Printer Friendly Version - Nighthawks Compete in Their First Ever Class M State Wrestling Tournament

North Haven’s Elijah Ellis pulled off an upset as the 20 seed in the 170-pound bout at the Class M State Wrestling Championships, taking down the #6 seed of Bethel by a 7-5 decision. Photo courtesy of Peter Tseperkas

The North Haven High School wrestling team made its first ever appearance at the Class M State Wrestling Championships on Feb. 17 and 18 at Jonathan Law High School. Over 30 high schools were represented, and the Nighthawks had a great showing for their inaugural trip.

The Nighthawks finished in 26th place out of 31 teams and were represented by the following 14 wrestlers: Justin Katz at 106 pounds, Mason Mansur at 113 pounds, Auriana Camano at 120 pounds, Hayden Minns at 126 pounds, Rob Richitelli at 132 pounds, Emilio Crocco at 138 pounds, Jace Iamunno at 145 pounds, AJ Tomaszewski at 152 pounds, Mike Bolduc at 160 pounds, Elijah Ellis at 170 pounds, Tyler DiMauro at 182 pounds, Christian DeMaio at 195 pounds, Owen Lin at 220 pounds, and Joe Carbone at 285 pounds.

The state tournament features the best wrestlers from around Connecticut, and the Nighthawks performed well even with their limited experience as a first-year program.

Sophomore Emilio Crocco earned one of the first victories for North Haven at the state tournament, with a pin over Morello of Bristol Eastern at 138 pounds. Senior captain AJ Tomaszewski gutted out an 8-3 decision over Tracy of Branford in the first round.

Also advancing past the first round were freshman Christian DeMaio and sophomores Jace Iamunno, Tyler DiMauro, and Elijah Ellis.

Iamunno, DiMauro, and Ellis advanced to day two of the state tournament, with big wins in the Friday night session. Iamunno earned his second victory at states with a pin over Kasinski of Weston.

Tyler DiMauro also recorded his second pin of the day over Girendola of Law to advance to day two, and in one of the bigger upsets of the day, North Haven’s Elijah Ellis, the 20th seed at 170 pounds, won a close battle over the #6 seed from Bethel by a decision of 7-5.

All three North Haven grapplers would eventually lose close matches on day two, but the team and coach were extremely proud of their efforts and heart throughout the tournament.

The final competition for North Haven will be the Girls’ State Championships on Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25. North Haven will be represented by two female wrestlers: freshman Auriana Camano and sophomore Autumn Clark.