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02/11/2017 11:00 PMEven though the Guilford wrestling team finished one spot away from holding a conference title in its hands, the Indians still have a firm grasp on their blueprint for postseason success this winter.
Guilford competed at the SCC Championship at Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven on Feb. 11 In the 12-team field, the Indians claimed the runner-up slot by scoring 123 points, only placing behind Xavier, which scored 199.5. Guilford saw five athletes reach their respective championship finals at SCCs, including Jack Six, who won the championship in the 220-pound weight class. Three more wrestlers reached their title bouts in the consolation bracket.
“I was very proud of the way our guys wrestled today. We talked all week about being mentally focused and prepared when stepping onto the mat and each of guys were able to do that,” said Head Coach Craig Vedrani. “There are a lot of highs and lows throughout a wrestling tournament, and refocusing before each match takes effort and discipline.”
Six, a senior, upended Collin Malloy of Xavier with a pin-fall victory at the 1:16 mark of their championship match. Sophomore Vinny Mascola lost his final at 132 to Pat Moynihan of Xavier when he was pinned at 3:30. Senior McKayd LaRose was pinned 1:31 into his contest with Ryan Devivo of Xavier to earn second in the 160 division. Also placing second were junior AJ Moscato, who lost to Fairfield Prep’s Evan Titus, 5-1, in the 170-pound final; plus junior Charlie Andrus, who took a 9-5 defeat to Foran’s Qasim Khan at 182. Overall, it was an impressive outing for the Indians despite having some gaps in the lineup.
“We had no entries at 195 and 285 and our 126-pound varsity wrestler was out injured, so to score 123 points in this tournament was a great accomplishment,” said Coach Vedrani. “It was also great to see second-year wrestler Jack Six win an SCC title at 220. Jack pinned his way through the finals and looked the best I’ve seen him. He is now 26-4 on the year,with two of those losses at 285.”
For Six’s road to the title, he recorded wins via pin over Derrick Pomillis of Notre Dame-West Haven (at 1:28) and East Haven’s Justin Fonacier (3:56). Mascola defeated Hand’s Jared Puricelli by a 14-4 major decision and then beat Law’s Aisaiah Rodriguez in the semis by a pin at 1:53. LaRose defeated Adam Hendrick of Hand with a pin at the three-minute mark after dispatching Sebastian Montoya of East Haven with a pin at 2:28. Moscato pinned Shelton’s Liam Stanske at 1:04 and then won a 10-4 decision over Umer Khan of Foran in semis. Finally, Andrus earned a 13-2 major decision against Brandon Perez of Branford to reach his championship clash.
For the consolation finals, sophomore Keldon LaRose finished fourth in the 120 class after taking a 6-2 loss to Hand’s Mark Hartmann. Junior Carter Cox was fourth at 145 with an 8-1 loss to Zakery Santoemma of Hand. Also, senior Jonathan Bartlett was pinned at 2:08 against Xavier’s Sousa Dylan in the 152 division to take fourth place.
Although he was pleased with his team’s showing as a whole, Coach Vedrani knows that the Indians left a few victories on the table at the SCC meet.
“As well as we wrestled throughout the day, there is still plenty of room for improvement. It was a silent bus ride home with four of the five finalists losing and all three of the consolation finalists losing,” said Vedrani. “I felt the pain these guys were experiencing and was glad nobody was smiling or laughing on the bus. The anger and disappointment on many of their faces proved to me that they are not happy with falling short of the goal they have set out for themselves of being a champion.”
Still, Vedrani maintained that he’s confident his boys will use any setbacks from SCCs to further fuel themselves this coming weekend, when Guilford will is hosting the Class M State Championship on Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18.
“I hope they can use this pain as motivation for the Class M State Tournament here in our own building,” said Vedrani. “Our team this year is a very tight-knit group with a strong bond and I have full confidence that they’ll motivate each other during practice this week and I look forward to seeing them chase their dreams Friday and Saturday.”
From the Sidelines
Guilford finished with an overall record of 19-9 on the regular season.
Rounding out the top five teams at the SCC Championship were Foran (95 points), Hand (93), and Shelton (92).
Jack Six made the All-SCC First Team for Guilford, while Vinny Mascola, McKayd LaRose, AJ Moscato, and Charlie Andrus earned All-Conference Second Team honors.