Bristol Central wrestling battles to eighth place finish at own invitational

A short-handed Bristol Central wrestling squad did the best it could on Saturday at the Bristol Central Invitational.

The Rams, who have been hit hard by the flu, only entered eight wrestlers who could score team points. Ian Kreciglowa was the ninth wrestler but wasn’t eligible to score team points. Central finished eighth as a team with 82 points.

Will Hamilton (106 lbs), Jakob Salinas (195) and Eric Facey (285) all claimed bronze medals for the Rams. Jake Aldi finished fifth at 120 and Andrew Beaucar was sixth at 152.

Hamilton seized his bronze medal at 106 by getting a takedown in the first sudden victory overtime against Ledyard’s Connor Doran in the third place bout. Hamilton picked up 15 team points with his third place finish.

Salinas was one match away from the championship final at 195, but lost in the first sudden victory overtime of his semifinal bout against Wethersfield’s Nick Thompson. Salinas earned 16 team points.

Facey secured his third place finish at 285 with a 14-4 major decision against Enfield’s Alex Martinez. Facey also earned 16 team points.

Aldi lost in the championship quarterfinal round at 120, but won three straight consolation bracket matches to claim a fifth place finish and 13 team points. Aldi pinned teammate Ian Kreciglowa in his first consolation bracket bout. Aldi won a 10-3 decision over Bristol Eastern’s Riley McCarthy, then took an 8-3 decision over Pomperaug’s David Jutcawicz in the fifth place bout.

Beaucar lost his first bout of the day at 152, but wound up wrestling back to the fifth place bout before losing and finishing sixth. After a bye, Beaucar won a 13-12 decision against Ledyard’s Caden Foote before taking a 6-0 decision against Terryville’s Bailey Schuster. Beaucar earned eight team points.

Also earning team points for Central were Colton Pelletier (4 points, 113), Caleb Buden (3 points, 160) and Connor Feeney-Wallace (7 points, 182).