By KEN LIPSHEZ
Staff Writer

PLAINVILLE — The balance of power has shifted, at least for the time being.

High school wrestling supremacy in the greater New Britain region, usually divvied up between Berlin and Southington over the years, has landed in Plainville this season.

The Blue Devils scored a decisive victory over Berlin last week and outpointed Southington at the Greater Hartford Invitational on Saturday.

The march toward prominence continued Wednesday with the team’s three seniors recording pins in their final home match on the road to whipping Maloney, 52-24, in a CCC South battle at Kegel Gym.

“It’s been a real good week,” Plainville coach Doug Fink said. “I don’t know the last time we won an invitational tournament was but that was a great feeling and the kids really enjoyed that. Obviously beating our rival Berlin was a big thing, and tonight, we’re just continuing.

“We’ve got a lot of tough competition ahead of us but it’s been a lot of fun, probably the most fun I’ve had since I’ve been here”

Senior heavyweight Stefano Celli, one of three wrestlers honored before the match, wasted little time in giving Plainville an early cushion. Celli promptly took down Benji Carrion and put him to his back. Carrion never recovered. Celli pinned him in the final second of the first period to raise his season record to 14-5.

“I was a little anxious because matches usually don’t start at 285,” Celli said. “Looking at [Carrion], I’m thinking this might be a hard match, but I went in there, wrestled as hard as I could and pinned him.”

The wins that have been coming the Devils’ way have Celli and his mates contemplating a successful finish to the campaign.

“At the beginning of the year, we weren’t doing so good because East Hartford was our first match and they’re a team we should have beaten easily,” Celli said, about the 45-30 win. “As we practiced and got better, we started coming out on top. It was all the hard work we’ve put in.

“We’re probably one of the better teams in the CCC. We beat Southington and Berlin. The last time we beat Berlin I was a freshman and it was a big thing for us. And beating Southington? They’re supposed to be so much better than us.”

Plainville proved that it has enough quality wrestlers up and down the lineup to make some noise in Class M.

“We can finish respectably,” Fink said. “Obviously there are the top teams, but we can be right behind fighting for anywhere from fifth to seventh. Maybe we can get in there.

“We have a good group of guys. Several will qualify for the State Open and it should be a good end of the year.”

Alex Lawson came within a whisker of pinning Paul Patrowski at 103, settling for a major decision that staked the Devils to a 10-0 advantage. The Spartans got on the board at 112 with Alex Tresselt overpowering Brian Lister for a technical fall, but senior Vinny Russo won by fall at 119 and Josh Foster pinned Nick Boone in 22 seconds. Plainville led 22-5.

Senior Kyle Pelletier used a headlock to wear down Miguel Garcia at 130, sticking him late in the second period. Maloney gained its first fall of the match at 135 with Jon Davenport pinning Doreen Barbagallo.

After Matt Tanner won by forfeit at 140, Maloney’s Nick Ortiz came out the aggressor against Rob Voisine, but Voisine, the 145-pound champion at the Greater Hartford Invitational, turned the tables quickly and pinned his foe at 1:25.

The most competitive bout of  the match came at 152. Plainville’s Dave Oliveira enjoyed an early lead but Ryan Larson used two penalty points to knot the match at 5 in regulation. Larson’s takedown in overtime gave him an 8-6 triumph. Oliveira, however, clinched the match for the Devils (8-3) by staying off his back.

Maloney won bouts by fall at 160 and 171, but Plainville finished with a flourish.

Jake Pietrowicz used Jesse Davis’ aggressiveness against him by hooking a leg and pinning him midway through the first period at 189. Kevin Spence followed suit at 215.

Plainville won nine of the 14 bouts, seven by fall.

Plainville 52, Maloney 24