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With three medalwinners, Avon finishes 11th at Class M championships

Avon's Jack St. Onge (top) finished third at Saturday's Class M championship meet.

Avon’s Jack St. Onge (top) finished third at Saturday’s Class M championship meet.

GUILFORD, Feb. 20 – Three Avon High seniors earned trips to this week’s State Open wrestling championships by finishing among the top four in their respective weight classes at Saturday’s Class M tournament.

Senior Jack St. Onge (160 pounds) went 4-1 to finish third with a 7-3 decision over Guilford’s Oscar Carmona. Seniors Anthony Tripodi (120) and Ryan Farrell (126) each finished fourth. The top six wrestlers in each weight class qualify for the State Open.

The Falcons (10-11, 2-4 CCC North), who had some inexperienced wrestlers in the lineup down the stretch of the season, finished 11th in Class M. It was Avon’s first losing season since 1999, ending a streak of 16 consecutive winning campaigns.

St. Onge (37-4) has been wrestling with a banged up knee throughout the season. But he wrestled well to medal for the second straight year at the Class M meet. He had a pin and a 9-2 decision to earn a semifinal match with Noah Hubler of Foran. But after St. Onge took a 2-0 lead with a second period reversal, Hubler scored seven unanswered points to earn a 7-2 victory.

In the consolation bracket, St. Onge threw Ledyard’s Collin Crader to his back in the first period and grabbed an early six-point lead in a 9-5 victory. In the consolation final, St. Onge took a 4-2 lead with a pair of second period takedowns and prevailed, 7-3.

Avon's Anthony Tripodi finished fourth at Saturday's Class M championships.

Avon’s Anthony Tripodi finished fourth at Saturday’s Class M championships.

Farrell (29-13) gave up just one point in his first two matches – a 16-0 technical fall win over New London’s Brittany Hernandez and a 12-1 victory over Berlin’s Moses Marino. But in the semifinal, Farrell was pinned by eventual state champion Baltazar Gonzalez of Ellis Tech in 4:00.

Farrell won his first consolation round bout with a 14-1 win over New Fairfield’s Branden Reilly but fell in the consolation final to Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech’s Roger Moyer, 4-2.

Tripodi (33-6) won his opening round bout with a pin but stumbled in a 4-2 quarterfinal round loss to Branford’s Willie Gambardella, giving up a two-point reversal with 24 seconds remaining. Tripodi rebounded with three consecutive wins in the consolation bracket thanks to two pins and a 5-4 victory over Anthony Devanney of Ellis Tech thanks to a two-point reversal with 38 seconds remaining.

However, Tripodi lost again to Gambardella in the consolation round final, 5-0, to finish fourth. It was Tripodi’s second consecutive medal. He was fifth at 106 a year ago.

Avon sophomore Matt Bourquin (170) and senior Marvyn Escobar (195) each won two matches in the tournament while freshman Alex Rostenberg (106), senior Justin Nastri (182), sophomore Vinny Bonalumi (220) and senior Michael Gutierrez (285) each had a victory.

