2004 Class S Tournament
At Plainville
Team results 1. Nonnewaug 170½, 2. Plainville 150½, 3. Morgan 150, 4. Derby 139½, 5. Northwestern Regional 113½, 6. Granby 108, 7. Stafford 104, 8. St. Bernard 100, 9. Griswold 92, 10. Rocky Hill 89, 11. Suffield 85.5, 12. Avon 83, 13. East Catholic 82½, 14. Windham Tech 78½, 15. Thomaston 77, 16. Canton 76, 17. Bacon Academy 54½, 18. Gilbert 51, 19. New London 43½, 20. Lyman Memorial 42, 21. Portland 39, 22. East Windsor 38, 23. Housatonic 33, 24. Terryville 28, 25. Westbrook 25½, 26. Lewis Mills 22, 27. Tolland 15, 28. Coventry 12, 29. Old Saybrook 8.5, 30. Somers 5, 31. Wamogo 3, 32. Litchfield and East Hampton 0
Individual results
103
Championship: Thanh Tran, Plainville dec. J.J. Daly, St. Bernard, 11-9; 3. Este Lara, Avon pin Tim Mandel, Northwestern, 5:00; 5. Tucker Grass, Morgan dec. Eric Kapusta, Derby, 12-5
112
Championship: Nick Cavallaro, Plainville dec. Gregg Martell, Stafford, 11-4; 3. Rob Brown, Bacon Academy dec. Dale Rollet, Suffield, 4-3; 5. Matt Brett, Northwestern dec. Steve Bertini, Morgan, 13-0
119
Championship: Jesse Cavallaro, Plainville dec. Willie Rivera, Windham Tech, 10-8, OT; 3. Joe Kelly, St. Bernard dec. Andrew Skoronski, Derby, 5-4; 5. Tony Leger, Gilbert pin Maruia Meyer, Morgan, 1:32
125
Championship: Jose Rivera, Derby dec. Paul Avena, Westbrook, 8-5; 3. Jeff Haddad, Stafford dec. Reed Timme, Avon, 6-5; 5. Matt Gineo, Tolland dec. Jeremy Metzmig, Morgan, 11-4
130
Championship: Joel Webster, Northwestern Regional dec. Josh Bristol, Canton, 20-9; 3. Eric Barthalomeu, Stafford dec. Sean Fisher, Griswold, 6-3; 5. Sam Smith, Bacon Academy dec. Ryan Gaeta, Morgan, 9-4
135
Championship: Eric Murphy, New London dec. Alex Gibson, Nonnewaug, 15-6; 3. Jared Griffin, Terryville dec. Greg Hom, Lewis Mills, 8-5; 5. Bryant Chauinard, Stafford pin James Gladue, Griswold, 2:55
140
Championship: Robert Tolk, Avon dec. Justin Mals, Plainville, 7-1; 3. Tim Scheer, Portland dec. Nick Cascone, East Windsor, 11-1; 5. Ryan Chapman, Thomaston dec. Sam Cox, Bacon Academy, 4-3
145
Championship: Jeremy Pavlik, Nonnewaug dec. James Chapman, Griswold, 4-3; 3. Ben Lane, Morgan dec. Jason LaFontaine, Thomaston, 8-3; 5. Mike Comerford, Coventry dec. Chris Nadeau, Granby, 4-1
152
Championship: Chris Marks, Northwestern Regional dec. Colby Johnstone, Suffield, 12-5; 3. A.J. Maselli, Rocky Hill dec. Mike Barre, Nonnewaug, 5-3; 5. Ted Banks, Griswold dec. Andrew Dahlman, Granby, 4-3
160
Championship: Mo Osman, Rocky Hill dec. Josh Morey, Housatonic, 2-1, 2 OT; 3. Mike Haskins, Derby dec. Brian Cramer, Morgan, 6-3; 5. Alex Rice, Thomaston dec. James Stanley, Griswold, 13-6
171
Championship: Nate Shippee, East Catholic dec. Andrew Waller, Nonnewaug, 3-2; 3. Lukas Mihaliak, Stafford pin Dylan Cyr, Morgan, 1:34; 5. Dan Nurse, New London pin Eddie Ortiz, Derby, 2:36
189
Championship: Billy Williams, Windham Tech win by criteria over Justin Fanguillo, Plainville, 2 OT; 3. Mike Sanders, Rocky Hill pin James Cody, Granby, 4:06; 5. Britt Mulready, Nonnewaug pin Kevin Hyland, Morgan, 1:56
215
Championship: Kelvin Valencia, Canton dec. Nick Venn, Granby, 7-6; 3. Mike Marino, Gilbert dec. Nick Jubrey, Suffield, 12-6; 5. Brian Loretz, East Catholic pin Mike Barre, Nonnewaug, 4:09
275
Championship: Chris Sullivan, St. Bernard pin Aaron Cardenas, Granby, 1:55; 3. Andy Dohan, Nonnewaug dec. John Strange, Suffield, 2-1; 5. Thomas Izzo, Derby default over John Strange, Suffield
Outstanding wrestler: Eric Murphy, New London
Fast Fall: Lukas Mihaliak, Stafford, 4 pins in 3:30
By GERRY deSIMAS, JR.
