2011 Class LL championships
At Trumbull
1. Xavier, 200; 2. Danbury, 181; 3. South Windsor, 158; 4.Trumbull, 128½; 5. Glastonbury, 128; 6. Greenwich, 120; 7.Westhill, 105; 8. Shelton, 103; 9. Conard, 98½; 10. Newtown,93½; 11. NFA, 88; 12. Amity, 85; 13. Stamford, 76; 14. Staples,68½; 15. Ridgefield, 62; 16. Cheshire, 59½; 17. Simsbury, 55;18. Southington, 50½; 19. New Britian, 49; 20. Platt Tech/W.Haven, 47; 21. Manchester, 41½; 22. Fairfield Prep, 35; 23. Brian McMahon, 30; 24. East Hartford, 30; 25. Hall, 19; 26. Warren Harding, 12, 27. New Haven, 10.
Individual results
103
Championship: Will Chowanek, Xavier dec. Pascal Medor, Westhill, 9-3; 3rd Place: Mark Failla, Shelton pin Kevin Jack, Danbury, 4:24; 5th Place: Tyler Mirando, Southington dec. Conor Caffrey, South Windsor, 4-2
112
Championship: Tyler Keane, Glastonbury dec. Geovanni Medina, New Britain, 11-3; 3rd Place: Johnny D'Elia, Greenwich dec. Brandon Liscinsky, Trumbull, 6-5; 5th Place: Zach Tepper, Danbury dec. Joey Battinelli, Stamford, 1-0
119
Championship: Dylan Bryant, Danbury dec. Sam Odell, South Windsor, 8-0; 3rd Place: Cody Keane, Glastonbury dec. Sean Kellet, Shelton, 9-0; 5th Place: Jason Rojas, Fairfield Prep pin Joe Aloi, Trumbull, 1:32
125
Championship: Ben Pierre Saint, Stamford dec. Brandon Lopez, South Windsor, 7-3; 3rd Place: Neil Hosking, Xavier dec. Orrett Douglas, Westhill, 6-2; 5th Place: David Barbar, Trumbull pin Jason Mair, Platt Tch/W. Haven, 2:28
130
Championship: Tyler Bishop, Amity dec. Chris Chaparro, Westhill, 10-2; 3rd Place: Brendan Butler, Xavier dec. Jacob Jones, Glastonbury, 4-2; 5th Place: Shane Jennings, Danbury dec. David Briganti, Trumbull, 14-0
135
Championship: Benjamin Anderson, Trumbull dec. Scott Tomlinson, Cheshire, 9-5; 3rd Place: Tyler Courter, NFA dec. Joel Marietti, Manchester, 4-1; 5th Place: Ian Mcevoy, Newtown dec. Daniel Hecker, Glastonbury, 5-2
140
Championship: Johnny Bello, Conard dec. Casey Mitchell, South Windsor, 3-1; 3rd Place: Edward Hunt, Shelton dec. Ryan Butler, Xavier, 6-2; 5th Place: David Laborda, Greenwich pin Gabe Nudel, Amity, 0:40
145
Championship: Tyler Cunningham, Xavier dec. Lucas Muntz, Conard, 6-5; 3rd Place: Bryan Polonia, Stamford dec. Alexander Pyne, Amity, Default; 5th Place: Joshua Gowdy, Simsbury pin Joseph Pieretti, Newtown, 2:48
152
Championship: Jake Odell, South Windsor dec. Nick Cipriano, NFA, 2-0; 3rd Place: James Cummiskey, Greenwich dec. Nick Jimenez, Westhill, 8-2; 5th Place: Ryan Peterson, Danbury dec. Nishan Valentini, Xavier, 3-0
160
Championship: Elliot Antler, Xavier dec. Ramiro Dasilvia, Platt Tch/W. Haven, 6-0; 3rd Place: Jamal Fruster, East Hartford dec. Christopher Turner, Manchester, 8-2; 5th Place: Timothy Homan, Cheshire pin Ryan Whittle, Greenwich, 3:30
171
Championship: Travis Tiger, Ridgefield dec. Nicholas Puchalsky, Glastonbury, 8-3; 3rd Place: Cory Fisher, Newtown dec. Dainius Lancinskas, Conard, 6-5; 5th Place: Tyler Hancock, Danbury dec. Miguel Nieto, Stamford, Default
189
Championship: Ben Ceci, Greenwich dec. Duncan Cozens, Ridgefield, 3-1; 3rd Place: William Jack, Danbury dec. Rene Infantas, New Britain, 12-9; 5th Place: Aaron Nezvesky, Newtown pin Steven Avila, McMahon, 2:00
215
Championship: Patrick Gillen, Shelton pin Chris Giunta, Staples, 1:02; 3rd Place: Sean Marinan, Xavier dec. Michael Case, NFA, 3-0; 5th Place: Bryan Barnash, Trumbull dec. Oswaldo Garcia, Danbury, 5-4
285
Championship: Paul Sullivan, South Windsor dec. Julian Gendels, Staples, 5-0; 3rd Place: Marquise Weaver-H, Westhill dec. William Morlock, Newtown, 1-0; 5th Place: Zach Creeron, Xavier dec. Jevon Pegues, Danbury, 3-0
Outstanding wrestler: Patrick Gillen (215), Shelton
Fast fall: David Barbar (125), Trumbull 4 pins in 8:25
CIAC seeds
Xavier stops Danbury to win first state title
Connecticut Wrestling Online
TRUMBULL, Feb. 19 – It was just after noon and the consolation semifinals were about to begin on multiple mats across the Trumbull High gymnasium floor. Xavier High wrestling coach Mike Cunningham brought together the seven wrestlers who were about to hit the mat.
