By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – The Bristol Central wrestling program is in a familiar place this weekend, battling all the competition at the Class L Championship meet from Guilford High School.

As always, Class L is stacked from top to bottom with championship caliber programs and the Rams hope to make a grand showing from the event.

“[We’re going] to compete and continue to get better,” said Central coach Matt Boissonneault about the meet. “We have a young team but our better guys that we’re looking to move on are seniors. That’s that last opportunity [for them].”

And two of Central’s top warriors will be in action as Landon Dionne (138 points) and Johnny Rios (195) will be looking for big things at their final scholastic Class L Championship event.

The duo went along the same paths over the years, dealing with the pandemic and severe injuries but finally made it to the title tilt, ready for action.

“Both of our captains missed [time due to] COVID and they both had season ending surgery last year,” said Boissonneault of Dionne and Rios. “Landon had surgery on his elbow and Johnny on his shoulder. So for them to have an opportunity to compete in the state tournament is really special for them and it’s special for us to be there and be part of it.”

“They’re great kids who have grown a lot on and off the mat in four years.”

Dionne went a stellar 33-5 this season and moved into championship weekend ranked third at 138 while Rios (26-10) also had an impressive senior campaign and is sixth at 195.

Other grapplers to keep your eyes on include Kaden Dragon (ranked sixth at 113, 22-10 overall), Lincoln Archibald (fifth at 152, 24-10 overall), Julian Colon (seventh at 126, 18-18), Andrew Sarkis (seventh at 285, 12-11) and Engher Disla Almonte (ninth at 106, 12-12).

Here’s the complete listing of all the Bristol Central wrestlers who will be competing at the Class L Championships this weekend:

Weight Name Year Rank Record 

106 Engher Disla Almonte So. 9th 12-12 (.500)

113 Kaden Dragon Fr. 6th 22-10 (.688)

120 Joseph Niek Jr. 8th 12-16 (.429)

126 Julian Colon So. 7th 18-18 (.500)

132 Kyle Romann Fr. 17th 2-12 (.142)

138 Landon Dionne Sr. 3rd 33-5 (.868)

145 Derek Sedlak Jr. 15th 5-11 (.313)

152 Lincoln Archibald So. 5th 24-10 (.706)

160 Eric Cooper Jr. 19th 2-8 (.200)

170 Ayden Pratt Jr. 17th 7-17 (.292)

182 Jayden Colon Jr. 10th 12-15 (.444)

195 Johnny Rios Sr. 6th 26-10 (.722)

220 Esteban Vazquez Rios Fr. 15th 2-4 (.33)

285 Andrew Sarkis Sr. 7th 12-11 (.522)