Warriors Open New Season

The Warrior Wrestling team opened the season at the 4th Annual Warrior Open. There were some exciting matches and the Warriors showed the true "Warrior Spirit" throughout the day. I was proud of the effort and fighting spirit. We have a long way to go to recah our goals at the end of the season. If this team continues to compete the way they did this weekend then we are well on our way to a special season. Thanks again to all of the parents, wrestlers and other teams that attended our tournament. I hope that everyone enjoyed the Warrior Open.  

112lbs. Dylan "Corndog" Corsentino - Dylan entered his first tournament against Varsity competition. Dylan did not win a match, but he fought valiantly and avoided being pinned in his 2 matches. I know Dylan will notch his first win soon.

112lbs. Charles "Chucky" Morgan - Charles started his Varsity season with a bang winning his first match of the season by fall. He then lost to eventual champ Austin Becnel (Cath). Charles fought back with 3 straight wins 2 of which came by fall over Sidney Rodriguez (Cath) and Jordan Hernandez (Live Oak). Charles then wrestled a great match posting a 4-0 decision over Michael Kron (Cath) to reach the consolation finals. There he had to forfeit because of the 5 match rule.

119lbs. Ben "Big Willy" Willeford - Ben is driven this season and is looking to make his marrk early. He wasted no time pinning his first 3 opponents in the first round. That led to a rematch of a city semi-final match a year ago against Christopher Boyter of St. Amant. 25 seconds into the 2nd period Ben pinned Boyter to make the finals. There he met Jesuit's Brett Lacour. Brett wrestled a great match, but Ben came away with a narrow 12-11 victory.

125lbs. Ryan "Web" Weber - Ryan had a tough draw at 125 and went 1-2 on the weekend. We are looking for big things from Ryan. I am sure in the coming weeks we will see some big things from Ryan.

130lbs. Stephen Dupuis - Stephen also went 1-2 wrestling up a weight class. He did notch a victory by pin over Comeaux's Abram Sellers. Stephen will probably be moving down to 125.

135lbs. Dustin Murphy - Dustin made his debut at the Warrior Open and wrestled one of the top guys in the state at 130 in Dutchtown's Austin Gravelle. Dustin made a good showing, but unfortunately he did not get a win. He'll keep working and will get that first win.

135lbs. William Seefield - Will came to us in the summer and has made great progress in that time. Will went 1-2 but he did garner his first win and it was by pin over Chris Cole (Live Oak).

140lbs. Landon Carr - Landon went 4-1 before having to give the 3rd place match to teammate Brock Portier due to the 5 match rule. Brock did however pin Landon earlier in the day giving Landon his only true loss in the tournament. Landon won 2 by fall over Joseph LeBlanc (Teurlings) and Chase Bergeron of (Plaquemine) he also had a tech fall and a decision.

140lbs. Michael Morris - Michael lost a heart breaker 10-9 to Ross Fontenot (Cath) in his first match of the year. He was unable to overcome that loss and went 0-2 for the weekend. Moving up 4 weight classes from a year ago Michael is still adjusting to the new middle weight competition. He will soon be back to his winning ways.

140lbs. Brock "Sidney" Portier - Brock went 4-1 for the weekend including 2 pins. One came over teammate Landon Carr. The 5 match rule eliminated the need for Brock to wrestle Landon again for 3rd. These two will battle each other in the room all year. At the end of the year we could see big things from both of them.

145lbs. Mark Bueche - Mark went 2-2 this weekend. He notched one pin and had a major over Patrick Analoro (Cath). Mark could make a difference in the middle weights for us this season. We need a good showing all year from this young man.

160lbs. Keif Rushing - Keif has only been with us a short time, but is making great strides. He went 1-2 in his first varsity competition. He did get his first career victory over Joey deGeneres (Cath) by pin. Watch this young man grow for us this year.

189lbs. Chase "ears" Dunlap - Chase came to wrestle without having a day of practice. He played in St. Michael's football game on Friday night and after they were eliminated he showed up Saturday morning to wrestle. All he did was make the finals and take 2nd place in the tournament. Chase pinned his first 2 opponents Brian Blanchard (Plaquemine) and Aaron Arton (Teurlings). Need a big year out of this young man.

