Minutemen Youth Wrestling

BERLIN, CT - On April 2nd a group of the Berlin Minutemen traveled to Portland Maine to compete in the Marshwood New England Kid’s Championships. The 27 wrestlers were broken down by grade division and the 3 and 4 grade division were crowned champions with 154.5 points beating out 36 other teams. In the Kindergarten through 2nd grade Midget Division three wrestlers all placed finishing in 11th place out of 34 teams. In the 48 lb division Andrew Zovich pinned his first two opponents in a total of 48 seconds. In the finals Andrew lost 4-0 to take 2nd place. In the 62 lb. Division Sean Sullivan won his first match 9-3 then dropped a 4-1 decision in the semi-finals. He then pinned his next opponent in 27 seconds and won an exciting consolation final 8-6. The final wrestling in this division was Jeremy Eliades in the 64 lb weight class. Jeremy pinned his first two opponents before beating Nicholas Hemm of Colchester 7-6 for 1st place and the Minutemen’s first New England Champion. The 3rd and 4th Graders had the largest group of wrestler’s which help lead them to a team title. The first wrestler was Anthony Zovich in the 54 lb weight class. Anthony lost his first match 9-0 to the eventual champion. Not to have his day end quickly, Anthony pinned his next opponent, then won 9-2 before winning by pin for 3rd place. Wrestling for Berlin from Newington’s Blackhawks was Brian Amato in the 58 lb division. Brian won his first match 6-3 then dropped a tough 4-3 decision in the semi-finals before winning by technical fall and pin for 3rd place. Ricky Mullins wrestled in a tough 66 lb division. Mullins won his first match 15-0 before dropping a 6-0 decision to Colchester’s Matt McAllister the eventual champion. Ricky then won by tech fall before dropping a heartbreaking 10-8 decision to finish in 4th place. In the 67 lb. Division Colin Cunningham wrestled against opponents that were all taller than he. Colin lost his first match 6-2 then won by pin before losing by pin to his Danbury opponent. Berlin had two wrestlers in the 68 lb. Division. Todd Koops wrestled the best tournament of his young career pinning his first two opponents. Sean Pentalow the other Berlin wrestler had a tougher time winning twice by a 3-2 score. In the all Berlin final Pentalow got the best of Koops pinning him late in the third period to become Berlin’s second Champion while Koops settled for second. In the 71 lb. Division Jacob Eliades won his first match 14-1 and pinned his second opponent. Looking to finish off an outstanding season, Jacob lost in the final 2-0 to Shane Jennings of Danbury. At 80 lbs. Was Wojtus Zak who wrestled in his first tournament. Losing his first match 5-3 Wojtus came back to win his next 2-0 before losing his last match by pin, one win away from medalling. At 73 lbs. Anthony Scacca worked hard through the tournament winning his first two before dropping the final to Chris Eanniello of Danbury 8-0. At 83 lbs. Brendan Butler started with a pin before dropping a 6-2 decision. Brendan then won 7-1 and pinned his last opponent in 29 seconds to place 3rd. The final wrestler at 97 lbs. Was Lucas Muntz from Newington. Lucas pinned his first opponent and won 10-2 before losing in the final seconds of the final 3-2 to finish in 2nd. The Novice Division for grades 5th and 6th finished 12 out of 41 teams. First up was Paul Germano and Conor Scalise from Newington. Paul dropped his first match 3-0, won his second 8-0 before losing by pin in his final match. Conor lost his first match to the eventual champion. He then wrestled tough winning 8-4, then by pin and squeaking out the consolation final 13-10 to bring home 3rd. At 68 lb. Was Tanner McKelvey also of Avon. Tanner lost his first match 6-1, won 7-2 before bowing out by a 5-2 score just out of placing. In the 79 lb division was Tyler Cunningham. Tyler pinned his first opponent before dropping a tough 9-2 decision in the semi-finals. Tyler then lost 8-0 in his final match. At 85 lbs. was Sam Vreeland. Sam lost his first match 3-0 then won 7-4 before losing to a tough final match. Ryan Butler wrestled at 87 lbs. winning his first match by pin before losing 6-0 in the semi-finals. Ryan then won 9-5 and by pin in the Consolation Final for 3rd place. Andrew Alessi won his first match 10-0 before losing two matches in the 101 lb class. Mason Powers went undefeated winning two closes matches on his way to being crowned champion in the 105 pound weight class. In the Schoolboy division Berlin had four wrestlers. Two from Berlin and two from Newington. Representing Berlin in the 105 lb division was Kevin Moss. Moss pinned his first opponent and was on his way to the finals when he was defeated with seven seconds to go in his match. He then lost his next match 3-0 to the eventual 3rd place finisher. At 121 lbs Ethan Berube in his first year of wrestling won his first match 5-0 before running into Tucker Schaefer of Danbury the eventual champion. Berube lost his second match 4-0.