38th ANNUAL KEN COLE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
By Kevin Foote; 11:13 p.m. CST January 30, 2014
‘More’ would be a good word to describe the 38th Annual Ken Cole Wrestling Tournament held this weekend at Comeaux High.
More teams.
More wrestlers.
More competition.
More elite wrestlers from the elite programs.
More reasons for tournament officials to be concerned.
As of Thursday, a total of 58 teams and 538 wrestlers will be invading Comeaux High today. The previous record for the event was 52.
As a result, tournament officials were looking at as many as 71 pigtail matches with wrestlers having to win to just get into the main draw. The most ever needed prior to this year was 20.
Only one weight class (220) only had 32 wrestlers in it.
The other concerns revolve around the arctic blast that hit Louisiana earlier this week. When wrestlers missed that much practice due to school being out, making weight can be an issue.
And when communities are told to buy enough food and supplies for two or three days without leaving home, the stories can run short of some of the necessities to run a tournament this big.
“That definitely is a major concern,” Comeaux coach Keith Bergeron said.
The unusual wrestling schedule this year worked out where there’s only one other tournament in the entire state going on this weekend and it’s at Lakeside High in the Shreveport area.
Consequently, not only are there a record number of schools, but some of the elite programs like Brother Martin are bringing more of their ‘A’ teams.
“I think it’s going to be one of the best fields we’ve ever had,” Bergeron said. “It’s definitely the biggest. It’s going to be great competition. I think it has a chance to rank right up there near the top.”
Stampley making up for lost ground
Comeaux High’s Connor Stampley had a lot of reasons to be excited about the prospects for his senior season.
After all, he did finish second in Division I last year and won the Ken Cole title for the first time.
A back injury, however, threw a monkey-wrench into many of his plans for this season so far. The Spartans’ senior, though, is hoping to make up for some lost ground this weekend.
Missing such elite tournaments as Louisiana Classics, Stampley has yet to wrestler Cody Hill of Division II Live Oak, Airline’s Christian Walden or Brother Martin’s Taylor Gambill.
“It would be good to at least beat one of the top two (in Division I),” Stampley said. “None of the top three have wrestled against each other yet. It would have been good to have wrestled some of them a few times to get a feel for it.”
Instead at 25-1 and seeded third, Stampley counts on at least facing Walden in the semifinals.
“I feel like I need to finish at least second,” Stampley said.
Of course, Stampley’s No. 1 goal right now is to get his endurance up in time for state.
“No matter what I do (at Ken Cole), it’s going to be about how much I push myself in the wrestling room from here on out to get my conditioning back up,” he said.
Bonin ready to face state’s elite
Teurlings Catholic’s Brock Bonin frankly hasn’t failed much in his athletic career.
He was a state champion in two sports as a freshman.
But when the Rebels’ sophomore finished fourth at the Louisiana Classics event two weeks ago, he didn’t fret.
“I enjoyed the competition,” Bonin said. “It’s a great tournament because you can really see exactly how good you are against the best in the state. I wanted to place higher than fourth, but I was still pretty happy.”
That experienced also left him pretty motivated for the rest of the season. At 31-3, he doesn’t have many losses left to achieve one of his major preseason goals.
“I wanted to try to keep it to no more than five losses,” he said.
Bonin is seeded fourth behind Jesuit’s Ben D’Antonio, Brusly’s Baret Sanchez and No. 1 Tristan Ruppert of Ocean Springs, Miss.
Two of his losses are to D’Antonio and Sanchez.
“I would definitely like to get revenge against at least one of them,” Bonin said.
Rees: Confidence brewing
Teurlings Catholic senior Jacob Rees knows the road ahead of him is a tough one with the likes of Brusly’s Trevor Schermer, Brother Martin’s Austin Meyn and Live Oak’s Seth Bosarge seeded ahead of him.
But after finishing fourth at Ken Cole last year and fourth at state, Rees is primed and ready to climb the ladder as he enters the stretch drive of the wrestling season.
“I think I’ve wrestled with a better mentality this year,” Rees said. “I’m not quite as nervous on the mat as I was last year. I’m wrestling with more confidence.”
It’s showed with first-place finishes in three different tournaments.
“I’m just focused on going six hard minutes (each match),” Rees said. “If it comes in a loss, as long as I know I went hard for six minutes, I can live with that.”
Diaz to be taken seriously
It was understandable for most of his sophomore season if many of the opponents of Lafayette High’s Rodrigo Diaz didn’t take him seriously.
After all, Diaz is a sophomore and didn’t make much of a splash as a freshman.
But as Diaz prepares for this weekend’s Ken Cole, it might be time for the opposition to start paying attention. Diaz is 39-4 and is coming off a win at the Jacob McMillan and a third-place finish at the Louisiana Classics.
