GETTING A LEG UP - In the 182-pound class, a rivalry was born early in the 2013-14 season when Covington’s Brendan Allen scored an upset over Brother Martin’s Yehia Riles in the George Trygg Invitational at Grace King in December. Almost one month later, Riles evened the score by defeating Allen in the finals of the St. Tammany Parish Invitational. As fate would have it, they ran into each other again in the semifinals of the state tournament, and Riles earned a trip to the finals via a 13-5 major decision.

BULLDOGS PRIVE THEY HAVE PLENTY OF BITE - While Fontainebleau teammate Christian Ponson continues his banner season, another Bulldog quietly have a remarkable season is Ethan Eisenhardt, who entered the state tournament on a roll, getting the fifth seed, and reaching the semifinals with an upset of fourth seed Porter Dazet of Holy Cross before falling to top seed Guy Patron Jr. from Jesuit. Eisenhardt won the consolation bracket with a 5-3 decision over Covington’s Brendan Allen and finished the year with a 49-7 record.

HOLY CROSS STAKING its CLAIM FOR RECOGNITION - In their first season back in Division I since Hurricane Katrina, the Tigers finished in the top five in Division I team standings and top seeded George Benoit reached the finals of the 132-pound class to take on No. 2 seeded Paul Klein of Brother Martin, the champion last year at 126.

HAHNVILLE TIGERS ON THE PROWL - Finishing just outside the top 10, two Hahnville Tigers also had seasons to remember. After not even placing last season, Nicholas Lirette defeated top seeded Alex Betteridge in the semifinals of the 106 pound weight class and took on second seeded Steven Shields of Brother Martin in the championship.

Meanwhile, teammate Kendric Jones was making waves in the 195-pound class, upsetting second seeded Matthew Perez of Sulphur, giving the team two finalists. Jones was the third seed in his division.

THE CATHOLIC LEAGUE IS BACK - Including champion Brother Martin, four of the top five teams in the final standings in Division I are from the Catholic League.

IT'S ONLY GETTING BETTER - The total attendance for the 2014 LHSAA State Wrestling Championships for the two-day event was 10,415, an increase of 1,142 from last year.