Adams finishes fifth to lead Canton at Class S championships

Canton freshman Donovan Macklin (106) had two pins for the Warriors in Saturday’s Class S wrestling championship meet in Plainville. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

PLAINVILLE, Feb. 20 – The young Canton High wrestling team finished 15th at the Class S tournament Saturday with senior Julian Adams finishing fifth at 160 pounds and earning a berth to this weekend’s State Open championships in New Haven.

Canton (5-10, 3-4 NCCC) had 10 wrestlers in the tournament and five were freshmen. Seven of the 10 Canton wrestlers won at least one match and six won at least twice.

Adams, a senior, advanced to the semifinals and went 3-2 on the day to improve to 29-8 on the year. He began his day by pinning Gilbert’s Kevin Sullivan in 1:10. In the quarterfinal, Adams took a one-point lead, 4-3, over Plainville’s Freylin Jimenez with a two-point reversal with 46 seconds remaining.

Julian Adams, right, won three matches and advanced to the Class S semifinals at 160 pounds.

Jimenez tied the match with an escape with 24 seconds left. In overtime, Adams got a takedown and put Jimenez to his back to earn a 9-4 victory and a berth in the semifinal. But he ran into Haddam-Killingworth’s Mackay Revis who won by pin in 3:47.

In the consolation round, Adams was about a minute away from wrestling for third place with a 9-2 lead. But Windham’s Victor Garcia Moreno got a takedown and put Adams to his back for a pin and a big come-from-behind win. In the fifth place bout, Adams got an early first period takedown and won by medical default when Montville’s Douglas Delacruz hurt his shoulder.

The top six finishers in each weight class go to the State Open.

Canton’s Braydon Fluckiger pins Coventry’s Prosper John Vignone at the Class S tournament at 195 pounds. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

Freshman Donovan Macklin (106), Brian Connolly (113), Braydon Fluckiger (195), junior Joseph Bowman (170) and senior Trey VandeBogart (138) each went 2-2 in the tournament. Macklin had two pins and finished the season at 20-11. VandeBogart had a pin and finished the year at 27-11.

Fluckiger had a pin and a win in overtime to earn his two wins. Connolly, who had a pin in the tournament, finished the season with a 19-13 mark.