2013-14 Results and Media Coverage

By Jim Rapier, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on February 22, 2014 10 p.m.

De La Salle High School's Alex Martin, top, wrestles Brusly High School's Diondre Dorsey, bottom, during the 2014 LHSAA Wrestling State Tournament at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner Saturday, February 22, 2014. (Photo by Brett Duke, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

De La Salle wrestling coach Jake Karl gives directions to a wrestler Saturday during the 2014 LHSAA Wrestling State Tournament. (Photo by Brett Duke, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

When De La  Salle wrestling coach Jake Karl took the reins of the Cavaliers’ program in the 2011-12 school year he inherited two wrestlers.  That was his De La Salle team.

“There were two kids on the team I inherited; one of them was Alex Martin, who was then a sophomore and is now a senior and the other one doesn’t wrestle anymore,” Karl explained.

So Karl went to work, recruiting wrestlers in the hallways of the school. The results showed Saturday at the 2014 LHSAA State Wrestling Championships at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner.

In Karl’s third season De La Salle had a team of 34 wrestlers, 14 qualified for the state tournament and two (Martin and Logan Sylve) made it to the Division III finals, and the Cavaliers finished second in the state in the team standings with 176.5 points, trailing Brusly (343.5).

Karl’s first season the Cavaliers had 16 wrestlers (six qualified for state). In his second season there were 17 wrestlers (eight qualified).

De La Salle senior Dominick Bioc, who finished fourth in the 145-pound class, remembers when Karl approached him about wrestling a few years ago.  “I had no idea about wrestling or what it was all about; I had sort of stopped playing sports since I quit football,” Bioc said. “He (Karl) told me they needed someone to wrestle at 138 (pounds). I was hesitant at first, but I went to a practice, decided to stick with it and fell in love with it.”

“I am proud to see how much we have progressed. Some of it still hasn’t sunk in. I am sure when I get back home and have a chance to think about it I will get it. It’s amazing.”

Said Karl: “We still have a lot of the same kids from when we started; we had no seniors for two years, so you could see the improvement coming. I knew we would do well this year but I didn’t imagine this well.”

Doyline sophomore Brittany Bates was happy to be on the podium after finishing fifth in the 113-pound class.  (Photo by Pat Mashburn, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

MAKING SOME HISTORY: Doyline sophomore wrestler Brittany Bates was disappointed with the final result but more than happy to make some history at the tournament.   By placing fifth in the 106-pound class, Bates became the first female wrestler to finish on the podium – among the top-six wrestlers – in state history.   Bates advanced to the semifinals, where she lost to Brusly’s Austin Franklin, 6-5. Bates recovered to win the fifth-place match by pinning Kyle Teele of Basile.   “I am a little disappointed, but am happy to place and make some history. It’s the first in Louisiana history for a girl. I didn’t place last year,” Bates said.   Bates, who has been wrestling four years and said, “God led me to the mat,” is pleased with her progress and ready to build on it. “In four years I have come from not being very good to being one of the best.”   Bates' performance helped Doyline finish 15th in the Division III team standings with 35 points.

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