Killingly — Norwich Free Academy had high hopes heading into this season.

It returned an experienced group from last season’s Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I championship team and felt like it could defend that title.

Then the regular season began and the Wildcats lost to New London and the East Lyme/Norwich Tech co-op to fall behind in the ECC Division I race.

It all ended up alright in the end for NFA. The Wildcats finished second at Saturday’s ECC tournament ahead of both East Lyme/Norwich Tech and New London to lead to a three-way tie for the Division I title.

“I’m perfectly happy with a three-way tie because we needed a Hail Mary to tie it up,” NFA head coach Steve Nelson said with a grin. “Occasionally they connect and this weekend we connected.”

Windham (221.5 points), with three champions and 12 place-winners, won its first ECC tournament title since 2016 and fifth overall.

NFA finished with 188 points followed by four-time defending champion Killingly (184.5), East Lyme/Norwich Tech (176.5) and New London (162.5).

New London went 3-0 in Division I during the regular season, East Lyme/Norwich Tech finished 2-1 and NFA was 1-2.

A team receives a win for every divisional opponent they finish ahead of at the ECC tournament, so NFA finished 3-0 at the tournament, East Lyme/Norwich Tech 2-1 and New London 1-2 to account for the three-way tie.

“We knew if we wanted to continue to hold a share of that ECC (Division I title) that we were going to have to do things the hard way,” Nelson said, “and we did do things the hard way.

“We patched things back together and we had a good weekend. We wrestled very well from the top to the bottom.”

The Wildcats had nine place-winners with two winning championships. Jaiden James successfully defended his 120-pound championship while Tommy Brunelli won the 152-pound title.

Henry Santana-Liriano won the heavyweight championship to pace New London. It had six others place, among them Ruben Rivera who was one of the weekend’s best surprises.

Rivera, who was seeded ninth out of 12 wrestlers at 113 pounds, pinned top-seeded Ian Cathell of Killingly in Friday’s quarterfinals. He won a 13-8 decision over fourth-seeded Brock Nowakowski of NFA in Saturday’s semifinals.

Windham’s Delmazio Despard pinned Rivera in the final.

“The three of our teams were that close,” New London head coach Mike Gorton said about the three-way tie. “I’m really happy with how we finished the second half of this thing. Today got off to a really rough start but we finished very strong, especially with Henry (winning). I’m very, very proud of him.”

East Lyme had 10 wrestlers place with Lincoln Carlson (160) and Brayden Soleau (182) both earning championships.

James Linder Jr. of Montville won the 138-pound championship and was named Most Outstanding Wrestler. He won his semifinal match by technical fall (17-2) and his other two matches by pin, including beating Ledyard’s Ryan Taggart in 1 minute, 40 seconds in the final.

“I didn’t like where I was standing on that podium last year at third (at 126),” Linder said. “I felt like I was better than that and I felt I worked harder than that. And so I pushed myself even more.”

Cameron Sammarco won the 170-pound championship for the Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech co-op, which clinched the Division III title outright.

Griswold/Wheeler had two champions in Seth Christie (106) and Jesse Costley (145) with the former having the wildest final’s win.

Christie was leading top-seeded Tatianna Irizarry of Ledyard 4-2 and had control of her when she escaped with 7 seconds left, followed by him being penalized a point for locked hands to tie the match and force overtime. He won 6-4 via sudden victory.

“It was stressful; I was worried,” Christie said. “I kept trying a low single (leg takedown). I knew she had a tough stance. She’s a good wrestler.”

Killingly and Windham shared the Division II title. The Whippets and received a huge boost from fourth-seeded Aaron Palacios-Mendoza, who stunned top-seed and reigning New England champion Jack Richardson of Killingly in the 160 semifinals. Trailing 13-5 in the third period, he pinned Richardson at 4:28 before losing to Carlson 7-4 in the finals.

n.griffen@theday.com

2023 ECC Wrestling Tournament

At Killingly

Team Results

1. Windham, 221.5; 2. NFA, 188; 3. Killingly, 184.5; 4. East Lyme, 176.5; 5. New London, 162.5; 6. Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech, 136.5; 7. Griswold/Wheeler, 130; 8. Waterford, 87; 9. Ledyard, 76; 10. Montville, 70.5; 11. Fitch, 70; 12. Bacon Academy, 59; 13. Putnam, 42; 14. Stonington, 9.

