Even Dozen: Teurlings Catholic reclaims top spot in Division II with 12th title

by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

The celebration of Teurlings Catholic’s wrestling team can appear to be an ordeal.

The Rebels are more than just the 14 wrestlers who all placed in last week’s LHSAA State Wrestling Tournament, resulting in the school’s 12th Division II state title in Bossier City.

Long-time coach Kent Masson, now in his 22nd season at the Lafayette parochial school, shows up in force on the state’s biggest stage. When the Rebels travel, they don’t do so lightly, and as a commitment to all of his wrestlers, Masson obliges the hard work and sweat of his athletes during the grind of a season with a trip to the state tournament. 

When Teurlings finally all gathered on the floor of Brookshire Grocery Arena following its 314-230.5 victory over St. Thomas More for the team title, there were 50 team members gathered taking in the moment.

“They made a commitment to us, so I made a commitment to them,” Masson said. “To get all 50 kids on the floor for the picture is a monumental task. It’s one of the best ones you could ever have.”

The anatomy of Teurlings’ 12th state title in 15 years took shape on the first of the two-day event.

The Rebels put together an astounding 31-2 record to establish a 173-133.5 lead over STM followed by Archbishop Rummel (116) and Archbishop Shaw (115).

“That’s a pretty incredible run,” Masson said of Friday’s performance. “Because of that, we built a little bit of a lead. We knew the semifinal matches were going to be the key on Day 2.”

Teurlings qualified 12 wrestlers for the semifinals, won six of those matches, and had state champions and two state runners-up.

A year after finishing second to North DeSoto, the Rebels flexed their muscles against a formidable field that included STM, Rummel (216), Shaw (199) and North DeSoto (193.5).

Junior Braeden Simoneaux (36-4) was the meet’s Outstanding Wrestler with a championship at 175 pounds. Senior Brandt Babineaux capped one of three undefeated seasons in school history with a 42-0 mark after his title at 165. Junior Alex Rozas (52-4) added a title at 120 pounds and sophomore Carter Macha (34-2) was victorious at 190. 

Moreover, the Rebels placed all 14 of their wrestlers with Brennan Young finishing second at 138, Pike Landry second at 285 and Karter Deculus third at 150.

“You’re not sure what’s going to happen because you’re relying on 15-16-year-old kids and sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to get from them on a weekend,” Masson said. “We felt confident this was going to be the best weekend that we were going to wrestle other than Louisiana Classics. The kids seemed focused. We had three outstanding practices before we left for Shreveport, and they seemed like their eyes were really on the target.”

Adding some luster to the achievement was Teurlings became the first Division II program to win a state championship, coupled with prestigious regular-season tournaments Louisiana Classics and Ken Cole, in the same season.

The Rebels concluded a season with five of 13 seniors wrestling at the state, winning a total of six meets that also included the Brusly Invitational, Jacob McMillan at Lafayette, and the Beast on the Bayou Duals at Shaw.

“North DeSoto’s going to push you, they’re strong competitors,” Masson said. “They’re going to be guys we always have tough battles with. St. Thomas More has really improved along with Archbishop Shaw and Archbishop Rummel. Then you throw everyone into the mix.”

Finding a spark in January

Teurlings found the fuel for this year’s state title run in January during the Louisiana State Duals at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner.

It was a weekend when the Rebels defeated reigning Division II state champion North DeSoto but a loss to St. Thomas More seemed to light a fire. The Cougars have been wrestling since 2011 but have grown substantially as a program over the past two years.

“That became almost like a catalyst for us to find improvement within ourselves,” Masson said. “We told our team before the season began, we knew we were going to be pretty good, but we had to avoid complacency. That weekend we were complacent, and I think they realized it. Since that loss to St. Thomas More, we used it as a baseline for getting better each and every dual meet and tournament.