“It’s been pretty surprising,” Diaz said. “I wrestled a senior (Michael Daiy) last year ever day in practice. He was kind of my mentor. It helped me a lot. He taught me how to use my hips better, as well as the fact that you should never give up. You always have to be ready. You never know when your opponent is going to make a mistake and you can pin him.”
Diaz is the fifth seed, so he’ll have some work to do to earn another shot at No. 1 seed Quin Gillian of Byrd, which defeated Diaz in the semifinals at Louisiana Classics.
“He’s undefeated,” Diaz said. “(At La. Classics) He totally blew me off at first and then I got a takedown early in the match and he started taking me more seriously. I guess he thought I just got lucky (to be in semis).”
Dugas bursts onto scene
For those who hadn’t heard of or seen Northside High heavyweight O’Shea Dugas prior to this weekend’s Ken Cole Tournament, it’s understandable.
The Vikings’ junior didn’t make weight as a freshman or sophomore to even get on the mat.
Now that he’s more fit and even stronger, the first season as a varsity wrestler is going pretty well for Dugas. He’s 17-1 and already has three tournament wins under his belt.
“He’s just a great kid,” Northside coach John Simmons said. “He played football for us and just did a great job (as offensive tackle). He’s the kind of kid who will do anything for you and then some.
“He’s so strong. To be honest, he kind of reminds me of a heavyweight we had Quinton Goodie. Quinton was a great wrestler, but I don’t even think Quinton was strong like him. He’s not weight strong. It’s just natural. This kid is a gentle giant.”
Simmons said Dugas started the last three games in football as a sophomore and “just exploded.”
While Simmons is worried about some of his wrestlers making weight today after missing so much school this week, he’s not worried about Dugas.
“After everything he’s been through, not making weight would be like failing for him,” Simmons said. “He’s not going to let that happen.”
Laird out to win
North Vermilion’s Brandon Laird has been close this season.
His 21-6 record is filled with one, two and three-point losses to top wrestlers as Ashton Queyrouze of Jesuit and Marshall Hill of Parkview Baptist.
Last year, he was also close to being an elite wrestler, finishing third at Ken Cole and third at state.
So frankly Laird has a pretty specific goal for this weekend.
“I need to win,” he said.
And while he and new NVHS head wrestling coach Michael Stelly have been working his skills to achieve that end, one pointer sticks out most.
“It’s really just about effort,” Laird said. “You can work on technique all you want, but if you don’t put forth that extra effort, you’re not going to win.”
Bellard ready to surge
Comeaux High senior Cabot Bellard realizes that his record isn’t all that bad at 13-1, but he’s not very pleased with his season thus far.
He obviously didn’t like his one loss to Eric Duhon of Acadiana. He also isn’t real fond of his performance in some of his wins either, though.
Add the fact that he’s not seeded this weekend, Bellard enters the Ken Cole supremely motivated.
“My season has been up and down so far,” Bellard said. “It’s been kind of disappointing at times.”
Unlike some wrestlers, Bellard had to battle the transition from football, including a shoulder injury.
“It’s something I’ve been fighting since my freshman year,” he said. “It affects me more in wrestling, because your shoulder isn’t put in as many different positions in football as it is in wrestling.”
Ken Cole Wrestling Tournament
Dates: Today and Saturday.
Place: Comeaux High.
Today’s Schedule: Weigh-in at noon; wrestling begins at 2:45 p.m.
Saturday’s Schedule: Weigh-in at 8 a.m.; wrestling starts at 9 a.m.; semifinals at noon; finals at 5 p.m.
Last year’s Top Five: 1. Jesuit 235.5; 2. Comeaux 215.5; 3. Teurlings Catholic 187; 4. Brusly 144; 5. Sulphur 132.5.
This year’s field: Acadiana, Airline, Baker, Barbe, Basile, Baton Rouge, Belle Chasse, Benton, Bossier, Brother Martin, Brusly, Byrd, Carencro, Catholic-BR, Central, Church Point, Comeaux, Covington, DeLaSalle, Dunham, Dutchtown, East Ascension, Episcopal, Fisher, Grace King, Grand Lake, Hahnville, Holy Cross, Holy Rosary, Huntington, Jesuit, John Curtis, John Ehret, Kaplan, Lafayette High, Live Oak, Mandeville, McKinley, North DeSoto, North Vermilion, Northshore, Northside, Ocean Springs, Miss.; Parkview Baptist, Parkway, Pearl River, Rayne,k Redemptorist, Sam Houston, South Cameron, South Plaquemines, St. Louis, St. Paul’s, St. Thomas More, Sulphur, Teurlings Catholic, Thomas Jefferson, Zachary.