The Branford wrestling team has been learning about the ups and downs of a match and a campaign, but more importantly how to bounce back and be resilient. Those lessons have paid off quite well, with some proficient postseason showings.

At the SCC Championships on Feb. 10 at East Haven High School, the Hornets grappled to an eighth-place performance as a group with 66 points. Branford also boasted a conference champion, with senior captain Cole Snider in the 190-pound bracket.

Head Coach Kevin Kapushinski surmised that beyond any wins and losses for his squad that finished an even 18-18 in the regular season, he wanted his Hornets to grasp the essential tenets of what makes competitors well-rounded, and mentally durable, men and women.

“The main goal that we have each season is for each individual on the team to learn how to be successful,” said Kapushinski, who is assisted by Zach Cash and Justin Osler this winter. “To know that nothing is given to you and you have to be the hardest working person to have a chance at reaching your goals. To also learn from failure and use that to refocus your goals. Most of the upperclassmen have reached these goals, and are helping some of the underclassmen learn how to reach these goals. Most of the team started slow, but as a whole, we have stepped up by improving our technique and our strategies.”

Snider took the crown for his weight class by pinning Lyman Hall’s Gavin Jankowski two minutes and 16 seconds into the title bout. Earlier, he defeated John Morris of Fairfield Prep (at 54 seconds) and Paul Cristalli (at 1:08) by pinfall to reach the finals after a first-round bye.

“Cole has been the prime example of hard work in the practice room,” said Kapushinski. “He is the first one to talk to the team to get them ready.”

In the 138-pound bracket, freshman Moises Morales-Orozco took an opening round loss to Amity’s Andrew Jackson, by pinfall at 92 seconds. He bounced back in the consolation bracket via pinfall at 2:27 over Ela Celik of East Haven, before bowing out by pin in 49 seconds versus Antonios Aspras of Foran.

Senior Ryan Laska (144 pounds) lost to Alphonse Milano, hailing from East Haven, in the first round by a 12-6 decision. After a forfeit win to open the consolation round, he lost by a 9-1 margin to Amity’s Charles Grzywacz.

Junior Dylan Warner represented Branford in the 150-pound competition. He first bested Chayton Katterman of Morgan (pin at 0:46) and East Haven’s Alex Dombrowski with a quick pinfall at 15 seconds, before defeating Antonio Jennings with a pin in a lengthy two minute and 53-second clash to reach the finals. In the championship matchup, he lost by a 10-2 decision against John Lagana from Xavier.

At 157 pounds, senior captain Dominic Zdunek defeated Dylan Gasner from Xavier by pin at 1:50, before being pinned in 1:43 by Branimir Lah from Amity. He then made a surge to the finals of the consolation bracket, with wins over Cheshire’s Michael Shweky (6-4 decision), Sam Martocci of Guilford (pin at 28 seconds), and Hand’s Andrew King (11-5 decision). He then took a loss (pin at 3:17) to Lah in a rematch to finish fourth.

“Dominick has been one of the better examples of showing how to be fearless and how to tough through any situation,” said Kapushinski on Zdunek, who shares captain duties with Snider, senior Max Parsell, and Warner. “Max has been the main hype person on the team during each match, and makes sure that all of the little things behind the scenes are done. Dylan has been one of the people pushing others during practice to help them be successful on the mat.”

Sophomore Domenic Maturo (165 pounds) won by a 9-5 decision against Johnny Alexander of Morgan, which was followed by a pinfall defeat against Cooper MacNevin of Amity. He also fell in his opening consolation fight to Michael Moran of North Haven (8-3 decision).

Sophomore Trent Tracy lost his opening 175-pound match by a 16-9 margin to Froan’s Shane Trevethan, prior to a consolation defeat to Guilford’s Jean-Paul Meguerditchian (pin at 4:28).

Lastly at 285 pounds, senior Ryan Jones started off with a 75-second pinfall triumph over Isaiah Fuentes of Cheshire, and then dropped a 15-5 match to Logan Murphy of Guilford. He then prevailed over Amity’s Michael Mordecai (pin at 2:20) in consolation proceedings, prior to a pinfall loss versus Shelton’s Joseph Vargas.

Xavier took the team title with 218.5 points, while Foran was runner-up with a tally of 150.5. Also, Guilford was third (140), ND-WH came in fourth (128.5 points), Amity finished fifth (76), Fairfield Prep was sixth (75 points), Shelton saw seventh (72 points), host East Haven placed ninth (51.5), Hand was 10th (47), Cheshire came in 11th (46.5), North Haven was 12th (39 points), Morgan placed 13th (32), Law had 27 points to come in 14th, Lyman Hall was 15th (20), Sheehan was 16th (18 points), and New Haven finished 17th (13 tallies).

At the Class M State Championship at Guilford High School on Feb. 16-17, the Hornets fought to lock down a 10th place showing, with 102.5 points. Snider repeated his conference performance, by capturing the 190-pound crown. He defeated Joshua Rivera of East Haven with a 30-second pin, before pinning Bristol Eastern’s Aldyn Davies at 3:24. In the semis, he won over Tim Mrachek of Berlin (pin at 1:03), and then he took the state title with a 7-5 decision against Gavin Fallon of Avon.

Warner placed third for the 150-pound competition. He started by beating Gianluca Morello from Bristol Eastern (pin at 1:50), and next prevailed by an 8-1 final over Nathan Duarte from Rockville. He lost to Antonio Jennings of Foran (via 10-5 decision), yet he rebounded by besting both Amilio Venditti of Law (17-1 decision) and North Haven’s Jace Iamunno (12-6) to finish third.

At 285 pounds, Jones was a fifth-place grappler. He pinned Brenden Vine of Fitch in 64 seconds, though lost to Anthony Shivas from Derby-Oxford-Holy Cross via pin. He then won over Nuon Sovannara from Bristol Eastern (pin at 1:42), and Notre Dame-West Haven’s Chris Matos (pin at 4:29). He then lost to Guilford’s Murphy (8-1 decision) prior to finally taking fifth via forfeit.

Also competing at states were senior Alec Dendas at 126 pounds, sophomore Ava Gambardella (106 pounds), Maturo, Zdundek, Parsell (215 pounds), freshman Michael Barretta (113 pounds), Morales-Orozco, Laska, and Tracy.

The Hornets’ 2023-2024 roster is comprised of seniors Dendas, Jones, Laska, Snider, Zdunek; juniors Anthony Cruz, Warner; sophomores Ryan Bastian, David Buckley, Joseph Calandro, Giovanni Casanova, Jordan Contreras, Caden Dombrowski, Ava Gamberdella, Maturo, Samarvir Pamma, Juan Salter, Tracy, Keagan Walsh; plus Barretta, Michael Bouton, Frank Contreras, Logan Ghidini, Teague Hearn, Justin Lage, Kengi Lancaster, Jeremiah Larracuente, Christopher Lawrence, Sungjin Lee, Cooper Misener, Morales-Orozco, Liam Papenthien, and Ammaar Yasir.