Suffield Takes 2nd In NCCC Wrestling Tourney

The Wildcats had five finalists and took home seven medals on their way to a second-place finish at the NCCC wrestling tournament held at Sunday.

Suffield’s Matt Guilmette pinned his way into the finals where he faced the number one seed Alex Heston of Avon for the 120-pound class championship. Heston pinned Guilmette at the 2:10 mark to end Guilmette’s chance at a NCCC championship in his sophomore year. 

Captain Dan D’Ostuni pinned his Sport and Medical Science Academy opponent at the 1:48 mark and won a decision his Avon opponent, 4-1, on his way to the 145-pound championship bout against number one seed Anthony Perrone of Enfield.  D’Ostuni wrestled to the very end, getting pinned at the 6:00 minute mark in an attempt to score needed points to win the match. 

Sophomore Paul Grimard earned his second place finish at the 170-pound weight class with a fast, 34-second pin and a 6-3 decision in his semi-final match. Grimard lost to Joey Murphy of Avon in the championship bout.

Sophomore Matt Nardi also pinned his way to the championship bout at the 195-pound weight class where he faced Kyle Foster of Somers. Foster handed Nardi a defeat at the 1:40 mark.

Number one seed Sean Kucia, in the 220-pound weight class, also pinned his way to the championship match.  The Suffield senior came very close to a first period pin to win his first NCCC championship and had a 7-3 lead halfway through the second period when Alberto Borstein of Avon scored a reversal and pinned Kucia at the 3:18 mark.

Captain Kevin Bentz, in the 126-pound class, pinned his first opponent at the 0:58 mark. But after taking an 11-3 lead in his second match he was pinned with 52 seconds remaining to end his NCCC championship chances in his senior year. Bentz scored pins at the 0:11 and 0:50 marks in his next two matches to take home a third place medal.

Senior Captain Ryan Hunihan also lost his second match to number one seed Bryan Fitzpatrick of Avon to end his NCCC championship chances. Hunihan also won out with pins at the 1:59 and 3:51 marks to earn his third place finish. 

Windsor Locks Freshman Charmi Thomas, who has had an outstanding freshman year wrestling with the Wildcats as a one-man team, entered his first NCCC tournament off several large tournament wins this year. Thomas worked his way to the championship match with a pin and a 7-1 decision to face Dan Rodriues of Avon.  Thomas was in control of the championship match into the third period. While attempting to pin Rodriues, Thomas was pinned at the 5:23 mark to earn a second place finish in what certainly will not be Thomas’ last NCCC championship match. 

Steve Sobota of East Granby, who also wrestles with the Wildcats, would improve on his fourth place seed to take third overall. Sobota wrestled a tough 14-8 match in defeat against the number one seed and went on with a pin at the 2:15 mark and a 17-2 major decision to win his first NCCC third-place medal as a freshman. 

Freshman Jeff Glassman of East Granby lost to Suffield’s Guilmette in the semi-finals in the 120-pound class on his way to improving his sixth place seed to earn his first NCCC medal as the fourth-place winner. 

Suffield finished with 148 points, second only to tournament-winner Avon’s tally of 257.5. Avon has won seven of the last eight NCCC tournaments.

The Wildcat, Windsor Locks, and East Granby mat men will head to Haddam/Killingworth this Friday to compete in the Class S State Championship. 

Speaking for the close-knit parents and fans, we are proud of our team in their efforts all year and their NCCC second-place tournament finish yesterday. We have been excited at each victory and together endured the heartbreak on the tough losses. We look forward to cheering them on once more at the Class S tournament and bringing home more medals to Suffield!