Led by wins from senior captains Tyler Cunningham and Sean Marinan Jr., Xavier won its first ever State Open wrestling title at New Haven’s Floyd Little Athletic Center.
The Falcons finished with 132 points to top rivals Hand (121.5) and Danbury (118.5). Glastonbury and Bacon Academy rounded out the top five. Middletown placed ninth with 55 points.
The title was the team’s third in as many weeks. Xavier won the Southern Connecticut Conference crown over Hand on February 12th and the Class LL title last weekend.
“I am really happy for the kids, parents and coaches involved with our team,” said head coach Michael Cunningham. “Our wrestlers worked so hard and sacrificed so much for this championship.”
“I knew coming in we would have a strong showing and would probably finish in the top three. We just had to focus and leave everything out there on the mat. Luckily we didn’t leave too much room to spare.”
Tyler Cunningham, Michael Cunningham’s son, won the title at 150 pounds and Marinan, Xavier’s other finalist, was champion at 220.
Junior Elliot Antler placed third at 170, sophomore Will Chowanec fourth at 113 and senior Ryan Butler fifth at 145 for Xavier.
Cunningham, the Class LL champion at 160 pounds, defeated Ledyard’s Alex Manwaring 7-2 in the final to win his first Open title. Cunningham was third at 145 in last year’s State Open.
“This has been my life goal ever since I was a little kid,” said Cunningham to the New Haven Register.
Marinan took down Masuk’s Eric Tucker in a epic battle that spanned four overtimes. Tied at one going into the overtime period, each wrestler would add a point in the first three overtimes before Marinan escaped Tucker seven seconds into the fourth to capture individual title 3-2. Marinan, who was second last season, celebrated the victory by jumping into assistant coach Kyle St. George arms.
“This is amazing for me to go out like this,” Marinan stated to the Hartford Courant. “To go back-to-back with football and wrestling is so special….But with wrestling it’s different. [Xavier had] never won one before, so now all our numbers go up on the wall. We’re immortal now.”
The story for Middletown was again Devon Carillo. The senior won at 182, his second consecutive state title after winning at 171 last season. Carillo defeated Weaver’s Sheldon Rhoden 7-2 in the final.
Senior Andrew Carignan finished fourth at 120 for Middletown and junior Randy Hale was sixth at 160.
Showing posts with label xavier wrestling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label xavier wrestling. Show all posts
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Xavier Captures Second Consecutive Class LL Wrestling Crown
Defending champion Xavier knew it had work to do as the championship round of the Class LL wrestling championships began. Despite the Falcons advancing eight wrestlers to semifinal matches and five to championship matches, Xavier trailed Danbury 228-218 going into the championship round due to an excellent performance by the Hatters in their consolation matches. If they wanted to win a second consecutive championship, the Falcons would have to perform nearly flawlessly. In one of the biggest pressure situations imaginable, each Xavier finalist did so.
Each of Xavier’s five finalists won an individual title, giving the Falcons 242 points and their second straight Class LL championship. Danbury finished second with 232 points and Trumbull paced third with 153 points.
Xavier’s title winners were sophomore Will Chowanek (113 pounds), senior Tyler Cunningham (160), junior Elliot Antler (170), senior Jake Whalen (180) and senior Sean Marinan Jr. (220).
The most significant win was Sean Marinan’s. Xavier came into his championship match only six points ahead of Danbury and a loss by Marinan to the Hatters Oswaldo Garcia would have tied the two teams.
The senior battled his way to an early score and hung on to defeat Garcia 5-4 and give his squad a well-earned championship.
“Was there pressure?” Marinan asked the Hartford Courant. “No, I didn’t even know the score.”
Will Chowanek got the Falcons going with a 3-2 decision over Conor Caffrey of South Windsor in the 113-pound championship, his second consecutive individual title after winning at 102 pounds last year.
I really didn’t expect it to be this close,” said Chowanek to the New Haven Register. “I wanted to come out strong. The take down in the second period is the move that won it for me. My goal was to get as many points for my team as I could.”
“Winning the Class LL championship means everything to me, it means everything to our team. We’re the defending champs and that’s what we wanted to do, defend our title.”
Tyler Cunningham pinned Joseph Roberts of Fairfield Prep in just 1:58 to win the 160-pound title. Elliot Antler won the 170 championship with a decisive 11-4 victory over Ryan Whittle of Greenwich and Jake Whalen took down Zachary Maxwell of Southington in 2:50 to win the 195 title.
