The Suffield High School Wildcats entered nine wrestlers into the Class M tournament at Windham High School on Friday, Feb. 18.
Freshman Zach Whittle fought hard during his first state tournament in first round action. He fought off being pinned during the 6-minute, 171-pound match, losing to his Wolcott Tech opponent 13-2. Dan Adams also saw his first state tourney match, bowing out after being pinned by his Bethel counterpart in 2:13. All other wrestlers moved on to the round of 16 (a 16-person bracket).
The Wildcats suffered tough losses in the Round of 16 with most having to wrestle against higher-seeded opponents. Only senior co-captain John Kopec moved into Championship quarterfinals. Kopec remained in control the entire match against Dustin Chang, the 10th seed from Wolcott Tech, winning in a 8-0 decision.
112 pound Freshman Dillon Lisk fought hard against his third-seeded opponent, not getting pinned on way to losing by technical fall, losing 16-0. Junior Kevin Bentz aggressively jumped out to a 7-2 lead against his Plainfield opponent, seeded sixth, before getting pinned with four seconds left in the period. Freshman 130 pounder Ryan Hunihan got pinned in the second period in a very physical match against his Cheney Tech opponent.
Junior Dan D'Ostuni, who recorded the first Class M win with a 1:12 pin in the first round, suffered a tough loss against his 5th-seed opponent. D'Ostuni would trail late into the third period 2-0, eventually suffering a 7-0 loss. Senior Co-Captian Joey Gleason gave his 5th-seed Windam opponent all he could ask for in a 14-9 decision, while sophomore Tristen Cauley, at 160 pounds, had a late comeback in the third period but moved to the consolation bracket with a 12-9 loss.
Later in the evening the Wildcats would fare better in the first consolation round with pins by Bentz in 0:35, Hunihan in 4:06 and Gleason in 2:48. D'Ostuni, who was losing 5-0 and on his back facing elimination in the second period, had a dramatic turnaround to pin his New Fairfield opponent at 3:43. The 6th seed eliminated Lisk and Cauley moved on to the Saturday bouts with a 12-4 decision.
The matches started at 4:30 p.m. and went till 10:15 p.m. It was a late night for the wrestlers (and their fans) arriving back in Suffield at 11 p.m. to catch the bus the next morning at 7:30 a.m.
The team returned to Windham early Saturday for weigh-ins and the long day of waiting and wrestling to see who would move forward in the brackets to the medal rounds. Kopec would be the only wrestler to take part in the championship quarterfinals that were the first set of matches on Saturday. He lost by fall and moved to the consolation bracket. There the 215 pound senior co-captain would win his next round 6-4 and a sudden death overtime match 5-3 to move into the medal round contention. He was eliminated and placed 6th to end his high school wrestling career.
In other consolation bouts D'Ostuni won a closely contested match 2-1 with his points coming late in the 3rd period. He then lost to the 5th-place winner to tie for seventh in the tournament. Gleason would end his high school career losing to the 6th-place winner to tie for 9th overall. Bentz, Hunihan and Cauley would also tie for ninth in the tournament.
Suffield placed 24th overall in the tournament, just ahead of the only other local team, Enfield, at 25th place.
Thanks to the coaches for their work all season and to the wrestlers for putting themselves out there week after week. Also for the supporters who showed up both to home and away matches to cheer our kids on during their season!
Thanks to Pete D'Ostuni for the more than 1,000 pictures taken during the season. They can be seen at the Facebook site for Suffield Wildcats Wrestling:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_183821691638944
The team, wrestlers, and parents will celebrate the season on March 3rd at Suffield Pizza. Please RSVP with DIana Bentz at 668-1934.
Suffield suffered some difficult early-round losses on its way to winning seven medals in the NCCC wrestling tournament held at Enfield High School on Saturday. Suffield placed 3rd overall in team points, closely behind 2nd-place Somers. Avon won 1st place overall.
