Xavier’s Anthony Basile (132) has Foran’s Craig Mager on his back in the SCC Tournament finals Saturday in Middletown. Basile won, 19-6. More photos
MIDDLETOWN, Feb. 5, 2022 — The post-season started a week earlier than usual for the Xavier High wrestling team. It didn’t bother the Falcons at all.
No. 1 Xavier turned in one of the most dominating performances in Southern Connecticut Conference history as the Falcons won the tournament and league championship for the fifth straight time with a 264-122½ win over No. 8 Branford Saturday.
The Falcons put 10 wrestlers in the finals and all 10 came home with SCC championships. Xavier scored a tournament record 264 points, breaking the mark they set in 2016, and won the tournament by a record 141½ points, eclipsing the record that the Falcons set in 2015.
“We had a good tournament. I thought we wrestled well,” Xavier head coach Mike Cunningham said. “We still have some improvements we need to make for the post-season.”
And then, he paused and smiled. “The kids wrestled tough. You can’t complain,” he said.
It’s not a veteran team either for the Falcons, who captured a record 10th SCC championship. There were four freshmen among Xavier’s 10 finalists along two sophomores, a junior and three seniors.
Xavier dominated the first six weight classes in the finals with freshman Raekwon Shabazz (106) winning with a pin and freshmen Maximus Morse (113) and Jackson Heslin (120) winning with technical falls. Heslin (10-0) earned a 19-3 win in just 3:23.
Sophomores Kyle Levesque (126, 16-0) and Anthony Basile (132, 19-2) had major decisions while senior Dylan Levesque brought home his first SCC title with a technical fall at 138.
Then, the matches got more competitive and the gym got a bit louder as fans of the other SCC teams cheered on the opposition, hoping that someone could beat a wrestler from Xavier.
At 145 pounds, Xavier’s Matt Ferrucci got a two-point takedown with about minute left in regulation to outlast Fairfield Prep’s Kyle Pokornowski, 4-3.
Foran’s Kyle Pokornowski tries to turn Xavier’s Matthew Ferrucci in the SCC finals at 145 pounds Saturday. Ferrucci earned a 4-3 win to win the individual championship. More photos
Xavier senior Colin Loria had a 4-1 lead in his final at 152 pounds against Fairfield Prep’s Alex Cardozo but Cardozo put Loria to his back in the second period to tie the bout at 4-4. The match was tied at 5-5 in the waning seconds of the match before Loria got a takedown with seven seconds left in regulation to win his first SCC title.
At 160 pounds, Xavier freshman Charles Weidman outlasted Guilford senior Edward Barlage thanks to a five-point move in the final 16 seconds of the match to earn a 9-4 decision. The match was tied at 4-4 when Weidman got a takedown with 16 seconds to go and put Barlage to his back for another three near fall points.
But it was a spirited match and energized the crowd.
Tied at 3-3 after two periods, Barlage took a 4-3 lead when Weidman intentionally chose neutral and give up a point. However, the crowd howled 30 seconds later when Barlage was penalized for stalling tying the bout at 4-4.
It was the third match of the season between the two wrestlers, who competed earlier in the week. Barlage (21-1) had won the previous two matches.
The SCC Tournament finals were held under a single spotlight to highlight the championship matches Saturday at Xavier High in Middletown. More photos
Branford’s Cole Snider got a takedown with 26 seconds left that proved to be the match-winning move in a 4-3 win over Hand’s John Portley in the final at 170 pounds. Snider, the fourth seed, beat No. 1 seed Alejandro Coldberg in the semifinals, 5-3 thanks to a reversal with 16 seconds left in the third period.
At 182 pounds, Guilford’s Brent Strand had a takedown with 1:01 left to take a 7-4 lead. But Fairfield Prep’s Connor Smith earned one point when Strand was penalized for a technical violation and got a takedown with 10 seconds to cut the lead to one, 7-6. That is as close as Smith would get.
Guilford’s Christopher Murphy (195, 21-0) won by tech fall, Xavier’s Thomas Lunt (220, 18-1) won a SCC title with a pin and Shelton’s Matt Weiner (285) won his second SCC championship with a pin over Fairfield Prep’s Malachi Mercer-Robinson in 1:47.
