Louisiana state wrestling: Jesuit repeats Division I championship as three Blue Jays claim individual crowns
There were a lot of familiar names on the podium for New Orleans-based Jesuit on Saturday night at Brookshire Grocery Arena in Bossier City.
All three champions were in the title bout last year and this time, all three brought home individual titles for the Blue Jays.
On top of that, Jesuit rolled up 321 points and claimed the Division I title for the second year in a row and the 24th time in school history.
Another New Orleans school, Holy Cross, was second, the program’s second runner-up finish. Brother Martin - also from New Orleans - was third for the second year in a row, while last year’s runner-up, Catholic-Baton Rouge, was fourth.
Jesuit championships came courtesy of Bodi Harris (120), Jackson Calderaro (215) and Spencer Lanosga (285).
Harris won the 113-pound title last year and added a second straight with an 11-5 win over Holy Cross’ Vincent Vidacovich. It was the fourth meeting this year and Harris won all of them. Harris was 38-5 this season – two of the five losses came against Division I 120-pound champion Alex Rozas of Teurlings Catholic.
Calderaro locked up a title after taking second last year at 182. Calderaro pinned his way to the title with pins in 14 and 16 seconds, before falls in 1:21, 3:03 and 1:25 – the latter against Slidell’s Samuel Euceda-Torres in the finals.
Lanosga won his third straight championship and finished his career as a four-time finalist for the Blue Jays. He pinned Walker’s Gaberiel Millbem by a fall in 1:26 in the championship match. Lanosga was 39-4 and all four losses were to out-of-state foes.
He is the first three-time champion for his school since Perry Ganci won in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The Holy Cross Tigers had four champions, matching the mark the team set in 2019.
Sophomore Anthony Oubre (113) won the championship with a pin over Kael Reaux of Southside. He took third place last year at 106 for Brother Martin.
Landon Smith (126) followed with a 7-3 decision over Jesuit’s Jose Rincon.
Junior Gunner Guidry (144) added a crown with a 7-2 win over Jesuit’s Isaac Orillion.
The last crown came from junior Nick DiGerolamo, a repeat champion. A champion at 160 last year, he won the 157-pound bracket this year.
That provided another head-to-head win over Jesuit, beating Harris Treuting by a 5-3 decision.
DiGerolamo was 17-2 this season.
St. Paul’s and Brother Martin also had multiple state champions.
Freshman Scott Cascio claimed the 106-pound title for the Wolves with a 9-6 win over Jesuit’s Michael Barnett – a runner-up for the second straight year.
Two other Wolves won titles. Senior Conlan Enk (150) pinned Zachary’s Sergio Houston in 4:32, while Jackson Peak (190) pinned East Ascension’s Jacobi Clement.
Richie Clementi repeated as a champion for Brother Martin, winning the 138 title after winning 132 last year and 113 in 2022.
The junior, 44-2 this year, will look to become the fourth Division I wrestler to win four titles next winter. Airline’s Ernie Perry accomplished that feat last year.
Rory Horvath pinned Benton’s Cooper Reagan in 1:28 in the 165-pound finals for Brother Martin.
Other champions were Catholic-Baton Rouge's Kristian Scott – who lost in the finals last year to Perry – at 132 pounds and Airline’s Ty Parker (175) over Dutchtown’s William Mathis by an 8-6 decision.
Division II
After three runner-up finishes, North DeSoto finally broke through for the school’s first state title.
The school in Stonewall had 326 points and unseated Lafayette-based Teurlings Catholic from the top of the podium after four straight titles.
Last year’s champion had 297 and was way ahead of third-place finisher Archbishop Rummel, which had 230 1/2 points.
Eight of the Griffins’ 14 wrestlers were in the state championship match and four took home first place, the third time in school history with four titles in one tournament.
Dalton Compton (144), Hayden Bell (150), Chase Smart (157) and Caiden Burns (285) were first for North DeSoto.
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Compton became the school’s second repeat champion with a 4-0 run at state. He won by a 12-3 major decision over St. Thomas More’s Finley McGill in the finals.
Bell, a freshman, made it two titles in a row with a win over Jay Hays of St. Thomas More in 1:39. Bell pinned all five of his opponents this weekend.
The third title in a row came from Chase Smart, who won at 157. A medalist last year, Smart went 39-9 this year and ended with a 1-0 win over Brandt Babineaux of Teurlings Catholic, thanks to an escape to open the second period.
Incidentally, Babineaux lost in the finals last year to Compton in overtime.
Burns, a junior, had pins in three of his four wins. He pinned Comeaux’s Royal Lazard – who had 47 wins – in the third period. Burns held a 1-0 lead at the time of his fall at the 5:16 mark.
