Queen of the Mat girls tournament crowns 12 champs
Five defending state champions won titles and more than 46 teams were represented at the Queen of the Mat girls wrestling tournament at Foran in Milford on Sunday.
Although girls state tournaments were held in 2022 and 2020, Sunday’s competition was the first girls tournament to be held during the regular season. The event included 12 weight classes, with champions spread out among the classes, with five seniors, one junior, three sophomores, and three freshmen winning titles.
New Britain, which had four wrestlers reach the podium, won the team title with 89 points, while defending state champion Amity was the runner-up with 76. Berlin (58), Platt (51.5), and host Foran (49) rounded out the top five.
The city of Norwalk had a pair of sophomore champions, with Brien McMahon’s Callie Gilchrist winning all three of her matches via pinfall at 114 pounds, and Norwalk’s Rylee Donohue earning two pins and a decision to win at 126 pounds. Both Gilchrist and Donahie won state titles as freshmen last year.
Amity senior Camryn Brown, who won state championships as a freshman in 2020 and a junior in 2022, won both of her matches on Sunday by pinfall to take first at 138 pounds. Senior Emily DeSouza gave the Spartans a second champ by taking first place at 120 pounds with two pins and a decision.
Stamford senior Samantha Yap and Foran junior Kelly Aspras, two more defending state champs, each won three straight matches via pinfall to claim weight class titles. Yap won at 107 pounds, and Aspras won at 145 pounds.
New Britain freshman Kaydence Atkinson scored three straight pins to finish first at 165 pounds, helping the team finish first overall.
Platt had two weight class winners: Senior Daylianette Sanchez Cardona (100) and freshman Kayli Morris (235).
Pomperaug senior Julianna Morris won at 132; Guilford senior Brianna Seixas won at 152; and Maloney freshman Arianna Bellamy won at 185.
The CIAC Girls State Wrestling Invitational will be held at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-25.
Queen of the Mat wrestling tournament
At Foran, Milford
Team results: 1 New Britain 89, 2 Amity 76, 3 Berlin 58, 4 Platt 51.5, 5 Foran 49, 6 East Haven 46, 7 (tie) Brien McMahon and Maloney 45, 9 South Windsor 40.5, 10 Stratford 39, 11 Shelton 33, 12 Stamford 31, 13 Griswold/Wheeler 26, 14 Pomperaug 25, 15 Norwalk 24, 16 (tie) Guilford and Rocky Hill 22, 18 (tie) Bethel and Platt Tech 19, 20 Old Lyme 18.5, 21 Conard 17, 22 (tie) Ellis Tech and Fairfield Ludlowe 16, 24 Law 15, 25 Notre Dame-Fairfield 14, 26 Canton 13, 27 Gilbert 12, 28 NFA 11, 29 Bristol Central 10, 30 (tie) Harding, Morgan, New Haven and Plainville 8, 34 (tie) Westhill and Wilton 5, 26 (tie) Derby/Oxford/Holy Cross and Southington 4.
Individual results
100: 1st: Daylianette Sanchez Cardona (Platt) pinned Gabriella Parris-Dwyer (Maloney), 2:23; 3rd: Abby Pallotto (Amity) pinned Sofia Milano (East Haven), 4:47.
107: 1st: Samantha Yap (Stamford) pinned Sybella Landrie (Berlin), 1:54; 3rd: Anna Cole (Brien McMahon) pinned Madison Arthur (Gilbert), 2:36.
114: 1st: Calli Gilchrist (Brien McMahon) pinned Hoshena Gemme (Old Lyme), 2:49; 3rd: Lilliana Fraize (South Windsor) pinned Maela Sosa (Canton), 4:38.
120: 1st: Emily DeSouza (Amity) dec. Valerie Turgeon (South Windsor), 12-8; 3rd: Amara Santulli (Amity) pinned Evangeline Moran (Ellis Tech), 3:51.
126: 1st: Rylee Donohue (Norwalk) dec. Lindsey Rywolt (Stratford), 6-3; 3rd (tie): Shyna Rolle (Stratford) and Gonul Celik (East Haven).
132: 1st: Julianna Morris (Pomperaug) major dec. Esther Ribeiro (Bethel), 13-0; 3rd: Madison Atkison (New Britain) pinned Maddie Cooper (East Haven), 4:20.
138: 1st: Camryn Brown (Amity) pinned Olianis Alicea (New Britain), 1:00; 3rd: Kan-yah McCarthy (Fairfield Ludlowe) pinned Serafina Pavlat (Foran).
145: 1st: Kelly Aspras (Foran) pinned Rachel Camiglio (Shelton), 3:23; 3rd: Alyana Martinez New Britain) pinned Lilya Akande (Shelton), 4:54.
152: 1st: Brianna Seixas (Guilford) pinned Victoria Maillard (Notre DameFairfield), 1:19; 3rd: Olivia Wojtusik (Berlin) pinned Angelique Cartagena (Maloney), 1:29.
165: 1st: Kaydence Atkinson (New Britain) pinned Julia Arcila (Berlin), 3:41; 3rd: Jelene Lainez (Platt Tech) pinned Adalynn Southworth (Conard), 0:58.
185: 1st: Arianna Bellamy (Maloney) def. Nicki Manville (Foran), 2-1 in best of 3 series.
235: 1st: Kayli Morris (Platt) def. Kayla Navarro (Griswold/Wheeler), 2-0 in best of 3 series.