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2023 New England championships at a glance

58th annual New England championships
At Providence, R.I.
Date: Friday, March 3 and Saturday, March 4
Participants: Top 7 wrestlers from Massachusetts; top 5 from Connecticut, top 3 from Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island

Friday’s schedule: Wrestling begins at 5 p.m. Round two begins at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday’s schedule: Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. with quarterfinals and consolation round matches. Championship semifinals begin at noon. Championship finals, consolation finals (third place) and fifth place bouts begin at 3:45 p.m.

Brackets and real-time results (FloArena)
Pre-tournament brackets (PDF)
Watch the tournament online (FloWrestling.com)
Tickets: No tickets will be sold at the door. Order them online. Day 1, Day 2

2023 state championship meets: State championship results from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine.

Last year: 1. St. John’s Prep-Danvers, MA 95, 2. Xavier 82, 3. Ponaganset RI  77, 4. Coventry RI 71½, 5. Fairfield Warde 58.
Defending champions returning: Jack Richardson, Killingly (145); Jacob Joyce, Ponaganset RI (120), Sidney Tildsley, Shawsheen, MA (132); Gabriel Bouyssou, Scituate, RI (138); Rawson Iwanicki, St. John’s Prep (152); Nathan Blanchette, Central Catholic-Lawrence MA (160); Hampton Kaye-Kuter, Milford, MA (220)
Last year’s championship matches
106 Musa Tamaradze MA (West Springfield) dec. James Tildsley MA (Billerica), 6-2
113 Isiac Paulino MA (Montachusett) dec. Miles Darling MA (Essex Tech/Masco Co-Op), 6-0
120 Jacob Joyce RI (Ponaganset) pin Jackson Heslin CT (Xavier), 4:39
126 Tyler Knox MA (Saint John’s Prep) dec. Evan Lindner CT (New Milford), 3-1
132 Sidney Tildsley MA (Shawsheen) dec. Adam Schaeublin MA (Saint John’s Prep), 3-2
138 Gabriel Bouyssou RI (Scituate) pin Ty Stewart MA (Tyngsborough/Dracut), 2:30
145 Jack Richardson CT (Killingly) dec. Mark Botello MA (Hingham), 8-6
152 Rawson Iwanicki MA (Saint John’s Prep) injury default over Zach Johns CT (Simsbury), 5-5 3:54
160 Nathan Blanchette MA (Central Catholic) dec. Michael Bobola MA (Xaverian), 11-9
170 William Ebert (Fairfield Warde) dec. Jackson Sutherland ME (Mattanawcook Academy), 9-0
182 Joshua Cordio MA (Nashoba) dec. Timothy Goddard MA (Algonquin), 10-0
195 Christopher Murphy CT (Guilford) pin Brendan Gilchrist CT (Norwalk), 5:59
220 Hampton Kaye-Kuter MA (Milford) dec. Genovese Facchetti MA (Minnechaug), 3-2 UTB
285 Adolfo Betancur RI (Bishop Hendricken) dec. Colton Perkins VT (Spaulding), 1-0
Outlook: Rhode Island champion Ponaganset has nine wrestlers in the tournament after winning five weight classes in last week’s RI state tournament and putting eight wrestlers in the finals. Defending New England champion Jacob Joyce (126) returns for the Chieftains, who are looking for their first New England title since 2018.

Defending New England champion St. John’s Prep from Danvers, Mass., won their second consecutive All-State title last weekend and bring six wrestlers to the tournament, including defending New England champion Rawson Iwanicki (160).

No. 1 Xavier is bringing six wrestlers, the most of any Connecticut team. The Falcons finished second a year ago, their best-ever finish in the tournament. Vermont champion Mt. Anthony is bringing six wrestlers but just one state champion.

As in any tournament, the key will be picking up victories – especially victories in the consolation bracket.

Seven New England champions return from a year ago including Killingly’s Jack Richardson, who won a championship at 145 pounds.

More news: The last time the New England tournament was in Connecticut was 2011 in New Haven at Hillhouse. … Timberlane Regional from Plaistow, N.H. holds the tournament record with 10 New England titles, most recently in 2012. Mt. Anthony is second with nine New England titles, with their most recent title in 2015.

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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