Wildcats Take Charge at Lawless Invitational

Khamri Thomas of Windsor Locks, who wrestles as a one-man team with the , took first place in the Lawless Invitational held at Nonnawaug high school Saturday, Jan. 7.  The invitational hosted 11 schools.

Thomas received a bye in his first match and pinned Aidan Donovan of New Canaan in his second at the 1:03 mark. His third match would be the most exciting match of the day-long tournament. Thomas, holding the third seed in the tournament, matched up with the second seed, Bailey Ziobro of Mt. Hope.

At the end of regulation the wrestlers were tied at 1-1 and went into the first overtime period. The crowd noise around mat three grew louder as the excitement level increased. As the match continued into the fourth overtime period the entire gym was aware of the intense battle going on between Thomas and Ziobro.

The emotions ran high as each wrestler got close to scoring during the four overtime periods, only to either run out of time or work their way out of bounds. Several very close but correct calls had to be made by the referee, increasing the excitement of the match. This was a match of sheer will and determination with plenty of encouragement bestowed on the wrestlers from their coaches, parents and supporters. It was loud! 

Being the parent of a wrestler, I know how you live and die with every second of a match. Sitting next to Thomas's mother, I would have only needed to watch her reactions to know how the match was going.

Finally, in the fifth overtime period, a very tired and drained Thomas scored an escape with time winding down to end the match. This is the type of match that both athletes are winners, but unfortunately only one continues to the championship round. Kharmi pinned Matt Nicolari of Derby at the 3:35 mark to take first place at the 160-pound weight class. 

Suffield captain Dan D'Ostuni scored a pin on Greg Wagner of New Canaan at the 40-second mark and a 5-0 decision over Will Hellshorn of Nonnewaug en route to his second place finish in the 138-pound weight class. 

Suffield's Matt Guilmette (120 lbs.) and Sean Kucia (220 lbs.) along with East Granby's Steve Sobota (113 lbs.) all shared fourth place in the tournament.

“This was a tough tournament with plenty of good talent throughout all the brackets,” said coach Chris Potter.

Potter continues to prepare his team for the NCCC and state tournaments in February one match at a time.  “We are seeing some improvement but still have a way to go,” he said. 

Suffield heads to Somers on Wednesday for a match between undefeated NCCC rivals.