By Michael Letendre

Central finishes 7th as a team, Eastern 10th

BRISTOL – The Bristol Central Invitational saw several local grapplers hit the mats in the Mum City’s biggest annual tournament.

The squads from Bristol placed well up and down the line-up as the Rams placed seventh overall (97 points) while Bristol Eastern earned tenth (71 points).

The top three finishers at the event weren’t separated by many points as New Milford won the invite behind a 197-point showing.

Runner-up East Hartford (195) fell by just two points while Avon (182) came in third and wasn’t far behind the event leaders.

Two wrestlers from Bristol were in the title mix as Central’s Landon Dionne battled into the finals at 138 pounds while Eastern football stud Adam Zavecz (182) was a finalist as well.

Zavecz was able to tally the title in his class as he was a 10-3 decision winner over Avon’s Gavin Fallon.

Ranked second at the event, Zavecz earned a bye in the opening round.

He then roped up a quick pinfall win in just 25 seconds in the quarterfinals and won via a 5-0 decision over Johan Labbadia of Guilford in semifinal round competition before posting the victory over the grappler from Avon.

Dionne, ranked fifth overall in the 138 class, picked up a pinfall win in the round of 16 and then defeated No. 4 Ryan Taggart (Ledyard) via 9-1 decision in the quarters.

In the semifinals, Dionne ‘upset’ top ranked Joe Kennedy from Plainville as the grappler earned a 5-0 decision to make earn a trip to the finals.

Dionne battled to the end against East Hartford’s Jaeckez Mendez but fell via a 3-0 decision – holding his own on the mats.

In third place bouts, the Rams had two grapplers looking to place.

At 152 pounds, Lincoln Archibald was a forfeit victor over New Milford’s Brennan Botelho for his win to snare the third place trophy.

And then at 113, Alex Oberc from New Milford ended up pinning Central’s Kaden Dragon in 4:18.
Both schools had wrestlers in fifth place showdowns which included a crosstown battle between Central and Eastern.

In the always competitive 195 match, Central’s Johnny Rios and Eastern’s Owen Broyles battled into the second period.

And Rios earned the pinfall victory in 2:10 to seize fifth place.

Two of Eastern’s grapplers took home sixth place finishes along with Broyles.

Andrew Brown (106) dropped a 17-8 major decision to Avon’s Owen White while Luke Viens (120) fell to Steve Purcell of Pomperaug over a 5-1 decision.
And finally at 126, Avon’sTristan Gauvin earned a 10-0 major decision victory over Central’s Julian Colon.

Both teams performed well and are looking forward to action this coming week.
For Central (7-1 overall), the wrestling program travels to Middletown on Wednesday night (6 p.m.) in an always tough bout against the Blue Dragons.

Then on Saturday, the squad from Central is involved in the Greater Hartford Open event (9 a.m.).

On the flip side, the Kingstreeters are home for a meet against Maloney in a CCC South confrontation.

Meet time is 6 p.m. from the Thomas M. Monahan Gymnasium in Bristol.

Bristol Central Invitational

from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium, Bristol
Team results – 1. New Milford 197, 2. East Hartford 195, 3. Avon 182, 4. Hall 157½, 5. New Fairfield 157½, 6. Berlin 147, 7. Bristol Central 97, 8. Enfield 94, 9. Guilford 88, 10. Bristol Eastern 71, 11. Plainville 67, 12. Ledyard 59, 13. Wethersfield 52, 14. Middletown 48, 15. Pomperaug 35, 16. Farmington 24, 17. Watertown 2
Bristol Results – Championship finals138 pounds: Jaeckez Mendez (East Hartford) dec. Landon Dionne (Bristol Central), 3-0
182 pounds: Adam Zavecz (Bristol Eastern) dec. Gavin Fallon (Avon), 10-3
Third place Matches113 pounds: Alex Oberc (New Milford) pin Kaden Dragon (Bristol Central), 4:18
152 pounds: Lincoln Archibald (Bristol Central) forfeit Brennan Botelho (New Milford)
Fifth Place Matches106 pounds: Owen White (Avon) major dec. Andrew Brown (Bristol Eastern), 17-8
120 pounds: Steve Purcell (Pomperaug) dec. Luke Viens (Bristol Eastern), 5-1
126 pounds: Tristan Gauvin (Avon) major dec. Julian Colon (Bristol Central), 10-0
195 pounds: Johnny Rios (Bristol Central) pin Owen Broyles (Bristol Eastern), 2:10