215lbs. Grant "Moose" Breeland -  Grant had a great weekend winning 4 of his 5 matches by pin in the first minute of each match. This earned him 3rd place honors in his first Varsity competition ever.

215lbs. Michael "Big Bear" Borne - Michael also had a good weekend taking 4th place. Michael had 2 pins and went 3-2 over the weekend. He lost to 1st place finisher Jake Krousel and teammate Grant Breeland who finished 3rd.

285lbs Steven " Dino" Scardina - Another football player that came in after a late night finish to the football season. Dino won his first two matches in style pinning both opponents to earn a 1st place finish at the Warrior Open.

Ben Willeford 

All-American

 Senior Ben Willeford returned from the ASICS/Vaughan Junior & Cadet National Championships as an All-American. In the Greco-Roman part of the event Ben wrestled his way to a fifth place finish. In the fifth place match he defeated highly regarded Tanner Moon (Alabama). After losing the first period 0-7. Ben worked hard in the second period to gain a 3-1 win. Tied 1-1 going into the third period Ben dug deep. He scored late in the period to secure a 5-1 decsion for the period and secured All-American status. He was the only All-American from the state of Louisiana this season. Everyone associated with the Warrior Wrestling Program is proud of Ben's accomplishments. I will be trying to post the video soon.

9 All-State Wrestlers for Warriors

112lbs. Ben "Willey" Willeford- All Ben did was win his second straight State title. He ran through the competition at the State Tournament. Chris Kennady forfeited to Ben in the first round. Jacob Martin of Teurlings Catholic went down in just 1:42. #4 Ethan Nicosia had an even rougher time in the semis where he got blitzed in just 39 seconds. That put Ben in his second straight State Finals match. He left little to chance and scored early and often taking Shoma Nakano down at will. Just 31 seconds into the 2nd period Ben pinned Nakano in a tight cradle securing his second straght title.

119lbs. Tres' "Batman" Gravois- Tres' wrestled very well at the State Tournament. His first match was against the #1 seeded Brandon Surrency. Brandon struggled to take Tres' down and Tres' made some good offensive moves, but came up short in a 5-0 decision. Disappointed but not defeated Tres' had to wrestle #4 Cody Pilotte (Holy Cross). A vey competitive match took place and Tres' worked hard for six minutes to securing a 3-2 victory. In the consolation semis Tres' met #3 Phillip Miller (Teurlings) he dropped a 9-1 decision but came back to pin #6 Mack Brown (Benton) to take 5th as an unseeded wrestler.

125lbs, Landon "Jukebox" Carr- Landon had a tough go of it as he was extremely sick all week and entered the tournament with a high fever. After pinning Jace Meyers (Belle Chasse) in the opening round Landon dropped a 13-8 decision to Roy Mistretta (Holy Cross). Landon then rattled off two victories in the consos against Davodreck Davis (Bossier) 9-4 and Warren Brown (Pearl River) 0:35. He then dropped matches to Alex Flores (Haughton) and Louis Chambers (Riverdale) to finish 6th.

130lbs. Brock "Sidney" Portier- Brock entered the tournament as the #3 seed and had to face defending state champ Tim Scanlan (Holy Cross) in his first match. The butterflies took over and Brock dropped a 10-4 decision. Brock came back like a house of fire in the consos and spanked Brad Harris (Live Oak) 0:55 and Jeremiah Stewart (Istrouma) 2:10. That set up a consolation semi match up with 2008 State runner-up Stefen Valencia (Shaw). Brock wrestled well, but lost a 9-5 decision. That set up a rematch with familiar rival Cade LeBlanc (Zachary). Brock fought his heart out and was not to be denied winning a 9-8 decision.

135lbs. Hayden "Paco" Serio- Paco was a welcome addition to the team. He started the tournament off well with a pin over Joel Bourge (Riverdale) in 2:29. This put him in the path of eventual State Champ and #1 seed Blaise Pertuit (Shaw). Paco dropped that match. but was determined to fight on in the consolation bracket. There he met #7 Lance Allison (Parkway) where he worked out a nice 6-1 decision. Next up was #4 Mike Zeibol (Holy Cross) Paco lost in the match 8-2 ending his short career one match short of an All-State finish.

