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New England champions beat Simsbury to win Chaves Invitational

Michael Joyce of of defending New England champion Ponagansett controls Simsbury’s Ty Finn in the finals at 120 pounds in Saturday’s Chaves Invitational in Simsbury. Joyce won, 4-0.

SIMSBURY, December 22, 2018 – With six finalists and four individual champions, Ponagansett, Rhode Island, won the 32nd annual Frank Chaves Invitational in Simsbury on Saturday. The defending New England champions became the first out-of-state team to win the Chaves Invitational with 174 1/2 points.

Nine of the 14 weight classes were won by out-of-state wrestlers. Three wrestlers from Coventry, Rhode Island won titles along with two from Melrose, Mass., including Hunter Adrian, who won the Outstanding Wrestler award for his 3-2 win over Coventry’s Joziah Fry in the final at 113 pounds. The bout was a rematch of last March’s New England final at 106 that saw Adrian prevail, 2-1 in overtime.

The invitation of the out-of-state teams was intention. Simsbury High coach T.J. Silva wanted to bring competitors that would challenge his team and the other teams in the tournament.

Simsbury (139 points) finished second with four finalists and one champion – Andrew Oken (138). Avon, led by Henry Schrecengost with a title at 285, finished third for its best finish in the tournament since finishing second in 1993. The Falcons (120) beat Coventry, R.I., by one point for second place.

Joel Barlow had a pair of individual champions with Josh Brault winning at 106 and Carson Licastri outlasting Granby’s Ben Kibby at 182 pounds. The other two state winners in the tournament were Michael Angers of Tolland, who won by pin at 160, and Miguel Gonlazez of Suffield/Windsor Locks, who won with a pin at 170 pounds.

Saturday, December 22 results

Blue Knight Duals: In the final bout of the championship match, Southington’s Matt Jacobson pinned Logan Spargue of Mt. Anthony, Vermont, in 5:38 to lift the host Knights to a 40-36 victory over the Patriots and the championship in the 14th annual Blue Knight Duals.

It was tightly contested event. Southington (5-1) led by nine points after eight bouts, 27-18. But Mount Anthony’s Keenan Taylor (145) and Gage McLaughlin (152) each had pins to cut the Blue Knight lead to one point, 31-30 with three matches to go.

Southington’s Josh Vitti (160) beat Mt. Anthony’s Steve Brillon, 4-1 to extend the lead to four points, 34-30. But Mt. Anthony’s Adam Frost (170) won by pin to give the Patriots their first lead of the match, 36-34. Jacobson won with a pin in the final bout to give Southington the title – their seventh Blue Knight championship and first since 2013.

Saturday, December 22 results

Newtown’s Nik Accousti tries to get away from Mason Clarke of Coventry, R.I., in the finals at 132 pounds at Saturday’s Chaves Invitational in Simsbury. Clarke won the match, 9-1.

Rockville Duals: Canton (5-0) won a pair of tight matches to win the Rockville Duals championship in Vernon. The Warriors beat Platt, 40-39 on criteria (most first points) to win their three-team pool and get into the championship portion of the tournament.

In the championship pool, Canton beat East Catholic, 51-30. In the title match with Plainville, Jack Freedenberg (138) pinned Plainville’s Simon Barbagallo in 4:59 to give the Warriors the title with a 42-40 win. Plainville had taken a 40-36 lead with a pin by Sebby Soli at 132 pounds with one match remaining.

Other action: At the 22nd annual Enfield Duals, West Springfield, Mass., beat Killingly, 49-21 in the championship match to win the tournament for the first time since 2013. It was the second title for West Springfield in tournament history. …. At the McDougall Duals in Trumbull, Fairfield Warde (6-1) won five matches including a 42-34 win over host Trumbull to come away with the championship. Trumbull went 4-1 to finish second in the round-robin duals tournament. … Bristol Eastern (7-0) extended their school record winning streak to 43 matches with five victories to win the Lancer Duals in Bristol. Eastern clinched the title with a 43-30 victory over Foran-Milford. … Montville (9-1) went 5-0 including a 51-19 win over Windham in the championship match to win the 10th annual Sachem Duals at RHAM in Hebron. Gilbert (6-1) beat Glastonbury, 47-30 to finish third. It was Montville’s first Sachem Duals title since 2010.

Saturday, December 22 results

The first Connecticut Wrestling Online top 10 poll of the year will be on Monday, December 31 or Tuesday, January 1.

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of Connecticut Wrestling Online. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

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