East Ascension to honor four 2026 hall and wall of fame inductees at homecoming

PA announcer Ricky Gautreau, LSU baseball champion Martin 'Buzzy' Haydel, goalkeeper Holly Moran and Harlem Globetrotter Lawrence Nelson form East Ascension's 2026 class.

GONZALES, La. — Four new names are going into East Ascension High School's hall of fame and wall of fame, and the school will salute its 2026 class during homecoming.

Selection standards released by EAHS separate the two honors. The wall of fame goes to people who have provided significant amounts of time or money to the Gonzales school, while the hall of fame calls for all-state or all-America recognition as a prep athlete or a playing career that reached the college or professional ranks.

Ricky Gautreau, who graduated in 1976, lettered in football and baseball before beginning decades of involvement with his alma mater. School officials point to his extensive volunteer hours and financial support, most visibly as the voice of Spartans football, working the public-address microphone at every game from 1992 through 2024. His working life included time at Triad Chemical and more than 25 years as a real estate broker in the parish. He and his wife, Susie, have four children, all of whom attended Ascension Parish Schools.

Martin 'Buzzy' Haydel, a 2005 graduate, was named the school's Student of the Year for an outgoing nature and leadership across a range of clubs and teams. At quarterback he started for two seasons, directing the Spartans to the 2003 district championship and playoff appearances in each of his final two years. Baseball defined his prep legacy: a two-time All-State pick, he batted .416 on the 2003 club that delivered the program's only state championship, claimed district 7-4A MVP honors as a junior and a senior, and helped secure three district titles while playing third base, shortstop and pitcher.

A baseball scholarship carried Haydel to LSU, where he lettered four seasons, belonged to three SEC tournament championship squads and the 2009 national title team, and hit the final home run at the old Alex Box Stadium during the 2008 Super Regional. He now works as an insurance agent, handles color commentary on LSU baseball for the LSU Sports Radio Network, and with his wife, Annie Beth, is parent to Mary Ellis and Caroline Haydel.

Holly Moran, class of 2004, still recalls roaming the field in the school's mascot costume on Friday nights and spending time at the mall, and she credits EAHS faculty and staff — coach Chris Goodall in particular — with shaping the person she became. In goal she lettered all four years in soccer and stacked up All District, All Metro and All State selections. Following her junior season, she was named Gatorade Player of the Year for Louisiana and the Advocate's Star of Stars.

Moran went on to Southeastern Louisiana University on scholarship, collecting several Southland Conference Goalkeeper of the Week awards and steering the Lions into three conference tournaments. Coaching followed at multiple levels, including assistant roles on St. Scholastica's state championship teams of 2015 and 2018, and club programs bring her in to train developing goalkeepers. Her parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews are all East Ascension graduates, and she is married to her wife, Desiree.

Lawrence Joseph Nelson Jr.'s basketball path began on the East Ascension gym floor and eventually circled the globe, a climb he ties to family, community and the values of hard work and resilience instilled during those years. After earning a scholarship to Tulane, he ranked among the best shot blockers the Green Wave have ever had, closing his college career with 181 blocks, then played professionally in Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Russia along with a stint as a Harlem Globetrotter.

Nelson and his wife, Enjoli, live in Houston, where he has moved into entrepreneurship as founder of Big Man Business and mentors the next wave of young basketball players. His induction means he and younger brother Shawn are both members of the school's hall of fame.