Printer Friendly Version - Branford Wrestling Enjoys a Historic Week; Kustra Makes All-SCC for 3rd-Straight Season

Senior Cody McHenry claimed first place in the 195-pound weight class to help the Branford wrestling team finish third as a squad at the SCC Championship on Feb. 15. McHenry also became the Hornets’ all-time winningest wrestler by recording his 134th career victory with the pinfall. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Sound

After completing its regular season with a win versus Guilford, the Branford wrestling team came in third place at the SCC Championship at Mercy High School on Feb. 15. The Hornets crowned a pair of conference champions on their way to scoring 140 points for their third-place finish at SCCs, marking the best performance at the meet in team history. Branford also finished the regular season with an all-time best overall record of 26-1 that included a mark of 5-1 in the SCC Division 1 standings, putting the Hornets in second place.

Senior Cody McHenry won the title in the 195-pound division at the SCC Championship by pinning Marcelius Ruiz of Xavier at the 1:56 mark of the first period in the title bout. That victory put McHenry at 134 wins for his career, surpassing former state champion Joe Martone for the most wins in program history.

Junior Justin Osler secured his second-straight SCC crown at 182 pounds with an 11-7 decision victory over Simon Flaherty from Amity in the final. Osler is just one win away from 100 victories for his career.

Sophomore Patrick Zdunek took third place in the 132-pound division for the Hornets. Zdunek pinned Kyle Putnam of Guilford at the 4:16 mark of the consolation final to finish third.

Branford also saw three athletes finish in fourth place at the SCC meet. Sophomore Jace Korab took fourth in the 120-pound weight class, fellow sophomore Nate Mathis finished fourth at 220, and freshman Carter Burgess came in fourth place in the 113-pound division on behalf of Head Coach Jesse Hurlburt’s squad.

A few days before the SCC Championship, Branford hosted Guilford for its regular-season finale and notched a 44-26 victory versus the Indians on Feb. 12.

Junior Brooke Kustra earned All-SCC accolades for the third year in a row when she represented Branford gymnastics by competing at the SCC Championship last week

Kustra finished tied for third place in the all-around with a score of 32.8 in the SCC meet, which was held at Jonathan Law High School on Feb. 13. Kustra finished second on bars with an 8.3, took third on the beam by scoring an 8.3, and also scored an 8.3 for fifth place on the vault on her way to earning a spot on the All-Conference Team for the third-straight campaign.

Branford sent a collection of athletes to compete at the Class M State Championship at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 14. The Hornets finished in a tie for eighth place by scoring 18 points at the meet.

Junior Mekhi Barnette finished fifth in the high jump for Branford by clearing a height of 5 feet-10 inches at the state meet. Barnette also took 13th place in the long jump with a leap of 18-11.25, while fellow junior Noah Brown finished 20th at 17-10.

Senior Nolan Scott came in seventh place in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:28.37 for Branford. Junior Julio Tozetto ran a time of 1:33.55 to finish 25th.

In the pole vault, senior Andrew Wirtz reached a height of 11 feet-6 inches to come in eighth place. Junior Ryan Hanniford finished 20th with a height of 10 feet. He also placed 23rd in the preliminaries of the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 9.16 seconds.

Branford’s 1,600 sprint medley relay team of Wirtz, Barnette, sophomore Cheng Wu, and Scott finished in 10th place by posting a time of 3:53.46. The 4x400 relay of Tozetto, Wu, Wirtz, and Scott finished 12th (3:50.78); and the 4x200 relay featuring sophomore Cameron Meli, sophomore Peyton Moriarty, junior Noah Brown, and Wu came in 24th place (1:41.96).

The Hornets were represented by several athletes when the Class M State Championship took place at Floyd Little Athletic Center last week.

Sophomore Bella Finta finished 16th in the 1,000-meter run by recording a time of 3:25.59 for Branford. Senior Rose Lockery placed 17th for the preliminaries of the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.86 seconds.

Branford’s 4x400 relay of junior Noor Issa, sophomore Katherine Laska, Finta, and sophomore Catherine Duffy took 12th place with a 4:31.76. The Hornets’ 4x200 relay of Issa, Laska, Duffy, and Lockery finished 14th (1:55:17), while the 1,600 sprint medley relay team of Issa, Laska, Lockery, and Duffy also came in 14th place (4:43.12).

The Hornets played two road games last week and came away with a split to move to 13-2-1 on the campaign.

On Feb. 12, Branford posted a 2-1 win versus Lyman Hall/ Haddam-Killingworth/Coginchaug in a divisional game at Northford Ice Pavilion. The Hornets boosted their record to 5-0 in SCC/SWC Division II play with the victory.

Three days later, the Hornets took a 3-2 road loss against non-conference opponent Wethersfield-Middletown-Rocky Hill-Plainville at Newington Ice Arena.

The Branford-North Branford-East Haven (B-NB-EH) girls’ ice hockey team earned a tie and took a defeat while playing two road games last week. The Wings have a record of 3-13-2 with two games remaining in the regular season.

On Feb. 12, the Wings lost a 3-1 decision against SCC opponent Notre Dame-Fairfield/Law/Foran/Weston/Pomperaug at the Sports Center of Connecticut. Two days later, B-NB-EH battled Mercy-Northwest Catholic to a 3-3 tie at Champions Skating Center.

Branford won two of its three games last week to finish the regular season with a record of 7-13. The Hornets defeated Amistad and Career before taking a loss to Cheshire.

Branford claimed a 46-32 victory at Amistad in a non-conference game on Feb. 10. Two nights later, the Hornets hosted Career for an SCC Oronoque Division matchup and prevailed 42-33 to finish at 3-5 in divisional play this year. Then on Feb. 14, Branford was on the road to face Cheshire and lost a 40-33 decision against the Rams.

The Hornets moved to 6-12 this season after losing two games in divisional play last week.

On Feb. 11, Branford hosted Amity and lost a 47-40 decision to the Spartans. Then on Feb. 13, the Hornets took a 66-51 road loss to SCC Quinnipiac Division opponent Shelton to drop to 1-5 in divisional games.