Minutemen Compete in Youth State and New England Tournaments

This year several Minutemen traveled to Hartford Public to compete in a large State Youth Tournament. Due to the cancellation of the qualifiers the tournament had a larger than usual turnout. 

In the Novice Division the Minutemen crowned one champion as Riley Grieder took first at 60 lbs with a 5-1 win over Ryan Elliott of Newington. In the 80 lb weight Matt Cote won his first match and then faced former teammate Jeremy Eliades dropping a 12-1 decision. Eliades ended up placing third in the weight class. At 85 lbs. Sean Sullivan lost to Jared Desautels of Bristol.  Richie Schlichting in the same weight lost to eventual runner-up Jonathan Rutledge of Danbury 2-0. Schlichting won two more matches but finished out of the medal round.  At 95 lbs. Colin Cunningham lost to Christopher Bryant in the semi-final match and then won two matches to place third. The 105 lbs. weight class had Devon Reilly lose in the Quarter-Final then winning two more matches but finishing one match out of the medal round.

In the Middle School Division, Nicholas Mangiafico won his first match at 98 lbs. but then dropped his next two matches. At 100 lbs. Jordan Zima had a tough first match against eventual champion Chris Eanniello, however won his exhibition match 7-2 to finish his first season with the Minutemen.  Andrew Alessi competed at 144 lbs losing in the Quarter-Finals 5-2 to eventual runner-up Michael Sineiro of Groton.  Alessi then went on to win four matches on his way to a 3^rd place finish.

The top three finishers then advanced to the New England Youth Tournament at Hudson MA High.  Andrew Alessi after finishing third at the States was unable to compete due to illness leaving only two Minutemen to represent the program.  Colin Cunnigham’s first match was against Maine State Champ Cody Hughes. Hughes dominated the match winning 10-0.  Cunningham then faced Rhode Island runner-up Marc Conte and dropped a 2-0 decision ending his tournament hopes of placing. 

Riley Greider waited until early afternoon to get his first match in which he won 5-2 against Colin Cardoso of Rhode Island.  He then faced Massachusetts State Champion Steve Thibeault for the title and worked hard but couldn’t score dropping a 5-0 decision and settling for 2^nd place.

Coach Moss said, “This was a great season considering we had a very young team with many first year wrestlers.  However all the coaches saw great improvement and know the future is bright for the program.”  He added, “Having a record number of participants on this year’s team tells me that we are doing things right.”