With three medalwinners, Avon finishes 11th at Class M championships

Avon’s Jack St. Onge (top) finished third at Saturday’s Class M championship meet.

GUILFORD, Feb. 20 – Three Avon High seniors earned trips to this week’s State Open wrestling championships by finishing among the top four in their respective weight classes at Saturday’s Class M tournament.

Senior Jack St. Onge (160 pounds) went 4-1 to finish third with a 7-3 decision over Guilford’s Oscar Carmona. Seniors Anthony Tripodi (120) and Ryan Farrell (126) each finished fourth. The top six wrestlers in each weight class qualify for the State Open.

The Falcons (10-11, 2-4 CCC North), who had some inexperienced wrestlers in the lineup down the stretch of the season, finished 11th in Class M. It was Avon’s first losing season since 1999, ending a streak of 16 consecutive winning campaigns.

St. Onge (37-4) has been wrestling with a banged up knee throughout the season. But he wrestled well to medal for the second straight year at the Class M meet. He had a pin and a 9-2 decision to earn a semifinal match with Noah Hubler of Foran. But after St. Onge took a 2-0 lead with a second period reversal, Hubler scored seven unanswered points to earn a 7-2 victory.

In the consolation bracket, St. Onge threw Ledyard’s Collin Crader to his back in the first period and grabbed an early six-point lead in a 9-5 victory. In the consolation final, St. Onge took a 4-2 lead with a pair of second period takedowns and prevailed, 7-3.

Avon’s Anthony Tripodi finished fourth at Saturday’s Class M championships.

Farrell (29-13) gave up just one point in his first two matches – a 16-0 technical fall win over New London’s Brittany Hernandez and a 12-1 victory over Berlin’s Moses Marino. But in the semifinal, Farrell was pinned by eventual state champion Baltazar Gonzalez of Ellis Tech in 4:00.

Farrell won his first consolation round bout with a 14-1 win over New Fairfield’s Branden Reilly but fell in the consolation final to Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech’s Roger Moyer, 4-2.

Tripodi (33-6) won his opening round bout with a pin but stumbled in a 4-2 quarterfinal round loss to Branford’s Willie Gambardella, giving up a two-point reversal with 24 seconds remaining. Tripodi rebounded with three consecutive wins in the consolation bracket thanks to two pins and a 5-4 victory over Anthony Devanney of Ellis Tech thanks to a two-point reversal with 38 seconds remaining.

However, Tripodi lost again to Gambardella in the consolation round final, 5-0, to finish fourth. It was Tripodi’s second consecutive medal. He was fifth at 106 a year ago.

Avon sophomore Matt Bourquin (170) and senior Marvyn Escobar (195) each won two matches in the tournament while freshman Alex Rostenberg (106), senior Justin Nastri (182), sophomore Vinny Bonalumi (220) and senior Michael Gutierrez (285) each had a victory.