The hardware continues to come in for Holy Cross junior wrestler Anthony Shivas.
A week after winning the 285-pound weight class and earning most outstanding wrestler honors at the Berkshire League championship meet, Shivas was again standing at the top of the podium. Shivas, who wrestles for Derby/Oxford/Holy Cross, came from behind against Berlin’s Nicholas Ebrahimi to earn a 3-2 decision and his second straight Class M state championship. Shivas is now 29-0 on the season going into next weekend’s State Open at New Haven’s Floyd Little Athletic Center.
Shivas, the top seed at 285 in Class M, began with a first round bye, then pinned Portland/Cromwell’s Isaiah Rosario with 38 seconds left in the first period of their round of 16 bout.
Shivas made quick work of Branford’s Ryan Jones with a pin just 42 seconds into their quarterfinal bout. Shivas took down Jones 24 seconds in, then had a nearfall 12 seconds later before earning the pin six seconds after that.
Shivas had to work for his 9-2 decision against Bethel’s Endrit Brahimaj in the semifinal round. Brahimaj took Shivas down with 49 seconds left in the first period, but the latter escaped just 17 seconds later to make the score 2-1 after one period. Shivas was on bottom to start the second period, but scored a two-point reversal at the 1:14 mark for a 3-2 lead. Brahimaj was hit for a technical violation at the 1:08 mark and Shivas increased his lead to 4-2. Shivas scored a pair of nearfalls at 1:08 and 38 seconds left to lead 9-2 after two periods, and that’s where the score remained.
In the final, Shivas fell behind, 1-0, in the second period when Ebrahimi escaped at the 1:30 mark. Shivas took the lead, 2-1, on a takedown with just five seconds left in the second period. Shivas escaped with 49 seconds left in the third period for a 3-1 lead, then saw Ebrahimi grab a point when the former was called for stalling. The score was 3-2, but there were just four seconds left in the match, and Shivas held on.
Senior teammate Benjamin Iannantuoni (215) had a first round bye, then scored a pin in his first bout. Iannantuoni lost his next two matches and was eliminated.
Also in Class M, Bristol Eastern finished fifth overall (143 points) behind Guilford (150), Foran-Milford (154), Berlin (207.5) and state champion RHAM-Hebron (211). The Lancers had six placewinners, led by a third place from Yussuf Bah at 106. Andrew Brown (113) and Gabriel White (138) were fourth, Luke Viens (132) and Owen Broyles (175) were fifth, and Rio Fernandez (215) was sixth.
In Class L, Bristol Central finished sixth overall (103 points) behind Platt-Meriden (133), Simsbury (176.5), New Milford (219), Newtown (251) and state champion Xavier-Middletown (343). The Rams got a second place finish from Lincoln Archibald (165), a third from Alex Lamarre (126) and a fifth from Kaden Dragon (120).
The top six finishers in each weight class from all four classes qualify for the State Open. Wrestling begins this Friday at 3 p.m., and on Saturday at 9 a.m.
Photo credit: Derby/Oxford/Holy Cross wrestling on X (formerly known as Twitter)
