By Dave Moormann
MaxPreps.com
Baton Rouge Catholic High outwrestled a statewide field to win the 36th annual Lee High Invitational at Baton Rouge’s Ketcham Center.
Catholic scored 253 points to 206 for second-place Covington St. Paul. Metairie Archbishop Rummel finished third with 203 points.
Catholic’s Chase Fresina won the 125-pound division to join his brother, Trent, as one of 18 sets of brothers to win a tournament championship. Both Fresina’s won titles in their junior years.
Bossier City Airline junior Matt Rabinowitz registered his third championship and can become the tournament’s first four-time champion next year. Rabinowitz stopped Mandeville’s Ryan Seals in the 103-pound final, 12-2.
“I really put my heart and soul into this tournament,” Rabinowitz said. “That first win (championship) was definitely the hardest. This year I felt like I had a big experience advantage over my opponents.”
The biggest upset belonged to Baton Rouge Istrouma heavyweight Christopher Johnson, who was named the meet’s outstanding wrestler. The unseeded Johnson defeated three of the top four seeds en route to his championship.
Johnson beat Mandeville’s Tanner Baldus in the final with a 40-second pin after having stopped top-seeded Sam Engro of New Orleans Brother Martin, 6-2, and pinning fourth-seeded Nick Lagarbo of Covington St. Paul.
Johnson has been wrestling for only two years. He also is only the second heavyweight, and the first since Catholic’s Jeff Tanguis in 1977, to be named outstanding wrester.
“My toughest match was in the semis (against Engro),” said Johnson, who played defensive end in football. “In the finals I was looking for a hip toss because I thought his weight might not be balanced. Once I got him down, I wasn’t going to let him up.”
Track and field: Newcomer, record-setter highlight Classic
A sprinter in his first indoor meet and a record-setting pole vaulter were recognized for their achievements in the LSU High School Classic.
Cornell Hill of Baton Rouge Redemptorist was named the Boys Outstanding In-State Track Performer after winning the 55-meter dash in 6.40 seconds. He beat a talented field that featured Rynell Parson of the San Antonio Blazers and Bradley Sylve of South Plaquemines. Both were timed in 6.43.
Pole vaulter Morgann Leleux from Catholic of New Iberia was selected the Girls Outstanding In-State Field Performer after breaking the year-old Classic record. Leleux’s effort of 13 feet, 2½ inches was one-half inch better than the former record set by current LSU vaulter Rachel Laurent.
Malia Cali of Hammond St. Thomas Aquinas was named the Girls Outstanding In-State Track Performer despite having finished second in the 1,600-meter run. Cali broke both the meet and LSU Carl Maddox Field House records with a time of 4 minutes, 57.03 seconds. But so did Cory McGee of Pass Christian, Miss., who won in 4:55.7.
Joseph Carrawa of Lacassine was the Boys Outstanding In-State Field Performer with a winning pole vault of 16-0.
Soccer: Captain Sheve stops defending champ, 3-0
Second-ranked Captain Shreve upended defending Division state champion Caddo Magnet, 3-0, as sophomore Connor Randel recorded a goal and two assists.
Captain Shreve also won last year’s meeting, 1-0, in giving Caddo Magnet its only loss.
“Playing in front of a huge crowd, it was a great game,” Captain Shreve senior forward Brennan Randel said. “I'm glad we got the win, very decidedly.”
Senior midfielder Jeff Putnam scored the first goal off a header from Connor Randel before Randel set up his older brother, Brennan, for the second score.
Both teams now stand 17-2. Third-ranked Caddo hadn’t trailed in a game since losing to top-ranked New Orleans Jesuit in the finals of the St. Paul’s Holiday Classic, 4-0.
“I was expecting it to be a close game, and it was until we put those two goals in,” Captain Shreve coach Matt Smith said. “The game's a blur. I don’t even remember when we scored. We wanted to get on the board early to throw them off their game and put them under pressure. A one goal or a two goal lead means nothing in this rivalry. I’m not relaxed until the whistle blows.”
Captain Shreve goalkeeper Matt Screen recorded his 13th shutout of the season.
“Nothing was going for us,” Caddo Magnet coach Radi Baltov said. “(Shreve was) the better team today. They had a lot of players behind the ball. We just couldn’t go through it. Our combinations weren’t working. The timing and decision-making wasn’t there. We were shooting too early or too late.”
Football: Red Saints enjoy Paradise, 38-7
Michael Ford scored two touchdowns to help the Red Saints beat the Blue Grizzlies, 38-7, in the inaugural Sportsman’s Paradise Bowl between seniors n Lafayette.
Ford, of Leesville, caught a 78-yard touchdown pass from Belle Chasse quarterback Blake Matherne and scored on a 1-yard run. Ford has committed to LSU.
Dutchtown defensive lineman Richard Buckland recovered a fumble in the end zone during the Saints’ four-touchdown, first-quarter explosion.
In all, the Saints recovered six fumbles with five of them leading to 24 points. New Iberia’s Michael Lamothe, a Texas A&M commitment, recovered two fumbles.
Powerlifting: Lacey Gagnard worth more than her weight
Buckeye’s Lacey Gagnard may look small at 97 pounds, but she came up big in the inaugural Kay Fenton Memorial Power Meet at Baton Rouge Episcopal.
Gagnard lifted a total of 490 pounds in her weight class to earn distinction as one of two outstanding lifters in the girls division.
Samantha Robillard was the other outstanding performer, as she won the 198-pound class with a total of 1,030 pounds. Robillard registered 415 in the squat, 225 in the bench press and 390 in the deadlift.
Casey Mayfield of Crowley High and Chris Abide of St. Paul’s of Covington were the outstanding lifters in the boys division.
The Church Point boys had four winners: Von Deuplachain at 123 pounds, with an 840 total; Derrick Garrick at 220 pounds, with a 1,275 total; Cody Prather at 242 pounds, with a 1,260 total; and Jacob Sonnier at 275, with a 1,335 total.
Brusly had another girls winner in Lavla Jones, who took the super heavyweight class with a total of 835. Buckeye’s other girls winner was Rachel LaCombe, whose 835 total gave her the 105-pound title.
