Last year, it came down to the last match of the night for the Bristol Eastern wrestling team at the Class L championships. And the Lancers weren’t even wrestling.
That night, a joyous celebration erupted after the 126-pound match between New Canaan’s Tyler Sung and Mel Ortiz of New Milford ended. For the Lancers to win, Sung had to win. He did, and Bristol Eastern did, by a point.
This year’s celebration was a bit more muted. Bristol Eastern finished the regular season undefeated and was a favorite to win Class L. Also, last weekend, the Lancers abruptly left the CCC tournament after weighing in because of what coach Bryant Lishness called a “team discipline issue.”
On Saturday, Bristol Eastern defended its title, winning with 231 points over runner-up Xavier (196.5) at Bristol Central High School. New Milford finished third (173). The Lancers were fueled by victories from Diego Fernandez at 145 pounds, Justin Marshall at 152, Mikey Barrett at 160 and Trinidad Gonzalez at 195.
“We weren’t expecting to do that last year,” Lishness said. “It took a lot of work. It took some things to fall the right way. I knew coming back this year, this was the year we thought we could do it.
“It was definitely different. Teaching the kids how to wrestle as a successful program – it was a different thing as a coach. It’s easy when you’re the underdog. When you’re not, you’ve got to find ways to motivate and connect with them.”
Lishness wouldn’t say what the infraction was that caused him to have the team leave the CCC tournament, where the Lancers were favored to win, except that it was “bad team behavior,” it involved social media and it was his decision to punish the team.
“The kids have been warned,” he said. “The lesson is: Stay off social media. Yeah, it was [a hard decision]. But sometimes the message needs to be sent.”
Gonzalez and Barrett were defending titles from last year. Marshall, a third seed, beat top-seeded Matthew Rothman of Amity 4-3 in the final after finishing fourth last year. Fernandez, a junior, won his first title, with a 10-6 decision over Nate Sibbett of New Canaan. Fernandez just started wrestling last year.
“He came out of nowhere,” Lishness said. “To see a kid go from JV last year to state champ, that’s pretty special.”
Fernandez said it was disappointing to leave the CCC meet last week.
“The team got in trouble,” he said. “It was a little tough, you know. We’re going to try to move on.”
Carnot Wins At 132
Maloney senior Demetre Carnot won the Class L 132-pound title last year. He started the season up a weight class, at 138. But after he suffered his only loss of the season to a wrestler from Mount Anthony (Vt.) in a tournament, he decided to cut weight.
Carnot won the 132 title again Saturday, with a major decision over Mark Hartmann of Hand, 14-5. He was named most outstanding wrestler.
But the morning didn’t start well.
“I had a little problem making weight, but I did it,” Carnot said. “It’s been tough this season, going back down to 32.
“I learned a lot from [his only loss]. I was up at 138 then. I didn’t really want to cut the weight to get down to 132. I wrestled that kid and it was kind of a wakeup call. It was good that I took that loss; it set me up for this. I probably wouldn’t be here at 138.”
Xavier’s DeVivo Wins At 170
Ryan DeVivo of Xavier, who won the State Open and Class LL 160-pound titles last year, won the Class L 170-pound title Saturday with a pin of Hand’s Adam Hendrick as Xavier moved to Class L. “It was a definitely a change, but not competition-wise,” he said. “It was harder.” The last two times he wrestled Hendrick, Hendrick scored on him, but not Saturday. “The finals was my best,” he said. … Bristol Central senior Chris Trelli lost in the 113 final last year, 1-0. Saturday, he won at 120, 12-4 over Brandon Leonard of New Milford. “[Leonard] beat him two years ago at this tournament,” Bristol Central coach Matt Boissonneault said. “So to win by a major decision … he’s put in a lot of work.”
