Lukas Cylwik earns state title, Trumbull places sixth

Cylwik navigated his way through difficult semifinal and final matches when the junior added the state title to the FCIAC crown he had won the week before.

“Lukas wrestled his match,” said Trumbull assistant coach Ben Anderson, subbing for head coach Charlie Anderson out with COVID. “He met No. 1 seed Nick Augeri in the semis and won 2-1. In the finals it was Warde’s Nehemias Pettway, the No. 2 seed. They had a tough time scoring on each other.”

Tied at 1 after regulation, Pettway escaped in the second 30-second overtime for a 2-1 lead. Cylwik was down for the mandatory third extra session. He earned three points then kept control for the final 15 seconds to win 4-2.

Seeded fourth, Cylwik pinned in 47 seconds and 3:32 in his first two matches.

“At states it is difficult to pin,” said Cylwik, who brought an 18-2 state dual match record into LLs. “I try to get as many points as I can. At the Open, I want to keep the momentum going against some really, good opponents. Aethan Munden is a great training partner. We help each other out. It is great having another champion (FCIAC) in the room.”

Munden, the FCIAC champ at 195 pounds, placed second at states.

Anderson said: “Aethan is a sophomore. It’s his first-year wrestling with us because obviously with no season he couldn’t last year. He had a great day. What he does he does well.”

The No. 2 seed with a 14-0 mark, Munden opened with a win by fall in 23 seconds. Down 6-5 to No. 3 seed Devon Durant from East Hartford in the semifinals, the sophomore reversed and pinned in 4:27. Top seed Brendan Gilchrist from Norwalk won the title by second period fall.

Warren Little (160 pounds) was fourth and Andy Grabinski (138 pounds) fifth. Hayden Provencal (152 pounds) and Corbin Milne (182 pounds) placed sixth.

“Andy took fifth and wrestled well. He had a tough road seed wise. Same with Hayden our 152-pounder. They wrestled to get to the Open,” Anderson said of his senior co-captains.

Grabinski, the No. 4 seed at 138, defeated Jack Cahill from Norwalk, 7-1, in the bout for fifth place. Grabinski pinned in 2:59 in his first match then lost to Jaeckez Mendez, the third-place finisher from East Hartford. Grabinski fell to No. 3 seed Connor Devega from NFA in the consolation semis before finishing fifth.

Provencal, the No. 5 seed, scored a 29-second fall followed by a 2-1 decision over East Hartford’s fourth seeded Connor Lavigne in the 152-pound quarterfinals. Top seed Lucas Coleman, the eventual champion from Warde, sent Provencal to wrestle backs where he lost to Liam Byrne from Danbury and Lavigne to place sixth.

Little’s path to earning a medal included four straight wins in the consolation round from the 12 seed at 160 pounds.

Little lost his first match then wrestled back with 7-0, 8-1, 10-1 victories. Little defeated No. 3 Noah Fraas from Staples in the consolation semifinals before losing to No. 5 Jake Long from Hall to take fourth.

Anderson said: “Warren Little…I had coaches coming up to me that complimented me on our 160-pounder (Warren) for a fantastic tournament. You don’t see a 12 seed make it to consolation finals. The past few weeks Warren found his groove. He is wrestling his match.”

Milne was the No. 7 seed at 182 pounds. He won in 1:38 then lost to No. 2 seed Connor Smith. In wrestle backs, Milne advanced to the consolation semifinals with a pin in 2:56 and a 10-0 major decision. Milne then lost to No. 1 seed Louis Ceci from Greenwich and No. 4 seed Sammy Montovani from East Hartford to finish sixth.

“Corbin Milne is a junior. You don’t often see first-year wrestlers place at LLs. He had a great day from the seven seed,” Anderson said. “We had a great couple of days.

Freshman Reid Peterson (106 pounds), senior Pat Dobbs (170 pounds) and junior Mike Gianetti (heavyweight) split four matches. Freshman Mike Pogany (126 pounds) and junior Sam Lapham (145 pounds) posted victories.

“Our coaching staff was talking and thought if we placed top seven that would be a good day,” Anderson said. “We got sixth. We had guys exceed expectations quite a bit.”

The top six placers in each weight class at all four meets will compete for State Open titles on Friday and Saturday at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven.