Killingly — James Linder Jr. walked off the wrestling mat on Saturday afternoon after winning his first state title looking as if he had lost his keys, wallet and the match.

“I was coming out looking to score more points and I just didn’t,” said Linder, a Montville junior. “I started getting gassed at the end. .... It just didn’t work at the end. I was disappointed by the final score.”

Let the record show that Linder, seeded second at 138 pounds, beat top-seeded Joseph Kennedy of Plainville, 7-4, at the CIAC Class M tournament at Killingly High School. He improved to 36-1 on the season.

Old Lyme had two wrestlers finish runner-up at after the program restarted last season — sophomore Hoshena Gemme (103) and senior Stefan Ryer (195).

Gemme also became just the second female in state history to reach the finals of a CIAC boys’ wrestling tournament. Montville’s Jessica Bennett placed second at 103 at the 2009 Class M tournament.

Sophomore Seth Christie of Griswold/Wheeler finished second at 106 at Class M while Waterford sophomore Lucas Gannotti was runner-up at 145.

Killingly won its fifth state team championship with 213.5 points after finishing runner-up at last weekend’s Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament. It was the program’s third state title since 2019.

New Fairfield (202.5 points) was second and ECC tournament champion Windham was third (188).

Linder jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first period against Kennedy, who won the 145-pound title at Class M last season and finished fourth at the State Open. Linder led by as much as 7-0 late in the second period.

Linder explained his dissatisfaction by sharing a story Montville head coach Jake Caskey told him about former University of Iowa standout Terry Brands. He was a 1992 NCAA champion but was bothered by not winning the final by pin.

“He (told a reporter) that he lost sleep that night because. ... he pinned everybody in the bracket but (the) guy (in the finals),” Linder said.

“At first, I was dumbfounded at that. I was like, ‘Why? He was a national champ.’ But it just goes to show that you’ve got to be looking to score at every moment and if you leave points on the table, then you left something out there. You didn’t give it your all. And I don’t believe that I did that today.”

That’s just the mindset Caskey wants from Linder.

“I’m constantly harping on that with James — ‘(You’re) not out there to win. You’re out there to run the score up,’” Caskey said. “So it’s good to see him trying to embody that.”

Linder won his first two matches by pin and his third by major decision to reach the final.

“Some of these mistakes I’m making on the mat aren’t going to slide (at the State Open),” Linder said, “but still, I’m happy to be here because I wasn’t here last year, and I got the opportunity to prove myself and walk away as a champion.”

Gemme received vocal support from the crowd during the 113-pound final but fell behind 7-0 in the first period to Killingly’s Ian Cathell. She gradually cut her deficit down to 7-5 with a minute left in the third period before Cathell escaped and took her down for the final three points.

Gemme had mixed feelings about making history because she’s a wrestler and expects to win.

“It’s really cool to be the second girl to make it (to a final),” Gemme said, “but it honestly it wasn’t that big a deal to me.”

Ryer was pinned in 2:51 by Windham’s Malachi Fowler, a two-time ECC champion. He and Gemme are two of eight wrestlers in the Wildcats program.

“It’s exciting,” Old Lyme head coach Nick Bradley said. “I’m not overcome with emotion I guess because I expected both (Gemme and Ryer) to win first but it’s great with the program being so young, and with Hoshena and her experience coming (back) and with Stefan not wrestling for a couple of years and then getting back into it.”

Ryer spent his first two years of high school in Egypt before moving to Old Lyme for his junior year.

Gannotti lost an 11-2 major decision to top-seeded Thomas Bock of New Fairfield.

“I was out for (almost) a full season (last year) because I’d broken my arm,” Gannotti said. “I came back (and) I got third at Class M (at 132) last year. I’m happy with (taking second), doing good as a sophomore. I still have two more years.”

Christie also suffered a broken arm last season that cost him a chance to wrestle at both the ECC and state tournaments. He lost by technical fall, 15-0, to top seeded Jack Gedney of Lewis Mills.

“It’s cool,” Christie said about coming back this season and taking second. “I’m happy.”

n.griffen@theday.com