2009 Class L tournament
At Bristol Central
Team results -- 1. Fairfield Warde 203.5; 2. New Milford 163.5; 3. Bristol Central 147.5; 4. Platt 131; 5. Hall 123; 6. Newington 121; 7. Daniel Hand 109.5; 8. Middletown 108.5; 9. Bristol Eastern 108.5; 10. Woodstock Acad. 90; 11. Pomperaug 87; 12. Conard 85; 13. Masuk 69; 14. Fitch 69; 15. Farmington 69; 16. East Lyme 68; 17. Wethersfield 67.5; 18. Fairfield Ludlowe 64; 19. New Canaan 50; 20. Maloney 48; 21. Bunnell 31; 22. Darien 22; 23. Wilton 21; 24. Branford 18; 25. Norwalk 14; 26. Torrington 9; 27. Weaver 7; 28. Notre Dame-WH 0
Individual results
103
Championship: Ross Spencer, East Lyme def. Andrew Chase, Bristol Eastern, 10-0; 3rd Place: Conor Kirkegard, New Milford def. Cameron Barnard, Fairfield Warde, 4-3; Fifth Place: Alexander Tresselt, Maloney def. Mohsin Raza, Newington, 4-3
112
Championship: Victor Ekpenyong, Middletown def. Evan Fraser, Fairfield Warde, 6-3; 3rd Place: Garrett Gitterman, Maloney def. Paul Gutierrez, Conard, 9-2; Fifth Place: Joshua Dess, Bristol Eastern def. Ryan Ahearn, Pomperaug, Pin 2:16
119
Championship: Eric Orrell, Farmington def. Marshall Simpson, Conard, 5-1; 3rd Place: Nick Amorando, New Milford def. Edward Carroll, Daniel Hand, 8-7; Fifth Place: Domenic Tenan, Bristol Eastern def. Brandon McBreairty, Fairfield Warde, 21-5
125
Championship: Ian McAllister, Fairfield Warde def. Nestor Rivera, Newington, 9-7; 3rd Place: Ryan Carbonell, Bristol Central def. Diego Perez, Wethersfield, 7-0; Fifth Place: Erik Francks, Platt def. Andrew Golden, New Milford, 13-8
130
Championship: Nicholas Cyr, Bristol Central def. Bobby Rigilano, Fairfield Warde, 9-7; 3rd Place: Patrick Michael, Branford def. Roberto Solano, Conard, 3-2; Fifth Place: Nikolas Moreschi, Platt def. Andrew Gotowala, Newington, 5-4
135
Championship: Curtis Watkins, Fairfield Warde def. Robert Caleca, Pomperaug, 7-1; 3rd Place: Kyle Nunez, Newington def. Brandon Mals, Bristol Eastern, 4-3; Fifth Place: Justin Beers, Fitch def. John Jongbloed, Daniel Hand, 11-0
140
Championship: Ryan Clarke, East Lyme def. Reese Denu, Pomperaug, Pin 1:50; 3rd Place: Alexis Hidalgo, Hall def. Ryan Kuska, Masuk, 11-4; Fifth Place: Eric Anderson, Daniel Hand def. Seth Vose, Bristol Central, 9-4
145
Championship: Justin Scalise, Hall def. Luke Andrade, New Milford, 7-0; 3rd Place: Michael Bove, Woodstock Acad. def. Cameron Gonzalez, Fitch, Pin 4:25; Fifth Place: Zachary Flashman, Masuk def. Jacob Melhorn, Middletown, 11-1
152
Championship: Brian Onofrio, Daniel Hand def. Austin Darley, Bristol Central, Pin 2:43; 3rd Place: Brohen Krsulic, Woodstock Acad. def. Devin Carrillo, Middletown, 4-2; Fifth Place: Alex Delaney, Fairfield Warde def. Matthew Sareceno, New Milford, 10-4
160
Championship: Oleg Mironchenko, Woodstock Acad. def. Michael Ceruzzi, Hall, 2-0; 3rd Place: Kevin Koenig, Platt def. Scott Horan, Newington, 4-2; Fifth Place: Michael DiRocco, New Canaan def. Karl Bradshaw, New Milford, 17-2
171
Championship: Sean O'Connell, Farmington def. Matt Rahman, Platt, 7-4; 3rd Place: James Queiros, Wethersfield def. Michael Sheehan, Fairfield Ludlowe, 7-4; Fifth Place: Michael Green, Woodstock Acad. def. Robert Esposito, Newington, Default
189
Championship: Henri Fatigate, Fairfield Ludlowe def. Nick Murillo, Platt, 4-3; 3rd Place: Alfonso Sneed, Fairfield Warde def. Harrison Scully, Newington, Pin 2:08; Fifth Place: Nichols Charney, Bunnell def. Matthew Piazza, Bristol Eastern, 13-1
215
Championship: Adam Lynch, New Milford def. Wesley Ruimerman, Middletown, 7-5; 3rd Place: Dylan Lindahl, Daniel Hand def. Alexander Smith, Bristol Central, Pin 3:11; Fifth Place: Vincenzo Cardilo, Fairfield Warde def. Chris Sciarretta, New Canaan, 3-2
285
Championship: Timothy Chambers, Bristol Central def. Joseph Winoski, Platt, Pin 1:29; 3rd Place: Matthew Berman, Hall def. Austin Freeman, New Milford, Pin 3:30; Fifth Place: Dan Minardi, Masuk def. Nate Bass, Fairfield Warde, 1-0
Fast fall: Michael Bove, Woodstock Academy (145), 4 pins in 14:16; Outstanding wrestler: Ryan Clarke, East Lyme (140)
Connecticut Wrestling Online
BRISTOL, Feb. 21 – With a balanced team effort, Fairfield Warde won its second Class L championship in the last four years Saturday with a solid 50-point win over New Milford – the largest margin of victory since 2004. Warde placed three wrestlers in the finals with Ian McAllister (125) coming away with a 9-7 victory over Newington’s Nestor Rivera.
