Jesuit’s four individual champions are (left to right) junior Perry Ganci (220), senior Paul Treuting (160), senior Nathan Koenig (152), and senior Adam Larriviere (138, sitting).

The Jesuit wrestling team finished as the LHSAA state runner-up behind state champion Brother Martin and slightly ahead of last year’s champ, Holy Cross. Four Blue Jays took home individual state championships, and one earned a state runner-up trophy.

View the Photo Gallery from the 2018 State Wrestling Championships

Adam Larriviere gets a standing ovation from the Jesuit crowd of students, parents, alumni, and friends.

Senior co-captains Adam Larriviere (138) and Paul Treuting (160) became first-time champions while senior Nathan Koenig (152) and junior Perry Ganci (220) joined the short list of back-to-back, two-time champs.

Taking state runner-up was junior Luke Eccles (132), while senior Eli Larriviere (145) earned a medal with a 3rd place finish. The six medalists and 4th-placers Sam Dreuil (106) and Thomas Arseneaux (182) represented Jesuit as the eight starters to advance to Day 2, which guaranteed them a top 6 spot on the LHSAA podium.

The Blue Jay team was in second place for the entire first day until the last round of matches, when Holy Cross scored a few consolation points to take the runner-up position. Jesuit, in third at the start of Day 2, trailed Brother Martin by 42.5 points. Since the Crusaders advanced 12 of 14 wrestlers to the semifinals, however, the second day became a battle for the runner-up trophy.

The semifinal six—Eccles, A. Larriviere, Koenig, Treuting, Arseneaux, and Ganci—performed at a premier level in the semis with only one loss. Brother Martin won half of its semifinal matches with six of 12 advancing to the first place match. Jesuit tallied the second-most finalists with its five, while Holy Cross and Airline advanced three each.

Arseneaux wrestled a heartbreaking double OT semifinal match that ended in his opponent’s favor, but he fought back in the consolations to earn 4th place and help his team win the runner-up battle.

Second of 29 competing Division I (D-I) teams earned Jesuit a spot on the LHSAA podium and a trophy. Furthermore, a runner-up finish leaves no doubt that Jesuit continues to be one of the three wrestling powerhouses in D-I.

2018 marks the fifth straight runner-up season for Jesuit and the third under head coach Sheridan Moran. For any powerhouse program, though, second is never a point of satisfaction.

Junior Perry Ganci completes a winning takedown in overtime to win the  state finals. Ganci, now a 2-time state champion, had the closest match of the finals and the toughest for him this season. His Zachary opponent had beaten Ganci earlier this season and is still the only Louisiana wrestler to do so.

Last year, Coach Moran clarified, the Blue Jays had 12 wrestlers advance to the second day of the tournament and place in the top six. This year, only eight did so.

With the runner-up trophy resting on the podium, Coach Moran addressed the student body at assembly on the morning of Feb. 19, 2018. After listing the eight placing wrestlers, he noted another clear distinction between this 2018 state tournament and last year’s. “Every member of the varsity team each won a match in the state tournament,” he said. “Without that, there’s no way that we would have brought this trophy home.”

After thanking God “for the opportunities he gave us to glorify Him,” Moran added, “…and I want to thank all of you [the students] for being a part of the Blue Jay Nation. We’ll continue to get better next season.”

On a satisfactory note, Jesuit is the only team in Division I to earn a Top 2 trophy for five straight years. In fact, the Jays are the only team to make the podium in both 2017 and 2018.

While in Bossier, Coach Moran closed his final speech to the team by reading out a poem that president John F. Kennedy always kept in his pocket:

Bullfight critics ranked in rows, Crowd the enormous Plaza full;
But he’s the only one who knows—And he’s the man who fights the bull.

The Jesuit wrestling team, led by five state finalists, certainly fought the bull this season. They faced injuries, battled back, and returned from Bossier City with a runner-up title.

See Related…

LHSAA state wrestling: Brother Martin, Teurlings, Parkway, St. Louis win titles

Final day of 2018 state wrestling championships (photos)

Individual summaries from the 2018 state tournament in Bossier City, LA:

Congratulations, Blue Jay wrestlers!