The victory earned Xavier a measure of revenge. Danbury, who came into the championship meet ranked No. 1 in the Norwich Bulletin coaches’ poll, defeated them 43-17 at the end of December and was ranked ahead of the Falcons for the entire season. Xavier’s back-to-back Class LL titles establishes them as one of the top programs in the state and worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Danbury, who won 14 consecutive titles from 1997-2010.
“I knew coming in here we were the underdogs because Danbury’s been kicking everyone’s butt this season,” Xavier Head Coach Mike Cunningham stated to the Register. “I can’t explain the feelings I have right now winning the title two years in a row.”
“We had good matchups in the championships. I’m so proud of our guys.”
Xavier know takes their Class LL, as well as its SCC championship, with them to the State Open this Friday and Saturday at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven. With a bevy of outstanding wrestlers in tow the Falcons are confident they can improve on the team’s disappointing sixth place finish in the 2011 State Open.
“I just hope we learned from it,” Cunningham said to the Courant. “We are going to enjoy this, but we get together and regroup on Monday, then have a good week of practice and go from there.”
Each of Xavier’s five finalists won an individual title, giving the Falcons 242 points and their second straight Class LL championship. Danbury finished second with 232 points and Trumbull paced third with 153 points.
Xavier’s title winners were sophomore Will Chowanek (113 pounds), senior Tyler Cunningham (160), junior Elliot Antler (170), senior Jake Whalen (180) and senior Sean Marinan Jr. (220).
The most significant win was Sean Marinan’s. Xavier came into his championship match only six points ahead of Danbury and a loss by Marinan to the Hatters Oswaldo Garcia would have tied the two teams.
The senior battled his way to an early score and hung on to defeat Garcia 5-4 and give his squad a well-earned championship.
“Was there pressure?” Marinan asked the Hartford Courant. “No, I didn’t even know the score.”
Will Chowanek got the Falcons going with a 3-2 decision over Conor Caffrey of South Windsor in the 113-pound championship, his second consecutive individual title after winning at 102 pounds last year.
I really didn’t expect it to be this close,” said Chowanek to the New Haven Register. “I wanted to come out strong. The take down in the second period is the move that won it for me. My goal was to get as many points for my team as I could.”
“Winning the Class LL championship means everything to me, it means everything to our team. We’re the defending champs and that’s what we wanted to do, defend our title.”
Tyler Cunningham pinned Joseph Roberts of Fairfield Prep in just 1:58 to win the 160-pound title. Elliot Antler won the 170 championship with a decisive 11-4 victory over Ryan Whittle of Greenwich and Jake Whalen took down Zachary Maxwell of Southington in 2:50 to win the 195 title.
The victory earned Xavier a measure of revenge. Danbury, who came into the championship meet ranked No. 1 in the Norwich Bulletin coaches’ poll, defeated them 43-17 at the end of December and was ranked ahead of the Falcons for the entire season. Xavier’s back-to-back Class LL titles establishes them as one of the top programs in the state and worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Danbury, who won 14 consecutive titles from 1997-2010.
“I knew coming in here we were the underdogs because Danbury’s been kicking everyone’s butt this season,” Xavier Head Coach Mike Cunningham stated to the Register. “I can’t explain the feelings I have right now winning the title two years in a row.”
“We had good matchups in the championships. I’m so proud of our guys.”
Xavier know takes their Class LL, as well as its SCC championship, with them to the State Open this Friday and Saturday at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven. With a bevy of outstanding wrestlers in tow the Falcons are confident they can improve on the team’s disappointing sixth place finish in the 2011 State Open.
“I just hope we learned from it,” Cunningham said to the Courant. “We are going to enjoy this, but we get together and regroup on Monday, then have a good week of practice and go from there.”
Friday, December 16, 2011
City Wrestling Teams Looking to Repeat Last Season's Success
XAVIER
Xavier is again expected to be one of the top wrestling teams in Class LL coming off of last year’s class championship. The Falcons return 11 wrestlers from that title team, which went on to finish sixth in the State Open.
Xavier lost three top seniors from last year’s squad but returns a trio of weight-class champions. Will Chowanec was the Class LL champion at 103 pounds as a freshman, junior Elliot Antler was the LL champ at 160 pounds and senior Tyler Cunningham bested the competition at LL’s at 145 pounds. Senior Sean Marinan Jr. took second place at the State Open at 215 pounds.
