North Vermilion brings home three state wrestling titles

A No. 4 seed is not suppose to win a state wrestling title. But North Vermilion’s Rhett Maturin, who was seeded No. 4 in the 132-pound weight class, did not get the memo.
Maturin, a junior, upset the No. 1 seed in the semifinal match Saturday morning to advance to the finals that night.
In an emotional 4-1 win over Lakeside’s John Watson in the final, Maturin was overcome with emotions.
“I was not expected to win.” said Maturin. “It was overwhelming. I sat down on the mat in a ball and I began to cry. I was so happy. I ran and shook everyone’s hands.”
To get to the finals, Maturin, who finished with fifth last year, had to upset the No. 1 seed. “I was shocked,” he said about the semifinal match win.
Heading into the finals, he knew if he played his cards right, he could win. He had already beat the Lakeside wrestler.
This was Maturin’s third year at the state meet. He finished second as a freshman, fifth as a sophomore and now he won it as a junior.
North Vermilion’s Gavin Becker finally got that state wrestling title he has been in pursuit of since he was a freshman.
He won the 113-pound weight class, beating Ouachita Christian’s Sam Pitts, the person he lost to last year in the same weight class.
His freshman and sophomore year, he took third place. Last year he was second and in the final match of his high school career, he won it.
“It feels great,” said Becker. “It shows that all four years of hard work finally paid off.”
Becker went into the tournament as the No. 1 seed. When he was pitted against Pitts, he was confident he could beat him.
He knew that reaching the state finals also meant this was going to be his final high school wrestling match.
“I knew this was going to be the last wrestling match I will ever wrestle. I knew I had to put it all out on the mat and perform,” Becker said. “It was amazing to finally win state, but it will also be the last time I will be on that mat again.”
Brennan Landry won his second straight state wrestling title. This year he won the 145-pound weight class. Last year he won state in the 138-pound weight class.
Landry felt a little pressure going into the finals because he was No. 1 seed.
“I knew I had to win because I did not want to let my team down and family,” said Landry.
In the finals he beat De La Salle’s Conrad Wyre, who was seated No. 2.
“The past two weeks I have been anxious and nervous,” said Landry about wrestling Wyre. “My coaches and parents kept giving me confidence. I ended up pulling through.”
Landry, who is a junior, said he is not finished winning state titles. He wants to leave North Vermilion with three.
Here are North Vermilion’s wrestlers who placed in the top five.

Weight Class
106 --- Jourdan Theall, 4th
113 --- Gavin Becker 1st
126 --- Alex Beraud 3rd
132 --- Rhett Maturin 1st
138 --- Garret Becker 4th
145 --- Brennen Landry 1st
160 --- Cooper Derouen 5th
285 --- Drake Griffin 5th

North Vermilion finished third as a team, scoring 190 points. De La Salle won the meet with 214.4 points. Brusly snuck up and took second with 194.5 points.