No. 7 Killingly got past Windham, 37-35 in an ECC Division II bout Thursday to win their 28th straight dual meet. (Photo courtesy Killingly Athletics)
In the Eastern Connecticut Conference, two teams took the lead in the race for their respective division titles after victories on Thursday night.
In the ECC race for division titles, teams earn one point for a dual meet win against a divisional opponent and one point for finishing ahead of a divisional opponent at the upcoming ECC championship meet. The winner of the ECC Tournament is the overall league champion.
A pair of Hall of Fame wrestling coaches with more than 1,000 dual meet wins and 12 state championships between them met Thursday night in Killingly when Pat Risley’s Windham High Whippets traveled to meet Rich Bowen’s No. 7 Killingly squad for control of the ECC Division II race.
Windham won the final five matches of the evening but Killingly held off the Whippets with a 37-35 victory.
Killingly’s Jared Hanson (170) lost to Windham’s Aaron Palacios-Mendoza by technical fall but gave up just five points instead of six if he had been pinned. In the final match of the evening, Killingly’s Devin Exarhoulias dropped an 8-3 decision to Windham’s Jaycee Diaz but he gave up just three points for losing by decision instead of six for a pin.
Killingly had six pins in the meet to help secure the victory. Killingly improved to 18-0 on the year and 3-0 in ECC Division II with Windham slipping to 13-3 and 2-1 in the ECC Division II.
Killingly has now won 28 dual meets in a row, dating back to last season. Killingly’s school record win streak is 36, which was set over two seasons ending in 2020.
In Division III, Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech (11-7, 4-0 ECC Div. III) remained undefeated in Division III with a 48-36 win over Griswold/Wheeler. Lyman used six pins and two forfeits to pull ahead of the Wolverines (12-8, 3-1 ECC Div. III).
Thursday’s Jan. 26 results and boxscores
Wednesday, Jan. 25 results and boxscores
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Berlin and Platt are on a collision course for the CCC South championship. Both schools prevailed on Thursday setting up a match for control of the division. Defending CCC South champion Berlin (16-3, 4-0 CCC South) had nine pins in a dominant 72-12 win over Bristol Eastern while Platt (20-4, 4-0 CCC South) had seven pins and a technical fall in a 53-27 win over Bristol Central. Berlin travels to Platt for a key CCC South match on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. in Meriden.
No. 6 East Hartford (5-0, 4-0 CCC North) extended their dual meet winning streak to 25 matches in a row with an 81-0 win over Wethersfield. The Hornets had 10 pins in the victory.
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In other Central Connecticut Conference divisional races, East Hartford has the upper hand in CCC North after beating Avon. The Hornets still have to tangle with Glastonbury (12-5, 2-0) next Wednesday.
In the CCC West, Simsbury (5-1, 4-0) has already beaten Southington (8-2, 4-1) in December by a 39-31 score. If the Trojans can win their remaining divisional matches with Hall and Farmington, they will win their fourth straight title.
In the CCC East, RHAM (19-2, 3-0) is hoping to win a fourth straight divisional title. Rocky Hill is the lone team left in the CCC East that hasn’t lost a divisional bout. The two teams meet on February 8, the final day of the regular season.
Thursday’s Jan. 26 results and boxscores
Wednesday, Jan. 25 results and boxscores
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It’s business as usual for No. 2 Danbury (10-0, 5-0 FCIAC West) in the FCIAC as the Hatters beat Westhill, 75-3 on Thursday to extend their FCIAC winning streak to 446 matches. Danbury’s last loss in the league came to Greenwich in January 1986 by a score of 37-24. The Hatters are currently on an 18-match winning streak.
That streak will be challenged this weekend when Danbury travels to Plaisow, N.H., to face Timberlane Regional, Simsbury and Nashoba Valley Tech from Westford, Mass. Timberlane finished third behind Danbury and Wells, Maine, at the Sanford Area Wrestling Tournament in Sanford, Maine earlier this month and won their own Timberlane Invitational a week ago beating Southington.
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In the Berkshire League, Nonnewaug (12-6, 3-0 BL) is has all but clinched their second straight title and 14th BL championship this century with a 57-16 win over Gilbert. Teams get two points for a dual meet win and one point for each BL team they beat at the Berkshire Valley tournament.
For Gilbert to win the title, they would have to be the first BL team in the Berkshire Valley tournament and hope that Nonnewaug finishes behind Terryville/Thomaston and Northwestern, an unlikely scenario.
Thursday’s Jan. 26 results and boxscores
Wednesday, Jan. 25 results and boxscores
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With six pins, Weston remained undefeated with a 52-30 win over Bethel in Southwest Conference action. Weston improves to 9-0 and 4-0 in SWC Patriot with the victory.
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After Thursday night’s win, Killingly’s Rich Bowen has the most dual meet wins for a coach in Connecticut history with 664, according to the Connecticut High School Wrestling Record Book after Thursday’s win. Windham’s Pat Risley is No. 3 on the all-time list with 539 wins, having passed the late Jim Day of Berlin (535 wins) earlier this month. Bowen has led Killingly to five state championships while Risley has led Windham to seven.
Four of the top five coaches on the most dual meet win list in the state record book are still active with Bowen at No. 1, Derby’s Buster Jadach (624) at No. 2, Risley at No. 3 and Platt’s Bryan McCarty at No. 5 with 531 wins.
