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02/20/2016 11:00 PMWrestling
Branford was bolstered by third-place performances from juniors Noah Pantani and Willie Gambardella at the Class M State Championship and scored 91 points to finish 10th out of 27 teams. Foran, which had won the SCC title the previous week, came in first place at the state meet that was held at Guilford on Feb. 20.
Pantani and Gambardella each won four matches en route to their bronze medals in the 113- and 120-pound weight classes, respectively. Pantani won by pin in 26 seconds and then took a 2-0 decision for his first two bouts before losing a 13-9 decision. In the consolation bracket, Pantani pinned East Haven’s Antonio Lieto in just 28 seconds, after which he defeated Everett Minevich of East Lyme via forfeit to take third place. For Gambardella at 120, he pinned his first opponent in 1:51, won a 4-2 decision, and then took a 10-2 defeat. Gambardella came back in the consolation to pin William Mauro of Foran in 1:32, followed by a 5-0 pinfall win over Avon’s Anthony Tripoldi for third place.
The Hornets’ next-best showing came from freshman Jackson Seward, who won three matches to take sixth place in the 195-pound weight class. Seward won his opener in 1:31 and then took an 8-6 loss. Seward next won a 14-4 decision that was followed by his pinfall victory at 3:58 to make the bout that would determine who would reach the 3-4 match, although he lost both that match and the subsequent 5-6 bout by default and placed sixth.
Additionally for Branford, Zach Cash won two bouts at 145 with Jordan Botte earning a pair of victories in the 152 class. Cash won by pin in 58 seconds for his first match and later won a 15-1 contest in the consolation bracket. For Botte, he prevailed via pin at the 3:30 mark of his opener and also won by pin in 1:42 during consolation action.
Also, Kelsey Anderson won his first match in the 138 weight class by pin at 2:38, Kyle Zalewski took an 8-4 decision in his 220-pound opener, and HyunJin Jim pinned his first opponent at the 3:36 mark in his opener for the 285 bracket. Jack Spencer scored a pinfall win in 3:30 for the consolation round of the 160 class and, at 170, Chris Travaglino won a consolation match in 4:09. Stella Kelly also wrestled two matches for Branford at 132.
Boys’ Basketball
The Hornets qualified for the SCC Tournament, as well as the Class L State Tournament, by earning their eighth win with a 54-41 victory at division rival North Haven on Feb. 17. The win for Branford completed a season sweep of the Indians and put its final Oronoque Division record at 5-3. The SCC Tournament gets underway this week and states are the following week.
Two days after beating North Haven, the Hornets took a 52-47 loss at home against Notre Dame-West Haven to stand at 8-11 with one regular season game remaining.
Girls’ Basketball
The Hornets finished the winter season on a triumphant note by claiming victory in their final two contests. On Feb. 16, Branford posted a 54-17 home trouncing of non-conference opponent Bassick. Two days later, the Hornets went to New Haven to face division foe Cross and emerged with a 56-35 win to cap a season sweep of the Governors. Branford finished the year at 6-14 and went 4-4 in the Oronoque Division.
Girls’ Indoor Track
After seeing the meet postponed twice due to snow, Branford competed at the SCC Championship and turned in a solid showing by scoring 37 points to finish fifth among 18 teams on Feb. 17. Mercy was the winner of the meet.
Senior Claira Janover had another big postseason performance by placing third in a pair of events to score six points in each of them. Janover ran 9.10 seconds for second in the preliminaries of the 55-meter hurdles and then took third in the finals at 9.14. She also claimed third place in the high jump by clearing 4 feet-10 inches. Senior teammate Cyrene Nicholas tallied six points with her third-place effort in the 3,200 behind a time of 12:09.82 and she also ran on the third-place 1,600 sprint medley relay with freshman Liante Claude, senior Anneliese Troidle, and Janover (4:38.25). In the pole vault, the Hornets saw three sophomores post points as Bridget Wirtz scored six by taking third (8-6), Taylor Brown recorded four by finishing fourth (8-6), and Leah Pendl-Robinson scored one point by placing sixth at 7-6. Also, senior Etta Hanlon came in fifth place and scored two points in the long jump by reaching 16-1.
