As Bristol Eastern wrestling coach Bryant Lishness was saying goodbye to fellow coaches following Saturday’s CT Challenge at Southington High School, the word on his lips was “frustrating.”
The frustration stemmed from the performances of some of the Lancer wrestlers at the very competitive tournament. Eastern finished third with 165 points, which put it behind Southington (178) and Trumbull (186). The Lancers finished ahead of the Blue Knights at their previous encounter, the Bristol Central Invitational. Eastern was first, Southington was second at that tournament. The Lancers also defeated the Knights 39-34 in the season opener for both teams.
On Saturday, Eastern had four individual champions: Trent Thompson at 106, Tom Nichols at 132, Justin Marshall at 152, and Trinidad Gonzalez at 220. Nick St. Peter took third place at 285 and Joseph Morelli was fourth at 170. The Lancers equaled Trumbull’s number of individual champions, but the Eagles (three) and the Knights (four) both had more third place finishers.
Nichols had the craziest championship bout among Eastern’s four winners. He faced Simsbury’s John Mairano in the 132 final, and the two were tied 1-1 after the standard three two-minute periods. Nichols and Mairano battled through a scoreless one-minute overtime, then each scored an escape in the ensuing 30-second overtimes. The bout went to the ultimate tiebreaker, where the wrestler who scores the first points wins. Nichols scored a fall on Mairano to win the bout after eight minutes and 30 minutes of wrestling time had elapsed. Nichols won his first two bouts by fall to reach the final.
Thompson earned a pin in his first bout at 106, then advanced to the final on a medical forfeit. Thompson wrestled Glastonbury’s Cody Giaccone in the final and built a 7-1 lead after one period on two takedowns and a near-fall. In the second period, Thompson went ahead 9-1 on a takedown. After a Giaccone reversal, Thompson put up a reversal of his own. With just four seconds remaining in the period, Thompson pinned Giaccone to win the championship.
Gonzalez also had an ultra-competitive final at 220 against Hall’s Hugh Wells. Wells led 5-0 after one period, but Gonzalez picked up an escape and a takedown in the second period to get to within 5-3. Wells escaped to make it 6-3 after two periods. Wells led 8-5 with 1:06 remaining in the third period, then was warned for stalling. Gonzalez made his move with 53 seconds left and scored a takedown to make the score 8-7. Two near-fall points for Gonzalez with 47 seconds remaining gave him a 9-8 lead, and he held on for the decision and the title. Gonzalez won his first two bouts by pin.
It took Marshall just 21 seconds to pin his first opponent at 152. After another pin in the semifinal, Marshall took apart Trumbull’s William Holmes in a technical fall. The score was 18-3 and the tech fall occurred with 29 seconds remaining in the bout. Two takedowns and two near-falls gave Marshall an 8-1 lead after one period. A reversal and near-fall helped him to a 12-2 advantage after two periods. In the third period, Marshall had two takedowns in the first minute. A two-point near-fall with 33 seconds left ended the bout and gave Marshall the championship.
Eastern went into this past week ranked second in the state behind Danbury. Southington was third, and CT Challenge champion Trumbull was ranked eighth. Next up for the Lancers is a home dual meet against Berlin on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Eastern wrestles at the New Fairfield Duals this coming Saturday.
Gallery
Here are my photos of Bristol Eastern wrestling from Saturday’s CT Challenge.
