Canton wrestlers take second in tournament but bring home NCCC title

The Canton High wrestling team won the North Central Connecticut Conference championship on Saturday, their first league title since 2019.

CANTON, Feb. 15, 2025 – Four days before Christmas, the Canton High wrestling team faced defending league champion Stafford in a six-team meet on a Saturday afternoon in Danielson and dropped a 35-point decision to the Bulldogs.

Eleven days later, the two teams met again in a North Central Connecticut Conference match in Stafford with Canton coming up with a 39-33 victory thanks to a pair of forfeits and an overtime win by Carter Chambers at 157 pounds.

That victory over Stafford helped Canton go undefeated in the NCCC season with a 7-0 record with Stafford finishing second at 6-1 in the league.

Stafford won the NCCC Tournament on Saturday by 51 points with a 219½ to 168½ victory over Canton. The Bulldogs had six finalists and four individual champions and won the NCCC tournament for the first time since 2003.

But in the NCCC, teams get one point for each league team they beat in the regular season and a half point for every team they beat at the league tournament.

Thanks to its undefeated regular season and a second place finish at the NCCC meet, Canton won the league championship for the first time since 2019 with Stafford finishing second.

“We dropped our match to Canton earlier in the season and our goal from that point one was to wrestle strong and use that as motivation,” Stafford head coach Rich Ives said. “We came into that (Canton) match with a little bit of sickness and we dropped a match or two that we shouldn’t have.

“So, all year long, we’ve used that (loss) as motivation,” he said. “You can’t take anything for granted. You have to up and work hard.”

Since losing to Canton on January 2, the Bulldogs have won nine of 11 duals, won the Rodney Smith Invitational and finished second in two other tournaments – the Casey Yates Invitational and the Stafford Invitational. Stafford (17-5, 6-1 NCCC) took third at the Ben Aleks Duals in Enfield, losing to then-No. 7 Trumbull and dropping a one-point decision to Ledyard, 40-39.

Canton (19-10, 7-0 NCCC) won a tight match with Stafford in January and

Four days after winning that tight match with Stafford in January, Canton (19-10, 7-0 NCCC) slipped past Suffield/Windsor Locks, 36-32. Two pins from Joaquin Vasquez (215) and Thomas Johnson (285) provided extra bonus points with teammate Kian Murphy (190) winning a tough 4-2 decision for the Warriors.

“We’ve grown a lot,” Canton coach Josh Bristol said. “They’ve worked really hard to develop. They were hungry all year and they trusted the process. We’re a fundamentals program. Skills wise, it is doing basic things really well and really clean and being mentally and physically prepared.”

One of the differences in that second Stafford match on January 2 was mentality, Bristol said.

“We were mentally together and we had a fire underneath us,” Bristol said. “When we are mentally locked in, we win.”

It’s the most wins in a single season for the Warriors since 2019 when they were 20-3 and won the league championship.

Canton put six wrestlers in the finals but only one could bring home an individual championship. George Redford (138 pounds) got an escape with one second left in regulation to tie the match up at 3-3 and got a takedown with 32 seconds left in OT to earn a 6-3 decision over Granby’s Benjamin Barlow.

“I was done after the third period,” Redford said. “I wasn’t really thinking about anything. It was all Jesus. I said so many prayers before this match.”

Barlow beat Redford by one point, 7-6, in a dual meet last week. But on Saturday, Redford got the game-winning takedown in OT.

Jose Rivera (113), Nick Leadbetter (132), Carter Chambers (157), Kian Murphy (190) and Thomas Johnson (285) each made the finals and finished second for Canton.

Landon Dacruz (106), Kai Quintana Wright (126) and Grant Inlow (150) each finished third for the Warriors. That’s nine of 14 Canton wrestlers finishing in the top three of their respective weight classes.

Granby (5-15, 2-5 NCCC) which struggled this season in dual meets due to the low number of wrestlers in their program, put four wrestlers in the finals with Liam Kirkpatrick (120) winning a championship by technical fall. Deron Daley (126), Carter Hightower (150) and Barlow (138) each finished second. Kirkpatrick’s win in the finals was the 125th win of his career.

