2013-14 Results and Media Coverage
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on December 28, 2013 8:20 p.m.
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Talk about winning by a nose.
Brother Martin won by a majority decision to give it a 30-29 dual meet win over Jefferson High School (Jefferson, Ga.) and the 2013 Deep South Bayou Duals championship held at the Baton Rouge River Center.
“It was a tremendous meet,” Brother Martin Coach Robbie Dauterive said. “That’s a really good team. It was a pleasure wrestling them, and their kids are tough and hard-nosed. Not just them, but Jesuit also in the semifinals. Both duals could have gone either way. We just happened to come out on top today.”
Trailing 25-20 with just three matches remaining, Brother Martin senior Yehia Riles stepped onto the mat to face Jefferson’s Johnathan Paolozzi in the 182-pound class. Riles wore down Paolozzi and recorded the pin in five minutes and 32 seconds to give the Crusaders a 26-25 advantage they would not relinquish.
“(Paolozzi) was tough and wouldn’t go down without a fight,” Riles said. “That’s what kind of drove me and motivated me to get the pin.”
Josh Tapia outlasted Deshawn Lester to score a 13-11 decision in overtime in the 195-pound class to give Brother Martin a 29-25 lead. Then Michael Paolozzi won what looked like a 17-10 decision over Jacob Clapp in the 220-pound match for Jefferson to fall one point shy of tying Brother Martin. Jefferson Coach Doug Thurmond protested the outcome, saying that points were not calculated and awarded to the appropriate wrestler in the final match properly. Officials went back and gave another point to Michael Paolozzi, giving him an 18-10 win over Clapp and a majority decision to tie the score at 29. For a majority decision, a wrestler must win by more than eight points and four points are added to the team score instead of the normal three. |
With the score tied, officials went to the rulebook to determine what tiebreaker would break the deadlock. It wasn’t until the eighth tiebreaker, total number of points scored in the meet, when officials awarded Brother Martin with the victory.
“In a tournament this big, I’ve never seen a meet come down to tiebreakers like that,” assistant tournament director and Brusly Coach Jimmy Bible said. “We’ve been in situations when it has come down to criteria but never in a final like this. You know, it was two evenly matched teams and a great showing on both teams’ part.”
Jefferson is one of the top teams from Georgia, winning 12 straight 2A dual meet championships and 13 straight traditional state championships. The Dragons blazed through the competition to make it to the finals, winning their meets by a combined score of 373-76.
“What an awesome match,” Thurmond said. “It was a free tournament to come watch, but everyone got way more than they paid to see. If you would’ve paid to see it, you still would have been pleased. My boys did well. Their boys did well. It was just a great match.”
Said Riles: “Playing a tough team like Jefferson, it gives us a lot more courage to go out of state and wrestle teams that are a lot better than us.”
Gilmer (Ellijay, Ga.) came in third, Platte County (Platte City, Mo.) placed fourth, and Jesuit, the only other Louisiana team to place in the top five, came in fifth. The Blue Jays had Brother Martin on the ropes early in their semifinal match, but the Crusaders pulled away for the 35-21 victory.
“The learning experience we got here today was that we can wrestle with one of the best teams and be in the match,” Jesuit Coach Spencer Harris said. “But at the same time, if you don’t focus after a loss, then you lose to a team you should have beaten. That’s one of the things you want to take away from this tournament.”
