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02/23/2019 11:00 PMWrestling
Sophomore Justin Osler became the first sophomore in the history of the Branford wrestling team to earn a medal at the State Open Championship when he finished fifth in the 182-pound weight class last weekend. The Hornets were represented by three athletes at the State Open, which took place at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 22 and 23. In addition to Osler, junior captain Cody McHenry grappled in the 195-pound bracket, and fellow junior captain Minsok Lee wrestled in the 220-pound division for Branford. The Hornets scored 30 points and finished in 31st place at the meet.
Osler had a bye through the first round of the 182-pound division and then lost to Malik Goethe of McMahon by pin at the 3:55 mark. Olser went to the consolation rounds and started off by defeating Matt Carson of Haddam-Killingworth on a pin in 2:59. He went on to pin Leonardo Amaro, Jr., of Bacon Academy at the 1:48 mark.
Osler won 5-2 decisions over both Stephen Sims of Griswold and Pat Brogan from Foran to advance to the consolation semis, where he lost a 3-2 decision against Joseph Palmieri of Trumbull. Osler then went up against Andrew Nanai of Greenwich with fifth place on the line and prevailed via a 6-1 decision. Osler had lost to Nanai earlier in the year, but got the nod this time by using a takedown to break a 1-1 tie in the final stages of the bout.
In addition to being Branford’s first sophomore medalist, Osler is the seventh wrestler in program history to earn a medal at the State Open and the fourth to advance to the New England Championship. Prior to the Open, he had taken first place in the 182-pound division at the SCC Championship and second in the Class M State Championship. Osler has 40 wins on the season and has 69 victories in his career.
Lee started off action in the 220-pound bracket by pinning Bajrum Gutic from Baltic in 3:52. He then lost a 9-4 decision against Hugh Wells of Hall. In his first consolation bout, Lee won by pin versus Braydon Fluckiger from Canton at the 2:59 mark. After that, he earned a 6-5 decision victory against Aiden Maher from Haddam-Killingworth. In his final match, Lee lost to Austin Harnish of Wethersfield on a 9-5 decision. Lee had previously finished second at the SCC meet and took third place for the Class M meet. He topped the 40-win mark on the year and has 70 career victories.
McHenry had a first-round bye and then pinned Derby’s Nate Bartone at the 4:42 mark in his first 195-pound bout at the Open. In his next match, he took a loss against Joe Gjinaj of Fairfield Warde by pin at 5:42. In the consolation rounds, McHenry lost to Wethersfield’s Nick Thompson via forfeit due to an injury. McHenry had recently placed second at SCCs and third at states. He eclipsed 40 wins for the season and has 94 for his career.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
Branford clinched the Southern Connecticut Conference/South-West Conference Division II regular season title by earning a road win against the East Haven co-op squad last week. The Hornets posted a 4-1 victory versus East Haven-Old Lyme-Old Saybrook-East Hampton-Morgan-Valley Regional at DiLungo Rink on Feb. 21 to finish atop the division standings with a record of 6-1 this year. Branford is on a five-game win streak and has an overall record of 13-3-3 with one game left in the regular season.
Following a scoreless first period, Spencer Engstrom scored a goal from fellow junior Max Manware and senior Max Bunton to give Branford a 1-0 lead over East Haven with 3:17 to play in the second. Less than a minute later, junior Blake Kustra scored from Engstrom and junior Zach Jones for a 2-0 lead. East Haven scored in the last minute of period to make it 2-1 entering the third. In the final period, junior Chris Donadio netted an unassisted goal to give Branford a 3-1 advantage with 10:44 remaining in the game. With 4:57 to go, senior Rob Lionetti scored from Kustra to put the finishing touches on the Hornets’ 4-1 victory. Sophomore Jared Yakimoff made 19 saves for Branford, which outshot the Yellowjackets by a 46-22 margin.
During the previous week’s action, Branford posted a 3-1 win over North Haven in a road game at Northford Ice Pavilion on Feb. 16. Following a scoreless first period, Engstrom scored a goal on an assist from junior Jack Manware to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead with 7:31 to play in the second period. Then with just 45 seconds left, Bunton scored from sophomore Billy Linder to make the score 2-0. North Haven scored a goal to cut it to 2-1 with 8:21 remaining in the game, but the Hornets kept the Indians off the scoreboard the rest of the way, and sealed the victory when Manware scored an empty-net goal from Linder with just 1:10 to go. Senior Greg Lucente made 19 saves to get the win in goal for Branford.
The Hornets are the top seed in the SCC/SWC Division II Tournament. Branford is playing a semifinal game at Bennett Rink in West Haven on Thursday, Feb. 28. The conference final takes place at that same site at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 2. After the SCC/SWC tourney, Branford will compete in the Division II State Tournament beginning with a first-round game on Monday, March 4.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
The Branford-North Branford-Sheehan-Lyman Hall girls’ ice hockey team faced off against Notre Dame-Fairfield/Law/Foran/Weston/Pomperaug in the first round of the SCC South Division Tournament last week. The Wings took a 2-0 defeat against the Lancers at The Rinks at Shelton on Feb. 18. The team finished its season with an overall record of 9-11-1.
Girls’ Basketball
Branford is the No. 22 seed in the Class L State Tournament and opened the draw by playing a first-round game at No. 11 seed Watertown (12-8) on Feb. 25 (after press time). With a victory, the Hornets (9-12) would either play at No. 6 Pomperaug or host No. 27 Crosby in a second-round contest on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. The Class L quarterfinals are on Monday, March 4; the semis take place on Friday, March 8; and the Class L state final will be held at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville on either Saturday, March 17 or Sunday, March 18.
Boys’ Basketball
The Hornets were on the road to face Lyman Hall for their season finale on Feb. 19. Branford dropped a 68-57 decision against the Trojans to finish the year with a record of 2-18.
Cheerleading
After recently posting a fourth-place finish in the All-Girl Division at the SCC Championship, the Branford cheerleading team is gearing up to compete at the State Championship this week. The meet will take place at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Saturday, March 2.
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
After recently finishing its regular season, the Branford-Guilford boys’ swimming and diving team is opening up the postseason this week. The Hornets competed at the SCC Swimming Qualifying at the Cheshire Community Pool on Feb. 25 (after press time) and the SCC Swimming Championship at Southern Connecticut State University on Feb. 27 (after press time). After that, Branford-Guilford will be participating in the State Championship meets. The Class L Diving State Championship takes place at Middletown High School at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6; the Class L Swimming State Qualifying is at East Hartford High School at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 9: and the Class L Swimming State Championship will be held on Monday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Southern Connecticut State University.