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02/22/2020 11:00 PM

Iamunno Grabs Gold at State Championship


Freshman Joe Iamunno won the state crown at 120 pounds while competing on behalf of North Haven wrestling at the Class L State Championship meet at Bristol Central High School. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

One week after winning an SCC title, North Haven freshman Joe Iamunno claimed state gold by taking first place in the 120-pound division at the Class L Wrestling State Championship at last weekend. Representing the Indians as a team-of-one, Iamunno won all four of his bouts by pinfall on his way to winning the state title at 120 pounds. Iamunno’s performance resulted in 32 points that put North Haven in 21st place at the Class L State Championship, which took place at Bristol Central High School on Feb. 21 and 22.

Iamunno was the top seed in the 120-pound bracket at states and had a bye through the first round. He started off his run by pinning No. 17 seed Jordan Schenkel of Wethersfield just 53 seconds into their round-of-16 bout.

In the quarterfinals, Iamunno took on 9th-seeded Colin Loria of Xavier in a rematch of their SCC championship bout, which Iamunno won via a 15-0 technical fall. This time around, Iamunno pinned Loria at the 2:11 mark of the match to move on to the semis.

In the semifinal round, Iamunno went up against No. 4 seed David Jutcawitz from Pomperaug and prevailed by pinfall 3:22 into the contest to make the title bout.

Iamunno squared off with 2nd-seeded Mason Lishness of Bristol Eastern with the state title on the line. Iamunno pinned Lishness just 40 seconds into the match to take home the Class L championship for the 120-pound weight class.

Iamunno has advanced to compete at the State Open Championship this weekend. He will wrestle in the 120-pound tournament when the Open takes place at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, Feb. 29.

Iamunno trained with the wrestling team at Notre Dame-Fairfield and competed at its meets during the regular season this winter. The freshman went on to capture the 120-pound title when he represented North Haven at the SCC Championship on Feb. 16. Iamunno won three bouts to take the SCC crown, securing the title with his technical fall win against Loria in the final.