Wrestlers finish season at State Open

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By Kyle Brennan, Citizen’s News

NEW HAVEN — Woodland sophomore wrestler Elias Sturdevant couldn’t complain about much at the end of another successful season.

While Sturdevant didn’t make a deep run at the State Open on Feb. 28, he still considers his second high school wrestling campaign another positive step.

“I think I improved a lot since last year,” Sturdevant said. “I met all of my goals that I set. One of those was improving my placing at the class meet, which I did, along with winning the Berkshire Valley championship again. I look forward to the next season.”

Sturdevant won the 120-pound class at the Berkshire Valley championships, his second straight title at that tournament. He followed that up with a fifth-place showing in Class S, which was one spot better than he did as a freshman.

As the No. 20 seed in the State Open, he suffered a technical fall defeat to Glastonbury’s Martial Sutton in the opening round before exiting in an 8-1 loss to Griswold’s Tyler Arsenault.

Sturdevant, who finished the season with a 25-8 record, said he was able to take away a key lesson that he plans on using next year as a junior.

“I learned that keeping focus and thinking through the match is what gets wins,” he said.

Cronin falls: Nonnewaug senior Jack Cronin, of Prospect, entered the 182-pound tournament at the State Open as the top-seeded favorite, but a pair of surprise pinfalls dispatched the defending silver medalist from contention.

Cronin, who entered the State Open with a perfect record on the year, held a 7-2 lead over Wethersfield’s Marcus Nieves in the second period of their round-of-16 matchup when Nieves scored a reversal and turned it into a pin.

That sent Cronin into the consolation bracket, where he held an 11-4 lead over Stratford’s James Duhancik when the same scenario struck again, prematurely ending Cronin’s high school career.

Cronin finished the season with a 23-2 record after winning both the Berkshire Valley and Class S titles at 182 pounds.