KENNER – For the first time in more than 20 years, a team from New Orleans won’t have ownership of the Division I wrestling championship.

By Bradley Handwerger / WWL-TV.com

Brother Martin's Nick Shields picks up Mandeville's Casey Perino in a Division I, 125-pound bout. Shields won his third state championship in a row.

Despite roaring to the front thanks to the afternoon wrestleback session, Jesuit couldn’t hold off Catholic-Baton Rouge in the championship round.

Catholic earned 214 points to Jesuit’s 210, and Brother Martin ended third with 199 points. Rummel was fourth with 184 and Mandeville was fifth with 127 points.

Jesuit led by nine points over Catholic heading into the final round of matches, this after coming from nearly 20 points down after Saturday morning’s semifinal round.

The Blue Jays earned points in the consolations, winning third place in the 112-, 130-, 171- and 285-pound divisions, and also gained points via fifth-place finishes in the 125-, 145-, 152- and 215-pound divisions.

But in the end, Jesuit still had to rely on wrestlers from Brother Martin, Rummel and Comeaux to put down Catholic. Though Comeaux did its part, it was too much to ask of Jesuit’s New Orleans rivals.

“You want to control your own destiny,” Jesuit head coach Carlos Bertot said. “You want to rely on your guys. There’s always upsets in the tournament. You don’t want to leave it up to other teams.”

Yet, that’s what Jesuit did. With only two finalists to Catholic’s six, the Blue Jays needed the Bears to at the very least win only one more final than they did. But it wasn’t to be, as Catholic wrestlers defeated Brother Martin in the 112- and 119-pound classes and took down Rummel in the 152-pound class.

And now, New Orleans’ ownership of the team Division I trophy is dust. Jesuit won 14 titles – including 11 in a row – from 1988 through this year, while Brother Martin claimed the other titles in that stretch.

All wasn’t bad for New Orleans area schools, however. While Brother Martin wasn’t able to defend its team title, Nick Shields earned his third individual title in a row, defeating Mandeville’s Casey Perino in the 125-pound division. He also placed second his freshman year.

Nevertheless, that wasn’t enough to take the sting away from not taking back-to-back team titles.

“It was kind of fun, but I really wanted to win the team title,” said Shields, who has seen his college recruitment take off this year. “It’s a little bittersweet and I’m kind of bummed out.”

“The kid is unbelievable,” Brother Martin head coach Matt Lambert said. “They don’t come around like that very often. His drive and work ethic are what separate him and it’s going to be what makes him successful on the next level.”

By Bradley Handwerger / WWL-TV.com

Holy Cross' Tim Scanlan celebrates his win in the Division II, 125-pound class finals. Scanlan defeated Shaw's Stefen Valencia for the freshmen's first title.

Then there was Holy Cross’ Tim Scanlan. No individual showed more emotion following a win than did the tiny-mite freshman, who beat Shaw’s Stefan Valencia in the 125-pound class of Division II.

Despite falling into an early deficit, Scanlan never gave up, keeping with what his coaches told him prior to the match.

“I listened to my coaches and stuck to the game plan,” said Scanlan, Division II's most outstanding wrestler as voted by the coaches. “I stayed aggressive and on the offensive.”

Never did Scanlan think he would be in this position so early in his career.

“It was unbelievable,” he said. “It’s hard to describe. Coming in as a freshman, it’s a dream come true.”

Shaw earned five individual titles, though the number could have been higher as the Eagles placed nine wrestlers in the finals compared to Northside’s five. But Northside took four third-place finishes to go with its four first-place finishes while Shaw had no one in the wrestlebacks.

Northside defeated Shaw 236 to 229. No other school was close. Not bad for a program that only wrestles in nine divisions and not all 14.

“Nine kids chasing 14 and we almost have them – I couldn’t be any prouder of my kids,” Shaw head coach John Cassreino said.

Still, he would have liked to have placed first despite the limited wrestlers.

“We just needed to get about seven or eight (wins in the finals) and that didn’t happen,” he said.

But the story of the night was Catholic’s breakthrough in Division I.

“Catholic High was extremely deep. They were tough,” Brother Martin’s Lambert said. “That’s what it takes.”

In Division III, Brusly cleared the field by 135 points, finishing with 289 to Redemptorist’s 154. Basile had 129.5 to place third.

New Orleans Area Individual Titles

Division I

Nick Shields, 125-pound class (Brother Martin); Johnny Calcote, 130-pound class (Rummel); Andrew Casadaban, 135-pound class (Brother Martin); Tony Suarez, 140-pound class (Rummel); Ben Dussouy, 171-pound class (Brother Martin); Travis Burke, 189-pound class (Rummel); Keith Schulz, 215-pound class (Mandeville)

Division II

Raymond Savoy, 112-pound class (Shaw); Blaise Pertuit, 119-pound class (Shaw); Tim Scanlan, 125-pound class (Holy Cross); John Dantagnan, 130-pound class (Shaw); Alex Rutledge, 145-pound class (Shaw); Steven Blair, 285-pound class (Shaw)

Division III

Alex Turgeon, 140-pound class (Fisher)