The Bossier City wrestling championship added Benton and Haughton to expand to the Bossier Parish championship, but an oldguard member took home the title Saturday in Bossier High’s gym.
Airline, the only Division I wrestling school in the parish, won all four of its dual matches and captured six spots on the all-parish team.
“We’re starting to peak at the right time,” said Airline coach Jerry Burton. “In years past, we’ve had two weeks off before the state championships (starts Friday in New Orleans).
“We’ve got a few kids banged up, but wrestling this weekend is a good experience.”
The Vikings beat Parkway (47-32), Haughton (50-15), Benton (48-27) and Bossier (57-24). Bossier finished in second place, beating everybody except Airline.
“The new format worked out great, and we had a high quality of wrestling today,” said Bossier coach Bo Shelton. “We saw some bright spots … but we still have some things to work on.”
Bossier beat Benton (30-26), Parkway (42-27) and Haughton (42-18).
On the all-parish team, Airline led the way with Josh Partin (113 pounds), Javarious Jones (120), Christian Walden (126), Harrison Hooper (170), Keegan Gilligan (195) and Emillio Rogers (220).
Others included Parkway’s Garrett Strozier (106), Parkway’s Nathan Pitts (132), Parkway’s Hunter Huckaby (138), Haughton’s Pearson Harbour (145), Benton’s Andre Dean (152) Benton’s Jordan White (160), Bossier’s Jalen Oliver (182) and Benton’s Chauncey Taylor (285).
Arguably the most emotional match of the day came when Parkway’s Pitts won an 11-7 decision over Airline’s Antonio Lococo.
“Overall we did all right,” said Parkway coach Emmett Beggs.
“We held five starters out that were dinged up because the state tournament is next week.
“We usually use this weekend to rest, so we could of gone in rested or gone in rusty if we didn’t wrestle today.”
Benton finished third with wins over Parkway (42-26) and Haughton (48-18) while Parkway came in fourth with a win against Haughton (48-12).
“The ones I expected to compete and do well did that,” said Benton coach Jamey Wainscott. “We had four or five guys that didn’t wrestle today, so we’ll heal up for the state tournament.”
