Wrestling

Junior Victor Garcia finished in first place in the 113-pound weight class to help the Yellowjackets score 66 points and come in eighth place at the SCC Wrestling Championship, which was held at Fairfield Prep on Feb. 10.

Garcia won three bouts on his way to placing first at the SCC meet. In the 113 division, he won via pin against Branford’s Luke Volpe and then won a 10-6 decision over Xavier’s Vito Santarsiero to reach the championship bout. In the final, Garcia won a 5-3 decision over Steven Reyes of Shelton to take the SCC crown.

East Haven also saw freshman Matt Divito record a second-place finish, while junior Josh Rao finished third, and sophomore Tanner Divito took fourth. In the 106-pound weight class, Matt Divito’s road began with a pin-fall win at 1:15 against Guilford’s Mohammed Halabi, followed by a 13-2 major decision victory against Tegan McCourt of Law. In the final, Matt Divito was defeated by a 16-2 major decision against Xavier’s Michael Rapuano.

In the 182-pound weight class, Rao began by pinning Law’s Ronnie Spangler in 47 seconds, before taking a loss. Rao began the consolation bracket by pinning Foran’s William Ives in 1:36, after which he pinned Alec Dube from Hand at 4:12 to finish third. Tanner Divito beat Notre Dame-West Haven’s Chris Fillion by pin at 5:21 and then lost his next match in the 138-pound division. In the consolation rounds, Tanner Divito beat Fairfield Prep’s Henry Adiletta by a 16-5 major decision, before losing the third-place match by a 19-5 major decision to Foran’s Ethan Edmondson.

East Haven also saw a few other athletes pick up a win at the SCC meet. Additionally earning victories were sophomore Alec Divito in the 126-pound weight class, as well as senior Amadeo Bugatti (132), junior Danny Jarrin (170), senior Justin Fonacier (220), and junior Armando Castaneda (285). Sophomore Jesse Borchert (152), Gunner Horton (195) also competed for the Yellowjackets.

Prior to the SCC Championship, East Haven wrapped up its regular season with a 39-32 victory over Guilford on Feb. 8. Eight Yellowjackets earned victories in the win. Matt Divito, Garcia, senior Connor Gontarz, and Fonacier won by pin, while senior Antonio Lieto, Bugatti, Jarrin, and freshman Danny Clough won via decision.

Boys’ Indoor Track

Jay Donaldson broke his own school record in the 55-meter dash and placed second in the event for the Yellowjackets at the Class M State Championship. Donaldson scored eight points in the event to put East Haven in 14th place at the meet, which was held at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 10.

In the preliminary heat, Donaldson ran the fastest time of 6.65 seconds to qualify for the final heat. In the final, he ran time of 6.60 to break his own school record of 6.62 and finish in second place. East Lyme’s Dylan Hatajik finished at 6.59 to take first by one one-hundredth of a second.

Girls’ Indoor Track

Freshman Kisha Francois scored 10 points for the East Haven girls’ indoor track team at the Class M State Championship to put the team in 16th place last week. Francois scored six points in the long jump and four points in the 55-meter dash for the Yellowjackets.

In the long jump, Francois took third place with a leap of 16 feet-7.5 inches, and she wasn’t far off the leader, Hillhouse’s Kristen Washington, who won at 17 feet-1 inch. In the 55-meter dash, Francois took fourth place in the preliminary heat in 7.62 seconds and then improved her time to 7.54 for fourth place in the final. Francois was right behind Ayesha Nelson of Hillhouse and Bridget Lalonde of RHAM, who shared the title with their times of 7.39.

Mazzucco finished ninth in the high jump with a height of 4 feet-8 inches for the Yellowjackets at states. Samantha Franceschi placed 47th in the 55-meter dash prelims at 8.17.

Girls’ Ice Hockey

The Branford-East Haven-North Branford girls’ ice hockey team has now claimed 10 consecutive victories after putting two more in the win column last week. The Wings have an overall record of 15-3 with two games remaining in the regular season.

On Feb. 9, the Wings posted a 4-0 road victory over Masuk-Barlow-Newtown-Oxford-Bethel at The Rinks at Shelton to improve to 7-2 in SCC South Division play. East Haven student Julianna Constantinople scored two goals in the win, while North Branford’s Emmy Norton and Branford’s Alycia Ferretti added one goal apiece. East Haven’s Isabella Segui played goal and recorded the shutout.

Also last week, the Wings were awarded a 1-0 win via forfeit against Lauralton Hall for a game that was scheduled to play be played on Feb. 10.

Boys’ Ice Hockey

The East Haven-Old Lyme-Old Saybrook boys’ ice hockey squad dropped to 6-6-1 after losing a pair of home games last week.

On Feb. 3, Amity defeated the Yellowjackets 2-1 in overtime. Joe Consiglio scored on an assist from Zach Paquin, while Matt Twarowski recorded 24 saves in the defeat.

The Easties took to the ice again on Feb. 10 and lost 4-2 against Hall-Southington. Alec Speirs and Charlie Carlo each scored a goal, Matt Henderson had an assist on both goals, plus Consiglio and Speirs had one assist apiece. Twarowski made 24 saves between the pipes.

Boys’ Basketball

The Yellowjackets lost to Notre Dame-West Haven and Amity last week to move to 5-13 with two games remaining this season.

On Feb. 6, East Haven took a 64-46 defeat against Notre Dame. Eddy Popolizio scored a game-high 20 points for East Haven in the loss.

The Yellowjackets closed out the week on Feb. 9 with a 57-47 loss to Amity. The Easties took a lead into halftime, but Amity outscored East Haven 37-25 the rest of the way to come away with the win. Popolizio led the Yellowjackets with 23 points on the night.