Additionally, Branford had three seventh-place performances with Wyntre Fries doing so in the pole vault (7-0), Anneliese Troidle taking seventh for the 1,000-meter run in 3:18.80, and 4x200 relay of Claude, Hanlon, Brown, and Gerling Daniels running a time of 1:53.98. On top of that, Courtney Cosgrove ran to 11th place in the 3,200 (13:20.59), Keira Integlia finished 14th in the shot put (29-3.75), and Pendl-Robinson was 15th for the prelims in the 55 hurdles at 10.36.
“Anneliese Troidle ran a personal record in the 1,000 and then had to fill in the 200-meter leg in the SMR and held her own to help us get third. She has been a total team athlete throughout her time here and this really showed what she’s made of. The 4x200 relay had come off a subpar effort at states, but came back with renewed enthusiasm to come [within three-tenths of] a school record,” Coach Kevin Connell said. “This could have been a better meet for us. We were missing one of our top athletes, but the girls came to compete and had a good meet. We had a lock on third place all night in many events.”
Three days later, Branford was back at Floyd Little Athletic Center for the State Open Championship. Hanlon finished 13th in the long jump (15-9.25), Janover was 13th for the prelims of the 55 hurdles (9.08), and the SMR of Claude, Janover, Issy Bysiewicz, and Nicholas took 16th at 4:35.85. Claude ran a personal-record time of 26.9 for her 200 leg of the SMR. Bridget Wirtz also competed in the pole vault for the Hornets at the meet.
“[Claude] has been a valuable addition to the team. She does a great job leading off in two relays and we look forward to her contributions in outdoors,” said Connell. “I think some of the girls may have been feeling the affects of the SCC Championships on Wednesday and did not perform as well as we would have liked. I think when they look back on it, being in the top 18 in the state in your event is quite an accomplishment. [Wirtz and Claude] gained some experience competing in a top-level meet, which should inspire them in the future.”
Boys’ Outdoor Track
The Hornets took part in the SCC Championship at Floyd Little Athletic Center and were led by their 1,600 sprint medley relay of seniors Luke DiStasio, Zach Ellison, Emmon Duffy, and Marzio Mastroianni, who finished in sixth place at 3:56.92 to score Branford’s lone point. The Hornets finished tied for 17th in the 18-team competition with Amity taking the title.
Ellison also finished eighth in the long jump at 19 feet-4 inches, DiStasio took 11th in the 300-meter dash (40.99 seconds), Marshall Borrus finished 12th for the 600 in 1:33.72, and Andrew Byrne was 14th in the 1,600 (4:59.45). The Hornets’ 4x800 relay of Borrus, Joe Borst, Dan Lau, and Seraphin Tala came in 10th place (3:57.77). In the pole vault, Aidan Kropiwnicki finished 10th and Harrison Smith was 12th with both clearing 9-6.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
The Hornets had two games last week and won them both by defeating North Haven 3-2 and then prevailing 6-2 versus Newtown to own a mark of 7-8-1 on the season. Branford now needs just one more win or a tie in its final four regular season contests to qualify for the Division II State Tournament.
Branford hosted division rival North Haven at Northford Ice Pavilion on Feb. 17 and picked up a huge 3-2 win. The victory avenged a 5-3 loss to the Indians on Jan. 20.
Then on Feb. 20, Branford traveled to Danbury Ice Arena to face non-conference opponent Newtown and came out on top by the final margin of 6-2 for the team’s fifth win in its last six games.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
Branford-East Haven-North Branford concluded its campaign with a record of 9-10-1 following a split in its final two games against a pair of fellow SCC Division I squads last week. The Hornets were edged 3-2 in Simsbury on Feb. 16 and then prevailed 5-1 versus Mercy-Northwest Catholic at home four days later. Branford-East Haven-North Branford had previously defeated Mercy-Northwest Catholic in its season opener by a final of 3-2 in overtime.