MILFORD — Shelton High senior Ray Weiner was just seconds removed from having his arm raised as Southern Connecticut Conference champion for the second time in his career on Saturday night at Jonathan Law’s Richetelli Gymnasium in Milford.
He quickly gathered his gear and focused his attention on the adjacent mat, where his brother, freshman Matt Weiner, was embroiled in a blood-stained championship bout at 285 pounds with Jameel Salami of Xavier.
“It’s cool watching him,” Ray Weiner said. “It’s a cool dynamic having a brother on the team,”
Matt Weiner, whose face was heavily bandaged in an effort to stanch a facial injury, was felled by a Salami takedown in overtime that saw the Falcon secure a 3-1 victory, but his effort was emblematic of the Gaels’ performance at the SCC tournament.
“We wrestle tough in tournaments, we never give up,” Shelton head coach Bill Maloney said.
Behind the strength of a 6-0 mark in the finals, Xavier captured its third consecutive SCC title. It was the seventh league title in eight years for the Falcons, with Foran High in 2016 and inclement weather that forced the cancellation of the 2013 tournament the only things that have stopped them since 2011.
The championship was already wrapped up for Xavier heading into the championship round, as four Falcons were victorious in their third-place bouts. Xavier then reeled off six wins in six finals’ matches to cruise to the team title with 199.5 points. Foran was second with 138.5 points, followed by East Haven (101), Guilford (75) and Daniel Hand (73) rounding out the top five. The Gaels finished eighth with 55 points.
Along with first and second-place finishes at 220 and 285 for the Weiner brothers, Garrett Ziperstein took fourth at 113 and Mike Monaco fourth at 152 — after suffering a broken nose.
“He broke his nose in the first match and came and wrestled two more with matches,” Maloney said.
Equally impressive was Ziperstein outdoing his No. 7 seed to wrestle back to the consolation final, where he lost 11-5 to Xavier’s Colin Loria.
Ray Weiner clipped Minsok Lee of Branford, 7-3, in the final at 220. The senior Gael’s adroitness on his feet proved to be the difference, as he was able to control Lee from the neutral position.
“Our whole team, we really work hard,” Ray Weiner said. “We all like having each other around.”
Also picking up team points for Shelton were Colin Mengold at 145.
The Gaels will compete in the Class LL state tournament next weekend at Trumbull High, beginning on Friday afternoon.
Team results
- Xavier 199.5; 2. Foran 138.5; 3. East Haven 101; 4. Guilford 75; 5. Daniel Hand 73; 6. Branford 71; 7. Fairfield Prep 59; 8. Shelton 55; 9. Jonathan Law 46; 10. Notre Dame-West Haven 37; 11. Amity 31; 12. Morgan 29; 12. New Haven 29; 14. West Haven 1; 15. Cheshire 1.
Individual results
106 Final Michael Rapuano (Xavier) pin Drew Koval (Guilford), 1:12; 3. Dominic Milano (East Haven) dec. Colin Boufford (Amity), 9-2.
113 Final Victor Garcia (East Haven) TF Edward Barlage (Guilford), 19-4; 3. Colin Loria (Xavier) dec. Garrett Ziperstein (Shelton), 11-5.
120 Final Mathew DiVito (East Haven) dec. Kyle Davern (Daniel Hand), 8-5; 3. Kyle Pokornowski (Foran) dec. Ronan Moynihan (Xavier), 15-2.
126 Final Tommy Manganiello (Xavier) dec. Henry Bosken (Fairfield Prep), 8-0; 3. Jordan Lang (Foran) dec. Cody Malin (Law), 8-3.
132 Final Louis Bradley (Morgan) dec. Keldon LaRose (Guilford), 7-4; 3. Grant Barber (Xavier) pin Alec DiVito (East Haven), 1:51.
138 Final Quinn Moynihan (Xavier) pin Tanner DiVito (East Haven), 1:50; 3. Tyler Stanko (Foran) dec. Chris Fillion (Notre Dame-West Haven), 3-2.
145 Final James Lunt (Xavier) dec. Vincent Mascola (Guilford), 13-2; 3. Ethan Edmondson (Foran) dec. Aisaiah Rodriguez (Law), 9-6.
152 Final Shayne McCourt (Law) TF Sean Zentner (Fairfield Prep), 19-4; 3. Andrew Robinson dec. (Branford) Mike Monaco (Shelton), 7-4.
160 Final Dean Tsiranides (Fairfield Prep) pin Chino Grant (New Haven), 0:38; 3. Luke Tischio (Xavier) dec. KJ Pokornowski (Foran), 4-3.
170 Final Dylan Sousa (Xavier) pin Umer Khan (Foran), 4:38; 3. Andrew Seaton (Amity) dec. Seamus Moriarty (Daniel Hand), 12-0.
182 Final Justin Osler (Branford) dec. Pat Brogan (Foran), 10-4; 3. Alex Barbour (Notre Dame-West Haven) pin James Rusciecki (Xavier), 1:36.
195 Final Nolan Bannon (Foran) dec. Cody McHenry (Branford), 20-8; 3. Alec Dube (Daniel Hand) pin Jackson Paulishen (Notre Dame-West Haven), 0:29.
220 Final Ray Weiner (Shelton) dec. Minsok Lee (Branford), 7-3; 3. Matt Derken (Daniel Hand) pin Billy Ives (Foran), 1:49.
285 Final Jameel Salami (Xavier) dec. Matt Weiner (Shelton), 3-1 OT; 3. Jaylin Houston (New Haven) pin Pat Rescanski (Foran), 1:38.