Weiner, who won his three matches with pins of 29 seconds, 56 seconds and 1:47, was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler in voting by the league coaches. He is now 15-0 on the year.
NOTE: It was a record 10th SCC championship for Xavier. Hand is second on the list with five SCC titles… Normally, conference tournaments are held the week before the CIAC state tournaments but the SCC decided to hold their tournament this weekend to give athletes time in case there is a complication with COVID-19 in terms of a positive test or contact tracing. Athletes will have additional time to get healthy and eligible.
2022 SCC championship meet
At Middletown
Team Results: 1. Xavier, 264; 2. Branford, 122.5; 3. Fairfield Prep, 118; 4. Guilford, 104.5; 5. Foran, 98; 6. Daniel Hand, 73; 7. Notre Dame-WH, 60; 8. Shelton, 40; 9. Morgan, 38; 10. East Haven, 22; 11. Amity Regional, 9; 11. Cheshire, 9; 13. Jonathan Law, 5; 14. New Haven and North Haven 0
Championship Matches
106: Raekwon Shabazz (Xavier) pin Jack Batista-Fletcher (East Haven), 1:46
113: Maximus Morse (Xavier) tech fall John Fernandes (Guilford), 17-1, 5:34
120: Jackson Heslin (Xavier) tech fall Antonio Madero (Foran), 19-3, 3:23
126: Kyle Levesque (Xavier) major dec. Charles Wahl (Daniel Hand), 12-2
132: Anthony Basile (Xavier) major dec. Craig Mager (Foran), 19-6
138: Dylan Levesque (Xavier) tech fall Jace Korab (Branford), 23-8, 4:25
145: Matt Ferrucci (Xavier) dec. Kyle Pokornowski (Foran), 4-3
152: Colin Loria (Xavier) dec. Alex Cardozo (Fairfield Prep), 7-5
160: Charles Weidman (Xavier) dec. Edward Barlage (Guilford), 6-4
170: Cole Snider (Branford) dec. John Portley (Daniel Hand), 4-3
182: Brent Strand (Guilford) dec. Connor Smith (Fairfield Prep), 7-6
195: Christopher Murphy (Guilford) tech fall Nate Mathis (Branford), 18-3
220: Thomas Lunt (Xavier) pin Jordan Armstrong (Morgan), 4:15
285: Matt Weiner (Shelton) pin Malachi Mercer-Robinson (Fairfield Prep), 1:47
Third Place Matches
106: Keith Pokornowski (Foran) pin Matthew Fehmel (Fairfield Prep), 0:35
113: Graham Ziperstein (Shelton) pin Mason Hallstrom (Foran), 3:57
120: Jake Elpi (Branford) pin Ethan Weaver (Notre Dame-WH), 1:37
126: Nicholas Spaziano (Morgan) dec. Dylan Ekstrand (Notre Dame-WH), 13-6
132: William Smith (Fairfield Prep) dec. Carter Burgess (Branford), 4-2
138: Kevin Sevigny (Notre Dame-WH) major dec. Anthony Giordano (Foran), 17-6
145: Joseph Cardozo (Fairfield Prep) pin Jake Ortiz (East Haven), 1:12
152: Cameron Chieppo (Daniel Hand) pin James Taylor (Foran), 1:23
160: Patrick Zdunek (Branford) pin Tyler Smith (Fairfield Prep), 3:00
170: Alejandro Coldberg (Guilford) major dec. Rome Smith (Cheshire), 9-1
182: Ronan Moynihan (Xavier) pin Charlie Keogh (Daniel Hand), 2:49
195: John Murphy (Fairfield Prep) pin Joseph O’Brien (Xavier), 4:09
220: Drew Schwartz (Branford) pin Ryan Mendola (Notre Dame-WH), 2:30
285: Vincent Scileppi (Xavier) pin Joshua Kuczynski (Notre Dame-WH), 2:06
Outstanding wrestler: Matt Weiner (Shelton), 285 lbs.
2022 SCC Championship Meet (brackets and results)
