Max Schwartz’s top 10 New England rankings: Jan. 20, 2023

By MAX SCHWARTZ
Special to Connecticut Wrestling Online

With plenty of wrestling around the region, there are a few shakeups in the New England top 10 rankings for public high school wrestling, including three new No. 1 ranked wrestlers.

Three Connecticut wrestlers have moved up to the No. 1 ranking in their respective weight classes. Xavier’s Raekwon Shabazz is No. 1 at 106 pounds, Avon’s Isaiah Adams is No. 1 at 113 and Killingly’s Jack Richardson moves into the top spot at 152 pounds.

The next New England top 10 rankings will be on February 10 with one set on February 24 before the state tournaments begin. One final set will be Thursday, March 2 prior to the start of the New England tournament.

Is there a result or a weight change Max needs to be aware of?  Email Max at: [email protected]

106

Raekwon Shabazz (Xavier, CT) is the new No. 1 ranked wrestler in New England after he won the War at the Shore tournament that was held in Berlin, MD. No. 4 Emmet Logan (Lowell, MA) got revenge on No. 3 Yandel Morales (Andover, MA) with a 4-2 decision in a dual meet, avenging a 5-0 loss back at the Lowell Holiday Tournament.

Other action at this weight includes No. 8 Alex Oberc (New Milford, CT) coming away with a close 10-8 decision over No. 9 Jack Gedeney (Lewis Mills, CT). Oberc would go on to lose to No. 7 William Soe (North Providence, RI) in the finals of the John Gorman Tournament in Cumberland Rhode Island.

113

No. 1 Isaiah Adams (Avon, CT) dropped down from 120 pounds and took a a 9-4 win over No. 2 Alex Schaeublin (Saint John’s Prep, MA) — a turnaround from when they faced each other back in October at the Journeyman Fall Classic.  No. 4 Deydon Soto (Danbury, CT) and No. 5 Jared Hood (Ponaganset, RI) squared off at the Eastern States Classic with Soto winning the match 10-6.

120

With Adams down a weight class, a couple other wrestlers have moved up. A big change is freshmen No. 4 David Perez (Ponaganset, RI), who placed fourth in the very difficult Eastern States Classic a tournament held in Loch Sheldrake, NY.

Other action in this weight includes No. 7 Joe Mahoney (New Fairfield, CT) besting No. 8 Isaac Quiles (East Hartford, CT) 7-5. No. 3 Cameron Davis (Cranston West, RI) beat No. 10 Caden Brusso (Hollis-Brookline, NH) in a close 3-2 match.

126

A big addition here is No. 5 Stone Farnsworth (Coventry, RI), who moves into the top 10 after calculating in past wins against No. 7 Andrew McCarthey (Mt. Hope, RI), No. 9 Michael Boulaunger Jr. (Milford, MA), and No. 10 Nathan Sayers (Xaveiran, MA). No. 4 Dylan Kadish (Newton South, MA) also moves up a little bit as he beat No. 6 Jack Callagan (Tewksbury, MA) 2-1.

Meanwhile, No. 1 Jacob Joyce (Ponaganset, RI) took first place in a very talented 126-pound bracket at Eastern States and won the “Champion of Champions” award. No. 3 Phoenix Gardella (Norwalk, CT) also beat No. 8 Dominick Spadaro (Fairfield Warde, CT) in overtime of the finals of the Warde Invitational.

132

A big shake up here comes in the form of No. 2 James Tildsley (Shawsheen Tech, MA) who slides in after bumping up from 126 pounds. Meanwhile, No. 6 Jesse Defonce (Danbury, CT) pinned No. 8 Dylan Davis (Wells, ME) in the finals of the Sanford Wrestling Tournament.

No. 7 Connor Swaim (North Kingston, RI) finds himself just outside the top six as he has been having a dominant season in Rhode Island.

138

Not too many changes in this weight class. No. 1 Sidney Tildsley (Shawsheen Tech, MA) defended his No. 1 ranking by beating No. 3 Cam Ice (Minnechaug, MA) 6-2. No. 4 Anthony Basile (Xavier, CT) took first place at War at the Shore. And No. 10 Kaden Dustin (Noble, ME) makes the top 10 after going 4-2 in the Eastern States Classic.

145

No. 4 Thomas Bock (New Fairfield, CT) beat No. 2 Jonah Weber (Avon, CT) 6-4 in the finals of the Bristol Central Invitational. However, due to Weber’s win over No. 3 Elliot Humphries (Minnechaug, MA) from the finals of the Lowell tournament, he does not move down and Bock rises to fourth since he was pinned by Humphries back at Lowell. No. 6 William Smith (Fairfield Prep, CT) enters the top 10 after pinning No. 9 Josh Howard (Southington, CT).

