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With another three wins, Avon wrestlers have won eight straight

Avon’s Abhi Bhabad controls Terryville’s Levi Avolt in his match at 113 pounds on Friday night. Bhabad won by pin and Avon beat Terryville.

AVON, January 19 – Quietly, the Avon High wrestling team is gaining momentum. Well, it might not be so quiet if you’re in the gym against the Falcons.

The Falcons won three matches on Friday night against Farmington, 46-24, Gilbert, 45-22 and Terryville, 75-6, to extend their winning streak to eight in a row.

Avon lost their first CCC North match of the season to two-time champion East Hartford, 39-33 in late December and then Avon traveled to Orlando, Florida for a two-day tournament at the KSA Disney Duals against teams from Florida, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Avon won just two of seven matches and returned home from the Sunshine State with a 3-8 record. And they haven’t lost since. Avon is 10-1 against Connecticut teams.

The Falcons (12-6, 2-1 CCC North) beat South Windsor, 59-24 and have beaten Glastonbury, Oxford, Canton and Northwestern Regional.

Earlier this week, Avon handled New Britain with relative ease in a 63-14 victory.

Avon’s Henry Schrecengost keeps the pressure on Terryville’s Richie Larson in Friday’s match in Avon.

On Friday, they were pushed early by Farmington, who grabbed an 18-6 lead after four matches with pins from Cole Wolkner (145), Luke Popolizio (152) and Max Bartholomy (170).

But Avon won the next six matches to rip control of the match away from the Indians. Vinny Bonalumi (182) got it started with a pin and teammate Matt Bourquin (195) had three takedowns to outlast Farmington’s Daon Hudson, 6-4.

At 220, Avon’s Chris Gens was tied 2-2 with Munil Sarvana in the second period before he put the Farmington wrestler to his back and went onto an 8-3 victory. Henry Schrecengost (285), Ryan Baghdassarian (106) and Abhi Bhahad (113) each pinned as Avon’s lead swelled to 36-18 thanks to 30 unanswered points.

Farmington’s Nick Ortiz (120) kept the Indians’ hopes alive with a pin but Avon’s Gavin Douglas clinched the match with a 9-0 decision over Wallaf Monteiro.

Against undermanned Terryville, Avon had nine pins and picked up two forfeits along the way. Seven of the pins came in the first period. The Falcons then proceeded to hand Gilbert (12-3) just their third loss of the season in a hard-fought 45-22 victory. The Yellowjackets had seven pins in their 45-33 win over Farmington.

Avon returns to CCC North competition on Wednesday when they host Wethersfield (7-3, 3-1 CCC North) at 6 p.m. Next Saturday, the Falcons will travel to Rocky Hill and the Doc Myer Brawl beginning at 10 a.m.

Avon’s Jack Colman (160) puts the squeeze on Terryville’s Mike Zalewski Friday in Avon.

NOTES – Early in the month, Avon competed at the Bristol Central Invitational where they finished sixth behind CCC North rivals Wethersfield, who finished third with 116 points, and East Hartford, who was fourth with 107. Avon earned 95½ points. … Six Falcons won medals in the tournament. Abhi Bhadbad (106) and Henry Schrecengost (285) each lost in the finals – both were pinned very late in the third period with less than 10 seconds left in the match. Jack Colman finished third at 160 pounds while Matt Bourquin (195) took fourth and Vinny Bonalumi was fifth at 182 pounds. … An interesting match coming up will be the first CCC Tournament in Berlin on February 9-10. For the first time, all 26 schools in the Central Connecticut Conference with a wrestling team will compete for league-wide honors.

MORE WRESTLING PHOTOS

Avon 46, Farmington 24
At Avon
145: Cole Wolkner (F) pin Gunner Prop, 1:02; 152: Luke Popolizio (F) pin Andrew Sides, 0:44; 160: Jack Colman (A) pin Mike Lai, 3:46; 170: Max Bartholomay (F) pin Sam Johnson, 4:56; 182: Vinny Bonalumi (A) pin Chaz Devorce 3:24; 195: Matt Bourquin (A) dec. Daon Hudson 6-4; 220: Chris Gens (A) dec. Munil Sarvana, 8-3; 285: Henry Schrecengost (A) pin Nick Greco, 1:56; 106: Ryan Baghdassarian (A) pin Evan Wolkner, 3:22; 113: Abhi Bhabad (A) pin Karisten Cardosa, 0:37; 120: Nick Ortiz (F) dec. Max Jacobs, 9-8; 126: Gavin Douglas (A) dec. Wallaf Monteiro, 9-0; 132: Giovanni Andino (F) dec. Justin Meador, 10-5; 138: Grant Corbett (A) pin Frank Miano, 0:26

Avon 75, Terryville 6
At Avon
152: Matthew Sides (A) pin Bailey Schuster, 3:34; 160: Jack Colman (A) pin Mike Zalewski, 1:27; 170: Sam Johnson (A) pin Jamieson Kulesa, 0:22; 182: Vinny Bonalumi (A) forfeit; 195: Matt Bourquin (A) forfeit; 220: Chris Gens (A) pin Jonathan, 0:47; 285: Henry Schrecengost (A) pin Richie Larson, 1:30; 106: Ryan Baghdassarian (A) pin Nick Zappone, 1:38; 113: Abhi Bhabad (A) pin Levi Avolt, 3:24; 120: Caleb Leclerc (T) pin Max Jacobs, 3:09; 126: Gavin Douglass (A) pin Samantha Ridgeway, 2:17; 132: Justin Meador (A) pin Owen Mantoni, 1:03; 138: Grant Corbett (A) pin Daniel Barrett, 1:35; 145: Gunner Prop (A) dec. Jake Cotton, 10-9

Avon 51, Canton 21
At Canton (Jan. 13)
113: Jack Freedenberg (C) Pin Zack Colman 4:24 120: Jared Butler (A) Forfeit 126: Gavin Douglas (A) Dec. Andy Thibodeau 13-5 132: Brian Connolly (C) Dec. Justin Meador 13-7 138: Grant Corbett (A) Pin Donovan Mackin 3:57 145: Chayce Lucca (C) Pin Jake Deluca 5:52 152: John Alicia (C) Pin Andrew Sides 2:55 160 0: Jack Colman Dec. Austin Kilduff 12-2 170: Sam Johnson (A) pin Connor Clement 0:20 182:Vinny Bonalumi (A) pin James Pelhach 1:12 195: Matt Bourquin (A) Tech. Braydon Fluckiger 19-4 220: Chris Gens (A) Forfeit 285: Tyler Dickensol (A) Forfeit 106:Abi Bhabad (A) Dec. Matt Webb 7-0

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Carolyn

    February 7, 2018 at 3:15 pm

    Love seeing coverage of Falcon Wrestling….team swept last quad match last week too. Thank you! Keep it coming!

  2. Mom

    February 10, 2018 at 3:26 pm

    It’s Jack Colman – no “e” 😉
    Thanks for reporting on these kids. They work so hard!

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