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02/12/2017 11:00 PMWrestling
The East Haven wrestled team finished in sixth place as a group by scoring 69.5 points at the SCC Championship at Wilbur Cross High School on Feb. 11. The Yellowjackets saw four competitors finish among the top three of their respective weight classes, including Antonio Lieto, who took first place in the 113 division.
Lieto, a junior, opened SCCs as his bracket’s top seed and earned a first round bye. To get to the final, Lieto was victorious over Shelton’s Sam Failla by a 12-1 major decision and Hand’s Dylan Brochard via a 12-4 major decision. In the final, Lieto took on Xavier’s Vito Santarsiero and won a 12-3 major decision to take the 113 title and claim All-SCC First Team honors.
In the 138 weight class, Alex Tapia placed second after losing to Xavier’s Grant Barber 8-2 in the championship match. Tapia earned a bye through the first round and then pinned Amity’s David Ford at the 1:23 mark before defeating Nick Lacey of Shelton by an 8-0 major decision to advance to the final. Tapia made the All-SCC Second Team.
Also for East Haven, Victor Garcia finished third in the 106 class and Damien Benway was third at 170. Garcia received a first round bye before defeating Guilford’s Steven Napoli by a 17-1 technical fall. After that, Garcia was defeated by Shelton’s Steven Reyes in a close 8-6 battle to move into the consolation bracket. There, Garcia dispatched Hand’s Kyle Davern 7-5 and Amity’s Christian Chadwick 8-4 to claim third place in the 106 division. Denway also received an opening round bye and won his first bout over Amity’s Nate Morrissey by pin at the 59-second mark. Evan Titus of Fairfield Prep then pinned Benway to send him to the consolation bracket, where Benway topped Xavier’s Trevor Dell’Oso 6-2 and Foran’s Umer Khan by a 9-2 decision to place third.
Other competitors at the SCC Championship for East Haven included Joe Milano (120-pound weight class), Nick DeMorro (132), Vincent Franco (145), Sebastian Montoya (160), Josh Rao (195), Justin Fonacier (220), and Brandon Duryea (285).
Milano won his first matchup by pin at 5:32 over Notre Dame-West Haven’s Jeffrey Bracale. He then lost his next two bouts. DeMorro won his first bout by pin over Foran’s Will Mauro at 3:05 before losing by pin and an injury forfeit. Franco lost his one match by a major decision, while Montoya and Rao dropped both of theirs via pin. Fonacier was victorious in his first matchup as he pinned Hand’s Christian Westphal at 3:06, after which Fonacier lost by pin and injury forfeit. Duryea was pinned to open his day, but won by a 7-6 decision over Notre Dame-West Haven’s Matthew Brooks in the first round of the consolation bracket. He lost by pin in his next match.
Prior to the SCC Championship, East Haven defeated Amity 57-19 on Jan. 24 with big wins coming from Garcia, Lieto, Milano, Tapia, Danny Jarrin, Montoya, Benway, Chalres Carrera, Rao, and Fonacier.
The Yellowjackets also competed in the Shoreline Scuffle in Branford on Jan. 28. Lieto took first place in his weight class, plus Garcia, DeMorro, Franco, Montoya, and Benway all placed third, while Tanner Divito finished fourth.
After topping New Haven (66-15) and Morgan (53-27) on Feb. 1, the Yellowjackets took part in the Law Invite on Feb. 4 and finished in third. Benway and Lieto won their weight classes, Garcia took second, DeMorro and Fonacier placed third, and Montoya finished fourth.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
East Haven split its two matchups last weekend to move its record to 13-2 for the season.
The week started with a 6-2 loss to Hamden, an SCC/SWC Division I squad, on Feb. 8. East Haven had four players out with either injuries or illness and had to rotate just three defenseman and six forwards throughout the game. Despite that, it was 2-2 in the third before Hamden’s late-game endurance wore down the Easties. Nick Capone scored both of East Haven’s goals in the loss, while Matt Twarowski made 19 saves in goal.
On Feb. 11, East Haven rebounded with a lopsided 10-0 victory over North Branford, which had defeated the Easties in last year’s Division II State Tournament semifinals. East Haven scored seven times in the first period in its way to the blowout. Joe Aloi recorded a hat trick and also contributed three assists. Capone and Jake Aloi each had two goals and four assists for East Haven. Chris Teto, Mike Dogolo, and Joe Lorello also found the back of the net. Logan Hamilton made 27 saves in goal to record his first career shutout.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
Branford-East Haven-North Branford skated to a 3-0 win over Stamford-Westhill Staples in a non-conference game at Terry Conners Ice Rink in Stamford last week. With the victory, the Wings improved their record to 7-10-1 for the year.
Boys’ Basketball
East Haven’s took two defeats last week to drop to 2-14 on the season.
On Feb. 7, Notre Dame-West Haven topped the Yellowjackets 95-45. Brandon DePalma led East Haven with 10 points.
Four days later, Amity defeated East Haven 67-35. Ed Popolizio scored 10 points, while Nick Guarino added nine for the Yellowjackets.