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Manchester nips Bristol Central to win Skip Ardan Invite; Warde 2nd in Guilford

New Milford’s Evan Lindner drives into Simsbury’s Cael Finn in the finals at 106 pounds in Saturday’s Frank Chaves Invitational in Simsbury. Lindner pinned Finn in 1:15 to win the individual title.

Pins in the championship finals from Elliot Hall (132) and Gabe Fountain (182) helped the host Manchester High beat Bristol Central by two points, 196-194, and win the Skip Ardan Invitational for the first time since 1996 on Saturday at Manchester High School.

Manchester’s Alijah Curry (152) also picked up a key win in the finals over Bristol Central’s Matt Duquette, 5-0. Manchester, Bristol Central and Trumbull each had three individual champions. The Red Hawks have been hosting the tournament since the mid-1980s with a four-year gap in the mid 2000s.

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There were two matches remaining and the Guilford Invitational was tied when West Springfield’s Tyler Parent headed out onto the mat for his championship final at 220 pounds. Parent pinned Guilford’s Ian Rose to lift West Springfield to a 255-249 win over two-time defending tournament champion Fairfield Warde.

Parent’s performance earned him outstanding wrestler honors but he got plenty of help from his teammates. West Springfield had seven finalists and 12 of 14 wrestlers finished in the top four of their respective weight classes.

Fairfield Warde had four individual champions with Lucas Coleman (113), Will Ebert (145), Cole Shaughnessy (152) and Hunter Rasmussen (170) winning titles. Ebert, Shaughnessy and Rasmussen each won by pin in the finals to pick up some extra points. Warde finished in the top two for the tenth time in the last 11 years.

Saturday, December 2019 scores, tournament results, boxscores

Fairfield Warde finished second at the Guilford Invitational on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Fairfield Warde wrestling)

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Two Connecticut wrestlers came within one win of earning a medal at the 27th annual Beast of the East tournament at the University of Delaware in Newark. Xavier’s Michael Rapuano (113) went 5-2 with two pins but was eliminated one victory shy of a medal in a 6-5 loss to No. 9 seed Luke Poole of New Castle, Delaware with a reversal with 28 seconds left.

Danbury had 11 wrestlers competing in the tournament. Senior Jordan Agosto (285) went 3-2 and fell one win shy of a medal. Agosto went 3-2 with two pins and a 3-1 overtime win in the third round.

Tyler Johnson (126), Jaylen Hawkins (170) and Kai O’Dell (113) each picked up a pair of victories for Danbury while Daniel Camacho (160), Tyrell Jones (182) and D.J. Donovan (220) each picked up a win. Danbury senior Ryan Jack did not attend the tournament this year.

Rapuano was one of four Xavier wrestlers in the tournament and the only one to earn victories. Abbott Tech’s Jake Defonce (106) went 1-2 in the tournament.

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Host Simsbury had five individual champions and 10 finalists to easily capture the 33rd annual Frank Chaves Invitational in record fashion. The Trojans set a new tournament record with a 58-point win over Coventry, R.I., 234½ to 176½, snapping the old record of 49 set in 2013 by Simsbury in a win over Newington.

All 14 Simsbury wrestlers finished in the top six of their respective weight class. John Mariano (138), Saul Pera (145), Noah Pryzbek (152), Carter Sirois (160) and Tommy Guilfoyle (220) each won individual titles for the Trojans. Pryzbek got a takedown with 10 seconds left to earn a 3-1 win in the final while Pera finished the day with three pins and a technical fall.

Coventry’s Joziah Fry earned outstanding wrestler honors for his dominating performance at 120 pounds with a technical fall win over Joel Barlow’s Charlie Prather. Barlow’s Carson LiCastri had the most dominant performance in the finals with a pin in 15 seconds.

Saturday, December 2019 scores, tournament results, boxscores

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With five individual champions, Middletown, N.Y., won the 37th annual Lancer Invitational in Waterford with a 15-point win over two-time defending tournament champion Southington, 213-198. The Blue Knights had three individual champions led by Darius Mangiafico (132), who outlasted Killingly’s David Charron in the final, 6-4; Jared Guida (145) and Billy Carr (182).

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Bristol Eastern won five of six matches in the finals to beat Foran-Milford, 239-213 to win the 31st annual C.J. McCormack Memorial Tournament at Berlin High. Trent Thompson (113), Mason Lishness (120), Tom Nichols (145), Alexander Marshall (152) and Nick St. Peter (285) won in the finals. Eastern won the tournament for the third straight year.

Saturday, December 2019 scores, tournament results, boxscores

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Amity won the Shelton Invitational on Saturday with a win over Canton. (Photo courtesy Amity High wrestling)

Amity had four individual champions and nine finalists to win the ninth annual Shelton Invitational for the first time with a 161½-129 win over Canton, which finished second in the tournament for the second consecutive season. Colin Boufford (106), Kyle Ciola (138), Simon Flaherty (182) and Andrew Coscia (285) won individual titles for Amity while Ethan Titus (120) and Matt Webb (132) brought home championships for Canton. Titus beat Shelton’s Garrett Ziperstein in the final, 6-2 while Webb pinned Amity’s Camryn Brown in the final.

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Brunswick won the Battle on the Bay in Marion, Mass., for the third straight year. Three Bruins wrestlers – Chris Perry (138), Luca Errico (145) and Clayton Ostrover (195) – won individual championships while Nadjingar Ngbokoli (170) finished second.

For the third straight weekend, Errico earned the tournament Outstanding Wrestler Award. Brunswick had a tournament-high 19 pins in the victory. Brunswick beat Northfield-Mount Hermon, 182½ to 163½. Pomfret’s Nick Kruczynski (132), St. Thomas More’s Tyler Miller (152) and Hopkin’s Pearson Hill (160) also brought home individual titles.

Saturday, December 2019 scores, tournament results, boxscores

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With two individual champions and seven finalists, Rocky Hill won the Derby Invitational for the second straight year with a 29½-point victory over Oxford, which had a tournament-high four individual champions. It was Rocky Hill’s third Derby Invitational title. Stafford’s Tristian Julian (145) pinned Derby’s Michael Melendez in the final to win the Outstanding Wrestler award.

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Wethersfield had 10 wrestlers finish in the top of their respective weight class to outlast Platt High, 193 ½ to 147 ½ and capture the third annual Battle of Wethersfield for the first time. Jake Laurie (106) and Marcus Nieves (182) won individual titles for the Eagles, who had four finalists.

Saturday, December 2019 scores, tournament results, boxscores

Published Sunday, December 22, 2019

 

 

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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