“Some teams you have are really good dual meet teams and others you have are good tournament teams,” Masson said. “We won a lot of dual meets. When we lost to STM, we were a better tournament team than we were a dual meet team. I think that was obvious. When St. Thomas More beat us, we had to take a step back and say to ourselves, ‘We need to fix something, we’ll deal with it in the next couple of weeks’”.

Masson, who picked up his 300th dual meet victory in 2023, said the team performed well in a dual meet win over Division I Lafayette High and looked forward to a tri-meet with STM and Parkway before it was shelved because of cold and snow in Louisiana.

“We focused mainly on the tournaments,” he said. 

The tangible presence of five seniors – Daniel Daspit (126), Kade Leon (132), Romero, Babineaux, and Landry – helped lead a talented team of four sophomores, four juniors, and a freshman in the lineup.

Masson explained there were other capable underclassmen who couldn’t crack the lineup because of seniors contending for the same position in the lineup.

“We had some valuable senior leadership,” Masson said. “We’re getting a lot back next year and we could have had some kids in the lineup this year as underclassmen, but they couldn’t beat the senior for the spot.

Total team effort adds up to title

Babineaux, a four-time finalist, added his state championship to his previous first-place finishes in the La. Classics and Ken Cole. He finished with a major decision (16-3) in the final.

Rozas, Simoneaux, and Macha were all repeat state champions, doing so in impressive fashion.

Rozas pinned all of his opponents, including a first-round pin in 1:11 in the final, to win his third consecutive state title and didn’t allow a point last weekend. Macha also didn’t permit a point and finished with a technical fall in 3:13, while Simoneaux put the finishing touches on his Outstanding Wrestler award with a technical fall.

“That’s a pretty good number,” Masson said of his four individual state championships. “In our first title in 2011, we had eight champions and 10 finalists. We’ve had one finalist and one champion and still won state.”

Masson emphasized the role wrestlebacks – or the consolation round – can play in a team being able to solidify a state championship.

Once wrestlers have lost in the championship bracket, they’re still eligible to wrestle and add to the team’s total by winning consolation matches. 

“If a guy loses in the semifinals and comes back and gets third, he scores just about the same amount of points as a guy who reaches the finals or is a state runner-up,” Masson said. “We preach about the wrestlebacks. Come back and help us out and they do. We asked them to wrestle to their seed or one step higher.”

Daspit and sophomore Nathan Box (157) were both fourth, junior Russell Maturin (106), sophomore Lucas Guidry (215) and Leon were all fifth, junior Blaise Watson (113) and freshman Noah Macha (144) were sixth. 

“Every time in the state tournament we’ve wrestled the consolation brackets, these kids do not quit,” Masson said. “I’ve yet to have a year where the consolation matches are where we just fall apart. They wrestle hard and realize they can’t be an individual state champion, but they’re going to do everything to help this team out.”

Rivals drawn together by respect

The state championships featured several memorable moments that resonated with Masson. 

First, there was the determination of his own team, to overcome the disappointment of January’s dual meet loss and defeat STM and a field of other contenders. 

As is customary, competitors for both teams shake the hand of the opposing coach which brought STM’s Rowan Cline to Masson following a victory over TCHS’ Landry by fall in 5:08.

Cline went above and beyond, leaving Masson to appreciate his own work in creating Teurlings’ wrestling dynasty. 

“He shook my hand and gave me a hug,” Masson said of Cline. “He said thank you for creating your program because we wouldn’t have a program if it wasn’t for y’all. That’s an amazing thing for a young man to say something like that. That’s the respect I think they have for us and that we have for them as well. It’s going to be great for the next couple of years to see the rivalry grow and the respect grow between us.”

Once Teurlings’ team photo was complete, it’s tradition for the Rebels to find their ardent fan base beneath the stands for a photo.

That went a step further where Teurlings and STM, long-standing rivals since 1982, stood next to one another for a group picture alongside their two fan bases who were seated next to each other for two days.

“It was awesome,” Masson said. “While we battle on the mat we realize as a Catholic organization, we realize there’s a greater thing we have in our lives.”