Eastern tops Central to capture first CCC South championship since 2020

Bristol Eastern’s Luke Viens (132, left) and his Lancer teammates beat Bristol Central to win the CCC South title on Wednesday. Above, Viens wrestles in the CCC finals against Avon’s Elijah Fagin on Saturday night in Glastonbury.

With five pins and two major decisions, Bristol Eastern beat city rival Bristol Central, 47-22, on Wednesday in the Eastern gym to win their first CCC South championship since 2020.

It was the 61st renewal of the annual event between the two city schools with Eastern taking a 30-29-2 lead in the series. The Lancers have won 12 of the last 13 matches with the Rams.

Yussuf Bah (113), Rocco Barbino (150), Owen Broyles (175), Aidyn Davis (190), Rio Fernandez (215) and Nuon Sovannara (285) each had pins for Eastern (15-2, 6-0 CCC South). Central (14-8, 2-4) got pins from Alex Lamarre (126) and Lincoln Archibald. (157).

No. 4 East Hartford finished undefeated for the second time in school history with a 64-18 win over Manchester that gave the Hornets the CCC North championship for the third straight year and the sixth time since 2016, The Hornets (15-0, 5-0 CCC North) had seven pins in the victory. East Hartford was undefeated in 2022 when they went 20-0.

Results and boxscores: Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2023

Nonnewaug (13-13, 5-0 BL) finished undefeated in the Berkshire League with a 63-18 win over the Derby/Oxford/Holy Cross co-op team.

Stafford (14-2, 7-0 NCCC) finished undefeated in the North Central Connecticut Conference with a 65-12 win over Somers. The Bulldogs have the upper leg in the race to win the league championship. Stafford can clinch their first NCCC championship since 2003 with a first or second place finish in Saturday’s NCCC Tournament in Stafford. A third place finish and a Rockville win would give Stafford a piece of the league title.

RHAM (18-3, 5-0 CCC East) beat Rocky Hill, 69-10 as the Raptors won their fourth straight CCC East championship and fifth divisional title since 2017.

Results and boxscores: Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2023

No. 1 Xavier (14-2) finished the dual meet portion season with a 64-9 win over No. 7 Simsbury on the road. The Falcons went 10-0 against Connecticut competition this year in dual meets. Xavier has won 37 straight matches against Connecticut squads, dating back to a 37-27 loss to Danbury on January 26, 2019.

The state record for most wins against Connecticut teams is 262 by Danbury from 1996 through 2010, according to the Connecticut High School Wrestling Record Book.

Platt had four pins and seven victories as the Panthers outlasted city rival Maloney, 37-25 in a CCC South contest on Wednesday. The win gives Platt (23-4, 5-1 CCC South) second place in the CCC South behind league champion Bristol Eastern. Platt’s Joel Yaport (138) and Maloney’s Caleb Sweeney (175) each came away with one-point victories in the match.

Platt’s Joel Yaport (138) and Maloney’s Caleb Sweeney (175) each came away with one-point victories in the match. It was the second straight year that Platt finished second in the CCC South with a 5-1 record. A year ago, Berlin finished ahead of the Panthers.