Louisiana High School Wrestling Archives

2013-14 Results and Media Coverage

No clear favorite at Louisiana Classic wrestling meet
ROBIN FAMBROUGH

rfambrough@theadvocate.com - Jan. 25, 2014

Without a doubt, the Louisiana Classic is one of the state’s most prestigious high school wrestling tournaments. Since its days as the Lee High Invitational, the tourney has always attracted the state’s top teams and competitors.

What is in doubt now is who the frontrunner for this weekend’s two-day event will be. Defending champion Brother Martin, also the defending Division I state champion, dropped out of the tournament Thursday.

That opens the door for others, including Holy Cross and Brusly, to claim the lead role. Fifty teams and about 360 wrestlers are set to compete starting at 6 p.m. Friday at Exerfit. Action continues with semifinals at 9 a.m. Saturday, with finals set for 4 p.m.

“The coach from Brother Martin called and said they were having some health issues and wouldn’t be coming,” Catholic High coach/meet director Tommy Prochaska said. “That definitely changes things.

“Without Brother Martin, I think the two teams you have to look at first are Holy Cross and Brusly. Based on the seedings, they’re both in position to do very well. This is a different year in a lot of ways. Some schools don’t like the format because it’s possible for a kid to wrestle only once, so they’re not bringing full teams.”

Prochaska’s Catholic squad placed second last season and should also be in the mix along with Rummel, which is also set to bring its full squad.

Holy Cross has three wrestlers seeded No. 1 — George Benoit (134-pound class), Brice Duhe (172) and Daniel Relayson (197). With the Tigers, last year’s Division II state champion, moving to Division I this season that will add some to the intrigue.

Host Catholic also has three top seeds in Brennan Taylor (140), James Claitor (147) and Matthew Mire (154).

Brusly has won nine of the past 10 Division III titles. The Panthers made some key shifts in their lineup this week, which also may factor into this weekend’s title picture, Prochaska said. Kendon Lee, the top seed at 115 for the Panthers, previously wrestled at higher weight classes. Both Holy Cross and Brusly also have several other wrestlers seeded in the top five.

Other top seeds are East Ascension’s Alex Betteridge (108), Rummel’s Tyler Mire (122), Comeaux’s Connor Stampley (128), De La Salle’s Alex Martin (162), Covington’s Brendon Allen (184) and East Ascension’s Conor Karwath (287).

The 128 and 140 weight classes should be among the most competitive. Live Oak’s Cody Hill, a Classic champion two years ago, is seeded third behind Stampley and Airline’s Christian Walden. At 140, Brusly’s Trevor Schermer is seeded second to Catholic’s Taylor. The duo has a combined record of 76-3.