NEW HAVEN – Xavier has won its share of state high school wrestling championships, both individual and team, in recent years.
But the Falcons keep breaking new ground.
Saturday one of their wrestlers, senior Braylon Gonzalez, won his third straight State Open title, with a 3-1 overtime decision over Ridgefield senior John Carrozza. It was the first time a Xavier wrestler has won three Open titles.
Xavier also had seven finalists – a first – in the championship bouts and five champions. Josh Perez, a freshman, beat Stafford senior John Bean for the 106 title. At 112, Zack Dixon won the title with a 12-0 major decision over last year’s State Open champion, Will Accorsi of Somers. Freshman Alex Depratti lost a 4-3 decision to Windham senior Delmazio Despard at 126 and Zaphyr Musshorn lost a 2-1 overtime decision at 132. At 175, junior Vincent Rivera won the championship with a 14-10 decision. And junior Chase Catalano won a 2-1 overtime decision over Fairfield Warde’s Dylan O’Brien at 190.
And Xavier won its fifth straight State Open title with 218.5 points.
“This means hopefully we’re doing something right,” Xavier coach Mike Cunningham said. “We’ve built a culture and a standard and an expectation, the kids are buying in – everybody’s on the bus.”
They would need to win five more to catch Danbury, which won 10 straight State Open titles from 2001-2010 but Xavier has a lot of good young wrestlers.
Gonzalez, who came in as a freshman and finished third in the State Open and also in the New England championships, was also Xavier’s first four-time Class L champion.
Saturday’s overtime match was a little stressful for Cunningham.
“I’m getting too old for this stuff,” he said. “But he got it done. To pull it out in overtime with back points is pretty big. He wrestled him last year in the semis and he’s wrestled him before and it’s all been close. Carrozza’s a good wrestler.”
Gonzalez recalled wrestling Carrozza in overtime before; last year, he had an escape in the third period and won against him.
“I know that I can just keep working,” Gonzalez said. “He’s a good opponent. He’s tough, he’s strong, he knows how to move and he knows positions.”
Gonzalez has won a team title every year since he was a freshman.
“To be honest, that means more than individual titles,” he said. “I don’t remember the matches I wrestled my freshman year, all I remember is my teammates. That’s the most important thing.”
Gordon wins girls title
South Windsor’s Sophia Gordon wrestled with the boys most of her high school career and last week, as a senior, she finished sixth in the Class LL championships.
But Saturday, she got to be in the spotlight in the girls State Open at Floyd Little Athletic Center. Gordon won her second State Open girls title, pinning Westhill’s Isha Khanna in 1:52.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “I’ve been wrestling the guys all year.”
She was happy with her showing last week but also disappointed as she was leading the fifth-place match against Southington’s Brandon Campbell 13-1 but ended up getting pinned.
“It was a rough last match,” she said. “You slip up once. …sometimes I just get panicked.
“But I didn’t place in the guys (LLs) last year so it was good for me.”
Gordon, who plans to wrestle in college, wrestled in fourth grade but got serious in high school, joining the team her freshman year because her brother wrestled.
“I was one of the only girls on my team,” she said. “Freshman year, I was getting my butt kicked every day. Now I’m up there with the guys, so it’s really cool.”
Of note: Platt’s Kayli Morris became the first girl to win four State Open girls titles, with a 3-0 decision over Bristol Central’s Shyann Bryann at 185 pounds Saturday. … RHAM’s Brooke Heffernan won the 107 girls championship over New Milford’s Clara Reynolds. … Bristol Central junior Alex Lamarre won the 150 title with a 1-0 decision over Middletown junior Isaiah McDaniel.
State Open wrestling championships
Floyd Little Athletic Center, New Haven
Boys
Top 10 team scores: 1. Xavier, 218.5; 2. Ridgefield, 146; 3. Staples, 76; 4. Fairfield Warde, 72; 5. Ledyard, 66.5; 6. Newtown, 64.5; 7. East Lyme/Norwich Tech, 59; 8. Danbury, 56.5; 9. Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech and Notre Dame-West Haven, 56.
106
Champion: Josh Perez, Xavier tech fall John Bean, Stafford, 17-2, 3:06
113
Champion: Cole Desiano, Ridgefield pinned Peter Annis, Suffield/Windsor Locks, 3:46
120
Champion: Zack Dixon, Xavier major decision over Will Accorsi, Somers, 12-0
126
Champion: Delmazio Despard, Windham dec. Alex Depratti, Xavier, 4-3
132
Champion: Jude Grammatico, Fairfield Warde dec. Zaphyr Musshorn, Xavier, 2-1 OT
138
Champion: Lukas Boxley, Ledyard pinned Ethan Bochman Rodriguez, Terryville, 0:34
144
Champion: Braylon Gonzalez, Xavier dec. John Carrozza, Ridgefield, 3-1 OT
150
Champion: Alex Lamarre, Bristol Central dec. Isaiah McDaniel, Middletown, 1-0.
157
Champion: Antonio Arguello, Newtown dec. Riley Storozuk, Notre Dame-West Haven, 8-4.
165
Champion: Evan Schibi, Gilbert/Torrington/Wolcott Tech dec. Harry Marino, Conard, 2-0.
175
Champion: Vincent Rivera, Xavier dec. Jack Lilly, Fairfield Prep, 14-10
190
Champion: Chase Catalano, Xavier dec. Dylan O’Brian, Fairfield Warde, 2-1 OT
215
Champion: Taiyo Gemme, Old Lyme, dec. Julian Rousseau, Staples, 3-0.
285
Champion: Chase Galke, Shelton dec. Jacob Palermo, East Lyme/Norwich Tech.
Girls State Open
Top 10 team scores: 1. Trumbull, 132; 2. New Milford, 107; 3. Maloney, 100; 4. Stratford, 99.5; 5. Foran, 85.5; 6. Bristol Central, 74; 7. Law, 72.5; 8. Platt, 71.5; 9. Stamford, 67; 10. Bristol Eastern, 61.5
100
Champion: Sophia Gordon, South Windsor pinned Isha Khanna, Westhill, 1:52
107
Champion: Brooke Heffernan, RHAM dec. Clara Reynolds, New Milford, 9-2.
114
Champion: Ava Gamberdella, Branford dec. Selena Batres, Law, 6-0.
120
Champion: Jillian Blake, Trumbull tech fall Monica Flores Romero, Fairfield Warde, 17-1, 2:29
126
Champion: Adelina Tate, EllTshibois Tech pinned Ashlynn Cummings, Fairfield Ludlowe, 1:51
132
Champion: Eliana Selerias, Amity pinned Evelyn Lavigne, Hand, 1:41
138
Champion: Winner Tshibombi, Stratford major dec. Gaby Allaga, Greenwich, 22-98
145
Champion: Gabriella Kiely, Stratford pinned Josephina Peil, New Milford, 1:17
152
Champion: Matilda Tote, Bunnell, pinned Ella Piccirillo, Shelton, 5:01
165
Champion: Marangelie Teixeira, Trumbull pinned Kaydence Atkinson, New Britain, 5:14
185
Champion: Kayli Morris, Platt, pinned Shyann Bryan, Bristol Central, 1:25
235
Champion: Jeily Euceda, Norwalk, pinned Arianna Bellamy, Maloney, 4:34
285
Champion: Brooklynn Hepburn, Ledyard pinned Ivanelis Figueroa Rosario, Maloney, 1:53.