Matthew Kish (165) of Portland/Cromwell was named outstanding wrestler. Kish won at 165 pounds with a pin and two tech falls. Kish gave up just one point in three victories, a second period escape in his win over Stafford’s Tyler Wolf in the finals.

It is the sixth league championship in Canton’s history. They also won titles in 2019, 2002, 1997, 1996 and 1995.

Canton High wrestling coach Josh Bristol holds the league championship trophy high in the air Saturday after the completion of the NCCC championship tournament in Canton.

2025 NCCC Tournament
At Canton
Team results – 1. Stafford 219½, 2. Canton 168½, 3. Suffield/Windsor Locks 147½, 4. Rockville 108½, 5. Granby 95, 6. Portland/Cromwell 90½, 7. Somers 60, 8. Coventry 36, 9. East Granby 2½
Championship finals
106 Peter Annis (Suffield/WL) dec. John Bean (Stafford), 7-5
113 William Accorsi (Somers) pin Jose Rivera (Canton), 0:39
120 Liam Kirkpatrick (Granby) tech fall Edrick Bell-Murrell III (Rockville), 17-0 4:24
126 Derek Consolini (Stafford) pin Deron Daley (Granby), 1:16
132 Harrison Accorsi (Somers) tech fall Nick Leadbetter (Canton), 16-0 4:32
138 George Redford (Canton) dec. Benjamin Barlow (Granby), 6-3 OT
144 Jackson Annis (Suffield/WL) pin Teagun Godi (Coventry), 2:31
150 Naser Saleh (Suffield/WL) tech fall Cartier Hightower (Granby), 16-1 3:49
157 Sam Montgomery (Rockville) dec. Carter Chambers (Canton), 6-4
165 Matthew Gish (Portland) tech fall Tyler Wolf (Stafford), 18-1 3:12
175 Kaiden Jellison (Stafford) dec. Cal Thompson (Suffield/WL), 16-6
190 Peyton Krah (Stafford) dec. Kian Murphy (Canton), 11-2
215 Kaleb Arcouette (Stafford) pin Cayleb Alvarez-James (Portland), 3:41
285 Yasin Afrailov (Suffield/WL) pin Thomas Johnson (Canton), 2:52
3rd Place (consolation finals)
106 Landon Dacruz (Canton) pin Ayden Guerra (Somers), 2:17
113 Frank Tenezaca (Rockville) pin Yediel Sanchez Genao (Somers), 0:50
120 Nathan Kodzis (Stafford) dec. Cedrick Hardy (Suffield/WL), 14-11
126 Kai Quintana-Wright (Canton) dec. Max Blake (Suffield/WL), 16-2
132 Yosuel Santiago (Rockville) dec. Kaiden Bobskill (Stafford), 10-1
138 Noah Perry (Stafford) dec. Adam Dean (Portland), 8-3
144 Seth Ives (Stafford) pin Aiden Catalan (Canton), 0:18
150 Grant Inlow (Canton) dec. Dominic Curnan (Stafford), 5-3
157 Logan Wolf (Stafford) dec. Matthew Kielasinski (Suffield/WL), 6-2
165 Demir Sanford-Tolentino (Rockville) tech fall Nikolas Krauland (Granby), 22-5 5:00
175 Ryan McGrew (Portland) pin Maddox Tamayo (Suffield/WL), 1:42
190 Sebastien Fonrose (Rockville) pin Benjamin Navin (Suffield/WL), 0:46
215 James Grover (Stafford) pin Mikhail Moreno (Rockville), 1:26
285 Rogan Harrolle (Suffield/WL) dec. Landon Langlois (Stafford), 7-1
Outstanding wrestler: Matthew Gish (165), Portland/Cromwell
Fast fall: Derek Consolini (126), Stafford 3 pins in 4:34
Final league standings: Canton 10, Stafford 9½, Suffield/WL 7½, Rockville 6, Portland/Cromwell 4½, Granby 3, Somers 1½, Coventry 0. Teams earn 1 point for a dual meet win in the league and a ½ point for each team they beat at the league tournament.
2025 NCCC Tournament brackets and results (FloArena)