Community + Character = State Crowns

By News Staff on Thursday, February 26, 2026
Coach reflects on a championship built the Basile way
  • Sometime the action of the coaches on the edges of the wrestling mat are just as intense as the maneuvers of the wrestlers, themselves, as is obvious in the photos above of Coach Ben Bertrand as he cheered on his Bearcats during the recent La. High School Wrestling Tourney.
    Sometime the action of the coaches on the edges of the wrestling mat are just as intense as the maneuvers of the wrestlers, themselves, as is obvious in the photos above of Coach Ben Bertrand as he cheered on his Bearcats during the recent La. High School Wrestling Tourney.
    By: DARREL LEJEUNE LSN Editor When the Bearcats captured their seventh state championship on Feb. 7, Head Coach Ben Bertrand’s first thoughts were not about trophies or banners, but about the people back home. “I’m just happy that we can put on and perform for the community of Basile,” Bertrand said. “They are so supportive that it means everything to be able to deliver that to them...

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