152

This weight class got really good, really fast. With No. 1 Jack Richardson (Killingly, CT) coming down from 160 pounds and No. 2 Jason Hood (Ponaganset, RI) moving up from 145 pounds, we are expecting to see fireworks for the first place match in Providence come March. That is, however, if No. 3 Derek Cote (Noble, ME) and No. 4 Drew McGourty (Braintree, MA) don’t beat them to it.

No. 9 Caiden Talento (Platt, CT) comes into the rankings for the first time after beating No. 10 Luca Manfredi (Newtown, CT) 7-1.

160

With Richardson’s departure to 152 pounds, just about everyone moves up a spot and the top 10 welcomes No. 9 Braden Campbell (Bishop Hendricken, RI) and No. 10 Jack Arpey (Mt. Mansfield, VT). No. 2 Andrew Reall (Ponoganset, RI) placed second at Eastern States; Reall looks to carry that momentum into the last third of the season.

170

No. 2 Isael Perez (Hope, RI) moves up after beating No. 4 Nicholas Baccala (Ponaganset, RI) 8-4 in a dual meet. No. 1 Rafael Knapp, meanwhile, took third place at Eastern States.

It is worth noting that No. 8 Ryan Gilcrhist (Norwalk, CT) beat No. 7 Chad Mairiano (Simsbury, CT) 4-3, However due to Mairiano’s prior victory over Gilchrist (10-3 at Lowell) neither move any spots.

182

Up in New York for the Eastern States Classic, No. 5 Preston Marchessault (Ponoganset, RI) placed fourth, beating No. 7 Dominic Iaquinto (Danbury, CT) in the process, who would go on to place eighth. Both were wrestling down a weight class at 172 pounds that also included a plus-four weight allowance.

No. 8 Jack Wendell (Nonnewaug, CT) bumps up and has a previous win over No. 10 Joshua Nieroda (Suffield/Windsor Locks, CT). No. 9 Charles Weidman (Xavier, CT), also now at this weight, placed second at War at the Shore.

195

No. 3 Nathan Leach (Bridgewater-Raynham, MA) comes back into the rankings after a slight hiatus. No. 5 Bennett Sonneborn (Natick, MA) is still currently out with an injury sustained at the Lowell Holiday Tournament, but he’s hoping to return for the postseason.

No. 8 Shane Raposo (Cumberland, RI) pops in the top 10 after having a tremendous season thus far. No. 6 Sammy Montovani (East Hartford, CT) is now at 195 and he beat No. 10 Soren Reif (Killingly, CT), 5-0. No. 9 Malachi Fowler (Windham, CT) also won over Reif, 4-2.

220

No. 2 James Duhancik (Stratford, CT) pinned No. 3 Michael DiOrio (Ponaganset, RI) in the third period, while leading 4-0 at the Eastern States Classic.

No. 7 Kaden Cyr (Bonny Eagle, ME) makes his first appearance in the rankings after winning the Sanford Wrestling Tournament. He beat No. 8 Jared Brenton (Massabassec, ME) in the finals 8-0. Brenton and No. 9 Mike Gianetti (Trumbull, CT) both have won over No. 10 Jhonnyel Ramierez (Danbury, CT) in the past two weeks. Brenton via pin at Sanford and Gianetti with an overtime win in a dual.

285

No. 3 Nuh Adjunski (Danbury, CT) rises after beating No. 4 Doug Traynor (New Fairfield, CT) 4-1 at the Eastern States Classic. Adjunski would go on to place fourth in the tournament. No. 10 Joseph Church comes into the rankings after establishing himself in Rhode Island this season.

Team rankings

One team looks like it is clearly pulling away: No. 1 Ponaganset (Glocester, RI). The Chieftains traveled to New York for what they thought would be some tough competition, but little did they know that they were the tough competition.

Ponaganset became not only the first Rhode Island team but the first New England team to ever win the Eastern States Classic tournament. This massive win has catapulted Ponaganset onto the national stage as they are now the No. 50 ranked high school team in the country.

No. 2 Danbury (CT) was also in the tournament, placing eighth. No. 8 Norwalk (CT) and No. 13 New Fairfield (CT) also attended the classic.

No. 3 Xavier (Middletown, CT) took third place at the War at the Shore tournament in Maryland. Meanwhile No. 5 Saint John’s Prep (Danvers, MA) stayed in-state and won the Woburn Invitational. No. 4 Coventry (RI) is this edition’s biggest riser as they add some firepower to their ranks.

The team rankings are calculated using the number of wrestlers ranked in the New England top 10 poll.

Max Schwartz has published multiple pieces with wrestling giant Flowrestling.com, including pre-covid New England rankings, as well as with up-and-coming Division I wrestling news site Fancowrestling.com. Max grew up in Norwalk, Conn., where he wrestled for Norwalk High. This is his second year doing New England rankings for Connecticut Wrestling Online. You can reach Max at [email protected]. 

 Week 3: 2022-23, Jan. 6

Week 2: 2022-23, Dec. 26

Week 1: 2022-23, Dec. 12