Those six had already lost a match and their dreams of an individual state championship were gone. But the opportunity for the Falcons to do something that no Connecticut team had done in 15 years – beat Danbury to win a state title -- was in front of them. “I told them this is it, right here,” Cunningham said. “It was pretty intense.”
Four of the six wrestlers prevailed to remain alive. Nine Xavier wrestlers earned medals and freshmen Will Chowanek (103), junior Tyler Cunningham (145) and sophomore Elliott Antler (160) won titles as the Falcons won their first state championship with a 200-181 win over Danbury.
It ended a state-record streak of 14 straight Class LL titles by the Hatters. South Windsor was third with 158 points. "It's pretty close,” Danbury coach Ricky Shook told the Danbury News Times. “But (Xavier) won those consolation matches we didn't win. But we'll be back. We're young. I've got everyone back but two guys.”
Not only did the Falcons have three individual champions but they had three wrestlers finish third – senior Neil Hosking (125), freshman Brennan Butler (130) and junior Sean Marinan (215). Butler had a huge 6-4 win in overtime over Danbury’s Shane Jennings in the consolation semifinals. Trailing by one with five seconds left, Butler escaped to force OT. Jennings took a shot but in the scramble, it was Butler who ended up with the takedown.
“That was the turning point for us,” Mike Cunningham said. “That changed the tide. We had a lot of momentum after that. If they had won that ….” At 215 pounds, Marian picked up another huge win by beating Danbury’s Oswaldo Garcia in the consolation semifinals, 5-2.
Thirteen of Xavier’s 14 wrestlers won at least one match. Eleven won at least two matches. “The Class LL tournament is all about depth,” Mike Cunningham said. “It was a lot of our sophomores and freshmen that got key points for us.”
In the finals, Chowanek beat top-seeded Pascal Medor of Westhill, 9-3. Chowanek won by pin in three of his four bouts. At 160, Antler beat No. 1 seed Ramiro Dasilva of Platt Tech/West Haven, 6-0 for the title.
At 145 pounds, Tyler Cunningham avenged an earlier loss this season to Conard’s Lucas Muntz with a 6-5 decision, escaping with eight seconds remaining in the match. Muntz had been riding Cunningham for most of the third period but couldn’t quite finish it off.
“It was a great day for the Xavier wrestling program,” Mike Cunningham said.
* * * *
All-America wrestler Patrick Gillen (215) of Shelton easily won his second straight Class LL championship by pinning Staples’ Chris Giunta in the finals in 1:02. Gillen had three pins and a forfeit and earned the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler award.
* * * *
A loss at the New Milford Invitational in January re-energized Cheshire High senior Scott Tomlinson. “It refocused him on his goals,” Cheshire coach Eric Mills said. “It gave him some clarity. I have to work harder to be at this elite level.”
Since then, Tomlinson has lost just two matches. He dropped a two-point decision to Hand’s Jake Savoca in the Southern Conference Conference final at 135 pounds and a 9-5 decision to top-seeded Ben Anderson of Trumbull in the Class LL championship bout.
Tomlinson (30-4) had three straight pins to earn a spot in the final, including a pin in 27 seconds in the semifinals over third seeded Joel Marietti of Manchester. In the final, Anderson took advantage of a mistake and threw Tomlinson to his back for a two-point takedown and three-point near fall to take control of the match.
Confidence has been the difference in the past few weeks, Mills said. “Having the confidence is what he found,” Mills said. “Sometimes, you have to look deep inside yourself to realize you’re an elite wrestler and perform to your abilities.”
* * * *
Ridgefield’s Travis Tiger (171) won his second state title with a 8-3 win over Glastonbury’s Nicholas Puchalsky …. Greenwich’s Ben Cici (189) beat Ridgefield’s Duncan Cozens to win the title at 189. … Glastonbury's Tyler Keane (112), Xavier's Tyler Cunningham (145), South Windsor's Jake O'Dell (152), Gillen and Tiger won their second straight state titles.
