BHS girls capture first-ever state title

The Brusly girls wrestling program reached a milestone Saturday when the Panthers captured their first-ever state championship at the JV Select State Tournament at Baton Rouge High School.

While not an official “state championship meet,” the event was held under that name because the Louisiana High School Athletic Association has not yet chosen to sanction girls wrestling.

Therefore, the events were held as JV events. 

LHSAA-sanctioned or not, the event marked a big step in the era for the sport at Brusly High School, head coach Jimmy Bible said. 

“The win was a milestone in our program,” he said. “We’re trying to grow girls wrestling in Louisiana.

“We went out to recruit girls and had a group come in,” Bible said. “They’ve stuck with it.”

Brusly tallied 81 points to win the tournament, while runner-up Baton Rouge High – which had 11 grapplers, the most of any team in the tourney – finished with 64. St. Amant, South Beauregard, Live Oak, Riverdale, Chalmette, Sam Houston and Acadiana and Hahnville rounded out the Top 10. 

Brusly junior Sara Daley (29-4) claimed the top spot in the 138-lb. division with a win over sophomore Emma Courville (22-5) of Plaquemine, whose school finished 12th in the event. Daley won by pinfall at the 2:42 mark.

Aniyah Veal (7-1) captured first in the 160-lb. bracket. She defeated Ahrianna Vicks (4-9) of Baton Rouge High in the third round for the victory.

Junior Hailey Wheeler (9-2) won the 220-lb. bracket for Brusly when she emerged victorious against freshman Breann Cullen (4-10) of East Ascension. Wheeler won the first round in 16 seconds and aced the second round in 26 seconds. 

Brusly junior Kaitlyn Howell (9-10) emerged runner-up in the 145-lb. weight class when she lost by pinfall to Walker junior Toni Jarreau (11-4).

“Our girls had a great season,” Bible said. “The event was very competitive, the crowd was great and they saw a lot of very good wrestling.”