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03/16/2019 12:00 AMThe East Haven wrestling team is on the upswing after putting together an excellent campaign in its first year with Head Coach Mark Tolla this winter. East Haven finished the regular season with record of 20-5, marking the most victories for the program since 2000, after which the Yellowjackets rode their momentum to a stellar showing in the postseason.
In addition to its 20 victories, East Haven fared well while competing in a variety of tournaments during the regular season. The Yellowjackets claimed first place in the Hand Duals, the Griswold Tournament, and at the Kevin Miller East Hartford Duals. They also earned second place in the Law Invite and the East Haven Duals to go with a third-place performance at the Plainville Tournament.
“This year, we were an extremely balanced team. At every weight class, we had kids that could compete at a quality level,” said Coach Tolla, who had previously served as an assistant for former head coach Lou Rivellini, who’s now an assistant coach. “If we look at our starter’s records throughout the season, even kids that were not our top kids finished with a .500 record. The first three or four years, that was not the case. This year, we had balance. So, when you start going to these team tournaments, we knew we’d be in the mix because of that.”
The Yellowjackets continued seeing success at their postseason meets, beginning with a third-place finish at the Southern Connecticut Conference Championship. It was East Haven’s best performance at the conference meet since 2003. Senior Victor Garcia (113) and sophomore Matt DiVito (120) both earned All-SCC First Team honors by taking first place in their respective weight classes for East Haven. Junior Tanner DiVito (138) garnered an All-SCC Second Team nod with his runner-up finish.
After SCCs, East Haven came in eighth place at the Class M State Championship, marking the team’s third-straight top-10 finish in states. The Yellowjackets totaled 121 points at the meet, breaking the program record of 112.5 set by the 2000 team for the most points scored at states. Senior captain Josh Rao (195) and junior Alec DiVito (132) took second place in their respective weight classes to make the All-State Class M Second Team.
Alec DiVito, Garcia, and senior captain Armando Castaneda (285) competed for East Haven at the State Open Championship this season. Garcia was named to the New Haven Register All-Area Team in the 113-pound weight class. Coach Tolla was selected as the Register’s All-Area Coach of the Year.
“I’m extremely proud. My line to the kids was, ‘I can’t tell you how happy I am with how far we’ve come.’ I want them to be very proud of these accomplishments, but we still haven’t accomplished the ultimate goal. Hopefully, that’s in the near future,” Tolla said. “That’s something Lou and I tried to instill in the kids. We’re going to try to reach out full potential, and if we’re fortunate enough, that may lead us to a state title.”
Garcia finished his high school career with 115 victories after posting a record of 43-4 this year. Sophomore Dominic Milano (106) and Matt DiVito both earned 33 victories this season, while Rao and Castaneda won 32 matches apiece. Alec DiVito, Tanner DiVito, senior Danny Jarrin (160), junior captain Fabricio Bugatti (152), junior Vincenzo Bunce (182), and sophomore Gunner Horton (220) all eclipsed the 20-win mark on the campaign.
East Haven featured 38 athletes on its roster this season. While the Yellowjackets are losing some key people to graduation, Coach Tolla feels optimistic about his squad’s prospects moving forward. Tolla thinks the Easties have the potential to have another big season next year.
“Hopefully, every year is more of a reloading year than a rebuilding year. Alec DiVito, Matt DiVito, and Tanner DiVito all had amazing years and will be the core of our team. We project all three of them to do very well next year,” said Tolla. “We’ve come to the point where we’re losing quality kids, but we’ll be able to have other kids step up. The hope is that every year we’ll put out a consistent program that will be someone to reckon with. We’ve gone to great lengths to develop our culture and fill in the gaps, so we won’t be a one-year wonder. Lou and I worked very hard to hopefully see that through to fruition.”
From the Sidelines
The East Haven wrestling team’s roster featured senior captains Josh Rao and Armando Castaneda; fellow seniors Charles Carrera, John Consiglio, Albert Doheny, Victor Garcia, Nick Harrold, and Danny Jarrin; junior captain Fabricio Bugatti; juniors Jesse Borchert, Vincenzo Bunce, Alec DiVito, Tanner DiVito, Brian Jarrin, Michelle Jarrin, Jeremy Maldonado, Kyle McCarthy, Calvin Nelson, Hugo Ortiz, Telmo Romero, and Victoria Wallace; sophomores Eric Araujo, Alyssa Buckley, Danny Clough, Matt DiVito, Teal Graziano, Gunner Horton, Tyler Kruse, Dominic Milano, Richard Pethick, and Jessie Quinto; and freshmen Zayuri Castaneda, Justin Hernandez, Jake Ortiz, Mike Pagan, Frank Papa, Dylan Tavarez, and Angelina Vincenti.
Mark Tolla finished his first season as the Yellowjackets’ head coach. Former head coach Lou Rivellini was East Haven’s assistant coach this year.
This year’s senior class posted a dual-meet record of 66-25 throughout the past four seasons. East Haven finished with records of 18-7, 15-6, 13-7, and 20-5 during that span.