Depth helps Mustangs win second straight Class LL championship

East Hartford’s Drayvn Roberts (top) won his fourth Class LL championship on Saturday but Fairfield Warde won the Class LL state championship.

East Hartford looked imposing in the Class LL finals Saturday in Trumbull. The Hornets had six wrestlers in the finals and five came home with Class LL championships in Trumbull.

But it was Fairfield Warde that left the gym with their second consecutive Class LL championship after a 40-point win over East Hartford, 260½ to 220½. The Mustangs had six wrestlers in the finals and had three individual champions.

The difference was that Warde had five other wrestlers win medals for finishing in the top six while the Hornets had just one wrestler outside of their finalists finish in the top six.

“The message is always clear. Our team’s success is reliant on having 14 wrestlers contribute,” Warde’s Hall of Fame coach Jason Shaughnessy said. “We put 10 (wrestlers) into the semis and qualified 11 for the State Open.”

Wrestlers who finish among the top six in their weight class qualify for next week’s CIAC State Open championships in New Haven.

“It was a team effort to defeat a strong East Hartford team,” Shaughnessy said. “We are very pleased to see the kids continue to develop and win big matches. (The Class) LL (tournament) is always tough but our kids stepped up today as a team and performed well in the winners brackets and in wrestlebacks.”

Fairfield Warde’s Jude Grammatico (113) got an escape with eight seconds left in regulation to beat Ridgefield’s Carter Lanzilli in the finals, 4-3. Warde teammates Cole Grenier (190) and Anthony Albanese (285) picked up championship victories in the finals with pins.

Despite going home with the second place trophy, it was still an outstanding tournament for East Hartford, which secured their fourth consecutive top three finish in Class LL.

Isaac Quiles (132) and Drayvn Roberts (165) joined an exclusive club with their fourth straight Class LL championships. Only 11 wrestlers in state history have won four state titles and East Hartford’s John Knapp (1986-89) is the only other wrestler to have won four Class LL titles.

Quiles, who beat Ridgefield’s John Carrozza by technical fall, and Roberts, who had a first period pin in his final bout, are the first teammates to achieve this feat on the same day. Quiles (40-0) finished the tournament with three first-period pins and a tech fall while Roberts (34-1) also had three pins (all in the first period) and a technical fall.

East Hartford’s Issac Quiles won his fourth straight Class LL championship on Saturday in New Haven. (Photo courtesy Leigh Busby)

East Hartford teammate Jaeckez Mendez (144, 42-1) had four pins in the tournament (three in the first period) and won his third straight Class LL title. He pinned Warde’s Owen Sheiman in the final in 3:49.

East Hartford’s Yaxier Rivera (157, 39-1) got two takedowns to beat Warde’s Louis Soracco, 6-3 and win his second straight title.

East Hartford freshman Riley Storozuk (41-3) outlasted Fairfield Warde’s Dominick Spadaro in a marathon final, securing a 5-1 win in triple overtime. Tied at 1-1, Storozuk got an escape with 16 seconds left in the third OT and got a takedown with three seconds remaining to secure the victory.

Enfield’s Ethan Buonanducci (126) remains undefeated (44-0) after his tech fall victory over Trumbull’s Ibrahim Kadri to win his first state championship.

Amity’s Branimir Lah erased an early 6-1 deficit and beat Manchester’s Noah Colon in the final at 175 pounds with a 7-6 victory in overtime. Colon led 6-1 after 27 seconds but Lah rallied with an escape and takedown to cut the lead to 6-5 after one period. Lah got an escape in the second period to tie the match at 6-6. Lah won it on a technical violation by Colon in OT.

Fairfield Warde won their second straight Class LL championship Saturday in Trumbull. (Photo courtesy CIAC)

