Simsbury Wrestler Wins State Open Championship

NEW HAVEN, CT — There were some familiar sights and some never-before-seen ones at the State Open wrestling championships Friday and Saturday at the Floyd Little Athletic Center.

Despite having just one individual weight class champion, Danbury took advantage of its vaunted depth and captured the team championship by compiling 193 points, far ahead of runner-up Fairfield Warde's 146. It is the 16th Open championship for the Hatters since Ricky Shook took over as head coach in 1999-2000; next month, Shook will receive the prestigious Gold Key Award from the Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance.

History was made at the event, as the inaugural girls invitational tournament was conducted in conjunction with the boys' Open. More than 70 girls from 43 high schools across the state took part in 10 weight classes.

Here are the top three boys teams and individual weight class champions for boys and girls. An asterisk (*) indicates a girls' weight class that had just two or three participants, resulting in either a single match or a round robin format. Click the headers for complete results.

BOYS STATE OPEN

Teams

1. Danbury, 193
2. Fairfield Warde, 146
3. Xavier, 127

Champions

• 106 - Josh Brault, Joel Barlow
• 113 - Michael Rapuano, Xavier
• 120 - Drew Currier, Hall
• 126 - Kalil Shabazz, Middletown
• 132 - Thomas Finn, Simsbury
• 138 - Ryan Jack, Danbury
• 145 - James Lunt, Xavier
• 152 - Tyler Sung, New Canaan
• 160 - George Tsiranides, Fairfield Prep
• 170 - Thomas Mazur, Westhill
• 182 - William Carr, Southington
• 195 - Carson Licastri, Joel Barlow
• 220 - Chris Gens, Avon
• 285 - Jaylin Houston, New Haven Wrestling

GIRLS INVITATIONAL

• 99 - Ariyanna Orosco, Amity Regional*
• 106 - Samantha Yap, Stamford
• 113 - Savannah Vanase, Norwich Free Academy
• 120 - Destiny Mateo, Norwich Free Academy
• 126 - Linda Holeman, Ledyard
• 132 - Camryn Brown, Amity Regional
• 145 - Ella Nichols, Bristol Eastern
• 160 - Ashley Reed, Southington
• 182 - Jacklyn Smith, Trumbull*
• 235 - Zayuri Castaneda, East Haven*