St. Michael senior wrestler ups high school total to 127; track and field athletes earn recognition.
With the former record-holder in attendance, Baton Rouge St. Michael senior wrestler Ben Willeford set the state record for career pins with 127.
Willeford stopped his Dutchtown opponent in three minutes, 28 seconds to erase the previous mark Andy Chapman set at Baton Rouge High from 1994 to 1998. Chapman is now an assistant coach at Baton Rouge Istrouma.
"This is special to me because I know Andy Chapman," Willeford said. "I got to know him before I started wrestling.
"He actually told me he thought I’d be the one to break the record. Coming from him, that means a lot."
Willeford normally wrestles at 119 pounds but moved up to 125 because Dutchtown didn’t have a wrester at 119. The 5-foot-3 Willeford improved to 35-0 for the season with 27 pins.
"When I first met Ben he was working out at the same gym where I was training for mixed martial arts fighting," Chapman said. "The thing that impressed me even then was how hard he worked. I always prided myself on working harder than my opponent.
"I never saw anyone who worked harder than me until I met Ben. He does a lot of things well, but to me that is his greatest strength."
Willeford fashioned a 37-2 record at 112 pounds last season and was 51-3 as a sophomore at 103 pounds. He’s won Division II-Class 4A state titles in both weight classes. He finished fifth in the Greco-Roman freestyle wrestling national championships this past summer and would like to wrestle collegiately, although no state college offers the sport and he would have to compete at 125 pounds.
He’s also expressed an interest in Greco-Roman wrestling at the United States Olympic Education Center.
Track and field: Miller wins twice at LSU meet
With a pair of victories, Baton Rouge Catholic’s Barrett Miller earned Outstanding In-State Boys Track Performer honors at the LSU High School Indoor Classic track and field meet.
Miller won the 1,600 meters in four minutes, 35.38 seconds and was part of Catholic’s winning 4-by-800 relay team in 8:16.75. The meet was the first major competition of the indoor track and field season.
Brandon Robertson of Hammond St. Thomas Aquinas turned in the seventh-best long jump nationally at 22 feet, 4 inches to receive Outstanding In-State Boys Field Performer recognition.
Merritt Van Meter of Metairie Park Country Day produced a national-best pole vault of 13-2 to claim the Outstanding In-State Girls Field Performer award. It was 8 inches above her previous highest vault.
Hilary Woods of New Orleans Xavier Prep ran the 400 meters in 58.93 seconds to register the second-best time nationally and win Outstanding In-State Girls Track Performer honors.
Boys basketball: Busy Bossier claims title
Host Bossier played three games in one day to win the Bossier Invitational with an 80-75 victory over Natchitoches Central in the championship game.
Bossier took a 15-point halftime lead en route to lifting its record to 22-1. Joseph James, a 5-8 junior point guard, scored a game-high 25 points. James was one of four Bearkats to make the all-tournament team, as was MVP Devonte Francis. Francis scored seven points in the championship game but produced a game-high 27 points in a morning victory over Shreveport Byrd.
Football: Webster, Meyers, Ancar pick colleges
A week after having been named Mr. Football, Lutcher senior quarterback Gavin Webster committed to playing football at Southeastern Louisiana University next season. Webster also plans to play baseball for the Lions.
"I think he really liked the approach they took in recruiting him" Lutcher coach Tim Detillier said of Webster. "And the fact that they’re willing to let him play baseball was very important to Gavin."
Meyers is projected to play defensive back, although he led Baton Rouge-area Class 4A teams in passing and finished third in the state with 2,503 yards this past season.
Also announcing his college plans was well-decorated South Plaquemines senior linebacker Seth Ancar, who committed to Louisiana Tech. Ancar is a three-time Class 1A All-State selection and the two-time Class 1A Defensive Player of the Year. Ancar is Louisiana Tech’s 19th commitment but the first from the New Orleans area.
Scotlandville hires Hilton
After failing to get the job nine years ago when he applied, Ken Hilton has been hired as Baton Rouge Scotlandville’s new head coach.
Hilton replaces Donald Clark, who served as interim coach for the final seven games of a 3-7 season. Head coach Richard Oliver was suspended before the start of District 5-5A play and later reassigned to a teaching position at another school.
Hilton, 35, was defensive coordinator at Plaquemine this past season after holding the same position at Baton Rouge Redemptorist in 2008. He was head coach for three years at Baker, his alma mater, and led the Buffaloes to a 21-13 record from 2005 to 2007. Baker finished 10-2 in 2006 and advanced to the Class 3A quarterfinals before losing to eventual state champion Lutcher.
"I think being an assistant the last two years was good for me and I’ll be able to use the things I learned," said Hilton, a former offensive lineman at both Baker and McNeese State. "First, I was part of a quality program at Redemptorist and got to see how things were done there.
"This past year, at Plaquemine, we were rebuilding from the ground up and I think it’s fair to say we got things turned around."
