Taking it to the mat

Written by John Dupont on 02 January 2014.

BATON ROUGE – Jimmy Bible probably would’ve preferred a stronger finish, but the Brusly wrestling team’s showing Friday and Saturday at the Deep South Bayou Duals left him no reason to complain. The Panthers placed 11th among 40 teams from eight states in the annual Mat Extravaganza at the River Center. “I thought we wrestled well in spots,” Bible said. “We had a few tough matches, but we learned a lot, all in all. It was a good experience.”

Louisiana Division I powerhouse Brother Martin edged 13-time defending 2A champ Jefferson High School 29-28 for the tournament championship.

Despite missing out on a spot in the top 10, Bible said things are coming together at the right time for the Panthers, who hope to win a 10th Division III state championship this season. “I like our chances,” he said. “The lineups have changed, and we’re still playing with it a bit.”

The Panthers move into the thick of the action over the next six weeks, beginning with the Brusly Invitational on Jan. 11. The gauntlet also includes the Louisiana Classic at Ketchum Fitness Center in Baton Rouge, the Ken Cole Invitational at Comeaux High School in Lafayette and the Baton Rouge City Meet at Catholic High School.

“January is our time” Bible said. “I think we have things in place to do well next month.”

In Day 1 action, Brusly posted wins over Airline (on a 52-14 score), Archbishop Shaw (54-7), Ocean Springs, Miss. (64-6), and Teurlings Catholic (45-25). Roswell, Ga., eked past Brusly 33-30.

Brusly outscored Rummel 36-30, but lost to Catholic-Baton Rouge 40-19 and Auburn, Ala. 32-30.

Three-time state champion Trevor Schermer, 30-2 for the season, went 8-0 at the meet. His wins included a pinfall win in 41 seconds against Jonathan Foshee of Auburn, a 16-second pinfall victory over Reed Lewis of Roswell and a 5-4 win over state titlist James Claitor of Catholic-BR.

The win over Claitor highlighted the weekend for Schermer.

“I lost to him 12-2 last year in the Louisiana Classic, but I went into this meet with a new mindset while working on the match, but he was still tough the whole time,” Schermer said.

Brusly placed second in its pool, only behind Roswell, Ga., who edged the Panthers 33-30 to win that round.

BHS pulled past Archbishop Rummel in the final round.

Donald Johnson scored a pinfall in 3:58 over Tyler Fontana in the 220-lb. division, while defending champ Wyatt LeJeune took a win over Dylan Mire in the 132-lb. bracket. Toby Hebert posted a win on a 6-4 decision over Cody Mire, while Schermer won in 3:04 over Rick LaCava and Diondre Dorsey won by pinfall in 1:39 over Matthew Bowman.