Minutemen Youth Wrestling

February 16, 2003 By KEN LIPSHEZ Staff Writer BERLIN -- Plainville was on the doorstep. Going into the championship round of the Northwest Conference wrestling tournament, the Blue Devils held a slim lead over favorite RHAM. Regular-season champion Berlin, which defeated the Devils handily in their dual meet last month, was 15 points back. While RHAM had eight wrestlers in the finals and Plainville six, a season-ending shocker was well within the Devils’ grasp. But the quality depth that vaulted the Sachems among the state’s elite teams for the last two years was too extensive. RHAM placed five wrestlers on the top rung Saturday to claim its first NWC title in its first year of conference competition. The Sachems, four points behind Plainville before the championship finals began, finished with 177 points. Plainville maintained a secure lock on the second spot with 167.5 while Berlin settled for third at 154. Farmington held off Rocky Hill, 129.5-126, in the battle for fourth. Middletown (89) finished sixth and East Catholic (52) brought up the rear. Plainville and Berlin claimed three champions apiece. The Devils were represented by senior Jesse Cavallaro at 112 pounds, 140-pounder Vito Barbagallo and junior Justin Fangiullo at 215. The Berlin champions were the senior trio of B.J. Madey (130), C.J. McCormack (135) and undefeated heavyweight John Russo. Barbagallo (32-3) was voted the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler trophy by the league coaches. Russo (38-0) gained Fastest Fall recognition for recording three pins in 2 minutes, 3 seconds. Rocky Hill had two champions -- defending Class S titlist Tony Nguyen at 119 and Paul Buccheri at 171. Unbeaten 189-pounder Scott Kates was the lone champion for Farmington. The chance for a monumental Plainville upset slipped away as the final round unfolded, but coach Sean Kelly said that his team’s accomplishments bode well for next week’s Class M championships in the Blue Devils’ gym. "We looked at the seeds coming in and we felt it was going to be a tight three-way battle," Kelly said. "Berlin’s lost a couple of kids which hurt them. We felt we had our chances and needed to pick up a couple of key wins which we did. But in tournaments there are always surprises that go both ways and we had them go against us, too." Berlin, which shocked RHAM in a dual meet Feb. 6, expected to compete for the team title but placed only four wrestlers in the championship finals. Eight Redcoats lost in the semifinals, half of whom wrestled back into the consolation finals. Three Redcoats -- Mike Crowe (112), Chris Santerre (125) and Matt Powell (189) -- won third-place bouts. "Our semifinal round was probably the worst set of matches we wrestled all year," Berlin coach Jim Day said. "By the same token, I thought we wrestled pretty well in the consolation round and final round. But in order to do well in a tournament, you have to be pretty consistent through the rounds. That’s something we’ll have to work on in the next week." Farmington champion Kates (31-0) was supplemented by finalist Matt Hancock (125) and eight who qualified for the consolation finals. Hancock lost to undefeated Trevor Brown of RHAM in his final. Karl Dinkler (130), Chris Thomas (135), Marcus Brander (152) and Dean Kapura (171) claimed third-place laurels. "We took a lot of thirds. Hopefully we’ll step it up for the state tournament," Farmington coach Eric Misko said. Barbagallo’s 5-3 win over Rocky Hill’s Loxley Walters was among the best bouts of the day. Walters used his long arms and legs to stave off Barbagallo’s shots. Walters’ counter off a Barbagallo shot gave him a 2-0 lead in the first period. Barbagallo escaped, then engineered a reversal after beginning the second period in the down slot. Walters escaped to tie the match 3-3 early in the third but Barbagallo, 3-0 vs. Walters, executed the decisive takedown with 13 seconds remaining. "Loxley’s a tough kid to wrestle because he’s so long," Kelly said. "It’s so hard to get definitive control on him where the official can give him the (takedown). On top of that, it’s the third time he’s had to wrestle him and it’s tough to beat a kid three times." McCormack’s 6-4 win over RHAM’s Brock Littlefield in the final round was another hard-fought encounter. McCormack (35-3) had a 5-1 lead but Littlefield (34-4) worked a late takedown. Trailing 5-4, Littlefield cut him loose to fall behind by two, but couldn’t notch the equalizer in the 12 remaining seconds. Ken Lipshez can be reached at klipshez@newbritainherald.com or by calling (860) 225-4601 ext. 222.