2 weeks Ago
Teurlings Catholic’s Brandt Babineaux tries to gain position for the takedown against St. Thomas More’s Sawyer Pugh in the 165 pound championship during the 52nd Louisiana Classic at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center on Saturday, January 18, 2025 in Gonzales, Louisiana. Babineaux won with a major decision.
. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Longtime Teurlings Catholic wrestling coach Kent Masson couldn’t help but think back to a conversation he had with former Lee High coach Bill Bofinger 22 years ago after his Rebels won the Louisiana Classic team trophy for the first time Saturday in Gonzales. “I told him then that I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to go to this tournament, because I didn’t know what we could do,” Masson said.
“Now, 22 years later, look at where we are.” The 52nd Annual Louisiana Classic — formerly known as the Lee High Invitational — is special because it combines all three divisions in one tournament, unlike state. It was the first time Teurlings won the team title at the Louisiana Classic after being the runner-up in 2021 and 2023.
“We didn’t know what it was going to take until about seven years ago,” Masson said. “We started finishing in the top five every year. We knew it would take that one special team, and this year was the year we have that special team.
“Winning the Classic is the ultimate state championship. It’s a measuring stick to where you are with the rest of the state.” The Rebels are also the first Division II school to ever do it.
“That’s incredible to me, but teams like Brother Martin and Jesuit and Holy Cross and Catholic High are all boys schools with 1,000 to 1,200 boys in their school,” he said. “We’re a co-ed school, and we have maybe almost 400 boys. That speaks volumes to the work ethic of the boys on this team.
” The Rebels finished with 2571/2 points, besting runner-up Jesuit (253 1/2) and Brother Martin in third with 228. The other Acadiana area teams faring well were: St. Thomas More in seventh with 160 1/2 points, Acadiana 10th with 126 1/2 points and Lafayette High 16th with 100 1/2 points.
Teurlings achieved the feat by getting typical performances from its leading wrestlers as well as help from some surprising sources. Winning individual honors were Alex Rozas (43-4) at 120 pounds, Brennan Romero (37-7) at 138, Brandt Babineaux (33-0) at 165 and Braeden Simoneaux (22-4) at 175. Carter Macha (25-2) was second at 190.
“Coming into this tournament, I looked at the talent we had and felt like out of all the years, I felt this group had one of the best chances to actually win it,” Masson said. “With so much talent across the state in the senior class alone, I kind of looked at it as we have some chances in some weight classes to score a lot of points. “That’s exactly what happened.
Our seniors stepped up and we did a really good job in some other weight classes.” The Rebels didn’t just win, they won impressively. Rozas got a pin in 26 seconds over Catholic’s Alec Sonnier at 120 pounds.
Babineaux got a 14-2 major decision at 165 and Simoneaux a 15-3 major decision at 175. Romero’s 3-2 decision over Aiden Krass of East Ascension at 138 was really a feather in the Rebels’ cap. “He was seeded fourth in the tournament and we knew he’d do well, but we weren’t sure how far he could get,” Masson said.
“When he won his semifinals match, we said, ‘He’s going to have a really tough finals match.’ But we felt like if he could get some offense going, he could do really well. In the third round, he took some chances with some shots and was able to get a couple of takedowns.
” Masson praised Kade Leon at 132 pounds, saying he “probably had the best weekend I’ve seen him wrestle,” and sophomore Nathan Box came within one match of placing at 157 pounds. “Put all of those guys together and they wrestled so well as a group,” Masson said. Although their teams might not have finished nearly as high as Teurlings, several other Lafayette Parish standouts brought home impressive individual honors.
Southside’s Zane Blanchard (37-0) was first at 106 pounds after pinning Chalmette’s Hasan Kahla in 2:25 and Acadiana’s Brayden Forman (38-4) was first at 150 pounds with a major-decision, 14-5 win over Jesuit’s Isaac Orillion. Acadiana’s Ozias Gray (44-1), a runner-up, lost for the first time all season at 126 pounds to Jesuit’s Bodi Harris in a tight 9-6 decision. St.
Thomas More’s Sawyer Pugh was second to Babineaux at 165 in a 14-2 major decision and Cougars teammate Jonas Rebstock (35-6) finished third at 126 after beating Catholic’s Mark Evans, 4-1. “I just found it amazing that we only scored points in 12 out of 14 weight classes and we still won it,” Masson said. “Jesuit scored points in all 14 weight classes.
That kind of tells you we wrestled so well on the weekend.”.
