St. Paul’s Varsity Wrestling Wolves captured the District 7-5A Dual Meet Championship held Jan. 3 at Fontainebleau High. The Wolves defeated Mandeville’s Skippers 54-24, topped Fontainebleau’s Bulldogs 55-7 and took the Northshore Panthers 60-3.

St. Paul’s wrestling coach Craig Ketelsen said he was extremely proud of his team’s performance.

“I was pleased with the scores, but I was just as happy with the overall performance of our wrestlers registering a number of pins.

St. Paul'€™s captured the District 7-5A Dual Meet Championship Saturday Jan.3 at Fontainebleau High. Pictured are St. Paul'€™s wrestlers, from left, first row: Richard Stewart, Alex Zorilla, Daniel Johnson, Chad Bordelon and Nick Lusher; second row: Tyler Davis, Chase Gourgues, Anthony LaCava, Cody Gourgues, Korey Miller, Norman Faucheux and Reagan Read; and third row: Alex Grashoff, Lee Morgan, Tyle Olister and Nick Logarbo.

Ketelsen said having nine seniors on his Wolves’ squad gives them an experience edge over the other district wrestling teams, which are a lot younger.

“Based on our experience level, I’d have to say we were favored going in.”

Ketelsen said it was the first time the district has had an official district dual meet.

“I really like the dual meet format. I think it is also good for the fans. We had a trial run district dual meet tournament last year with Fontainebleau winning and us taking second. It was kind of redemption for us winning it this year and the wrestlers were very excited,” Ketelsen added.

St. Paul’s senior Chase Gourgues, ranked No. 1 in the state in the 140-pound weight class, won all three of his matches, to remain unbeaten at 22-0.

Gourgues won two matches by pin and earned a hard-fought 6-4 decision over Fontainebleau’s Nicholas Morris. Gourgues talked about the match with Morris being his toughest of the year.

“In the first round, I tried to throw him, but I missed the throw and instead he scored on a takedown. I was able to get a reversal. It was the toughest match of the year for me,” Gourgues said.

“Our team was fired up heading into the tournament. We took care of business and scored a number of pins. The team was very excited about our dominant performance,” Gourgues added.

SPS sophomore Korey Miller, ranked No. l in the state, wrestling at 145-pounds, upped his record to 27-2. Miller won all three of his matches recording pins.

SPS senior Lee Morgan also ranked No. 1 in the state at 215 pounds, won his only match last Saturday by pinning his Mandeville opponent. Morgan is 23-4.

At press time, St. Paul’s was scheduled to compete in the prestigious Lee High Invitational held at the Cap Elite Center For Athletic Performance in Baton Rouge Friday and Saturday.

Results:

SPS vs. MHS: 

103 pounds: Ryan Seals, MHS, pin, Alex Zorrilla, 5:44

112: Richard Stewart, SPS, pin, Blake Brumfield, 1:56

119: Ryan Ross, MHS, pin, Peter Chatry, 1:31

125: Anthony LaCava, SPS, pin, John Rush, 1:10

130: Bradley Mayronne, MHS, dec. Daniel Johnson, 7-3

135: Casey Perino, MHS, pin, Chad Bordelon, 5:23

140: Chase Gourgues, SPS, pin, Dominick Pizzalato, :59

145: Korey Miller, SPS, pin, Bradley Arthur, :16

152: Tyler Davis, SPS, pin, Blaine Perrin, 1:55

160: Reagan Reed, SPS, pin, Brandon Currenti, 1:28

171: Norman Faucheux, SPS, pin, Joey Haidler, 1:17

189: Alex Grashoff, SPS, pin, Joshua Zamjahn, 1:34

215: Lee Morgan, SPS, pin, Tyler Thompson, :44

285: Tanner Baldus, MHS, dec, Nick Lagarbo, 4-2

SPS vs. FHS:

103: Zorrilla, SPS, win by forfeit

112: Stewart, SPS, pin, Steven Kenney, :42

119: Adeolu Ogunniyi, FHS, dec, Cody Gourgues, 13-5

125: LaCava, SPS, dec, Zach Stow, 10-2

130: Jacob Glazner, FHS, dec, Daniel Johnson, 5-3

135: Bordelon, SPS, pin, Robert Wright, 2:25

140: Chase Gourgues, SPS, dec, Nicholas Morris, 6-4

145: Miller, SPS, pin, Wyatt Chafin, :40

152: Davis, SPS, pin, Jordan Demers, 1:41

160: Reed, SPS, pin, Ryan McGee, 5:30

171: Faucheux, SPS, dec, Kris Dureau, 5:12

189: Grashoff, SPS, dec, Brent Jones, :37

SPS vs. NHS:  

103: Zorrilla, SPS, pin Quinn Harris, :38

112: Stewart, SPS, pin, Kyle Virgillio, 1:08

119: Kenneth Bunch, NHS, pin, Chatry, 1:07

130: Johnson, SPS, pin, Myron Ancona, 1:21

135: Bordelon, SPS, pin, Zach Charlton, 1:32

140: Gourgues, SPS, pin, Joseph Anderson, :52

145: Miller, SPS, pin, Anthony Saliba, 1:37

152: Clyde Walker, NHS, dec, Nick Lusher, 14-9

160: Andrew Asaro, SPS, pin, David Burleigh, :47

171: Tyle Olister, SPS, pin, Hayden Avera, 1:23

189: Grashoff, SPS, pin, Justin Fernandez, :47