Max Schwartz’s New England rankings: Feb. 22, 2023

By MAX SCHWARTZ
Special to Connecticut Wrestling Online

The post-season wrestling tournaments are in full swing across New England. All-State and New England qualifying tournaments are set for this weekend in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire.

There is one new No. 1 ranked wrestler in this edition of the top 12 New England public school wrestlers. Jayden Toppan of Gloucester, Mass., moves into the No. 1 spot at 220 pounds.

One more set of rankings will be issued next week just before the New England wrestling tournament in Providence.

106

Not too many changes in this set of rankings with No. 6 Coy Lyford (Spaulding, VT) moving up four spots and No. 12 Evan Lynch (Salem, NH) moves into the rankings after winning the New Hampshire Division I state championship last weekend.

113

A big change at 113 pounds as No. 8 Anthony Vickers (Northbridge, MA) pops in after beating No. 9 Aiden Baum (Milford, MA) in the Massachusetts Division 2 state finals. Another Salem wrestler enters the rankings in No. 10 Brody McDonald (Salem, NH). McDonald, down from 120 pounds, lost to No. 5 Peter Rincan (Bedford, NH) in the New Hampshire Division I finals.

120

At 120 pounds, the only new face in the rankings is No. 7 Brent Von Magnus (Bridgewater-Raynham, MA), who beat No. 9 Miles Darling (Essex/Masco Tech, MA) 7-5 in overtime in the finals of Massachusetts’s Division 2 state tournament.

In other action around the region, No. 2 Ayden Cofone (Windham/GNG, ME) easily won a Class A state title in Maine, No. 6 Joe Mahoney (New Fairfield, CT) won a Class S state title in Connecticut, and No. 4 Brayton Carbone (Shawsheen Tech, MA) defeated No. 12 Brandon Winn (Brockton, MA) in the finals of the Massachusetts Division 1 state tournament.

126

Every single 126 pound match should have the arena rocking in Providence. There are just studs left and right. Two weeks ago, No. 3 Phoenix Gardella (Norwalk, CT) beat No. 5 Dominic Spadaro (Fairfield Warde, CT) in overtime in the FCIAC Tournament finals. Last week, Spadaro wins in overtime in the Connecticut Class LL finals. This puts the season series at 2-1, advantage Gardella, with the two having the potential to square off in both the Connecticut State Open and the New England tournament.

No. 8 Nathan Sayers (Xavieran, MA) also made some noise this past weekend with his come-from-behind pin against No. 4 Dylan Kadish (Newton South, MA) to win the Massachusetts Division 1 final. No. 7 Jack Callahan (Tewksbury, MA) won a Massachusetts Division 3 state title, while No. 11 Vincent Tripaldi (New Fairfield, CT) won a Connecticut Class S state title. No. 2 Julian Henderson (Camden Hills, ME) continued his great season with a Maine Class A state title.

132

Not too many changes this edition. No. 8 Gavin Ripley (Oceanside, ME) jumps into the rankings for the second time this season after a dominant showing at both Maine’s Class B South and Class B tournaments. No. 12 Eli Brace (Vergennes, VT) also pops in after factoring in past results.

138

The rankings at 138 has seen some big changes these past few weeks with one of the biggest being No. 4 Jaydin D’Ambrosio (St. John’s Prep, MA) moving up from the 10th spot after a 2-1 victory over No. 5 Tyler Kadish (Newton South, MA) in the semifinals of the Massachusetts Division 1 state tournament. Kadish and D’Ambrosio are now 1-1 against each other on the year.

No. 2 Jackez Mendez (East Hartford, CT) stayed undefeated on the year, improving to 32-0 with a close 7-5 semifinal win over No. 12 Nick Fatone (Norwalk, CT) and an 8-4 finals victory over No. 10 Josh Howard (Southington, CT) in the Connecticut Class LL tournament. No. 11 Aiden Williams (Windham, NH) slides into the rankings with a New Hampshire Division 1 state title under his belt.

145

One big change at 145 is No. 4 Zavier Hernandez (Brien McMahon, CT) wrestling his way into the top 5 after winning a Class LL title in Connecticut. Hernandez beat No. 9 William Smith (Fairfield Prep, CT) 5-2 in the semifinals and No. 6 Yaxier Rivera (East Hartford, CT) 4-2 in the finals.

Other action included No. 1 Gabriel Bouyssou (Scituate, RI) winning the Rhode Island Division 2-3 Sectional tournament, No. 6 Jonah Weber (Avon, CT) winning the Connecticut Class M championship, and No. 10 Teghan McConnell (Bedford, NH) winning the New Hampshire Division 1 tournament.

152

Another weight class without a lot of movement. No. 1 Jack Richardson (Killingly, CT) was up at 160 pounds two weeks ago for the Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament and got pinned while up 13-5 in the semifinals; the next week, he bounced back and with three pins at his normal weight class took first at the Connecticut Class S championships held at his school.

No. 3 Derek Cote (Noble, ME) won the Maine Class A championship while No. 4 Drew McGourty (Braintree, MA) and No. 6 David Pento Jr. (Londonderry, NH) each won a Division 1 title in their respective states. No. 12 Luca Manfredi (Newtown, CT) finds his way in the rankings after winning the Connecticut Class L championship held in Guilford.

160

Not many changes here, either. No. 1 Rawson Iwanicki (St. John’s Prep, MA) won a Massachusetts Division 1 title. No. 3 Brent Nicolosi (Haverhill, MA) made it to the semis of the tournament, though he defaulted to 6th place. No. 4 Khalil Bourjeli (New Milford, CT) and No. 5 Dravyn Roberts (East Hartford, CT) each won a class title in Connecticut.

