Granby Memorial's Paolino wins NCCC Wrestling Title

Two down, one to go.

To explain, before the season started, wrestler Nick Paolino set three goals for the year: win 20 matches, win the North Central Connecticut Conference title at 126 pounds and place (top 6 wrestlers) at the state Class S meet.

Paolino on Sunday dominated the 126 field at the NCCC championships on Sunday at Suffield High to win the title. By winning his title bout over Sonny Chaeleunphon of East Windsor 12-7, Paolino won his 20th match, essentially killing two birds with one stone.

“I’ve been working hard for two years, training every day, and it feels good to have the hard work pay off,” said Paolino, who wrestles in the off-season for FishEye Wrestling.

Paolino’s good, but not great record - 20-10 - speaks more toward Granby Memorial head coach Todd Crisostomo’s desire to toughen his entire squad, which had just 13 wrestlers, for tournament season.

Toward that end, Crisostomo would bump his wrestlers up or down a weight class from time to time for more challenging matches.

“They’re battle-tested and ready come tournament time,” Crisostomo said.

It’s a strategy that paid off, as two other Bears’ wrestlers - Zach Rivera (152) and Jordyn Hurley (182) - both placed second in their respective weight classes.

Rivera accomplished his feat despite a 5-4 conference record, which earned him the No. 6 seed at the meet.

“He had a tougher road than most,” said Crisostomo, noting that Rivera also had to wrestle sometimes at 145 or 160.

Hurley also had a tough road to the finals, as the three wrestlers he faced all placed in the top four. He just missed winning the title, losing to SMSA/University's Kayron Macon 7-5 on a last-second take-down.

The performances of Paolino, Hurley and Rivera helped Granby Memorial to an 9th-place finish at the NCCCs, not bad considering that the Bears featured just six wrestlers at the meet due to injuries and other obligations. Avon High won its seventh NCCC title in eight years, while Suffield was second, East Windsor was third and Canton was fourth.

“[Granby Memorial's] program remains strong,” Crisostomo said. “The guys buy into what we’re teach and this is what we gear up for the entire year.”

Next up is the state Class S meet at Haddam-Killingworth this Friday and Saturday, where Crisostomo said Paolino has a good chance of meeting his third goal of placing at the meet.

“He’s hungry, he’s determined and he’s tough,” Crisostomo said of Paolino. “He wants it and he’s highly motivated.”

East Granby Team of One

freshman Steve Sobota acquitted himself quite well by advancing to the semifinals at 113 before falling to Avon's Tyler Mattioda.

Sobota was one of two kids who wrestled for East Granby High, but did so along with the Suffield High team.

NCCC Tournament (Courtesy of Connecticut Wrestling Online)
At Suffield

Team results – 1. Avon 257½, 2. Suffield 148, 3. East Windsor 120, 4. Canton 108½, 5. SMSA/University 100½, 6. Somers 96, 7. Stafford 69, 8. Enfield 66, 9. Granby 58, 10. East Granby 29½, 11. Windsor Locks 20
Individual results
106 – Final: Jessica McCamish, Avon, pin Christian Andrade, Somers, 3:44; 3. Kiely Quijano, Avon JV dec. Allan Baker, Stafford, 9-6
113 -- Final: Tyler Mattioda, Avon pin Hunter Frasca, Somers, 5:27; 3. Steve Sobota, East Granby tech fall Puck Quijano, Avon JV, 17-2
120 – Final: Alex Heston, Avon, pin Matt Guilmette, Suffield, 2:10; 3. Kevin Kehoe, East Windsor pin Jeff Glassman, East Granby, 2:32
126 – Final: Nicholas Paolino, Granby dec. Sonny Chaeleunphon, East Windsor, 12-7; 3. Kevin Bentz, Suffield pin Johnny Oh, Avon, 0:50
132 – Final: Bryan Fitzpatrick, Canton dec. Peter Suter, Avon, 9-5; 3. Ryan Hunihan, Suffield pin Dennis O’Donnell, East Windsor, 3:51
138 – Final: Jarret Maloney, Enfield pin Patrick Lawler, Canton, 3:18; 3. Jamie Dlugulecki, Avon pin Isaiah Davies, East Windsor, 1:20
145 – Final: Anthony Perrone, Enfield pin Dan D’Ostuni, Suffield, 6:00; 3. Chris Van deBogart, Canton dec. Brennan Neserella, Avon, 6-4
152 – Final: Kiante Macon, SMSA/Univ pin Zachera Rivera, Granby, 3:32; 3. Konnor Claywell, Canton dec. Richard Jarnot, East Windsor, 7-6
160 – Final: Dan Rodrigues, Avon pin Chamri Thomas, Windsor Locks, 5:23; 3. Ethan Pase, Stafford dec. Ryan Mailhot, Somers, 16-5
170 – Final: Joey Murphy, Avon, pin Paul Grimard, Somers, 0:43; 3. Kenneth Prigodich, SMSA/Univ. dec. Paul Kluk, East Windsor, 5-0
182 – Final: Kayron Macon, SMSA/Univ. dec. Jordyn Hurley, Granby, 7-5; 3. Kevin Yang, Stafford dec. Jeremy Goldman, Avon, 3-0
195 – Final: Kyle Fosters, Somers pin Matt Nardi, Suffield, 1:40; 3. Chris Mutch, Canton, pin Jacob West, East Windsor, 2:51
220 – Final: Alberto Borstein, Avon pin Sean Kucia, Suffield, 3:18; 3. Chris Mendez, Somers, pin Abiola Oretade, SMSA/Univ. 4:28
285 – Final: Shane McQuen, Stafford pin Dashua Roldan, SMSA/Univ., 3:44; 3. Nick Ferendez, East Windsor pin Adam Patsun, Somers, 2:04
Outstanding wrestler: Joey Murphy (170), Avon; Fast fall award: Murphy (170), Avon, 3 pins in 2:29
Final team standings. One point for each dual meet win, ½ point for each team defeated at the league tournament – 1. Avon 16, 2. Suffield 13, 3. Somers and East Windsor 10, 4. Canton 9, 5. SMSA/University 7, 6. Stafford 4, 7. Enfield 3, 8. Granby 0