Bristol Eastern wrestling has made a habit of winning titles inside the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium at Bristol Central High School.
The Lancers have claimed the last two Class L state championships, and both were held at BCHS. On Saturday, Eastern wrapped up its fourth straight Bristol Central Invitational team title. The Lancers won the invitational with 207 points, eight ahead of second place Southington’s 199.
Trent Thompson (106 lbs), Justin Marshall (152), Dylan Garcia (182) and Trinidad Gonzalez (220) claimed individual gold medals for Eastern. The Lancers didn’t win just by finishing in first place though.
“We always tell the kids wrestlebacks are where a tournament is won,” Eastern coach Bryant Lishness said.
Tom Nichols (132) and Nick St. Peter (285) picked up silver medals for the Lancers. Mason Lishness (113) and Noah Piazza (160) were bronze medalists for Eastern, and there was even a third place finish from Eric Dupee at 101, the exhibition weight class. Carson Sassu was fourth at 126, while Aaron Morocho (126) and Logan Morelli (195) each took fifth.
The first place finishes of Thompson (22), Marshall (26), Garcia (26) and Gonzalez (24) added up to 98 of the 207 team points. Nichols (19) and St. Peter (20) accounted for 39 team points with their second place finishes. The third place finishes of Mason Lishness (15) and Piazza (13) accumulated 28 team points. Sassu, who had to drop his last two matches due to injury default, still garnered 13 team points with his fourth place finish. Logan Morelli, who filled in at 195, picked up 13 team points with his fifth place finish. Team points were also scored by Riley McCarthy (3 points, 120), Treyvon Daniels (2 points, 138), Alexander Marshall (4 points, 145) and Joseph Morelli (7 points, 170).
Winning weight classes always helps, but the ability to wrestle back and place in the top six also looms large. It did for Eastern with its fourth straight Bristol Central Invitational title, and it could prove to be big in state competition as well, but only time will tell.
Gallery
Here are my photos of Bristol Eastern wrestling at Saturday’s Bristol Central Invitational.
