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Pearson, St. Onge each finish 2nd in Class L

BRISTOL, Feb. 19 — The Avon High wrestling team finished eighth in the Class L tournament with Ryan Pearson (160) and David St. Onge (189) each finishing second. James Gendler (140) and Joe Murphy (152) each took fifth.

The season turned around for Pearson (160) after some losses at midseason. “It’s been a different presence in the second half of the year,” Avon coach John McLaughlin said.

Pearson was disappointed after losing a match to a wrestler from Coventry at mid-season. “He just said, ‘I don’t want to lose again.’ And he took off. His work ethic was great and there was a tenacity there.”

Pearson (31-7) finished the season strong. He won the NCCC championship with three pins, all in under a minute, and rolled into the Class L finals with three straight wins, including a pin of No. 2 seed Clay Helms of Wilton in just 1:28.

But against No. 1 Mike Sullivan of Fairfield Warde, Pearson made a mistake and Sullivan made his pay for it. Sullivan (38-0) pinned Pearson in 1:17.

St. Onge (189) had a nice tournament getting to the championship match. He pinned Farmington’s Shaun Rio in 1:50 in the quarterfinals and beat No. 9 seed Michael Cassin of Bristol Eastern in the semifinals, 15-3. Cassin had upset the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals.

“He is one of the most underrated kids on the team,” McLaughlin said. “He flies under the radar. People don’t know how good he is.”

However in the finals, he met Norwalk’s Brandon Riggins, a former Oklahoma resident who began attending Norwalk High earlier this winter. He wrestled two years at East Longmeadow, Mass., before moving to Oklahoma in 2010. Riggins (14-1) who beat the No. 2 and No. 3 seed to get to the finals, beat St. Onge, 16-3.

Gendler (140) lost a 2-1 decision in the semifinals and finished fifth while Murphy (152) also lost in the semifinals before taking fifth.

McLaughlin was pleased with Avon’s eighth place performance in Class L. “All year, we’ve been led by these four leaders who placed here,” he said.

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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.

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