Individual Results

106 pounds: Final: Seth Christie (G/W) dec. Tatianna Irizarry (Ledyard), 6-4 (SV); Third: Jose Negron-Ortiz (New London) dec. Jacob Olson (Putnam), 8-6 (SV); Fifth: Mason Connetti (Killingly) pinned Jonathan Hernandez (Windham), 2:58.

113: Final: Delmazio Despard (Windham) pinned Ruben Rivera (New London), 3:13; Third: Brock Nowakowski (NFA) pinned Ian Cathell (Killingly), 2:21; Fifth: Josiah Estriplet (Ledyard) pinned Karla Flores (Montville), 0:38.

120: Final: Jaiden James (NFA) dec. Hunter Sanchez (LM/WT), 11-3; Third: Andy Martinez-Soliz (New London) dec. Gabriel Garcia (Windham), 13-2; Fifth: Cody Comeau (G/W) pinned Brody Ruest (Waterford), 2:10.

126: Final: Brady Zadora (Killingly) dec. Edward Lavoie (NFA), 11-2; Third: Chase Plourde (LM/WT) dec. Oscar Mendoza-Soto (Windham), 16-5; Fifth: Jeremiah Irizarry (EL/NT) dec. Christian Hall (Montville), 10-5.

132: Final: Kaden Ware (Killingly) dec. Nehemiah Czelusniak (LM/WT), 14-1; Third: Jackson Sorel (NFA) dec. E.J. Jenkins (Windham), 5-4; Fifth: Luca Ursini (Fitch) dec. Jacques Borja (EL/NT), 7-4.

138: Final: James Linder Jr. (Montville) pinned Ryan Taggart (Ledyard), 1:40; Third: Dugan Marsh (NFA) dec. Anthony Caisse (EL/NT), 8-6; Fifth: Amani Samuel (Killingly) pinned Jeffrey Bentley (G/W), 0:53.

145: Final: Jesse Costley (G/W) pinned Lucas Gannotti (Waterford), 3:53; Third: Luke Chapman (Montville) dec. J.J. Morse (EL/NT), 6-0; Fifth: Gabriel Mahon (Bacon) dec. Lance Stewart (Fitch), 3-0.

152: Final: Thomas Brunelli (NFA) pinned Alex Potapskiy (Killingly), 0:54; Third: Christian Ortiz (New London) pinned Ben Broderick (LM/WT), 4:37; Fifth: Emmanuel Sanchez (Windham) dec. Rylee Kenny (G/W), 10-2.

160: Final: Lincoln Carlson (EL/NT) dec. Aaron Palacios-Mendoza (Windham), 7-4; Third: Jack Richardson (Killingly) won by tech. fall over Carson Brown (Bacon), 17-1; Fifth: Kanye Nance (New London) pinned Denali Doran (NFA), 2:28.

170: Final: Cameron Sammarco (LM/WT) pinned Devon Powers (Waterford), 4:50; Third: Dante Colella (Bacon Academy) dec. Sebastian Rodriguez (Windham), 6-0; Fifth: Kevin Filewich (EL/NT) forfeit over Cooper Light (Stonington).

182: Final: Brayden Soleau (EL/NT) dec. Zaire Wallace (NFA), 8-6; Third: Asael Garcia-Rodriguez (Windham) dec. Zachary Rebello Lebanon (LM/WT), 8-2; Fifth: Zachary Ruest (Waterford) pinned Michael Capalbo (G/W), 2:18.

195: Final: Malachi Fowler (Windham) pinned Lucas Benoit (Putnam), 1:18; Third: Jonathan Harms (EL/NT) pinned Owen Turner (Killingly), 1:33; Fifth: Dylan Beebe (Fitch) dec. Braeden Sollima (Waterford), 4-2 (SV).

220: Final: Yael Garcia-Rodriguez (Windham) dec. Kaiden Smith (New London), 11-4; Third Brenden Vine (NFA) pinned Matt Tebbets (Ledyard), 1:40; Fifth: Devin Exarhoulias (Killingly) forfeit over Jackson Hart (EL/NT).

285: Final: Henry Liriano-Santana (New London) pinned Naszier Matthews (Fitch), 3:22; Third: Jaycee Diaz (Windham) forfeit over Timothy Breault (LM/WT); Fifth: Anthony Oates (Killingly) pinned Jackson Lin (EL/NT), 2:00.

Outstanding Wrestler: James Linder Jr. (Montville)