No. 10 Mateo Mustapha (Salem, NH) won a Division 1 title in New Hampshire and No. 12 Colby Cloutier (King Phillip, MA) makes his way into the rankings for the first time after a dominant performance at the Division 2 tournament in Massachusetts, which included four pins.

170

A worthy competitor moves up to this weight class for the postseason in No. 9 Jack Walsh (Chelmsford, MA). Walsh wrestled at 160 for a majority of the season and most recently dropped a 9-4 decision to No. 1 Rafael Knapp (Algonquin, MA) in the Massachusetts Division 1 finals.

Another new addition is No. 5 Tyler Hunter (Toll Gate, RI). Hunter comes into the rankings after beating previously-ranked Oliver Parker (Central Falls/Black Valley Prep) of Rhode Island in the Division 2-3 Sectional finals. Like 120 pounds, there’s loads of competition at this weight in the Ocean State. It’s starting to look like Rhode Island might need a fourth bid to New Englands, as the country’s smallest state seems to have a huge amount of talent. Another more time-consuming solution would be to make New England qualifications more like NCAA’s and have it by weight class rather than a set amount that qualify for each state, but that’s a discussion for another day.

182

There are no changes at this weight class. No. 1 Nate Blanchette (Central Catholic, MA) won a Massachusetts Division 1 state title, beating No. 12 Ethan Harris (Taunton, MA) in the finals. No. 4 Issac Heiner (Mattanwcook/Lee, ME) won a Class B title in Maine, and No. 6 Dominic Iaquinto (Danbury, CT) won a Class LL title in Connecticut after a close 5-4 match against No. 7 Brayden Soleau (East Lyme/Norwich Tech).

195

The biggest change at 195 is No. 6 Jose Bonilla (New Bedford, MA). Bonilla finds himself in the top 10 after winning the Division 1 state title in Massachusetts. No. 7 Bennett Sonneborn (Natick, MA) got injured in December at the Lowell Holiday Tournament but is back for the postseason. Unfortunately, he dropped a 4-2 decision to Bonilla in the aforementioned Division 1 finals.

Other action in New England included No. 1 Brendan Gilchrist (Norwalk, CT) winning a Connecticut Class LL title with a 11-4 decision over No. 5 Sammy Montovani (East Hartford, CT). No. 3 Nathan Leach (Bridgewater-Raynham, MA) also won a Division 2 State title. No. 10 Malachi Fowler (Windham, CT) won a Connecticut Class S title, and No. 11 Michael Toppan (Gloucester, MA) won a Division 3 state title in Massachusetts.

220

There is a new number one at 220 pounds. Jayden Toppan (Gloucester, MA) gets the spot after No. 2 Patrick DesLauries (Ashland, MA) took a semifinals loss to No. 7 Ashton Wonson (Triton, MA). Wonson got the pin while trailing 2-0; however, he would go on to lose 6-5 in the Massachusetts Division 3 state finals to Toppan. Toppan himself also boasts a win over DesLauries, which came at last year’s Division 3 tournament.

No. 4 Andrew Archibald (Cranston West, RI) slides into the rankings after calculating in a missed win over No. 5 Michael DiOrio (Ponaganset, RI). No. 9 Kaden Cyr (Bonny Eagle, ME) won the Maine Class A state tournament over No. 10 Jared Breton (Massabassec, ME).

285

The Massachusetts Division 1 state final was electric with No. 1 Thomas Brown (Chelsmford,, MA) coming away with a close 10-9 victory over No. 7 Alex Bajores (St. John’s Prep, MA). Other than that, there are not too many changes. No. 6 Brayden Marceau (Melrose, MA) won the Massachusetts Division 2 state title over No. 11 Justin Sokol (Hopkinton, MA). No. 4 Nuh Adjusnki (Danbury, CT) won a Connecticut Class LL title and No. 3 Malaki Colon (Timberlane, NH) won a Division 1 title in the Granite State.

No. 12 Nate Malloy (Wells, ME) makes an appearance in the rankings after winning the Maine Class B tournament. Malloy’s finals win avenged an earlier loss in the season.  Malloy also has a win over Adjunski from the S.W.A.T.

Top-20 Tournament Team Race

There has been tons of movement in the top 20, which is based on the number of wrestlers ranked in the individual weight classes.

No. 2 Saint John’s Prep (Danvers, MA) jumps into the top three after they won the Division 1 tournament in Massachusetts. No. 3 Xavier (Middletown, CT) won the Nutmeg State’s Class L tournament, while No. 4 East Hartford (CT), this edition’s biggest mover, came in 2nd in the Class LL tournament. No. 7 Danbury (CT) falls from the top three in what most certainly seems like a “down” year for the Hatters. No. 9 New Fairfield (CT) came in second at the Connecticut Class S tournament to No. 12 Killingly (CT). No. 14 Noble (North Berwick, ME) won Maine’s Class A South and Class A championships. No. 16 Minnechaug (Wilbraham, MA) took second place in the Massachusetts Division 2 state tournament to No. 18 Milford (MA).

One of the definite toughest divisions/classes in New England is Massachusetts’s Division 1. This division has six of the top 20 teams and other powerhouse programs in the Bay State. This division includes No. 2 St. John’s Prep, No. 6 Shawsheen Tech, No. 11 Haverhill (MA), No. 16 Chelmsford (MA), No. 19 Central Catholic (Lawerence, MA), and No. 20 Newton South (Newton, MA). The ranked teams performed as follows in the Division 1 tournament: Saint John’s Prep (1st), Shawsheen Tech (3rd), Central Catholic (4th), Chelmsford (5th), Haverhill (7th), Newton South (9th).

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 5 2022-23: Feb. 9 

Week 4: 2022-23, Jan. 20

Week 3: 2022-23, Jan. 6

Week 2: 2022-23, Dec. 26

Week 1: 2022-23, Dec. 12