St. Rose’s Travis Burke shines his way to first place in his division at the LHSAA State Wrestling Tournament
St. Rose’s Travis Burke has more than just a good reason to pat himself on the back. After all, this Archbishop Rummel High School senior snagged first place in the 189-pound category last weekend at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s State Wrestling Tournament.Burke, who started wrestling in eigth grade, says that he was excited to win first place in his weight group and isn’t shy about giving credit where credit is due – to his determination to train and to always stay focused and give 100 percent.
“I’ve trained really hard for the past five years, even club wrestling during the off season,” said Burke.
“Last year I placed second at the state tournament in the 215 weight class, so to actually place first this year is a dream come true.”
As a freshman at Rummel, Burke wrestled on the varsity team at the LHSAA tournament in the 152 weight class. That year his team placed second in the state.
But it wasn’t until his junior year did Burke take home a victory of his own at state.
“Last year, I wrestled in the 215-pound weight class and placed second in the state,” said Burke. “It was an amazing feeling to win my division.”
And beating out wrestlers from all across the state in the 2008 tournament isn’t the only accomplishment Burke should be proud of, he’s also racked up several other notable trohpies.
In mid-January, Burke took first in the Lee High Invitational, which is highly regarded as a preview to the state match up, when he defeated Brother Martin’s Justin Loehn 2-1 in the 189 weight class.
Burke repeated that victory at the District 10-5A championship by pinning Loehn with 1:15 left in the first round and securing his division.
Burke found Loehn off his game that day when he caught him in a reversal, threw him on his back and was able to pin him.
Burke was one of Rummel’s three top-seeded wrestlers in Divsion I. He joined the ranks of Johnathan Dupre in the 112-pound group and Bernie Dupuy in the 152-pound group.
Travis Burke is the son of Steven Terry Burke, and plans to attend college this fall, but says that wrestling may not be in his future.
“At this time, I do not have any plans to further my wrestling career,” said Burke.
“Although I will still be involved with wrestling by assisting the coaches at Rummel.”
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