Connecticut Wrestling Online
PLAINVILLE, Feb. 21 -- The secret to the success of the Nonnewaug High wrestling team Saturday at the Class S championships wasn't found under the spotlight of the championship finals. It was found early in the afternoon in a sweltering gym, scattered across four mats as Nonnewaug wrestlers continued to compete and win even after their dreams of individual state titles had vanished.
The Chiefs crowned only one champion but they had seven medalwinners as they captured their fifth state championship with a 21-point victory over host Plainville, 171.5 to 150.5.
Nonnewaug senior tri-captain Jeremy Pavlik (145) hit a takedown with six seconds left in regulation to beat Griswold's James Chapman to take the lead for the first time and win a Class S title. Alex Gibson (135) and Andrew Waller (171) finished second while Andy Dohan (275) took third. Mike Barre (152) finished fourth.
"As a team, everybody pulled their weight and went farther than they or other people expected they would," Pavlik said. "They stepped it up today and it showed."
Northwestern Regional had a pair of undefeated champions. Undefeated Joel Webster (130) won his second straight Class S championship while junior Chris Marks saw a year of hard work pay off with a championship at 152 pounds.
Housatonic's Josh Morey (160) lost a heart-breaking 2-1 decision in double overtime to Rocky Hill's Mo Osman, who escaped to deny Morey the championship.
Nonnewaug won its first title since winning a pair of championships in 1996 and 1997. Plainville, which had four individual champions, had its highest finish ever. Morgan was third with 150 points, a half-point behind Plainville while Northwestern had its best-ever finish with a fifth-place finish.
"I'm very proud of them," said Nonnewaug coach David Green. "It was a team effort all the way. The kids worked real hard. Even when they lost, I told them we need you to keep wrestling and they said OK. I can't ask any more than that."
Plainville had five finalists and four individual champions. But they had no wrestlers in the consolation semifinals with the chance of competing for third to sixth place.
"We were a placewinner or two short," Plainville coach Sean Kelly said. "It is extremely disappointing that we didn't have the collective team effort that it takes to win a tournament like this."
Plainville wrestlers went 7-7 in the consolation round while Nonnewaug wrestlers were 14-10. Morgan, which had no wrestlers in the finals and finished a half-point out of second place, was 20-17 in the consolations.
Pavlik, who outlasted BL rival Jason LaFontaine of Thomaston by 9-7 in the semifinals, never led in the final against Chapman until he hit a reversal with six seconds left. Pavlik trailed 2-1 after two periods and tied the bout at 2-2 with an escape with 50 seconds left.
Webster improved to 43-0 with his 20-9 victory over Canton's Josh Bristol in the 130-pound finals. Bristol did briefly put Webster to his back and scored near fall points to the amazement of the crowd but Webster quickly got himself out of trouble to resume his control of the bout.
Marks also improved to 43-0 with his 12-5 victory over Suffield's Colby Johnstone at 152 pounds. Marks, who spent 29 days this summer at a wrestling camp in Minnesota, admitted he wasn't as sharp as he had been in previous outings but he remembered getting pinned quickly in last year's Class S finals and was a little cautious. But he was still dominant.
Tim Mandel (103) was fourth for the Highlanders while Matt Brett (112) was fifth.
"In the last few weeks, we were a lot more focused," Northwestern assistant coach Devin Schibi said.
Morey was the first Housatonic wrestler to earn a berth in the finals since 1998 thanks to a tough 4-3 semifinal victory over Derby's Mike Haskins. Morey's takedown late in the second period was the difference.
