Connecticut Wrestling Online

This page was last updated on: November 2, 2003

Copyright 2003, Collinsville Publishing Company
2003 Class L wrestling tournament
Stories & results
2003 Class L
At Bristol Eastern
Team results: 1. Berlin, 181; 2. Fitch, 154.5; 3. New Milford,110.5; 4. South Windsor, 107; 5. Farmington, 103; 6. Staples; 98;7. Ridgefield, 96.5; 8. Bristol Eastern, 96; 9. Newington, 95; 10.Bunnell, 83.5; 11. Guilford, 79; 12. Branford, 76; 13. East Haven,75.5; 14. Newtown and East Lyme, 75; 16. Harding, 70; 17. McMahon,68; 18. Pomperaug, 66.5; 19. Rockville, 60; 20. Middletown, 56;21. Seymour, 54.5; 22. Weston/Joel Barlow, 50.5; 23. Fermi, 33;24. Maloney and Masuk, 26.5; 26. Platt Tech, 8; 27. Torrington and E.O. Smith, 0.

103-Final: Charles Isif, Fitch, dec. Kyle McAlees, South Windsor,6-2; 3. Will Sherman, New Milford, dec. Kevin Horan, Newington,3-2; 5. Shawn McKenna, Pomperaug; 6. Peter Menacha, Staples.

112-Final: Luis Espinosa, Harding, dec. Sloan Holzman, Staples,7-2; 3. Kevin Leggett, Bunnell, dec. Joe Hall, New Milford, 6-1;5. Juan Duque, Guilford; 6. Mike Crowe, Berlin.

119-Final:- Josh Feldman, Pomperaug, tech fall over Andrew Sichel,Staples, 15-0; 3. Tuz Dylan, New Milford, pinned Dan Madey,Berlin, 3:36; 5. Steve Lisitano, Middletown; 6. dec. Ken Ford,Maloney.

125-Final: Ciro Martone, Branford, dec. Max Merisel,Weston-Barlow, 7-4; 3. Isaac Brown, Staples, pinned Matt Hancock,Farmington, 3:31; 5. Pat Sczesiul, Fermi; 6. Craig Ryan,Newington.

130-Final: J.P. Gilbert, Fitch, dec. Prisco Abate, East Haven,5-3; 3. B.J. Madley, Berlin, dec. Dustin Deschaine, BristolEastern, 7-0; 5. Addison Freeman, Staples; 6. Javier Rivera,Harding.

135-Final: Chris Coppolo, Fitch, dec. C.J. McCormack, Berlin, 5-4;3. Chris Lovell, Fermi, dec. Justin Ungar, Weston-Barlow, 6-2; 5.Matt Castelot, Branford; 6. Daryl DeBoer, Maloney.

140-Final: Ryan Nash, Newington, dec. Andy Hering, Ridgefield,10-8; 3. Ben Gardiner, Rockville, dec. Justin Dodge, East Haven,4-1; 5. Nick Catalano, Berlin; 6. Matt Menard, Fitch.

145-Final: Jon Read, Newtown, pinned Jorge Gutierrez , McMahon,5:33; 3. Nick Masi, South Windsor, dec. Jim Solek, Berlin, 10-5;5. Anthony Cruz, Harding; 6. Tom Leonard, New Milford.

152-Final: Dan Strong, Bristol Eastern, dec. Fielding Pagel,Fitch, 4-2 (OT); 3. Bryant Reed, South Windsor, dec. Dan Rocks,Seymour, 3-2; 5. Jason Ray, McMahon; 6. Pat Knight, New Milford.

160-Final: Eric McCurdy, Berlin, dec. Tom DiScipio, Newington,9-7; 3. Eric Sellers, Ridgefield, dec. Aron Medina, Harding, 4-2;5. George Albano, McMahon; 6. Rich Meyst, Middletown.

171-Final: Dan DiBisceglie, Branford, dec. Nick Provenzano, Masuk,6-1 (OT); 3. Joe Bavolacco, Bunnell, pinned Luke Linske, Guilford,:54; 5. Dan Marolda, East Lyme; 6. Tony Lillo, East Haven.

189-Final: Jon Keys, South Windsor, dec. Scott Kates, Farmington,7-3; 3. Tim Owens, Newington, dec. Dan Lyons, Guilford, 2-1; 5.Joe Taccone, Seymour; 6. Matt Powell, Berlin.

215-Final: Dan Puccini, Ridgefield, pinned Erik Choisy, East Lyme,1:03; 3. Lee Robinson, New Milford, dec. Scott Sedgwick, Bunnell,7-3; 5. James Offredi, Guilford; 6. Brian Dinnie, Rockville.

275-Final: John Russo, Berlin, pinned Chris Rackliffe, Farmington,1:47; 3. Robert Schultz, East Lyme, pinned. Chris Fee, Guilford,3:57; 5. Justin Alter, Newtown; 6. Sean Aekins, McMahon.

Fastest fall: Dan Puccini, Ridgefield, 5 pins in 4:13.
Outstanding wrestler: Josh Feldman, Pomperaug, 119

Connecticut Wrestling Online
BRISTOL, Feb. 15, 2003 --  The 2003 season hasn't been easy for the Berlin High wrestling team. It took time for the Redcoats to gell before they finished strong. It was no different in Saturday's Class L tournament.

"It was an incredible day," Berlin coach Jim Day told the New Britain Herald. "It was indicative of our season. We had a rough start (Friday). A lot of our kids lost in the first round and had to fight all the way back."

Eight Berlin wrestlers battled through the consolation round to help lift the Redcoats to their second Class L title in three years and their fourth state title in the last five years. Berlin beat defending champion Fitch by a margin of 181-154½. New Milford was third with 110½.

Two Berlin wrestlers prevailed. John Russo, the top seed at 275, beat conference rival Chris Rackliffe of Farmington in the final while junior Eric McCurdy, the No. 9 seed at 160, beat Newington's Tom DiScipio, 9-7 to win a championship. C.J. McCormack (135) was second with B.J. Madley (130) taking third.

Pomperaug's Josh Feldman (37-0) won his second straight Class L title with a dominating performance, capped off by a 15-0 technical fall over Staples' Andrew Sichel in the final. Sichel had given Feldman his closest match of the season, losing earlier this year, 2-0. Feldman was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler.

Bristol Eastern's Dan Strong (152) won a title with a 4-2 overtime win over Fitch's Fielding Pagel while Branford's Dan DiBisceglie topped Nick Provenzano of Bethel, 6-1 in OT. At 189, South Windsor's Jon Keys handed Farmington's Scott Kates his first loss of the year to earn a title with a 7-3 victory.

Material from several newspapers, personal information and interviews was used in this report.
Berlin wins another
L title with strong consolation effort