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02/19/2022 11:00 PMWhen Nick Adler and Ken Markwat took over the Haddam-Killingworth wrestling program 11 years ago, the duo had a vision that the Cougars would one day become state champions. This season, that goal came to fruition when H-K claimed its first state title in program history with a first-place performance at the Class S State Championship last weekend.
H-K finished with an overall team score of 267.5 points on its way to taking first place at the Class S State Championship held at Killingly High School on Feb. 18-19. The Cougars, who had four wrestlers win their respective weight classes, topped runner-up Killingly (184.5) on their way to grabbing state gold.
“I feel like the team did incredible. We had seven wrestlers in the finals, which is half of our lineup,” Coach Adler said. “Eleven of our wrestlers qualified for the State Open. We broke a lot of personal records this weekend. It’s a victory to everyone on the team, whether they competed this weekend or not.”
From 2006 to 2010, H-K’s best finish at states was 12th place. Since Adler and Markwat took over the program in 2011, the Cougars haven’t placed worse than seventh in any of the state meets.
The last time the Class S State Championship was held prior to this year, H-K came in second place behind Killingly in 2020. This time, though, the Cougars reached the top of the mountain.
“It’s just a great feeling. We’ve been building this program for so long,” said Adler. “Myself and Coach Ken have been lucky to have been coaching this team in some role over the past 11 years. We’ve just seen as the program grows, we get closer and closer every year. So, it really is just an amazing feeling to see the results of all the hard work.”
H-K, which went 16-5 for the regular season, saw four of its wrestlers crowned as individual state champions at the Class S meet.
In the 113-pound division, senior captain Ethan Wright entered the bracket as the No. 1 seed and left as a champion. Wright had a first-round bye and then won all four of his matches by pinfall to secure the 113-pound title, pinning Reese Titus of Canton at the 1:13 mark in the final.
Senior captain Ben Williams had a great day for the Cougars in the 152-pound weight class. Williams had a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed and then pinned all four of its opponents to win the title, finishing off his run by pinning Carson Brown of Bacon Academy at the 2:50 mark in the championship bout.
“I would like to thank my family, my coaches, and my teammates for pushing me to the be the best person and the best wrestler I can be,” Williams said. “I have been wrestling since 5th grade, and I always dreamed of winning a state championship with H-K. To have this become a reality is an absolute blessing.”
In the 160-pound division, senior captain Nick Glynn was the No. 1 seed in his bracket and had a first-round bye. Glynn went on to earn two pinfall wins and a decision victory to take home the 160-pound crown, pinning Ryker Bahre of Canton in 1:57 in the final.
Senior captain Sam Young was the No. 1 seed in the 195-pound division. Young notched three wins by pinfall to capture the crown, defeating Soren Rief of Killingly on a pin at the 3:31 mark of the title match.
“We were looking for a push at the Class S title and, after we saw the seeding, we felt like a lot of our guys would be in a position to win their brackets,” said Coach Adler. “Our senior captains were so consistent for us all season, and they showed out the most for us at the State Tournament.”
On top of H-K’s four individual title winners, the Cougars had three individuals finish as runners-up in their respective weight classes. At 145 pounds, junior Calvin Napoletano was the No. 2 seed in his bracket and earned victories in his first three bouts prior to taking a pinfall loss at the 1:06 mark against Killingly’s Jack Richardson in the final.
Junior Jacob Martone took second place in the 170-pound weight class for H-K. Martone won his first three bouts before losing an 11-0 decision to Jack Wendel of Nonnewaug in the final.
Senior captain Ryan Duncanson was the runner-up in the 182-pound division. Duncanson won two bouts to advance to the final, where he lost to Anthony Deicicchi of Seymour on a pin at the 1:53 mark.
H-K’s other competitors included sophomore Brian Nguyen at 106 pounds, freshman Gunnar Howes at 120 pounds, freshman Colton Merola at 126 pounds, sophomore Louis Virgulto at 132 pounds, senior Greyson Merola at 138 pounds, junior Neal Scheppach at 220 pounds, and junior Nick Frasco at 285 pounds.
After losing his first match, Nguyen won three out of his five matches in the consolation bracket to finish in sixth place, ultimately losing a 12-0 majority decision against Hoshena Gemme in the fifth-place bout.
Howes finished in fourth place after winning three out of his five matches, all of which came by pinfall. In his last match, Howes lost a 6-0 decision to Colin McCormack in the consolation final.
Colton Merola and Louis Virgulto both earned one victory at the meet. After losing his opening match, Greyson Merola won four out of his next five bouts to take fourth place, ultimately losing a 7-0 decision versus Spencer Rosado of Portland in the consolation final.
Scheppach won two bouts by pinfall at the championship. Frasco won four matches to finish in fifth place, pinning Denali Collins of Bacon Academy in 55 seconds in the fifth-place bout.
On the heels winning its first state title, the H-K wrestling team will send 11 wrestlers to compete at the State Open Championship this weekend. The State Open takes place at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Friday, Feb. 25 and Saturday, Feb. 26 with action beginning at 3 p.m. and 9 a.m., respectively, on those days.
“We’re having a really good year. We finished our regular season at 16-5 overall, and we’ve been pretty successful at every tournament we’ve competed in,” Adler said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do at State Opens.”
The athletes on the H-K wrestling team are senior captains Ryan Duncanson, Nick Glynn, Ben Williams, Ethan Wright, and Sam Young; seniors Daniel Haas and Greyson Merola; juniors Nick Frasco, Jacob Martone, Cavin Napoletano, and Neal Scheppach; sophomores Nick Boynton, Vyvyan Laurenza, Brian Nguyen, Cooper Pitts, Wyatt Solosky, Owen Staskelunas, and Louis Virgulto; and freshmen Liem Criscuolo, Jamie House, Gunnar Howes, William Lirot, Colton Merola, Amelia Peterson, and Mathias Schweitzer.