High School

Four CT wrestlers take New England titles as Ponaganset gets record-setting win

by
Gerry deSimas, Jr. , Connecticut Wrestling Online
March 4, 2023

Xavier’s Raekwon Shabazz control’s Emmett Logan of Lowell, Mass., in the finals of the New England tournament Saturday in Providence. Shabazz won, 12-4. (Photo courtesy of Leigh Busby)

The top of the podium saw several familiar faces Saturday at the New England championships with six wrestlers winning their second New England championship.

Ponaganset, Rhode Island dominated the team competition with seven wrestlers winning medals for finishing in the top six as the Chieftains set new records for most points (143) and largest margin of victory (61). It was their second New England championship and first since 2018.

Defending tournament champion St. John’s Prep from Danvers, Mass., was second with 82 points with Coventry, Rhode Island finishing third with 75 points. State Open champion Xavier was fourth with 68 points and one of three Connecticut teams in the top 10. Norwalk was eighth and New Fairfield finished tenth.

Connecticut had six wrestlers in the finals and four came home with New England championships – Xavier’s Raekwon Shabazz (106), Killingly’s Jack Richardson (152), Norwalk’s Brendan Gilchrist (195) and Fitch’s Naszier Matthews (220). Richardson became the first Killingly wrestler to win multiple New England titles with a double OT win over Ponaganset’s Jason Hood.

East Hartford’s Sammy Montovani (195) and Jaeckez Mendez (138) each made the finals but finished second.

Avon’s Isaiah Adams (113) and Newtown’s Fisher Stites (170) each finished third. New Fairfield’s Joe Mahoney (120) and Norwalk’s Phoenix Gardella (126) each lost their opening match of the tournament but rallied to win six straight bouts in the consolation round to finish third in their respective weight classes.

Along with Richardson, Ponaganset’s Jacob Joyce (126), Sidney Tildsey (138) of Shawsheen, Mass., Gabriel Bouyssou (145) of Scituate, R.I., Rawson Iwanicki (160) of St. John’s Prep and Nathan Blanchette (182) of Central Catholic in Lawrence, Mass., each won a second New England championship.

Shabazz became the first Xavier wrestler to win a New England championship since 2013 and just the fourth in school history with his 12-4 win over Emmett Logan of Lowell, Mass.

The biggest win of the tournament for Shabazz came in the quarterfinals with a 5-3 win in overtime over Massachusetts champion Yandel Morales of Andover thanks to a takedown with one second left in OT. Shabazz had a 3-0 lead after one period but Morales got a takedown in the second period and an escape in the third to tie it up.

Killingly’s Jack Richardson, shown at last week’s State Open, won his second straight New England championship on Saturday in Providence. (Photo courtesy Leigh Busby)

Richardson (45-0) beat state champions from Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island to win the New England title. He beat Drew McGourty of Braintree, Mass., in the quarterfinals, 4-0. In the semifinals, he outlasted Derek Cote of Noble, Maine, 4-0 and in the finals, he outlasted Hood, 3-1 in double OT.

The championship match was tied at 1-1 thanks to a pair of escapes by each wrestler. Richardson had a few opportunities for a takedown but Hood’s defense was up to the task.

With 22 seconds left in the first two-minute OT session, Hood’s right knee buckled and he fell to his knees on the mat. Instead of tackling him for the match-winning takedown, Richardson showed exceptional sportsmanship and stepped back, looking to the referee and pointing at Hood.

The match went to a second overtime and two 30 second sessions. In the first session, Richardson rode Hood, who could not escape. In the second OT session, Richardson was able to escape to get the win.

After finishing second a year ago, Norwalk’s Brendan Gilchrist brought home a New England championship on Saturday.

Gilchrist (39-0) won his first New England title with a 3-1 win over Montovani in a rematch of the State Open final a week ago. The match was tied 1-1 in the third period thanks to escapes from both wrestlers.

Gilchrist swooped in and secured a single leg and took down Montovani with 47 seconds left in the third period and then did an exceptional job to ride out Montovani for the remainder of the period to win the bout.

Matthews won his first New England championship with five victories and three pins, including a pin of Matt Harrold of Haverhill, Mass., in 2:53. Matthews had to get past Fairfield Warde’s Nehemias Pettway in the semifinals and did with a 3-0 decision. A takedown with 1:26 left in the match gave Matthews a three-point lead.

Shawsheen’s Sidney Tildsley caught Mendez (34-1) and pinned in him in 2:27, handing the Hornet his first loss of the season. Mendez had wrestled well in his first three matches, beating Jayden D’Ambrosio of St. John’s Prep in his first match, 7-6, thanks to a reversal with 1:07 remaining in the third period. Mendez outlasted Cam Ice of Minnechaug Regional, 3-2 in the semifinals.

Adams (46-1) finished third with a 4-2 win over Xavier’s Braylon Gonzalez thanks to a pair of first period takedowns. Adams suffered his first loss of the season in a 6-1 semifinal loss to Massachusetts champion Alex Schaueblin of St. John’s Prep. Tied at 1-1, Schaueblin threw Adams to his back with a five-point move with 28 seconds left in the match.

Stites (57-2) won his first two matches before losing in the semifinals. But he won two in the consolation round including a 7-2 win over Meuthen’s Joshua Bolduc to finish third.

Mahoney and Gardella each lost their matches of the tournament but won six straight to finish third. Mahoney had to erase a six-point deficit to beat Canton’s Reese Titus in overtime, 10-8, in his first consolation round bout. After a win by pin, Mahoney got a takedown with 36 seconds left to beat Brockton’s Brandon Winn to stay alive in tournament.

Gardella gave up a reversal with eight seconds left in the third period and lost 8-6 to Stone Farnsworth of Coventry, R.I. in the tournament opener for both wrestlers. But Gardella won five in a row and beat Farnsworth, 9-6 in the consolation final to finish third. Gardella took control with a takedown and a near fall with 50 seconds left in the bout.

Killingly’s Kaden Ware (132) finished fourth after dropping a 4-0 decision to Johan Paulino of Montachusett, Mass., with Montville’s James Linder, Jr. (138) taking fourth after a 10-1 loss to Jayden D’Ambrosio of St. John’s Prep.

Ponaganset’s Andrew Reall (160) shutout New Milford’s Khalil Bourjello, 6-0, to finish third and New Fairfield’s Doug Traynor took fourth after a 3-2 loss in double OT to Hampton Kaye-Kuter of Milford, Mass.

Fairfield Prep’s William Smith (145) and Warde’s Nehemias Pettway (220) finished fifth with Danbury’s Nuh Ajdinoski (285), Stratford’s James Duhancik (220) and Jake Kszywanos (195), Norwalk’s Ryan Gilchrist (170) and Newtown’s Luca Manfredi (152) each finishing sixth.

Killingly coach Rich Bowen was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame before the finals began.

The previous record for most points in the tournament was 133 by Timberlane Regional from Plaistow, N.H., in 2011 when the Owls won by a then-record 57 points over Mt. Anthony, Vt.