2012 Class M tournament
At Windham
Team scores -- 1. Ledyard 260, 2. Windham High 232, 3. Bacon Academy 148, 4. Montville 134, 5. Waterford 115, 6. Platt High 112, 7. Berlin 104, 8. Foran 94½, 9. Brookfield 89, 10. Avon 86½, 11. Branford 75½, 12. Guilford 74, 13. New Fairfield 73, 14. Wolcott Tech 70, 15. Jonathan Law 66½, 16. Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech 66, 17. Immaculate/Joel Barlow 62, 18. SMSA/University 44, 19. Fermi 36, 20. Bethel 33, 21. Stratford 26½, 22. Enfield 26, 23. Vinal Tech 25½, 24. New London 23, 25. East Haven 22, 26. Cheney Tech 19, 27. Woodstock Academy 15, 28. Norwich Tech 8, 29. Ellis Tech 5, 30. (tie) Wilcox Tech, Tolland, Sheehan and Rockville 0.
Individual results
106: Championship: Devon Marcauerle (Ledyard) pin Sebby Ruffino (Windham) 1:05; 3rd place: Brentt Smith (Waterford) dec. Thomas Wynosky (Montville) 1-0; 5th place: Chris Oyola (Platt) won by default over Liam Callahan (Foran)
113: Championship: Michael Ruffino (Windham) dec. Matt Mcallister (Bacon Academy) 3-1; 3rd place: Ethan Greider (Berlin) pin Nicholas Lauer (Ledyard) 3:39; 5th place: Joseph Martone (Branford) dec. Joseph Rainville (Montville) 7-2
120: Championship: Chris Elrod (Bacon Academy) dec. Alex Heston (Avon) 6-4; 3rd place: Edward Rivera (Branford) dec. Brian Manes (Law) 12-8; 5th place: Michael Graff (Ledyard) dec. Grayson Deluca (Woodstock Academy) 2-0
126: Championship: Carl Luth (Foran) pin Howard Kilpatrick (Bacon Academy) 4:40; 3rd place: Jacob Caskey (Montville) dec. Ryan Bannon (Law) 10-5; 5th place: Matthew Jones (Ledyard) won by default over Taylor Grauer (Windham)
132: Championship: Miguel Calixto (Windham) pin Blaise Boullianne (Brookfield) 1:44; 3rd place: Matthew Cadiz (Cheney Tech) dec. Justin Timberlake (Ledyard) 3-2; 5th place: Rich Schlichting (Berlin) dec. Kevin Carregal (Guilford) 8-4
138: Championship: Jake Eliades (Berlin) dec. Brandon Finney (Ledyard) 7-2; 3rd place: Nicholas Bellerose (Montville) dec. Dakota Fleming (Windham) 2-0; 5th place: Youssef Saez (Platt) won by default over Luke Stojanowski (Foran)
145: Championship: Clay Callahan (Foran) dec. Thomas Millaras (Waterford) 6-1; 3rd place: William Finney (Ledyard) dec. Nate Misbach (Guilford) 5-2; 5th place: David Travisano (Branford) won by default over Alexander Lopez (Platt)
152: Championship: Jack Mckeever (Brookfield) dec. Mikey Amorando (New Fairfield) 4-2; 3rd place: Rick Mullins (Berlin) dec. Kiante Macon (SMSA/University) 12-2; 5th place: Ryan Lyons (Ledyard) dec. Jacob Schmalz (Montville) 3-0
160: Championship: Alex Manwaring (Ledyard) dec. Devyn Petsa (Windham) 10-6; 3rd place: Kristion Neysmith (Platt) dec. Jordan Zima (Berlin) 3-0; 5th place: Dylan Robbins (Fermi) dec. Dan Rodruguez (Avon) 4-2
170: Championship: Joe Murphy (Avon) dec. Matthew Tulba (Waterford) 10-4; 3rd place: Mike Carrero (Platt) dec. Chris Deisenroth (Immaculate/Barlow) 7-2; 5th place: Ryan Sherwood (Guilford) won by default over Dan Kurasz (Montville)
182: Championship: Joel Wamser (Brookfield) dec. Michael Spellman (Ledyard) 5-2; 3rd place: Kyle Wing (Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech) pin Kayron Macon (SMSA/University) 4:21; 5th place: Devin Bedard (Montville) won by default over Marcus Jenkins (Windham)
195: Championship: Nicholas Poulin (Windham) dec. Steven Ghossaini (Immaculate/Barlow) 7-4; 3rd place: Tom Scott (Bacon Academy) pin Dan Fortier (Wolcott Tech) 24 seconds; 5th place: Marcus Deren (Vinal Tech) dec. Ariel Leon (Stratford) 4-2
220: Championship: Joshua Lawrence (Ledyard) dec. Patrick Sawicki (Bacon Academy) 15-3; 3rd place: Xavier Kernozek (Windham) dec. Ryan Tharas (New Fairfield) 9-2; 5th place: Shane Manley (Waterford) dec. Dustin Chang (Wolcott Tech) 7-3
285: Championship: Wolfgang Fiasconar (Windham) dec. Darick Orange (Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech) 4-2; 3rd place: Joe Amorando (New Fairfield) dec. Ryan Murtha (Montville) 3-1; 5th place: Jesse Wolfe (Platt) pin Benjamin Morales (Ledyard) 3:58.
