Southington’s Shawn Wagner, top, has control of Simsbury’s Jack Montgomery in Wednesday’s match at 113 pounds. Wagner won this bout but No. 7 Simsbury won the match.
SOUTHINGTON, Jan. 7 – The Simsbury High wrestling team has been tested In tournaments this young season. The Trojans have participated in three tournaments, winning the Skip Arden tournament in Manchester, taking second in their own Frank Chaves Invitational and finishing third behind No. 2 Fairfield Warde and Londonderry, N.H., at the Fairfield Warde Invitational.
Now, the Trojans are looking to see what they can accomplish in a dual meet.
No. 7 Simsbury looked sharp in just its second dual meet of the season – a dominating 51-24 decision over Southington in a CCC West match. With seven pins in the first eight weight classes, the Trojans built a commanding 42-3 lead. Five of the seven pins were in the first period.
“It was a great effort,” Simsbury’s first-year head coach Peter Vlahakis said. “Even in our losses, the matches were well contested.”
Southington (5-2, 0-1 CCC West) won just three matches on the mat along with picking up a pair of forfeits. Southington’s Shawn Devin earned a hard-fought 6-4 victory at 182 pounds, Shawn Wagner (113) won by a pin at 113 pounds and Austin Abacherli scored five points in the second overtime to earn a 7-3 victory over Vincent Palermo at 120 pounds.
The Blue Knights were missing one of their four starting senior wrestlers. Zach Bylyukbashi (113) is out for a few weeks after injuring his elbow at the Lowell (Mass.) Holiday Classic. Still, Southington head coach Derek Dion is pushing his team to compete.
“We just can’t keep accepting these kind of losses,” Dion said. “(Simsbury) is a solid team, a top five team and they’re very talented. But I am tired of saying we have sophomores. You’re a wrestler. You’re a high school kid and so is he. We have to get better.”
Simsbury’s Lukas Stone pins Southington’s Andrew Szymanski at 285 pounds.
Devin and Abacherli’s victories were two of the most competitive bouts of the match. At 182, Devin led 4-0 after one period thanks to a pair of takedowns. Simsbury’s John Bradford cut the lead to one, 5-4 with a takedown with 42 seconds remaining. He let Devin get away to try and get a second takedown but Devin kept him at bay for a 6-4 victory.
At 120, Simsbury’s Vincent Palermo led 2-0 after two periods. Abacherli cut the lead to one thanks to an escape early in the third period. Palmero was penalized for stalling late in the third period and the bout went into overtime. In the second OT, Abacherli got a reversal and a near fall to take a 7-2 lead.
Simsbury (2-0, 1-0 CCC West) has a veteran squad this season with eight seniors and two juniors in the starting lineup. The only sophomore starter is Keith Penney at 138 and he has won three tournaments already this winter.
“We have high expectations,” Vlahakis said. “We have several individuals that we believe can win Class LL championships. As a team, it will be difficult but if we all wrestle our best on that day, we could accomplish it.”
The Trojans are also looking to defend their CCC West championship that they captured last February. It was their first pennant since 2001.
Simsbury hopes to keep challenging themselves. On Saturday, they will face No. 10 Ledyard, the defending Class M champions, on the road in the Jerry Watkins Colonel Duals. The meet also includes perennial New Hampshire and New England champion Timberlane, N.H., and Branford, which is off to a strong start (7-4) this season.
On Friday, Jan. 16, Simsbury travels to Danbury to take on the top-ranked Hatters at 7 p.m.
Against Southington, Simsbury’s senior-laden lineup took command quickly. Junior Keith Fernandez (145), seniors Ryan Juliano (152), Steve Feinberg (160) and Sean Penney (170) all won with pins. Devin broke the string with a decision at 182 but seniors Jake Feldman (195), James DeMaio (220) and Lukas Stone (285) each had pins to extend the lead to 42-3.
Simsbury beat the Blue Knights for the third straight year.
Southington’s Austin Abacherli, left, and Simsbury’s Vincent Palermo square off at 120 pounds.
Simsbury 51, Southington 24
At Southington
145: Keith Fernandez (Sims) pin Nick Kelly, 0:47
152: Ryan Juliano (Sims) pin John Vecchio, 1:00
160: Steve Feinberg (Sims) pin Josh Gravel, 2:26
170: Sean Penney (Sims) pin Steffan Mayette, 2:42
182: Shawn Devin (South) dec. John Bradford, 6-4
195: Jake Feldman (Sims) pin Jason Calvi-Rogers, 0:26
220: James DeMaio (Sims) pin Richie Zayas, 1:32
285: Lucas Stone (Sims) pin Andrew Szymanski, 0:54
106: Zack Murillo (South) forfeit
113: Shawn Wagner (South) pin Jack Montgomery, 1:45
120: Austin Abacherli (South) dec. Vincent Palermo, 7-3, 2 OT
126: Tim Budnik (South) forfeit
132: Rob Miseriacordia (Sims) dec. Kyle Solomon, 8-3
138: Keith Penney (Sims) pin Jack Terray, 1:16
Records: Simsbury 2-0, 1-0 CCC West; Southington 5-2, 0-1 CCC West
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