The Greater Baton Rouge Wrestling Championship was held in Livingston Parish for the first time ever, but the winner of the 41st annual event was a familiar juggernaut.
Baton Rouge Catholic scored 245.5 points en route to easily capturing its eight consecutive title. Baton Rouge St. Michael was a distant second with 198 points. Live Oak, which hosted the meet at Denham Springs, placed fifth with 76.5 points.
"We started off a little sluggish in the early rounds," Catholic coach Tommy Prochaska said, "but I thought we picked up and had some nice performances in the finals. Zach Louis got us off to a good start and we just went from there."
Louis began the final round with a 17-2 technical-fall victory over St. Michael’s Charles Morgan. The Bears then proceeded to win seven of the remaining 13 matches with no other school winning more than one. Catholic actually lost at 119 pounds in what Prochaska said was "one of the best (matches) I’ve ever seen in city meets."
St. Michael’s Ben Wellford, who set a state career pins record earlier this season, improved to 58-1 with a 7-5 overtime victory over Blake Ashford. Ashford was the only non-No. 1 seed in the finals. Catholic’s J.P. Luckett pinned Like Oak’s Clint Crowson at 189 pounds to win both his third city title and the Outstanding Wrestler trophy in the upper weight classes.
Catholic’s Michael Love claimed a forfeit victory at 171 pounds to hike his record to 43-0. Brusly’s Chris Couty was unable to face Love in the finals after Couty pulled a hamstring in his semfinal victory.
History repeats itself
Airline won its second consecutive Northwest Louisiana regional championship by one point, as it edged Bossier City rival Parkway, 170-169. Airline’s Matt Rabinowitz was one of his school’s five individual champions during the competition at Shreveport Calvary Baptist Academy.
Rabinowitz, who won at 119 pounds, shared Outstanding Wrestler honors in the lower weight classes with 125-pound champion Antonio Rivera of Shreveport Evangel Christian Academy. Shreveport Byrd's Dylan Rothell won the 189-pound title en route to being named the Outstanding Wrestler in the upper weight classes.
Boys basketball: Gill enjoys record performance
Maurepas senior Demetri Gill scored a school-record 55 points in leading the Wolves to an 82-79 overtime victory over Baton Rouge Hosanna Christian Academy.
Gill’s effort followed a 46-point outburst in a 10-point victory over Mt. Hermon. Gill is averaging 37 points and 12 rebounds in five district games, with the Wolves having avenged their only district loss in beating Hosanna Christian. Gill made the first of two free throws to complete his scoring against Hosanna Christian. Hosanna Christian rebounded after Gill missed his second attempt but didn’t have enough time to get off a shot.
"He just does such a great job around the rim," Maurepas coach Evan Balfantz said of Gill. "He has such good footwork and can go either right or left. He uses his body very well.
Because of Hosanna’s aggressive defense, Balfantz said he told Gill "to attack the goal. And he had to work for every point." Gill's total broke the previous school record of 48, which belonged to Jerry Patterson. Gill recently was selected to play in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association-Louisiana High School Coaches Association All-Star Game.
Girls soccer: Defending champion starts off right
After a somewhat disappointing regular season, defending Division 1-Class 5A state champion Covington St. Scholastica opened the playoffs with a 1-0 victory over Slidell Northshore. Emily Descant scored the game’s only goal from about 5 yards out after a corner kick with 5:30 left created a scrum in front of the Panthers’ net. The ball bounced off two Northshore defenders before Descant fired her game-winner into the net.
"Our record wasn't what we thought it should have been, but that doesn't matter anymore," said senior Camille Shepherd of 12th-seeded St. Scholastica’s 10-7-1 record-season record and third-place District 7-1 finish. "We're taking inspiration from what we did last year and using it as motivation for the rest of the season."
Northshore, which split two regular-season games with St. Scholastica, finished 9-8 overall.
Volleyball: Veteran coach honored
Mary Cavell was inducted into the Louisiana Volleyball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame during ceremonies in Baton Rouge.
During her 19-year career, Cavell has won the 2008 Division III state championship and six state runner-up titles. She began this season with a 460-209 overall record, including six consecutive trips to the state finals beginning in 2000. That’s quite an accomplishment for a program that Cavell said was little better than a junior high school when she took over in 1991.
"The 1998 team … brought us to that next level," she said. "It was a good group of kids, and they got us over that hump. They won a playoff match and got us to the semifinals the first time. After that we just kept working towards that championship."
Cavell chose former E.D. White volleyball coach and athletic director Eddie Cole to present her at the ceremonies.