Outstanding wrestler: Miguel Calixto (132), Windham
Fastest fall winner: Devon Macaurele, Ledyard, 106, 3 pins, 2:26
Ledyard earns record 18th championship
Connecticut Wrestling Online
WINDHAM, Feb. 18 – Once again, it was an Eastern Connecticut Conference show at the Class M championships. The top five teams were from the ECC, led by league champion Ledyard, who earned a state-record 18th state championship banner with a solid 260-232 win over ECC rival Windham High. Two-time defending champion Bacon Academy (148), Montville (148) and Waterford (115) rounded out the top five.
Twelve Ledyard wrestlers earned medals by finishing in the top six of their respective weight classes. The Colonials had five finalists and three came home with championship medals – Alex Manwaring (160), Devon MarcAurele (106) and Josh Lawrence (220).
"We definitely wanted to get No. 18,” Manwaring told the New London Day. "This is a storied program with lots of tradition. Wrestling is a huge part of the Ledyard community. Everywhere we go we run into people who know about us and former wrestlers who have stories to tell." Brandon Finnery (138) and Mike Spellman (182) finished second for Ledyard.
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Windham High junior Miguel Calixo (132) won his third straight Class M title, pinning Brookfield’s Blaise Boulliane in 1:44. He had three pins in four matches and earned the Outstanding Wrestler award, just as he did a week earlier at the ECC Tournament.
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Ledyard’s Devon MarcAurele (106) has been with the team since just December. He transferred from Pomfret. He won his first state title with a pin in 1:05 of Windham’s Sebby Ruffino.
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Avon High’s Joey Murphy finally found some competition at the CIAC Class M wrestling championships. It didn’t slow him down too much. But then, there hasn’t been too much that has slowed him this season.
Murphy remained undefeated at 40-0 with a 10-4 decision over Waterford’s Matt Tulba in the final at 170 pounds in the Class M tournament.
Murphy has rolled through this season with few challenges. He got a few in the Class M tournament. In the semifinals, third seed Ray Sherwood of Guilford got the first takedown off Murphy and grabbed an early 2-0 lead. Murphy shrugged it off and rolled to a 9-5 victory.
“Joey is a punishing wrestler,” Avon coach John McLaughlin said. “He just doesn’t stop. Some kids take a second, access the situation. Joey doesn’t. It’s attack, attack, attack. When people relax for a second, that is when Joey scores.”
Murphy is the first Avon wrestler to bring home a state championship since Conor Douglas in 2009.
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The bid by Avon’s Alex Heston (120) for a state title came up short in a 6-4 loss to Bacon Academy’s Chris Elrod. Heston worked hard to make it to the finals. After an easy 15-point decision in his first match, Heston beat Montville’s Kyler Fricke in the quarterfinals on a takedown, 2-0 and slipped past No. 2 seed Michael Graff of Ledyard in the semifinals, 3-1.
In the final, Elrod took a quick 4-1 lead in the first period but Heston (34-7) fought his way back into the match. He was on his feet trying for the tying takedown in the final 45 seconds of the match.
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Avon’s Jessica McCammish (106) failed in her attempt to become just the second girl in state history to earn a spot in the State Open by finishing in the top six of her weight class. McCammish (18-6) won her first bout by pin but lost in the quarterfinals to top-seeded Sebby Ruffino of Windham, 4-2. She won her first consolation round match but was eliminated in a 2-1 decision to Foran’s Liam Callahan, who earned an Open bid with the victory.
Material from the New London Day and Norwich Bulletin and personal interviews was used to compile this report.