Class M championships
At Guilford
Team results — 1. Foran-Milford 209½; 2. Ledyard 206; 3. New Fairfield 198½; 4. Ellis Tech 164½; 5. Guilford 147½; 6. Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech 127½; 7. New London 108; 8. Waterford 96½; 9. Berlin 95; 10. Branford 91; 11. Avon 85½; 12. East Haven 77½; 13. Bethel 72; 14. Stratford 70; 15. Jonathan Law 52; 16. St. Bernard/Norwich Tech 47; 17. Tolland 43; 18. Weston 40½; 19. Fermi 33; 20. East Lyme 32; 21. Woodstock Academy 31; 22. Suffield/W.Locks/E.Granby 30; 23. Bacon Academy 24½; 24. Wolcott Tech 21; 25. SMSA/Univ/Classical 19; 26. Bunnell 13; 27. Rockville 6
Individual results
106 — Final: Sean Johnson, (Ellis Tech) dec. Logan Smith, (Waterford), 12-2; 3. Bo Nguyen, (Ledyard) dec. Daniel Veleas, (Berlin), 13-4; 5. Victor Garcia, (East Haven) dec. Nicholas Tartsinis, (Bacon Academy), 9-8
113 — Final: Gino Esposito, (Foran) dec. Nick Arborio, (Berlin), 2-0; 3. Noah Pantani, (Branford) win by forfeit over Everett Minevich, (East Lyme); 5. Antonio Lieto, (East Haven) dec. Austin Robertson, (Ledyard), 6-3
120 — Final: Alec Opsal, (New Fairfield) pin Alex Starr, (Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech), 2:34; 3. Willie Gambardella, (Branford) dec. Anthony Tripodi, (Avon), 5-0; 5. Anthony Devanny, (Ellis Tech) dec. William Mauro, (Foran), 13-3
126 — Final: Baltazar Gonzalez, (Ellis Tech) dec. Andrew Ignoto, (Guilford), 12-6; 3. Roger Moyer, (Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech) dec. Ryan Farrell, (Avon), 4-2; 5. Nick DeMorro, (East Haven) dec. Braden Reilly, (New Fairfield), 12-2
132 — Final: Alejandro Paulino, (New London) dec. Ryan Luth, (Foran), 3-1; 3. Ryan Angers, (Tolland) dec. Colin Rook, (Guilford), 7-5; 5. Robert Ruiz, (Bethel) pin Josh Veleas, (Berlin), 4:42
138 — Final: Avery Shay, (New Fairfield) dec. Matthew Dowler, (St. Bernard/Norwich Tech), 11-2; 3. Jubilee Witte, (Foran) dec. Michael Devanny, (Ellis Tech), 3-2; 5. David Gill, (East Lyme) win by forfeit over Shane Fors, (Ledyard)
145 —Final: Michael Ross, (Foran) TF Mike Angers, (Tolland), 15-0; 3. Cole Blair, (Ellis Tech) dec. Will McCallister, (Stratford), 8-4; 5. McKayd LaRose, (Guilford) dec. Chase LaRusso, (Fermi), 4-3
152 — Final: Samuel Lindblom, (Waterford) dec. Andrew Tischer, (Guilford), 9-5; 3. Jacob Commander, (New London) medical default over Anton Dzeidzic, (Wolcott Tech); 5. Jacob Millbach, (Ledyard) pin Dan Gioia, (New Fairfield), 2:32
160 — Final: Andrew D’Amico, (New Fairfield) dec. Noah Hubler, (Foran), 5-3; 3. Jack St.Onge, (Avon) dec. Oscar Carmona, (Guilford), 7-3; 5. Collin Crader, (Ledyard) dec. Max Khoshabo, (Bethel), 5-2
170 — Final: Tyler Burlinson, (New Fairfield) pin Qasim Khan, (Foran), 0:21; 3. Curtis Patsiga, (Ledyard) dec. Aj Moscato, (Guilford), 7-5; 5. Antonio Marino, (Berlin) dec. Edwin Ruiz Sandoval, (Woodstock Academy), 5-4
182 — Final: Mitchell LaFlam, (Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech) dec. Justin Keating, (Waterford), 5-0; 3. Dakota Grover, (Ledyard) dec. William Magrino, (New Fairfield), 5-4; 5. Jorge Hidalgo, (New London) pin Vin Biscoglio, (Berlin), 4:03
195 — Final: Daniel Contino, (Ledyard) pin Josh Lachs, (Weston), 3:36; 3. David Verizzi, (Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech) pin Tim Seksinski, (East Haven), 1:51; 5. Justin Garden, (New Fairfield) medical default over Jackson Seward, (Branford)
220  — Final: Daric Johnson, (Ledyard) dec. Nicholas Cote, (Bethel), 9-5; 3. Renelson Michel, (New London) pin Hamit Nasufi, (Stratford), 2:12; 5. Gavin Thuotte, (Ellis Tech) pin Kevin Brocksom, (Jonathan Law), 1:00
285 —  Final: Luke Edmondson, (Foran) pin Shawn Hundley, (Ledyard), 1:57; 3. Jake Richters, (Fermi) dec. Sergio Ferreira, (Stratford), 4-1; 5. Pedro Galarza, (Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech) pin George Howard, (New Fairfield), 1:41

Since 2009, the Collinsville Press has been providing award-winning coverage of sports and news in the Farmington Valley and across Connecticut.

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