Bristol Eastern wrestling used a team effort to claim its fourth straight Bristol Central Invitational trophy on Saturday, but there were some impressive performances by the winners as well.
Trent Thompson worked his way through three bouts to earn the title at 106 pounds. After a first round bye, Thompson pinned Berlin’s Noah Clinton in 53 seconds. In the championship semifinal, Thompson earned an 11-7 decision over Ledyard’s Connor Doran. Thompson shut out New Milford’s Evan Lindner in the final, a 6-0 decision that gave him the title.
“I was really pleased with Trent. That was a tough bracket there,” coach Bryant Lishness said. “Evan Lindner is really good, Will Hamilton [from Bristol Central] is really good, Doran from Ledyard. They’re all quality 106s, so him coming out and I thought he wrestled mature, and he kind of dominated. He got caught for a minute there with Ledyard, made a mistake, but he fought through it, which I thought showed a lot of heart and resiliency.”
Justin Marshall was dominant at 152, securing three first period pins on his way to the title. Marshall had a first round bye, then pinned Bridgeport Central’s Devin Allen in 1:19. Marshall pinned Enfield’s Tallon Stager in 1:24 in the championship semifinal, then pinned Jonathan Law’s Shane McCourt in 1:06 in the final.
“Justin, I was really pleased with Justin today,” Lishness said. “We’re trying to get Justin to have the mentality that everyone should adjust to him. He’s a really humble kid and he works really hard, and I’m just trying to really have him believe that he’s the stud. He knows he’s good, but I don’t think he knows how good he is. The more confidence he shows, the better he is.”
Lishness said he was very impressed by Marshall’s quick takedown of McCourt, who is very tough wrestler in his own right.
The third Eastern champion was Dylan Garcia at 182. Like Marshall, Garcia recorded three wins by fall on the way to the title. After a first round bye, Garcia pinned Ledyard’s Tolan Peterson in 5:42. Wethersfield’s Marcus Nieves was next for Garcia, who pinned him in 3:30. In the championship final, Garcia pinned Enfield’s Greg Bogdan in 1:23.
“Dylan Garcia, the more we can keep that kid on the mat, the better he is,” Lishness said. “His confidence and comfort level is growing on the mat. If we can keep that going, he’s going to be a problem for people at the end of the year, which is pretty fun to see.”
Garcia wrestled for the Bristol Gladiators before not doing it full-time for a couple years. Garcia is showing what he can do on a varsity mat, and Lishness is happy for him.
The last Lancer to win a title was Trinidad Gonzalez at 220. After a first round bye, Gonzalez pinned Enfield’s Nick Miller in 5:19. Jacob Vecchio of Southington also went down on a Gonzalez pin (5:23). In the final, Gonzalez took a 5-1 decision over Avon’s Chris Gens.
Lishness said Gonzalez, Vecchio, Gens, Berlin’s Max Schlein and Wethersfield’s Austin Harnish are all quality 220-pound wrestlers who have a chance to not only compete at the State Open, but pick up a medal there as well.
“Trin came out on top, I thought that was pretty impressive, I thought he did a really good job,” Lishness said. “He really wanted this tournament as a senior, and he met his goal.”
Great article. Can’t get this kind of coverage from our local paper. D.T.