2025 Class LL championships
At Trumbull
Team results – 1. Fairfield Warde 260½, 2. East Hartford 220½, 3. Ridgefield 169, 4. Danbury 150, 5. Southington 141½, 6. Trumbull 133, 7. Amity and Enfield 105½, 9. Staples 102½, 10. NFA 98, 11. Hall 94, 12. Stamford 79½, 13. Glastonbury 76, 14. Westhill 62½, 15. South Windsor 61½, 16. New Britain 54½, 17. Greenwich 52½, 18. Norwalk 49½, 19. West Haven 49, 20. Manchester 43½, 21. Fairfield Prep 41, 22. Pomperaug/Watertown/Naugatuck 27, 23. Brien McMahon 18, 24. Bridgeport co-op 12, 25. New Haven 10, 26. Darien 6, 27. Hamden 0
Individual results
Finals
106 Cole Desiano (Ridgefield) dec. Christopher Montovani (East Hartford), 11-1
113 Jude Grammatico (Fairfield Warde) dec. Carter Lanzilli (Ridgefield), 4-3
120 Michael Ortiz (Hall) tech fall Seamus Brannigan (Staples), 15-0 2:28
126 Ethan Buonanducci (Enfield) tech fall Ibrahim Kadri (Trumbull), 17-2 3:08
132 Isaac Quiles (East Hartford) tech fall John Carrozza (Ridgefield), 20-4 5:56
138 Edward Lavoie (Norwich Free Academy) pin Victor Velez (Danbury), 5:24
144 Jaeckez Mendez (East Hartford) pin Owen Sheiman (Fairfield Warde), 3:49
150 Riley Storozuk (East Hartford) dec. Dominick Spadaro (Fairfield Warde), 5-1, 3 OT
157 Yaxier Rivera (East Hartford) dec. Louis Soracco (Fairfield Warde), 6-3
165 Drayvn Roberts (East Hartford) pin Jonathan Wright-Goodison (Hall), 1:36
175 Branimir Lah (Amity) dec. Noah Colon (Manchester), 7-6 OT
190 Cole Grenier (Fairfield Warde) pin Jacob Beiler (Enfield), 1:40
215 Andrew Mikosz (Southington) tech fall Isiah Dominguez (Norwalk), 18-1 5:34
285 Anthony Albanese (Fairfield Warde) pin Luc Abbatemarco (Hall), 5:42
NOTE: Championship finals began at 175 pounds
3rd Place
106 Christian Bernal Mendoza (Fairfield Warde) dec. Oscar Rodriquez (Trumbull), 15-8
113 Gavin Donaldson (Staples) dec. Joseph Garofalo (Southington), 11-3
120 Dylan Meyers (Ridgefield) tech fall Andres Bernal Mendoza (Fairfield Warde), 17-0 3:14
126 Gagandeep Parasa (South Windsor) dec. Christian Borges (Fairfield Prep), 10-0
132 Cristian Pote (Danbury) tech fall Jackson Sorel (Norwich Free Academy), 16-0 3:40
138 Gabriel Rojas (Trumbull) dec. Midgerson Gelin (Stamford), 11-3
144 Jacob Gordon (South Windsor) pin Leo Moore (Ridgefield), 0:41
150 Shane Ryan (Trumbull) dec. Jake Rivera (Southington), 4-1
157 Emrick Henry (Danbury) pin Kyle Amirault T (Glastonbury), 2:39
165 Dylan O’brian (Fairfield Warde) dec. Naim Wallace (Norwich Free Academy), 8-0
175 Ian Karlin (Pomperaug co-op) dec. Marcello Tumminello (Ridgefield), 4-0
190 Jessiah Jones (Staples) dec. Jake Virgulak (Brien McMahon), 13-3
215 Justin Barker (Danbury) dec. Dean Lulani (Stamford), 11-3
285 A’marii Dudley (Glastonbury) pin Westley Jackson (East Hartford), 0:15
5th Place
106 Jeremiah Hernandez (Southington) pin Colin Faranda (Westhill), 2:47
113 Peter Koval (Trumbull) M forfeit over Ares Bourque (Enfield)
120 Isaac Yap (Stamford) dec. Brendan Tummillo (Glastonbury), 10-2
126 Derek Rodriguez (Southington) dec. James Westrick (Ridgefield), 9-7
132 Ryan Laing (Norwalk) tech fall Marlon Andino (Enfield), 17-1 3:18
138 Andrew Jackson (Amity) dec. Christopher Smith (Westhill), 13-5
144 Aiden Lucero T (Stamford) dec. Declan Keefe (Danbury), 11-5
150 Brayden Rathbun (Enfield) medical forfeit over Cooper MacNevin (Amity)
157 Damian Rousseau (Staples) dec. Jaret Zielinski (Trumbull), 5-1
165 Harrison Muller T (Danbury) pin Jack Lilly (Fairfield Prep), 3:34
175 Brayden Levin (Fairfield Warde) medical forfeit over Eric Coons (Danbury)
190 Christian Corchado (New Britain) pin Michael Mordecai (Amity), 1:38
215 Liam Finneran (Fairfield Warde) pin Dylan Petrie (West Haven), 0:26
285 Julien Montiel (West Haven) dec. Nicholas Esparo (Amity), 2-1
Outstanding wrestler:  xx
Class LL championships brackets and results (FloArena)