Woodland’s Sturdevant completes Berkshire-Valley wrestling trifecta

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BY KYLE BRENNAN
CITIZEN’S NEWS
WINSTED – For the third time in as many tries, Woodland’s Elias Sturdevant is a Berkshire-Valley wrestling champion.
Sturdevant dominated his competition Feb. 12 at The Gilbert School, cruising to the 132-pound title and earning the meet’s most outstanding wrestler award.
“I managed to win the championship through intense conditioning to wrestle effectively through the whole six minutes of the finals match,” Sturdevant said. “It felt exciting to win the championship for the third time, knowing I never gave up a match.”
Sturdevant pinned Northwestern’s Mason Bradshaw in a 46-second semifinal match before dominating Gilbert’s Jonathan Egan to the tune of a 15-4 major decision in the final.
The Woodland senior also won Berkshire-Valley titles as a freshman and a sophomore. Last season was canceled due to the pandemic, but Sturdevant said he still notices a difference between the way he wrestles now and the way he wrestled as an underclassman.
“I’ve changed the way I prepare for matches,” Sturdevant said. “I find myself calmer before a big match starts and have more confidence in the moves I use during the match itself.”
That confidence landed Sturdevant the No. 2 seed in the Class S tournament, which was set for Feb. 18-19 in Killingly.
Two local wrestlers helped Nonnewaug win its first Berkshire League title since 2016. Jacob Marques, a senior from Naugatuck, won the 195-pound division by pinning Terryville’s Vincent Ockenfels in 5:35.
“It was a good fight between the both of us,” Marques said. “We were going back and forth with takedowns and hand fighting. I pulled through, put him in a half (nelson), and pinned him.”
Marques said his title came as a result of preparation following the cancelation of last year’s season.
“I worked hard in practice and prepared for the tournament,” Marques said. “This was a goal of mine to win this. I prepared mentally and physically, and I went out there ready to win.”
Marques drew the No. 9 seed in the Class S tournament.
Nonnewaug freshman R.J. Barksdale, of Beacon Falls, finished second in the 145-pound division. He earned a 36-second pinfall victory over teammate Colin Wilmot. Barksdale earned the No. 13 seed in the Class S tournament.
The State Open is set for Feb. 25-26 at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven.