Local roundup: Mitchell women reach NECC final with easy win
New London — Top-seeded Mitchell College routed No. 4 Lesley 86-43 in the semifinals of the New England Collegiate Conference women’s basketball tournament on Thursday night.
The Mariners (17-9) will host No. 2 Eastern Nazarene on Saturday at the Doug Yarnall Center as part of an NECC championship doubleheader with the Mitchell men. The women’s final will begin at 1 p.m., followed by a match-up between the top-seeded Mitchell men and No. 3 New England College at 4 p.m.
Both NECC champions will receive automatic bids into the NCAA Divison III tournament.
Sam McKenna scored 21 points to led the Mariners while Dede Stevenson added 16 points, eight steals and five assists, Kyrsten Lucas had 11 points and Amina Wiley had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
H.S. wrestling
• Montville’s James Linder Jr. and Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech’s Cameron Sammarco, the regions to state champions at least week’s CIAC class meets, are the top local seeds for the two-day State Open tournament, which begins on Friday at 3:15 p.m. at the Floyd Little Athletic Center.
Linder, the Class S champion at 138 pounds, is the No. 3 seed in his bracket while Sammarco, won captured the 170-pound title in the Class M meet, is seeded No. 4 in his weight division.
The are among 34 local wrestlers who have qualified for the tournament, which will send the top five finishers in eight weight class after Saturday’s wrestling is completed (finals are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.) to the New England Championships on March 3-4 at the Providence Career and Technical Academy.
One wrestler, Old Lyme’s Hoshena Gemme (113) has opted out of the boy’s tournament to compete in the girls’ Open (she was the Class S runnerup last week) while Ledyard’s Tatianna Irizarry (106) remains in the boy’s field. She is the No. 10 seed after placing third in last week’s Class M tournament.
Men’s swimming
• Four Connecticut College swimmers have qualified for the NCAA Championships from March 15-18 in Greensboro, N.C. Sophomore Justin Finkel will compete in three individual events — the 200-yard freestyle, 500 free and 200 butterfly — and will be joined by seniors Marc Stern, Mitchell Lockwood and Tadeusz Trzewik-Quinn in the 800 freestyle relay.
Finkel, who was named Swimmer of the Year in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, owns the fastest time in the nation in the 200 fly (1:45.31), ranks No. 2 in the 200 free (1:36.49) and fifth in the 500 free (4:25.90). All three are school records.
<strong id="strong-48892e4e5fc0e1732a6d631920082664">CIAC STATE OPEN WRESTLING TOURNAMENT</strong>
Following is a list of the top and local seeds for the 2023 CIAC State Open wrestling tournament at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven (see schedule below):
BOYS
106 pounds: No. 1 Ben Fournier (RHAM); Locals: 8. Seth Christie (Griswold/Wheeler); 10. Tatianna Irizarry (Ledyard).
113: No. 1 Isaiah Adams (Avon); Locals: *8. Hoshena Gemme (Old Lyme); 22. Josiah Estriplet (Ledyard).
120: No. 1 Joe Mahoney (New Fairfield); Locals: 9. Jaiden James (NFA); 12. Hunter Sanchez (Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech); 22. Brody Ruest (Waterford); 24. Andy Martinez-Soliz (New London).
126: No. 1 Dominick Spadaro (Fairfield Warde); Locals: None.
132: No. 1 Kaden Ware (Killingly); Local: 12. Nehemiah Czelusniak (LM/WT).
138: No. 1 Jaeckez Mendez (East Hartford): Locals: No. 3 James Linder Jr. (Montville); 22. Dugan Marsh (NFA); 24. Jeffrey Bentley (G/W).
145: No. 1 Thomas Bock (New Fairfield); Locals: 6. Lucas Gannotti (Waterford); 10. Jesse Costley (G/W); 13. Luke Chapman (Montville); 16. J.J. Morse (East Lyme/Norwich Tech).
152: No. 1 Jack Richardson (Killingly): Locals: 11. Thomas Brunelli (NFA); 22. Connor Tuttle (Bacon Academy).
150: No. 1 Drayvn Roberts (East Hartford): Locals: 6. Lincoln Carlson (EL/NT); 11. Kanye Nance (New London); 23. Carson Brown (Bacon).
170: No. 1 Fisher Stites (Newtown); Locals: 4. Cameron Sammarco (LM/WT); 12. Devon Powers (Waterford); 21. Trevin Robledo-Thompson (New London).
182: No. 1 Joshua Nieroda (Suffield/Windsor Locks): Locals: 8. Brayden Soleau (EL/NT); 15. Zaire Wallace (NFA); 20. Zachary Ruest (Waterford); 23. Michael Capalbo (G/W).
195: No. 1 Brendan Gilchrist (Norwalk): Locals: 8. Stefan Ryer (Old Lyme); 24. Braeden Sollima (Waterford).
220: No. 1 James Duhancik (Stratford): Locals: 6. Naszier Matthews (Fitch); 15. Kaiden Smith (New London).
285: No. 1 Doug Traynor (New Fairfield); Locals: 11. Henry Santana-Liriano (New London); 23. Jonathan MacFeat (G/W).
*Has opted out to compete in State Open girls’ tournament.
GIRLS
100 pounds: No. 1 Daylianette Sanchez Cardina (Platt); Local: Jessica Dudley (Ledyard).
107: No. 1 Samantha Yapp (Stamford); Local: 6. Karla Flores (Montville).
114: No. 1 Calli Gilchrist (McMahon); Local: 2. Hoshena Gemme (Old Lyme).
120: No. 1 Emily DeSouza (Amity).
126: No. 1 Rylee Donohue (Norwalk).
132: No. 1 Esther Ribeiro (Bethel); Locals: 2. Linda Holeman (Ledyard), 5. Makiyah Raine Boozer (New London).
138: No. 1 Camryn Brown (Amity).
145: No. 1 Kelly Aspras (Foran).
153: No. 1 Brianna Seixas (Guilford).
165: No. 1 Kaydence Atkinson (New Britain); Local: Jalinda Pontes (Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech).
185: No. 1 Arianna Bellamy (Maloney).
235: No. 1 Kayli Morris (Platt); Local: 2. Kayla Navarro (Griswold/Wheeler).
Schedule (subject to change)
Friday: First round, 3:15 p.m.; Second round, 4:30 p.m.; consolation first round; championship quarterfinals and consolation second round, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday: Consolation third round, 10 a.m.; championship semifinals and consolation quarterfinals, 11:30 a.m.; consolation semifinals, 1:30 p.m.; consolation finals (3rd and 5th place), 2:30 p.m.; championship finals, 4 p.m
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