Jacob Kershaw (113), Nathan Adams (126), Lake Bates (175) and Caden Robison (190) were all second for North DeSoto. Robison and Bates were finalists last season as well.
Teurlings Catholic's Alex Rozas won his second title in two tries. The sophomore went 51-1 this season and ended with a 7-0 decision over Sam Houston’s Tyson Roach in the 120 finals – after three pins to reach the finals.
Rozas was 55-0 last year and has yet to lose to an in-state foe in two years.
Brennan Boyer (132), Braeden Simoneaux (165), Carter Macha (175), Pike Landry (190) and Kendra James (215) were other champions for the Rebels. Brennan Romero (138) lost in the finals for the second year in a row.
Boyer and James were all in the finals last year and lost, while Simoneaux repeats as a champion.
Boyer (36-8) won by a 12-3 major decision over Camron Hebert of North Vermilion. Simoneaux (37-1) pinned his way to the crown with five falls, three of them in the first period. He took down St. Thomas More’s Sawyer Pugh in 3:14. Simoneaux was up 2-1 at the time of the takedown that led to the pin.
Macha (30-3) beat defending state champion Lake Bates from North DeSoto by an 11-8 decision. Up 7-6 going into the third, Macha got a pair of takedowns, the last with 40 seconds left, to secure the title.
Landry, a junior, won the 190-pound crown with pins in three of his four wins. He had another head-to-head win against North DeSoto, pinning Robison. James had pins in four of five matches – the exception in the finals. He beat Brusly’s Tristan Williford by a 16-5 major decision.
Rummel won three titles, while Sam Houston secured the other state title – the fourth school to have a champion.
Sophomore Landen Modica (106), freshman Dominick Durham (113) and Kaiden Triche (126) all picked up titles for Rummel. It was the first time since 2017 the Raiders had three champions in the same season.
Caleb Levine (138) won for Sam Houston.
Division III
Marrero-based Archbishop Shaw repeated as the state champion – the fifth straight top-three finish for the Eagles.
This year, Shaw won with 263 1/2 points, easily ahead of the next two teams in the standings. John Curtis Christian from River Ridge was second with 202 points. Basile, last year’s runner-up, was third with 197 1/2 points.
Shaw had eight wrestlers in the finals and four were champions — Jayden Jamison (113), Giovani Malta (126), Carson Dalton (132) and Jayden Chapman (165).
Jamison had three pins before beating St. Edmund’s Cooper Berzas in the finals with a 14-4 major decision. Malta went 5-0 and beat Archbishop Hannan’s Colin Dalton.
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Dalton, a runner-up last year, got a takedown in overtime to beat St. Louis Catholic’s Grant Habetz, 5-3. Dalton also had a close call in the semifinals, getting a takedown with 22 seconds left to beat Mason Parulan of De La Salle, 3-1.
Chapman had pins in all three of his matches. He pinned Jerome Bridges of John Curtis Christian with 26 seconds left in the first period.
Kale Muscarello (106), Blake Andre (120), James Nero (190) and Carter Newsham (215) took second for Shaw.
De La Salle and Evangel Christian also had multiple champions.
Dylan Duvernay (120) won his third title in a row for De La Salle with a pin over Andre of Shaw in 2:34. Duvernay was 54-4 this year and two of the four losses were to state champions — Harris and Rozas.
Malachi Benetrix (150) and Austin Young (285) also won titles for the Cavaliers. Benetrix, a junior, pinned Basile’s Tucker LeBlanc in 2:24 in his finals match.
Young, a senior, capped off a 25-4 season with a 13-8 decision over Romyn Cortez from Basile.
Evangel Christian won a pair of titles.
Sophomore Joseph Gilreath won the 138-pound title with a 7-2 decision over Nolan McMichael of St. Louis Catholic. Gilreath, 46-4 this year, held off De La Salle’s Dylan Brown, 6-5, in the semifinals.
Michael Gilreath, a senior, won the 157-pound title after winning 160 pounds last year and 145 in 2021. He was second in 2022.
He was tied with Matthew Kimmel and Datremeciuos White for most state titles in school history before Saturday’s victory over Noah Yonker of Archbishop Hannah by a pin — in 20 seconds — in the finals.
Michael Gilreath was 35-2 this year.
OTHER CHAMPIONS
106 – Basile’s Logan Bergeron (23-4)
144 — Longville South Beauregard’s Bryce Fontenot (35-6
175 — Springfield’s Konner Burch (39-21)
190 — St. Louis Catholic Graham Montet (24-0)
215 — John Curtis Christian’s Brandon Dang (27-4)
Photo of Jesuit's Spencer Lanosga by LaWrestlingNews.com
-- Cody Thorn | @SBLiveLA