Evan Fraser (112) dropped a 6-3 decision to Victor Ekpenyong of Middletown while Bobby Rigilano (130) gave up an escape to Bristol Central’s Nick Cyr in the final 10 seconds in a 9-7 loss.
“It was a team effort with 13 wrestlers winning two or more matches,” Fairfield Warde coach Jason Shaughessy said. “Ten wrestlers placed in the top six. I was very proud of our team’s performance in a very competitive Class L division.”
New Milford finished second, turning its best performance in a state tournament since 1987 when they took second behind Hall in Class L. New Milford had eight wrestlers finish among the top six.
Adam Lynch won a title at 215 pounds while Luke Andrade finished second at 145. Lynch scored the first five points of his championship match with Middletown’s Wesley Ruimerman and hung for the victory. Andrade lost to Hall’s Justin Scalese in the final, 7-0.
Green Wave coach Chris Piel bumped up five wrestlers in an attempt to catch Fairfield Warde. "We were going to give it our best shot to win tonight," Piel told the Danbury News Times. "It was definitely a team call to move some guys up. "We did a lot of homework and thought we could give it a good shot. The boys did a great job. They deserve all the credit."
Conor Kirkegard (103) and Nick Amorando (119) were both seeded fourth but took third place. Austin Freeman (285) finished fourth while Andrew Golden (125), Matt Sarceno (152), Karl Bradshaw (160) each finished sixth.
BACK TO BACK: East Lyme’s Ryan Clark (140) won his second straight Class L by pinning Pomperaug’s Reese Denu in 1:50 and was named the outstanding wrestler in the tournament. … Bristol Central’s Tim Chambers (275) also won his second straight title with a pin of Platt High’s Joe Winoski in 1:29.
QUIETLY: Newington’s Nester Rivera quietly earned a spot in the final at 125 pounds with a 5-4 win over Bristol Cental’s Ryan Carbonell and a 6-1 win over No. 9 Andrew Golden of New Milford in the semifinals. Golden had stunned top-seeded Brendan Quinn of Pomperaug in the quarterfinals, 1-0. In the title bout, Rivera fell to No. 2 seed Ian McAllister of Fairfield Warde, 9-7.
"The proudest moment was having Nester Rivera make it to the finals and go for the win," Newington coach Matt Rossi told the New Britain Herald. "Many wrestlers when in the same situation as Nester, would sit back and wait for the opponent to make a mistake. Nester did not. He chose to go for the win."
Newington finished a surprising sixth with seven medalists. "We had fourth place in our reach until Rob Esposito (171) was injured in the semifinal match and was forced to forfeit the remainder of his day due to this injury," Rossi told the New Britain Herald. "I thought we would be the darkhorse in this tournament and fly under the radar and I think we did. Kyle Nunez (135) finished third while Harrison Scully (189) and Scott Horan (160) took fourth.
TWO CHAMPIONS FOR FARMINGTON: Farmington senior Eric Orrell (119) beat Conard’s Marshall Simpson for the second straight week and third time this year to win the Class L championship at 119 pounds with a 5-1 victory.
Teammate Sean O’Connell (171) also brought home a state championship with a 7-4 win over Platt’s Matt Rahman. O’Connell didn’t give up a point in his three previous matches leading up the final.
Orrell improves to 42-1. In the final, he had a pair of takedowns and was working on a third as the match ended. “This was his chance,” Farmington coach Eric Misko said. “He really felt it was his year. He knew it was his time to shine.”
Orrell (120-14) is one win shy of setting the new career record for wins at Farmington.
O’Connell (35-4) won his first high school tournament just a week ago at the CCC West tournament. That confidence continued throughout the Class L tournament.
“His technique has been improving,” Misko said. With the match tied at 4-4 in the third period, O’Connell picked up an escape and takedown to regain control of the match. O’Connell avenged an earlier loss to Rahman in December at the Indian Classic.
The Indians finished 13th. It was just the second time in school history that two Farmington wrestlers in the same year brought home state titles. In 1982, the Lingenfelter brothers won Class M titles.
TWO FINALISTS: Pomperaug had two wrestlers in the finals. Senior Rob Caleca (135) was looking to win a state title for the second straight year but he dropped a 7-1 decision to Curtis Watkins of Fairfield Warde. Reese Denu (140) earned a spot in the finals for the first time but fell to East Lyme’s Ryan Clarke. He was pinned in 1:50.
“They both had some good matches,” Pomperaug coach Mike O’Keefe said. “The kids in the finals were just a little bit better.”
With determination and a second period reversal, Caleca earned a spot in the final with a 2-1 win over Newington’s Kyle Nunez. But in the final, Watkins dominated to earn the win.
Denu outlasted No. 6 Aaron Cardona of Maloney in the quarterfinals and dominated No. 10 Eric Anderson of Hand-Madison in the semifinals, 15-3. But in the finals, Clarke took control and never let it go.
Pomperaug finished 11th in the field and had only one other medalwinner. Sophomore Ryan Ahearn (112) went 3-3 and finished sixth at 112 pounds. John Mead (145) tried to wrestle with a sprained ankle and Michael Piccolo (189) tried to compete with a sore shoulder but neither got very far.
OVERWEIGHT: Platt High senior West Johnson, the top seed at 119 pounds, was overweight during weigh-ins on Friday and was disqualified. Johnson went 35-0 this year and was the defending Class L champion at 112. Last winter, he finished sixth in New England and second at the State Open losing in overtime.
This report compiled with personal notes and information from the New Britain Herald, Danbury News Times and Meriden Record Journal.
