | Denham Springs | 4.0 |