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03/01/2020 11:00 PMGirls’ Wrestling
East Haven sophomore Zayuri Castaneda earned a first-place finish at the inaugural Girls’ Wrestling Invitational last weekend. Zayuri took the gold in the 235-pound division while representing the Yellowjackets at the tournament, which was held at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 28 and 29.
Castaneda notched two pinfall victories on her way to winning her round-robin bracket at the invitational. In her first match, Castaneda pinned Natalia Morris of Trumbull in just 52 seconds. Castaneda went on to pin Ruby Camejo from New Haven at the 5:22 mark in her second bout.
Camejo then defeated Morris on a pin in the next contest. With her record of 2-0, Castaneda was crowned the first champion of the 235-pound division at the Girls’ Invitational.
Boys’ Wrestling
The Yellowjackets saw five athletes compete when the State Open Championship took place at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 28 and 29. East Haven scored 11 points to finish in a tie for 55th place at the meet.
Senior Alec DiVito won his first matchup via 3-2 decision before losing by 8-0 major decision in the quarterfinals of the 132-pound division. DiVito won his first consolation match by 7-3 decision and then lost his second match on 4-2 decision. DiVito entered the State Open on the heels of a first-place finish the 132-pound weight class at the Class M State Championship.
Senior Fabricio Bugatti won his opening bout of the 160-pound bracket by a 6-3 decision, after which he took a 5-0 loss in the second round. In his first consolation match, Bugatti dropped a 5-3 decision.
In the 126-pound division, junior Matt DiVito lost his first match by a 5-3 decision. DiVito won his first two consolation bouts by 8-4 and 13-9 decisions, respectively, then lost a 7-0 major decision in his next contest.
Senior Tanner DiVito came into the State Open after winning the 138-pound division at the Class M State Championship. DiVito lost a 10-8 decision in his first match at the Open, then came back to win an 11-3 major decision in his first consolation matchup. In his next bout, DiVito lost on a 3-0 decision.
Junior Tyler Kruse took a 5-1 loss in his opening bout. Kruse later lost a 9-1 major decision in his first consolation match.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
The East Haven co-op ice hockey team took three defeats during the last week of the regular to put its record at 8-12 entering the playoffs.
On Feb. 24, the Yellowjackets took a 5-2 home loss versus Guilford at Patsy DiLungo Ice Rink. East Haven had 2-0 lead after the first period before allowing the Indians to score five unanswered goals. Juniors Dave Amatruda and Cory Benni were the Yellowjackets’ goal scorers in the game.
Two days later, the Yellowjackets lost a 2-1 contest against Branford at Northford Ice Pavilion. Branford scored first, but East Haven quickly tied the game on a goal by Benni. The Hornets netted the go-ahead goal at the 5:29 mark of the second period and went on to get the 2-1 victory.
Then on Feb. 29, East Haven took an 8-2 defeat to Sheehan in its regular-season finale at Choate Ice Rink.
With their record of 5-2 in divisional play, the Yellowjackets have earned the No. 4 seed in the SCC/SWC Division II State Tournament. East Haven is playing top-seeded Branford in semifinal game at Bennett Rink on Thursday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. With a victory, East Haven would face the winner of No. 2 seed Hand and No. 3 North Haven in the championship game at Bennett Rink at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 7.
Following the conference tourney, East Haven will compete in the Division II State Tournament beginning with first-round action on Monday, March 9.
Boys’ Basketball
The Yellowjackets hosted Seymour for their last regular-season game on Feb. 27. East Haven dropped a 74-51 decision against the Wildcats to finish with a record of 4-16 on the year.
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
The Greater New Haven Warriors (GNH) boys’ swimming and diving team clinched the SCC Division 2 title by earning a home victory versus divisional opponent Sheehan in its regular-season finale on Senior Night. On Feb. 24, the Warriors hosted Sheehan and prevailed 100-70 at Walter Gawrych Community Pool to win the crown with a record of 6-0 in divisional meets. GNH finished with an overall mark of 8-2 for the regular season.
Later in the week, North Haven freshman Christian Butler earned a medal by finishing in sixth place at the SCC Diving Championship on behalf of the Warriors.
The Warriors honored North Haven student Stephen Borrelli and fellow senior captains Aidan Henry and Evan Laughlin of Guilford as part of their Senior Night festivities prior to their meet against Sheehan. Borrelli swam a lifetime-best time of 2:06.48 in the 200 freestyle in the victory. Henry went undefeated in the 50, 100, 200, and 500 freestyles during the regular season.
Junior Tanner Powell swam a lifetime best of 1:02.65 in the 100 butterfly for GNH. Junior Collin Romero turned in a lifetime best of 28.43 for the 50 freestyle, while freshman Patrick Cucchiarelli did a lifetime best in the 100 freestyle (59.60) to go with a season-best in the 100 backstroke (1:09.75).
Other swimmers who recorded season-best marks were junior Dan Kamen in the 200 individual medley (2:13.52), junior Cameron Cargan in the 200 freestyle (1:58.09); freshman Aiden Cohen (24.62), freshman Lucas Espinosa (26.03), and sophomore Miguel Pearce (26.19) in the 50 freestyle; and freshman RT Trotter in the 100 butterfly (1:05.34) and 100 breaststroke (1:18.01)
Butler posted a lifetime-best score of 209.80 for a six-dive routine during the Warriors’ win against Sheehan. Later in the week, Butler competed at the SCC Diving Championship and claimed sixth place by scoring 321.25 points for his 11-diving performance at Sheehan High School on Feb. 28. Butler scored points that will count toward the Warriors’ total when they swim at the SCC Championship this week.
After SCCs, GNH will compete in the Class LL State Championship, beginning with the Diving Championship at Middletown High School on Wednesday, March 11 at 5:30 p.m. The Class LL Swimming Trials will take place at East Hartford High School on Saturday, March 14 at 11:30 p.m., and the Class LL Swimming State Championship will be held at Wesleyan University on Tuesday, March 17 at 6 p.m.