TITAN’S GRAVELLE EARNS ALL AMERICAN HONORS

      Louisiana was  represented in the Asics National Schoolboy Championships in Green Bay Wisconsin during the 4th of July Weekend by only one wrestler, Austin Gravelle of the Ascension Titans Wrestling Club. Accompanied by his father and mother, Kent and diane Gravelle, Austin made the trek to Green Bay to compete in both the Greco_Roman and Freestyle Schoolboy National Championships. Austin, who will be a freshman at Dutchtown High School this fall, narrowly missed All American Status in the Greco-Roman Tournament, but surprised the field to earn seventh place in the Freestyle Tournament completed Saturday.

     With none of the Ascension Coaches able to attend the tournament, Kent Gravelle was certified as a Copper Level Coach with USA Wrestling prior to the tournament and was thus able to coach his son from the corner of the mat. Cody Hesser, Austin’s Ascension Wrestling Coach , noted that this was an amazing accomplishment for a first year wrestler. “Our Schoolboy class team might have even done well at the Schoolboy Duals this year, since we had several of our wrestlers make All American in folkstyle as well.” Hesser is an internationally utilized official who was refereeing a tournament in Canada.

     Gravelle opened the Greco Roman tournament by dropping matches to Kyle Begin of Minnesota (8-11) , 6-13) and Payne Hayden of Michigan (0-6), (3-10). The two losses in Greco-Roman eliminated the Titan and he watched his opponents finish  fourth and sixth in the tournament. The Freestyle tournament looked to be the same story at first. Grady Gambrall of Iowa stopped Gravelle (5-3), (7-0) and Logan Addis of Arizona added another loss for Gravelle by downing him (5-1), ( 6-0). By surviving without a fall scored against him, however, the Titan earned a shot at fourth place in his pool which would vault him into the medal rounds. In an exciting rematch with Hayden of Michigan, Gravelle dropped the first round (8-2), then stunned his opponent with a quick fall in :41 of the second period. The win sent him into the medal match for seventh place against Bj Gott of Michigan. With time running out in the first period, Gravelle caught Gott on his back and pinned him in 1:56 to earn seventh place and All-American status.

     The result completed what can only be described as a stellar year for the young wrestler. In only his first year of wrestling, Austin Gravelle won the Louisiana State Kids  Folkstyle Championship, the Louisiana State Freestyle and Greco-Roman Championships, second and third in the Southern Regional Freestyle and Greco-roman championships in Charleston, south Carolina , and becomes the seventh member of the Ascension Titans to earn All American honors.

     Other All Americans awarded from the Titans include 2006 All American Kaleb Faul, and 2007 All Americans Donovan Perkins, Zack Hill, Scott Bosworth, Travis Hasselbeck, and Zach Eunice. (Eunice will represent Louisiana in the National Junior Championships later this month in Fargo, North Dakota)