Ledyard — Killingly High School coach Rich Bowen has many wins on his resume, recently becoming owner of most career coaching victories in Connecticut, highlighted by his four state titles.

So maybe a little old division title, to which his team crept closer Wednesday night, might not move the needle as much now as it used to.

But then ...

"If it comes against Ledyard, it's important," Bowen said after Wednesday night's 35-34 win at Standish Gymnasium that left Killingly atop Division II of the Eastern Connecticut Conference. The overall divisional winner will be determined during the ECC championships Feb. 15 at Fitch.

Bowen paused for a second, scanning all the wrestling banners on the wall and said, "It's important against Ledyard because of the quality program they have. It looks like they lead the nation in state championships."

Killingly's one-point win came on "criteria," which is wrestling's version of a tiebreaker. "Criteria," in this case was one more pin (3-2), after the score was 34-34 at the end of regulation.

Kaden Ware (103), David Charron (132) and Ben Richardson (152) earned pins for Killingly. Just as importantly, however, Killingly wrestlers avoided being pinned in matches where they lost major decisions.

"We wish this one could have ended a little differently," Ledyard coach Allyn Quibble said. "A pin here, a pin there. That's where all the points you need to decide matches like this come from."

Killingly dominated the match, which began at 106, early and led 25-9 after Richardson's pin at 145. But Ledyard won four straight times, three via major decision and one by pin, to take a 28-25 lead. Killingly's John Creswell won at 195 by forfeit followed by Owen Turner's 4-2 win at 220.

"We know Killingly is a good team," Quibble said. "A few matches just didn't go the way we thought they would. Mostly, everyone did their job. The wins and losses came where we thought they were coming from."

Shea Kenyon (113), Caleb Phillips (126), Caden Foote (152), Mason Barnett (160), Brayden Grim (170), Tyler Smith (182) and Davin McIver (heavyweight) won matches for the Colonels.

Jack Richardson (120) and Isaac Bean (138) also won matches for Killingly.

"It was good for us to battle like this," Bowen said. "We've been battling sickness and didn't have a good weekend (losing twice at the Carl Snitkin Duals). We're not quite back yet, but we were better than Saturday."

m.dimauro@theday.com