Louisiana High School Wrestling Archives

2013-14 Results and Media Coverage

Brother Martin, Brusly seek three-peats at this weekend's State Wrestling tournament

By Pat Mashburn, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on February 20, 2014 6:05 p.m.

Two champions will contend for the same Division I team title this weekend at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association wrestling championships.

One is two-time defending Division I champion Brother Martin. Another is Holy Cross, last year's Division II champion, which moved up in classification before this season.

Mason Mauro of Brother Martin (R) defeats Devyn Breaud of Rummel to win the 106-lb title during state high school wrestling championships at the Pontchartrain Center on Saturday, February 16, 2013. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Among individuals, 160-pound wrestler Alex Martin of De La Salle aims to capture a third consecutive Division III title, and Doyline’s Brittany Bates will compete as the highest-seeded girl in state tournament history, at No. 2 in the Division III 106-pound class.

Those are just a few of the storylines to add to the intrigue for the championships that will take place Friday and Saturday at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner.

A main storyline will be the focus on Brother Martin. The Crusaders' chances at another title seemed in peril during a three-week layoff in January necessitated by serious skin infections that afflicted several Crusaders athletes. But once healthy, they made solid statements by winning the prestigious Ken Cole tournament in Lafayette and the St. Tammany Parish tournament the following weekend. Brother Martin also beat Holy Cross 40-13 in a dual meet two days after the St. Tammany Parish tournament.

“Beating Jesuit and Holy Cross gave us a lot of confidence,” Brother Martin Coach Robbie Dauterive said. “We will wrestle our best tournament of the year this weekend. We are going to be ready.”

Brother Martin boasts top seeds in five of the 14 weight classes, including Mason Mauro at 113, who captured the title in the 106-pound class last year.

Other schools contending for the team title are Jesuit, with top seeds Ben D’Antonio (120), Jake Eccles (170) and Guy Patron (182), and Holy Cross.

Tanner LeBlanc got the best of De La Salle's Alex Martin in the finals of the 160-pound class at the La. Classics, but LeBlanc is the top seed in Division I 160-pound class and Martin is tops in Division III 160-pound class. (Pat Mashburn, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Individually, Tanner LeBlanc of St. Paul’s is the top seed in the 160-pound class and Fontainebleau’s Christian Ponson earned the top seed at 285 after a solid, midseason surge.

With Holy Cross no longer in Division II, several teams look to make a push for a championship in that division.

Live Oak has four top seeds, and top-seeded New Orleans area wrestlers, including Shaw’s Bryce Ballas (145), Kody Woodson (170) and Brennan Falcon (195), give their program optimism heading into the weekend.

The Belle Chasse duo of Logan Thompson (220) and Robert Kennedy (285) also give the New Orleans area another possible run at the top spot.

Brusly is king in Division III and, like Brother Martin, also looks for a three-peat as well as its 10th state championship in the past 11 years. Having five top seeds, who've each won at least 45 matches this season, has the Panthers as the early favorite to repeat.