140lbs. Jared "JD" Dietrich- Jared started his tournament with two pins against Chandler Padgett (Parkway) 4:49 and Frank Jurisich (Holy Cross) 3:09. That put Jared in the semis against #1 and eventual State Champ Scotty Miller (Teurlings). Jared got caught early and lost that match. Unfortunately he dropped his next match 8-6 to Roderick Aguillard (Tara) after giving up points late in the match. He redeemed himself in his next match ending his season and career with a pin against Zach Malone (Benton).

145lbs. Tyler "Boo" Boudreau- Tyler's first match was against #3 Nikolas Michael (Holy Cross). Little did we know at the time that Michael would win the State Championship. Tyler came back to pin Barry Bryant (Riverdale) in 3:30 before being pinned by Dustin Fooshee (Live Oak). That left Tyler one match short of All-State honors.

152lbs. Cameron "Cameron" Gibson- Cameron pinned Ryan Anderson (Belle Chasse) in the opening round of the tournament. He then dropped a match to Corey Levey (Zachary). In the consos Cameron notched wins against Tyler Brown (Live Oak) and Zack Comeaux (Teurlings) before dropping his next two finishing 6th and garnering All-State honors.

160lbs. Miles "Greensplatt" Greenblatt- Miles found himself in the only 32 man bracket of the tournament as the #5 seed. He made quick work of Melvin Lyons (Pearl River) pinning him 13 seconds into the 2nd period. That set up a match between #4 and #5 Dylan Leblanc (Live Oak) kept his seeding true handing Miles a 17-9 loss. Miles came back and pinned Justin Watson (Belle Chasse) in 1:26 before grinding out a great 3-2 decision Romalice Thomason (Lee). #2 Jason Rucker was waiting for Miles in the conso semis. Miles put up a good fight before losing 14-8. Miles ended his season on a high note, garnering All-State honors, with a 5th place finish pinning Chris Pastrana in just 1:38.  

171lbs. Marshall "the running man" Leavoy-  High expectations followed Marshall to his final State Tournament. After 2 years of disappoinment in the State Finals Marshall wanted to end his career on the highest of notes. Marshall stepped up first against Austin Rouyea (Live Oak). Marshall controlled the whole match before pinning Rouyea 42 seconds into the final round. That set up a semi-final match against upset minded Herbert Fisher (Shaw). Fisher beat both the #4 and #5 seeds to make the semi-finals and wanted to continue the run of upsets. Marshall would have none of it and pinned Fisher in 3:20 securing his third straight finals appearance. #3 Christian Chetta (Holy Cross) was another upset minded wrestler after pinning #2 Daniel Doran (Haughton) in a mere 49 seconds. Marshall wanted to leave the mat after a dominating performance and he did just that. He controlled that match the entire time not giving Chetta a chance to breathe. After amassing a large lead Marshall capped off a great career pinning Chetta in the center of the mat 32 seconds into the last round.

189lbs. Chase "ears" Dunlap- #4 Chase pinned his first opponent Austin Barnes (Riverdale) in a quick 37 seconds before dropping a match to Mitchell Haughton (Bossier). Chase fought back through the consolation bracket winning a tough 4-0 decision over Cody Copes (Notrhwood) and pinning Justin Alexander (Northside) 1:39 to make the semis. There he met #3 Clint Crowson (Live Oak) who Chase had lost two twice previously. Chase put on a dominating performance and won the match 7-1. That set up a rematch with Mitchell Haughton. Chase was ahead late in the match when a mistake cost him a top 3 finish. Only a sophomore he garnered All-State honors.  

215lbs. Stephen "Dino" Scardina- Stephen came to us late in the season and made an immediate impact. The team rallied behind him and he wrestled well. Stephen went 1-2 at the State Tournament, but gained some valuable experience. We are counting on him next season and expect him to be in the hunt for a State Title.

285lbs. Ryan "Z" Zeller- Ryan was another late addition to the team. Even with only one match before the State Tournament Ryan earned us valuable points and added excitement to the team. Ryan beat John Keller (Riverdale) 18-8 in a takedown war. Ryan took him down at will. Ryan had a tough draw and lost his next two to the #3 and #4 seeds. He was competitive for only having 2 weeks of practice. With Dino and Ryan in our line-up next season we are a dangerous team.