But in the finals, Morey couldn't convert a takedown against Osman, a wiry senior who was fourth in the Northwest Conference tournament a week ago. Osman took a 1-0 lead with 34 seconds left in the third period when Morey was called for stalling.
But Morey rallied with a dramatic escape with six seconds remaining to send the match into overtime. The bout was scoreless in the first 1-minute OT but Osman was able to pull off Morey's hand in the second OT for the championship-winning escape.
Gibson, who earned an emotional win over rival Greg Hom of Lewis Mills in the semifinals, couldn't handle the takedown process of New London's Eric Murphy in a 15-6 loss in the 135-pound final. Murphy, won his second straight title, was named tournament MVP.
At 171, Waller dropped a tough 3-2 decision to East Catholic's Nate Shippee, who had a three-point near fall in the second period. In the third period, Shipee successfully handcuffed Waller, who couldn't escape to tie or hit a reversal for the victory.
* * * *
The Morgan School wrestling team didn't place a single wrestler in the finals of the 2004 Class S tournament. But it was enough to lift the Huskies a half-point shy of second place, Plainville. The Huskies were third with 150 points.
The Huskies had seven wrestlers win medals led by Ben Lane, who finished third at 145 pounds. Brian Cramer (160) and Dylan Cyr (171) each took fourth.
Morgan coach Jim McCusker was pleased from the effort of his young team. "We had a few chances to get some finalists but they didn't work out," he said. "We have a lot of solid kids but not a lot of stars."
The key for the Huskies was having nine wrestlers in the consolation semifinals with a chance to finish anywhere from third to sixth place. But those nine went a combined 5-13 in the final two rounds of consolation bouts.
"We didn't win enough matches in the consolation to put some pressure on the leaders," McCusker said. "We were right there if we could stay focused. But we're young and this is the first state tournament for most of our wrestlers."
* * * *
Derby's Jose Rivera had finished third in the past two Class S Tournaments after disappointing one-point losses in the semifinals. He wasn't going to let a possible broken thumb deprive him of a state championship this year.
Rivera (125) injured his hand when he landed on the mat midway through the second period but he still was able to hold off Westbrook's Paul Avena, 8-5, to win his first state championship.
Avena, a one-man team who works with Morgan, cut Rivera's lead to 5-3 early in the second period but an escape gave Rivera a three-point lead going into the third period.
Avena quickly escaped to open the third period. But when Rivera was warned for stalling, he took about 10 seconds before he took down Avena to seize control of the match.
"He kept coming on strong," Rivera said of Avena. "But when he shot in, I spun behind."
Derby had a strong fourth place finish in the tournament with 139.5 points. Mike Haskins took third at 160 after losing a tough 4-3 decision to Housatonic's Josh Morey in the semifinals. Haskins recovered to win two straight bouts and beat Morgan's Brian Cramer for third place with a 6-3 decision.
"I'm happy with the young guys who are performing so well," Derby coach Buster Jadach said. "I never expected to be in fourth place. That is above our expectations." Six Derby wrestlers won medals, including Andrew Skoronski, who finished fourth at 119, dropping a tough 5-4 decision to St. Bernard's Joe Kelly.
* * * *
Plainville had three individual champions while New London's Eric Murphy (135) was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler after he won his second straight Class S title.
Plainville's Tranh Than (103) held off a late rally from St. Bernard's top-seeded J.J. Daly to win, 11-9 while teammate Nick Cavallaro (112) beat Stafford sophomore Rob Martell, 11-4. At 119, Plainville senior Jesse Cavallaro went to overtime but beat Windham Tech's Willie Rivera, 10-8. Rivera took down Cavallaro with two seconds left in regulation to force OT but Cavallaro got the winning takedown within nine seconds.
Plainville's Justin Fangiullo (189) thought he had earned a state title with a 2-1 decision over Windham Tech's Billy Williams. But Fangiullo was penalized a point when the referee cited him for having his hand tangled up in Williams' singlet as he desperately tried to take Fangiullo down in the final seconds. They went into double OT where Williams was able to hold Fangiullo down for 30 seconds to win by criteria.
* * * *
Canton's Kelvin Valencia won the title at 215 pounds with a 7-6 win over rival Nick Venn of Granby. Trailing by two in the third period, Valencia escaped with 50 seconds to go to trim the lead to one. With 40 seconds left in the bout, Valencia took down Venn for the decision and controlled him the rest of the way.
