2013-14 Results and Media Coverage
Brusly, Teurlings put almost all of its wrestlers in semis
BY ROD WALKER
rwalker@theadvocate.com
Teurlings Catholic has been one of the state’s most succesful wrestling programs in recent years. The Rebels took a giant step in its quest to claim a third state title in four years Friday.
Teurlings Catholic had 10 wrestlers to advance to Saturday’s Division II semifinals and holds a 139-122 lead over second place Live Oak after Day 1 of the LHSAA state wrestling championships. Shaw is third with 1061/2 points.
The semifinals and championship rounds are Saturday at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner.
“I look at the numbers every single time and do brackets five or six times with different scenarios,” said Teurlings coach Kent Masson. “I think the numbers I had was nine, so we got one more than we expected. We are wrestling extremely well. We aren’t wrestling above our heads, but we are wrestling up to our and beyond our potential right now.”
Teurlings finished second last year to Holy Cross, which now competes in Division I.
“We have to keep pace with Live Oak on Saturday,” said Masson. “We have a lot of confidence right now. A lot of guys are stepping up and starting to believe that they can do it.”
Wrestlers from Teurlings advancing to Saturday’s semis are: Josh Hebert (106), Luke Kilchrist (113), Brock Bonin (120), Trey Hebert (126), Tristan Lee (132), Dakota Hebert (145), Kynan Sonnier (160), Peyton Cortez (170), Adamm Garza (220) and Travis Santiago (285).
In Division III, Brusly looks on pace to continue its dominance as well. Brusly placed 13 (out of a possible 14) wrestlers in the semifinals that will be held today.
Brusly wrestlers who qualified for the semifinals are: Austin Franklin (106), Kendon Lee (113), Baret Sanchez (120), Wyatt LeJeune (126), Noah Landry (132), Toby Hebert (138), Koby Mancuso (145), Trevor Schermer (152), Diondre Dorsey (160), Blayze Olano (170) Dillon Prejean (195) and Donald Johnson (220) and Jo’ Vonte Wheeler (285).
It was the kind of big day Brusly coach Jimmy Bible was hoping for.
“The lowest seed we had was a four seed,” Bible said. “We had a couple of rough patches, but we came through.”
Brusly has won the state championship in nine of the past 10 years and leads North Vermillion 145-931/2 headed into the semifinals. De La Salle is third at 91.5 points.
“North Vermillion has some really tough guys in there and some top seeds so they are legitimate too,” Bible said.
In Division I, Brother Martin leads headed into the semifinals with 171.5 points, followed by Jesuit (165), Baton Rouge Catholic (145.5), Holy Cross (130.5) and Rummel (122).
Catholic had six wrestlers advance to the semifinals. One of the biggest wins came in the 113- weight class when Mitch Napoli upset No. 4 seed Joseph Foret of Holy Cross.
“We are really wrestling well right now,” Catholic coach Tommy Prochaska said. “We have to do a good job in the consolations to try to close the gap with Jesuit and maybe close it with Brother Martin.”
Brother Martin had 10 wrestlers to advance to the semifinals. Finals will be in the evening.
“I think we wrestled well today,” said Brother Martin coach Robert Dauterive. “I expected it to be this close with Jesuit. I figured they would be right on our heels. I would figure by the end of the night we might be tied, or they may be ahead of us going into the semifinals.”
Jesuit placed nine wrestlers in the semifinals.
“We wrestled well and had some guys to wrestle really hard,” said Jesuit coach Specner Harris. “Hopefully we finish (Friday) night out strong and continue (Saturday). The semifinals are a big round because we can score a lot of points there. We really hope we can do well there.”
The announced attendance for Friday’s two sessions was 6,730, an increase of 511 from last season’s Day 1 attendance of 6,219.