Printer Friendly Version - Dube Claims 195-Pound State Crown for Hand Wrestling; Powell Ties for 6th in High Jump at State Open

Senior Alec Dube claimed the state title in the 195-pound weight class when Hand came in ninth place at the Class L State Championship that took place at Bristol Central on Feb. 15 and 16. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Source

Senior Alec Dube earned a first-place finish in the 195-pound division to help the Hand wrestling team take ninth place at last weekend’s Class L State Championship. The Tigers scored 95 points as a team at Bristol Central High School on Feb. 15 and 16.

Dube won the 195-pound title by pinning New Canaan’s Sergiy Babenkov at the 3:12 mark of the final. Dube had advanced to the championship match by beating Jack Porcaro of Windsor (pin at 0:41), Wethersfield’s Nick Thompson (pin at 3:35), and Jakob Salinas of Bristol Central (pin at 2:52).

Seamus Moriarty finished fifth in the 170-pound weight class by pinning Ethan Grous of E.O. Smith at the 3:34 mark of their bout. Kyle Davern finished sixth in the 120-pound division for the Tigers. Matt Derken came in sixth place at 220 after losing a 10-7 decision to Simsbury’s Tommy Frank Guilfoyle.

Hand’s other wrestlers at the state meet included Sam Stein (106), Zach Morro (113), Jack Burke (126), Jared Puricelli (132), Joe Auora (138), John O’Keefe (145), Sam Williams (152), Carter Ganino (160), and Ian Hurley (182).

Russell Powell placed in high jump for Hand at the State Open Championship at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 16.

Powell cleared a height of 6 feet to finish tied for sixth in the high jump and score a half-point that put the Tigers in 47th place at the Open. Hand’s 1,600 sprint medley of Braeden Kosiewicz, Besufekad Opstrup, Carson Hines, and Connor Parthasarthy came in eighth place with a time of 3:47.43.

Chloe Thompson ran the 1,000 for the Tigers at last week’s State Open Championship. Thompson took 11th place in the event by clocking in at 3:11.16.

The Tigers improved 13-2-1 on the season after posting two more victories last week.

Hand doubled up Joel Barlow-Weston-Abbott Tech by an 8-4 final on Feb. 13. The Tigers then posted a 4-0 shutout over Masuk on Feb. 16.

The Hand-Coginchaug-Old Lyme girls’ ice hockey team took three defeats in the final week of its season and finished the year with a record of 3-17.

The Tigers lost a 7-1 game against Suffield-Ellington-Enfield-Granby-Canton on Feb. 11. Two days later, they then dropped a 4-1 decision versus Guilford. In their season finale, the Tigers took a 6-1 loss to Branford-North Branford-Sheehan-Lyman Hall on Feb. 16.

Hand won its last two games of the campaign to finish with an overall record of 7-13.

The Tigers defeated Foran 61-36 on Feb. 13 to finish at 2-6 in the SCC Hammonasset Division this year. Two nights later, Hand claimed a 50-47 victory over Law in its season finale.

The Tigers finished their regular season with a record of 6-11 and now get ready to compete at the State Championship at Pomperaug High School on Saturday, Feb. 23.

Hand tallied 130.8 points in its Senior Night meet on Feb. 14, losing to Mercy (133.3), while defeating Valley Regional (119.9) and Haddam-Killingworth (74.3). Grace Rogers scored a 34.3 for the all-around that included an 8.7 on bars and an 8.65 on floor. Hand’s other competitors at the meet included Kayla Cataldo (30.45 all-around, 8.15 on floor), Paige Dean (8.7 on floor, 8.65 on beam, 8.2 on bars), Kelley Levis (8.05 on floor, 7.65 on beam), Catherine Aranow (8.0 on beam), Alara Nahar (8.05 on beam), Riley Caruso (8.0 on vault), and Carly Barba (8.5 on vault). Nahar’s score of 8.05 marked the first time that she hit a score of 8.0 or more on the beam.