Bristol Central wrestling finished eighth in the Class L state championship meet with 97 points on Saturday inside the friendly confines of the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium.
The Rams had five medalists: one in second place, two in fourth place and two in fifth place. Jake Aldi finished second at 113 pounds for the top finish of the tournament. Will Hamilton (106) and Eric Facey (285) claimed fourth place while Jason Feto (132) and Jakob Salinas (195) both finished fifth.
Aldi reached the final at 113 with two decisions (7-4 and 6-2) and a major decision (13-0). He lost via fall in the final against Middletown’s Elijah Cyr.
Hamilton (106) won his first two bouts by pin (24 seconds and 1:33). He lost his championship semifinal bout to Bristol Eastern’s Trent Thompson, then rebounded with an 8-0 decision in a consolation semifinal. Hamilton battled against New Milford’s Evan Lindner, but lost a 7-5 decision in the third place bout.
Facey (285) began his tournament with a pin in 3:09, but lost his championship quarterfinal bout by fall. In the consolation bracket, he won three straight decisions by scores of 5-3, 9-3 and 2-0. Facey lost by pin in the third place bout against New London’s Jadien Mackenzie.
Feto (132) won his first two bouts by pin (3:00) and decision (8-5) before losing by fall to Eastern’s Tom Nichols in the championship semifinal round. Feto lost his consolation semifinal bout, but came back to score a 17-3 major decision over Newington’s Jacob Zotti in the fifth place bout.
Salinas (195) won his first two bouts by decision (7-2 and 3-2) before losing his championship semifinal by fall. Salinas lost his consolation semifinal bout, but claimed a pin in 4:47 against Middletown’s Jacob Toth in the fifth place bout.
St. Paul’s Foligno takes second in Class S
St. Paul sophomore Ben Foligno battled his way to the championship final at 220 pounds during the Class S state meet, held at Windham High School.
The final didn’t go as Foligno would have liked. Haddam-Killingworth senior Aiden Maher won by pin in 23 seconds, but it was still an impressive run by Foligno. He began the tournament with an 11-4 decision, then took a 7-5 decision. In the championship semifinal, Foligno trailed 12-5 but scored a pin against Plainville’s Travis Boone with 42 seconds left in the third period. Foligno was the third wrestler to be pinned by Maher in less than 30 seconds in his four wins.
St. Paul finished 16th as a team with 43 points. Chris Warner (120) and Joshua Silva (132) each compiled 2-2 records for the Falcons. Foligno advances to the State Open, which begins Friday in New Haven.
Thomaston/Holy Cross/Litchfield finished 28th with 17 points.
