New Haven — Fitch High School sophomore wrestler Austin Robertson wrestles like an animal, according to head coach Mark Kosman.

Of all the creatures that could be Robertson’s spirit animal, bear, wolverine, pit bull, etc., Kosman used an unusual comparision for his 126-pounder.

“He’s like a cat,” Kosman said. “If he’s in a position where they’re rolling around and in a quirky kind of weird position, that’s where he’s familiar. And he always lands on his feet.”

Robertson, seeded 13th out of 24, clawed his way to one of the biggest upsets on the first day of the CIAC State Open. He hit a reversal in the closing seconds to beat fourth-seeded Anthony Devanny of Ellis Tech, the Class M champion, 8-6 on Friday to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals at the Floyd Little Athletic Center.

Here’s how big a win Robertson had — fifty-one of the 56 class champions moved onto the quarterfinals. Only two quarterfinalists are seeded lower than him.

Robertson took fourth at last weekend’s Class L tournament.

“I was a little nervous (in the closing seconds), but I was pretty confident,” Robertson said. “I was a little bit of the underdog going into that. (Devanny) won Class M a week before. I don’t think too many people thought I was going to win.

“I was pretty confident.”

Robertson was one of three wrestlers Fitch brought to the Open, and all advanced to the quarterfinals. Class L champions Jarod Kosman (106) and Dakota Grover (195) are the other two.

“We had a great day,” Mark Kosman said. “I had two (wrestlers) that I kind of figured were going to the quarters. Austin, I was hoping he’d be there, too.

“It’s been a while that I’ve had a good number (of wrestlers) make it to the second day. This is good. We have kids that can match up with everybody here. It’s exciting.”

Robertson was the wild card amongst the Falcons trio. He is no scrub, as evidenced by the fact that he was runner-up to unbeaten Noah Caskey of Montville at the Eastern Connecticut Conference championships.

Still, Robertson wasn’t a state champion like Devanny. He was 26-7 prior to Friday.

Robertson beat Kevin Zentner of Fairfield Prep 3-2 in his first match. He followed that nail-biter with another against Devanny in the round of 16.

“He’s got length and size and he’s quirky,” Kosman said of Robertson. “He can get in position that other people aren’t familiar with, and that’s where he thrives. He’s tough. He’s adequate on his feet, but he's really tough on top and bottom.

“Nine times out of 10, those scrambles that are kind of all over the place, he comes out on top. When I start seeing it happen in a match, I kind of get a smile on my face. I know they’re playing into his hands.”

Robertson will face Kyle Fields from state leviathan Danbury in the quarterfinals.

Grover was seeded third at 195 and received a bye into the round of 16. He wasted no time pinning Weston’s Michael Otworth in 39 seconds.

“I call (his style) ‘big and little,’” Kosman said. “He does a lot of big guy stuff, but he finishes like a little guy. That’s a tough matchup for a lot of kids. He can come in with the big moves, and then he’ll dink you with the little tiny-kid stuff.”

Grover will wrestle No. 6 Gabriel Schwartz of Northwestern Regional in the quarterfinals.

Unbeaten and top-seeded Jarod Kosman was as close to a sure thing as anyone to make it to the quarters and did so pinning Steven Reyes of Shelton at 2:53. Kosman wrestles No. 8 Jacob Marselli in the quarterfinals.

Danbury, which has a ridiculous eight quarterfinalists, leads the team scoring with 52 points. It has three more quarterfinalists than anyone else and has won 12 of the last 16 Open titles.

Montville had as good a day as any team not named Danbury and is in fourth place (34 points). Emanuel Diaz (182), Sam Kury (145), Joel Morth (132) and Caskey advanced to the quarterfinals.

Class S and ECC champion Ledyard also had four wrestlers get to the quarterfinals and is 14th (21). Collin Crader (170), Jacob Millbach (160), Bo Nguyen (120), and Michael Sullivan (182) are its quarterfinalists.

Nguyen, seeded second, had a scare in his round of 16 match. The Class S champion was taken down early by Bristol Eastern’s Carson Sassu and trailed 5-0.

Nguyen rallied with a pin at 2:27, but was upset with himself.

“He just caught me,” Nguyen said. “I thought I was ready, but I guess I wasn’t awake. If I wrestle like that (Saturday) in the quarters, I’m not going to win.”

The Michel brothers, Renel (heavyweight) and Renelson (220), will represent New London in the quarterfinals.

Renel, seeded 12th and an undersized heavyweight at 219 pounds, beat New Haven’s Jacarie Houston, who weighed 285 pounds during football season. He said that his speed helps him.

“Today was sort of a good example,” Michel said. “He was a strong kid, a really strong kid. (My speed) balanced it out. That’s the biggest kid I faced this year, other than the Middletown kid (Maxwell Cyr).”

Waterford’s Logan Smith, seeded second at 106, is also a quarterfinalist.

n.griffen@theday.com