Down to the wire
Bristol Eastern retains title; Rams pick up 2 crowns
BRISTOL — The Class L wrestling championships were a three-horse race between Xavier, Simsbury and Bristol Eastern that took several twists and turns as the finals unfolded Saturday.
All three led at one point and with the first, third and fifth place matches taking place simultaneously at the Bristol Central gym, each point was so valuable in determining a winner.
When the 285-pound finals bout was completed, Bristol Eastern ended up with its third straight Class L championships by the slimmest of possible margins. The Lancers finished with 204.5 points, just 0.5 ahead of CCC rivals Simsbury. The Falcons took third with 194 points while Middletown (153) and New Canaan (146.5) rounded out the top five.
Points were at a premium as each side had grapplers run through the consolation rounds. Bristol Eastern had seven grapplers place in the top three slots, which was enough to claim the championship. Simsbury had
nine athletes finish in the top five, including three champions.
Xavier had five finalists and earned two titles, including Michael Rapuano at 106 and Dylan Sousa at 170.
The Trojans were knocking on the door the entire day, especially early when Ty Finn and John Mairano claimed back-to-back wins at 120 and 126. A pin by Sam Bergin at 160 made it 3-0 for Simsbury in finals matches.
Tommy Nichols (132) and Justin Marshall (152) won gold for Bristol Eastern to grab a narrow lead in the middle weights. Trinidad Gonzalez sealed the title for the Lancers with a win at 220 and set up celebrations.
New Canaan crowned two champions as Tyler Sung (145) and Justin Mastroianni (138) earned gold medals. Sung won his second straight Class L title with a 9-1 win over Xavier’s James Lunt while Mastrionni earned his first crown.
“I felt like I did well,” Mastroianni said. “I just felt I wrestled well overall, coming back from injury. I’m starting to get back into it. It was kind of weird, deja vu. I was here last year in the finals and I’m back here again.”
Mastroianni dominated in winning his class, earning a 13-2 decision. He was held out for most of the regular season because of an injury but appears in top form after winning a FCIAC and now state title. The Rams had five finalists as a team Saturday.
“It’s a great feeling, coming as a team together and having finalists is great.”
Christian Sibbett, Nate Sibbett and Sergiy Babenkov all reached the finals for the Rams.
Middetown’s Elijah Cyr took home the title at 113 while teammate Kalil Shabazz was a runner-up at 126. Nygell Smikle took home the crown at 285 by besting Xavier’s Jameer Salami.
New London’s Jacob Commander took back-to-back class titles by winning at 182 against Maloney’s Nick Debaise. Daniel Hand’s Alec Dube scored a pin at 195.
The State Open is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Floyd Little Athletic Center at Hillhouse High School in New Haven.