Shelton's Gillen Has Short Work Day At Class LL Wrestling State Championship

Shelton's Pat Gillen had a short work day Friday during the CIAC Class LL wrestling state championships at Trumbull High School.

Gillen, the top seed in the 215-pound weight class, needed a mere 40 seconds to pin McMahon's Tyler Holder in his only match of the day.

Gillen, who improved to 38-0 this season and won his 190th career match, had a bye in the first round. He will be  back in action early Saturday in the quarterfinals against Joseph McGuire of Greenwich.

Now 10 wins shy of equaling the state record for career wins, Gillen cruised to the state title last year. He pinned his first two opponents in under minute, then won decisions by scores of 12-0 and 17-2 over Trumbull's Bryan Barnash in the final.

Gillen could be headed to a championship rematch against Barnash, the No. 2 seed this year who was pushed a bit more than Gillen on Friday, but still needed less than three minutes to pin Justin Carlson of Manchester.

Gillen was one of four Shelton wrestlers to reach the quarterfinals.

In the 103-pound weight class, Shelton's Mark Failla advanced to the round of eight with a 15-0 decision over Dylan Haviland of Trumbull.

In the quarterfinals, Failla takes on Danbury's Kevin Jack, who is part of a Hatters' team that is seeking its 15th consecutive team state championship.

Other Gaels to reach the quarters were Sean Kellett, who decisioned Trumbull's Joe Aloi 16-1 in the 119-pound division, and Edward Hunt, who pinned Westhill's Kevin Dozier in 2:59 in the 140-pound division.

Three Shelton grapplers lost in the second round after winning first-round matches: John Mahony, 130 pounds; Liam Cummings, 152 pounds; and Neil Jayakar, 170 pounds.

Losing in the first round were: Connor McGinnis, 112 pounds; Chester Cherneskey, 125 pounds; Joseph Wardell, 135 pounds; Michael Sampson, 145 pounds; Brian Antunes, 160 pounds; Neil Jayakar, 171 pounds; Mackenzie Thompson, 189 pounds;  and James Mancini, 285 pounds.

Shelton wresters were a combined 6-11 on Friday.

The results:

103 pounds - Mark Failla starts things off for the Gaels, defeating Dylan Haviland of Trumbull 15-0 in the second round.

112 pounds - Alex Kasinskas of Xavier defeated Connor McGinnis with a pin at 3:14 in the first round.

119 pounds - Sean Kellet defeated Joe Aloi of Trumbull 15-1 in the second round.

125 pounds - John DePasquale of Simsbury defeated Michael Chernesky, 6-0 in the first round.

130 pounds -- Jacob Jones of Glastonbury pinned  John Mahony at 0:48 in the second round.

135 pounds - Stamford’s Dan Kowaleski defeated Joseph Wardell, 1-0, in the first round.

140 pounds - Ed Hunt defeated Kevin Dozier of Westhill with a pin at 2:59 in the second round.

145 pounds - Dan Little of Hall defeated Michael Sampson with a pin at 5:12 of the first round

152 pounds - Luis Santana of Harding pinned Liam Cummings at 1:07 in the second round.

160 pounds - Stephen Penney of Trumbull defeated  Brian Antunes, 11-2, in the first round.

171 pounds - No. 1 seed Travis Tiger of Ridgefield pinned Neil Jayakar at 1:59 in the second round.

189 pounds - Roberto Delacruz of Westhill defeated Mackenzie Thompson 15-0 in the first round.

215 pounds - Pat Gillen defeated  Tyler Holder of McMahon with a pin at 0:40 in the second round.

289 pounds - Tobi Lichtenstein of Hall defeated James Mancini with a pin at 4:00 of the second round.