Shelton High had a pair of place winners in Saturday’s Class LL state championship meet at Trumbull High.
The Gaels, with 51 points, placed 20th. Danbury, with 250 points, won the competition.
Ray Weiner earned fourth place in the 220 pound division. He was edged in a 7-6 decision by Brien McMahon’s Jeff Cocchia in the consolation finals.
At heavyweight, Matt Weiner earned third when his third-place match opponent forfeited.
Ray Weiner was a top seed and Matt Weiner a No. 2 seed. Both lost early-competition bouts, but bounced back.
“What I liked is they both rebounded. Even though they were high seeds they didn’t sulk and they got to compete for third place,” Shelton coach Bill Maloney said of the Weiners, who both earned berths in next weekend’s State Open in New Haven.
Ray Weiner, after a bye and pinfall victory, was bounced into the wrestlebacks where he shined, winning three decisions before the nail-biting loss.
Against Cocchia, Ray Weiner fell behind 5-2 in the second period. A late middle period takedown made it 5-4. It was 6-4 heading to the third. Cocchia built a 7-4 lead and hung on.
Matt Weiner had a bye, pinfall victory and loss before his run to third, highlighted by a pinfall win in 4:56 over Josue Medina of Stamford and a 3-1 decision over Trumbull’s Matthew Ryan.
Garrett Ziperstein was one win away from placing among the top six. Ziperstein, seeded eighth in the 113 weight division, had a bye and won a decision before losing to eventual champion Travis Longo of Trumbull.
After a wrestle back round bye, Ziperstein had a bye, won a decision then lost to end his day.
Maloney was pleased with Ziperstein’s efforts and is excited to see what Ray and Matt Weiner can do in this weekend’s State Open, at Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven.
“The wrestling classes are wide open,” he said. “The kids have all beaten each other. Even though you finished third or fourth today, next week you could be the Open champ.”