2013-14 Results and Media Coverage
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BATON ROUGE – The drought is over.
The Brusly High School wrestling team could only claim two champions ever in the Louisiana Classic – and none over the last 17 years.
BHS snapped the streak – and doubled its number of overall titlists – all in a single event that took place Friday and Saturday at Exerfit Gymnasium.
The two champions crowned in the tourney came down to one who has been the most successful the last four years and another who is well on his way to doing the same.
Senior Trevor Schermer capped his final Louisiana Classic appearance with his first championship win at the event, while freshman sensation Kendon Lee improved to 44-1 for a win in the tourney.
Schermer (45-1) won his first-ever championship in the Classic when he defeated one-time nemesis Brennan Taylor on 10-4 decision. “Winning in that championship meant more than a state championship,” he said. “A kid from Brusly wins state every year, but a kid from Brusly hasn’t won in that tournament in 17 years.”
“This was definitely what I worked for all season,” Schermer said.
Lee won on an 8-1 decision over Jesuit’s Nicky Charles. The win continued Lee on the path as one of the top young wrestlers in the state. It also carries on the dreams he had when he decided to take up wrestling in fifth grade. “It’s always been a dream, but it took a lot of hard work to get here,” he said. “I realize now I have a target on my back, but it will only make me work harder.”
Prior to this year’s event, Chip Seymour’s 1998 win marked the last Brusly championship finish at what was then the Lee High Invitational. Virnado Woods won Brusly’s first-ever championship in that event at the 1991 meet.
Brusly placed fifth among 50 teams across the state in what many consider one of the most prestigious tournaments in Louisiana high school wrestling.
“This one was big for us,” head coach Jimmy Bible said. “To finish this strong among this many teams says something because this is one of the biggest meets in the state.”
BHS finished with 151 points. Jesuit tallied 226.5 points to claim the championship in what was formerly the Lee High Invitational before the school closed in 2007. Holy Cross, the only team to deny Brusly a state championship the last 10 years, placed second (209.5). State powerhouse Catholic-Baton Rouge – the hosting team – placed third (178.5), while Rummel took fourth (172).
Two Panthers – Wyatt LeJeune (128-lb. bracket) and Toby Landry (134) – reached the semifinals.
Four eliminations in the Friday session – Toby Hebert, Koby Mancuso, Diondre Dorsey and Blaze Olano -- kept Brusly from a stronger finish in this year’s event, Bible said. “We lost four starters, and that’s just because of the nature of this event,” he said. “But we placed six of 14 wrestlers, so we finished strong.”
BHS meets Catholic-Baton Rouge in an action Thursday. The Panthers will not see weekend competition until the Ken Cole Invitational Feb. 1 at Comeaux High School.