St. Paul’s wrestling takes second place

Posted: Friday, December 14, 2012 1:00 am | Updated: 5:47 pm, Thu Dec 13, 2012.

By Mike Pervel St. Tammany News

Pictured are members of the St. Paul’s wrestling team, which finished second in the Capitol City Classic tournament held over the weekend in Tallahassee, Fla. Shown from left, first row: coach Craig Ketelsen, Connor Campo, Trey LeBlanc and Zach Mangrum; second row: coach Mark Leeling, David Englehardt and Quinn Perret; third row: coach Keren Davis, Jordan Peterson, Chris Meraux and Dominic Iovenitti. (Photo Courtesy of St. Paul’s)

St. Paul’s Wolves earned a second place finish competing at the Capitol City Classic Wrestling Tournament held last Friday and Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla. Tampa Jesuit won the team title (272) in the 27-team field followed by St. Paul’s (196) with Lowndes from Georgia (173.50) taking third.

St. Paul’s had two first place winners with Conner Campo (4-0) taking the 132-pound title, while teammate David Englehardt (4-0) captured the 145-pound category. Both Campo (11-0) and Englehardt (7-0) remained undefeated on the season at press time.

Other Wolves’ competitors included Jordan Peterson (3-1), who earned a second place finish at 160-pounds and moved to 11-2 on the season, while teammate Chris Meraux took second at 120-pounds and is 9-4 on the year. Trey LeBlanc (4-2) came in fourth at 138 pounds, while Zach Mangrum (5-2) secured a fourth finish at 285. St. Paul’s Quinn Perret (4-3) took sixth at 126-pounds and Dominic Iovenitti (2-3) came in sixth place in the 152-pound category.

St. Paul’s coach Craig Ketelsen said it was the Wolves first appearance at the tournament and he was impressed with his team’s second place finish.

“It was a great competition for us. There were a number of very athletic wrestlers. I was impressed with the organization and the sportsmanship exemplified by the wrestlers,” Ketelsen said.

“We were ranked No. 1 at the tournament, but there is no way to really get a feel for that since our wrestlers hadn’t competed against anyone in the field. I thought we did very well because most of the other teams in the top five had 14 wrestlers, while we competed with only 12 in the various weight classes,” Ketelsen added.