The Falcons are taking on a very challenging schedule this season. The team participates in the Guilford Invitational after just one match and prestigious events such as the Easton Duals in Pennsylvania and the New Milford Tournament.
“We have excellent depth at every weight class,” Head Coach Michael Cunningham said. “We should absolutely be one of the top three teams in Class LL.”
MIDDLETOWN
Middletown was 18-10 last year and placed fifth in the Class L meet and eight in the State Open. The Blue Dragons can exceed that record this season. But according to Head Coach Mark Fong, that won’t happen unless his inexperienced wrestlers improve quickly.
“Right now we’re a little better than average,” he said. “We’re inexperienced in a lot of areas. The key to our success will be the development of our young guys.”
Much of the inexperience of Middletown’s 25 wrestlers can be found in their background as football players. Two of the more promising converts are sophomore Sam Rivera, who will wrestle as a heavyweight, and junior D.J. Green, who will wrestle at 152 pounds.
The Blue Dragons can put their trust superstar senior Devon Carrillo. Carillo, who is wrestling at 184 pounds, is a Class L and State Open Champion and finished third in New England and seventh in national competition last winter.
“Devon is an experienced wrestler with a ton of athletic ability, but what makes him even more special is that he’s not cocky or arrogant at all,” Fong stated. “He had spent the season focusing on the younger kids and teaching them how to get better.”
Other key wrestlers besides Carillo will be senior Andrew Carrignan (120 pounds), Johnny Carrero (126) and Adam Colavito (113).
“We have strong seniors who are going to produce,” Fong said. “If our younger wrestlers produce we can have a better record than last year and place higher in the state tournament.”
Middletown was victorious in its season opener Wednesday at home, defeating Conard 36-35. Devon Carillo, Adam Colavito, Andrew Carrignan, Johnny Carrero, Nathan Roy, Michael Tewksbury and Cody Carillo all earned points for the Blue Dragons.
Middletown will next take part in the Berlin Invitational at Berlin High School this Saturday.
Xavier is again expected to be one of the top wrestling teams in Class LL coming off of last year’s class championship. The Falcons return 11 wrestlers from that title team, which went on to finish sixth in the State Open.
Xavier lost three top seniors from last year’s squad but returns a trio of weight-class champions. Will Chowanec was the Class LL champion at 103 pounds as a freshman, junior Elliot Antler was the LL champ at 160 pounds and senior Tyler Cunningham bested the competition at LL’s at 145 pounds. Senior Sean Marinan Jr. took second place at the State Open at 215 pounds.
The Falcons are taking on a very challenging schedule this season. The team participates in the Guilford Invitational after just one match and prestigious events such as the Easton Duals in Pennsylvania and the New Milford Tournament.
“We have excellent depth at every weight class,” Head Coach Michael Cunningham said. “We should absolutely be one of the top three teams in Class LL.”
MIDDLETOWN
Middletown was 18-10 last year and placed fifth in the Class L meet and eight in the State Open. The Blue Dragons can exceed that record this season. But according to Head Coach Mark Fong, that won’t happen unless his inexperienced wrestlers improve quickly.
“Right now we’re a little better than average,” he said. “We’re inexperienced in a lot of areas. The key to our success will be the development of our young guys.”
Much of the inexperience of Middletown’s 25 wrestlers can be found in their background as football players. Two of the more promising converts are sophomore Sam Rivera, who will wrestle as a heavyweight, and junior D.J. Green, who will wrestle at 152 pounds.
The Blue Dragons can put their trust superstar senior Devon Carrillo. Carillo, who is wrestling at 184 pounds, is a Class L and State Open Champion and finished third in New England and seventh in national competition last winter.
“Devon is an experienced wrestler with a ton of athletic ability, but what makes him even more special is that he’s not cocky or arrogant at all,” Fong stated. “He had spent the season focusing on the younger kids and teaching them how to get better.”
Other key wrestlers besides Carillo will be senior Andrew Carrignan (120 pounds), Johnny Carrero (126) and Adam Colavito (113).
“We have strong seniors who are going to produce,” Fong said. “If our younger wrestlers produce we can have a better record than last year and place higher in the state tournament.”
Middletown was victorious in its season opener Wednesday at home, defeating Conard 36-35. Devon Carillo, Adam Colavito, Andrew Carrignan, Johnny Carrero, Nathan Roy, Michael Tewksbury and Cody Carillo all earned points for the Blue Dragons.
Middletown will next take part in the Berlin Invitational at Berlin High School this Saturday.
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