DIVISION III DOMINANCE CONTINUES

 

This is getting to be old hat.

 

Brusly seems to win state championships annually in wrestling. Falling short of that accomplishment is a rare experience and the Panthers avoided disappointment quite easily Saturday night, capturing the Louisiana Division III state wrestling championship at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner.

 

The Panthers won a pair of individual titles en route to outdistancing second place North Vermilion 222 to 177. John Curtis was third with 174.5 points, while Basile and Bossier tied for fourth with 143 points.

 

Brusly's Wyatt Lejeune won the 120-pound title, beating Kelby Comeaux of South Cameron 7-3 while Trevor Schermer repeated as state champion for a third straight year, winning by technical fall in an 18-2 decision over Oscar Telles of Bossier. The Schermer legacy is perhaps the biggest in Brusly wrestling history. Older brother Austin captured four state championships for the Panthers, his last coming in 2012. Trevor says he had a good role model to follow.

 

"Austin set the tone for me," Schermer said. "We have high expectations to uphold at Brusly. I feel everyone is looking up to me now so I try to set a good example and push everyone to work hard."

 

North Vermilion had a pair of champions in top-seed Austin Scalisi (126) and Bruce Vincent (160).

 

John Curtis fared well, taking home state championships through Mason Pembo (220) and Spencer Lemoine (285).

 

Basile's Raymond Bushnell captured his second straight individual title, winning at 113 pounds by pin over Brusly's Baret Sanchez while Trenton Pelloquin gave Basile a second champion at 170 pounds. Pelloquin downed Matt Adams of Fisher 11-7 in the championship match and was named Most Outstanding Wrestler in Division III.

 

Bossier had an individual champion in Jalen Oliver at 182 pounds.

 

Thomas Jefferson had a pair of champions, including Logan Griffin (106) and Brent Matherne (138). Griffin's win over Prentice Spurlock at 106 pounds was the first individual championship in the young program's history.

 

Other individual champions included Marshall Hill of Parkview Baptist at 145 pounds, Alex Martin of De La Salle at 152 and Billy Marcantel of Rayne (195). Martin won his second consecutive individual state championship.  "Winning state is great, but it is on to next year now," Martin said. "I've won two now so I've got to win a third. I look forward to carrying out my desire to get that plan accomplished. All my teammates have helped me out to get to this point. Winning justifies the hard work."

 

The best title matches in Division III included Scalisi edging Bossier's Xavier Chism 7-6 at 126 pounds and Pembo's double overtime win by pin over Bradley Ashlock of Evangel at 220 pounds.

 

For Brusly, it was the 12th state championship, the ninth in 10 years for the Panthers and the 10th under current head coach Jimmy Bible.

 

"The tradition at Brusly is special," Bible said. "We started with back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005. The program began in 1978 and we got it going not long after. We have tough kids here. This team may not have been as strong as some of other teams so accomplishing what they have done is special. They came through in the end. Winning never gets old."

With the program Bible has fashioned, the winning figures to continue for many years to come.

 

INDIVIDUAL FINAL RESULTS

 

106--Logan Griffin, Thomas Jefferson dec. Prentice Spurlock, John Curtis 4-2

113--Raymond Bushnell, Basile, pinned Baret Sanchez, Brusly (3:46)

120--Wyatt LeJeune, Brusly, dec. Kelby Comeaux, South Cameron 7-3

126--Austin Scalisi, North Vermillion, dec. Xavier Chism, Bossier 7-6

132--Trevor Schermer, Brusly, tech. fall Oscar Telles, Bossier 18-2

138--Brent Matherne, Thomas Jefferson dec. Benjamin Kirkikis, Evangel 9-3

145--Marshall Hill, Parkview Baptist maj. dec. Grant Godso, Redemptorist 12-4

152--Alex Martin, DeLaSalle, dec. Koby Mancuso, Brusly 4-0

160--Bruce Vincent, North Vermillion dec. G' Corey Fullilove, John Curtis 4-2

170--Trenton Pelloquin, Basile, dec. Matt Adams, Fisher 11-7.

182--Jalen Oliver, Bossier pinned Colin Vaughn, North Vermillion (1:39)

195--Billy Marcantel, Rayne, pinned Tyler Sullivan, Calvary Baptist (3:31)

220--Mason Pembo, John Curtis, dec. Bradley Ashlock, Evangel 6-1

285: Spencer Lemoine, John Curtis pinned Logan Williams, Evangel (3:21)