Granby’s Benjamin Kibby has Suffield’s Scott Miller on his back in Wednesday night’s NCCC match in Granby. Kibby won to help the Bears to a 48-32 victory.
GRANBY, Feb 3 — Four years ago, the Granby High wrestling team didn’t win a match, going winless in 17 attempts. Now, the Bears are on the verge of capturing their first North Central Connecticut Conference championship in 12 years.
Granby had six pins to beat their closest rival for the championship with a 48-32 win over the Suffield/Windsor Locks/East Granby co-op team Wednesday night. The Bears (9-2, 7-0 NCCC) can close out a perfect regular season campaign in the conference with a win over Coventry next Wednesday night.
Teams earn one point for each conference win and a half point for each team they beat at the league tournament. But the Bears are in the driver’s seat for its first league title since 2004. Suffield/WL/East Granby (6-5, 6-1 NCCC) can still win a share of the title if they beat SMSA/University/Classical next week and then win the conference tournament on Feb. 13 at Somers and the Bears finish third.
Granby savored the victory – its first over Suffield/WL/East Granby since 2009. They had lost six straight to the Wildcats.
“This has been everything we’ve been working for in practice,” senior Owen Kibby said. “We’ve been working for this match. We knew it would come down to use and Suffield.”
“To win this in our senior year is a big deal,” senior Owen White added. It’s been a steady climb up the ladder for the Bears. They won five matches in 2014 and increased to 15 a year ago.
“We started from scratch,” Granby senior Justin Lenavarsky said of the four-year journey. “We stuck with it as a team and it was worth it.”
Granby’s Justin Lenvarsky is in control in his 220 pound match against Suffield Wednesday night. Lenavarsky won by pin.
Suffield coach Matthew Spangler credited the Bears. “They had the better team,” he said. “We had to stay off our backs and we didn’t. We gave up six pins and that hurt us. We needed some of our inexperienced guys to show up.”
The Wildcats are a young team with three freshmen, three sophomores and two juniors in the starting lineup. “It’s an inexperienced team but they’ll be better next year.”
The match was tied 12-12 after four matches. Suffield/WL/EG took a four-point lead, 16-12, when sophomore John Nicroda beat White, 10-0 at 132 pounds. But the Bears came right back and regained the lead when Granby junior William Hauser pinned Joe Tellier in 1:56 for an 18-16 advantage.
Granby picked up a forfeit at 145 pounds and then picked up consecutive pins from freshman Tyler Perez at 152 pounds and freshman Benjamin Kibby at 160 pounds for a 36-16 lead.
Suffield/WL/EG tried to rally. Seniors A.J. Stewart (170) beat Granby’s Christian Caruso, 15-4 and Bruce D’Agata (182) pinned Granby’s Stephen Kopf in 1:10 to cut the lead to 10 points, 36-26.
But Granby’s Owen Kibby (195) put the Bears on the cusp of winning early, pinning Jason Mannino in 48 seconds. Teammate Justin Lenvarsky (220) won by pin to clinch the match.
Granby 48, Suffield/WL/EG 32
At Granby
106: Jackson Smith (S) forfeit; 113: Alex Hunleth (S) forfeit; 120: Steven Miller (G) forfeit; 126: Terrance (G) pin Isaac Rutt, 3:07; 132: John Nicroda (S) dec. Owen White, 10-0; 138: William Hauser (G) pin Joe Tellier, 1:56; 145: Cooper Fleming (G) forfeit; 152: Tyler Perez (G) pin Henry Mayne, 2:33; 160: Ben Kibby (G) pin Scott Miller, 5:18; 170: A.J. Stewart (S) dec. Christian Caruso, 15-4; 182: Bruce D’Agata (S) pin Stephen Kopf, 1:10; 195: Owen Kibby (G) pin Jason Mannino, 0:48; 220: Justin Lenavarsky (G) pin Phillip Semyanko, 1:54; 285: Nathan Dern (S) forfeit
Records: Granby 9-2, 7-0 NCCC: Suffield/WL/EG 6-5, 6-1 NCCC
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