Clippers’ Giles adds to tournament collection
Sophomore rules 106-pound division of Southington (Conn.) Invitational
SOUTHINGTON, Conn. — It’s been a pretty good month for Cumberland sophomore Brady Gillis.
In his first season as the Clippers’ starting 106-pounder, Gillis entered Saturday’s Southington (Conn.) Invitational with a tournament title in Marshfield, Mass. last month and an appearance in the John Gorman Invitational final at the Wellness Center earlier in the month.
Saturday, Gillis overcame a first-period takedown by top-seeded Ty Finn of Simsbury (Conn.) in the semifinals and then he shut out Trumbull’s (Conn.) Jack Ryan, 2-0, to win the 106-pound title to help the Clippers finish third in the tournament with 151 points
“Gillis looked really good and he beat some very, very tough kids to get there,” Cumberland coach Steve Gordon said. “He’s wrestling great right now. As a team, we wrestled a really good tournament because there was some tough competition here.”
Ponaganset, which defeated the Clippers in a dual meet Thursday night, took home the Southington title with 178 points thanks to five champions and a pair of second-place finishers. Bristol Eastern (Conn.), which won the Gorman Invitational, settled for second place with 175.5 points after four of the Lancers five finalists were beaten.
Cumberland only placed three in the finals, but all three were successful. Along with Gillis, juniors Reuben Hancock (220 pounds) and Jaylen Reynolds (285 pounds) made the trip home from western Connecticut with tournament title.
Hancock and Reynolds both avenged dualmeet defeats to North Providence wrestlers in the title bout. Hancock, a third-place finisher at the Gorman, recorded a first-period takedown of Caden Jolcimat for the only points he would need in a 5-0 victory. The Clipper added an escape and a takedown in the second period to finish the scoring.
“The difference in the match is that kid took his offense away last time and we made some adjustments,” Gordon said. “Reuben handled him no problem.”
Reynolds, a returning state finalist, only had two wrestle two matches to win his title, but he was dominant in both of his victories. After a third-period pin in his semifinal victory, the junior took North Providence’s Jake Martin down in the second period and proceeded to pin the Cougar in 3:41.
“He wrestled a lot more aggressively,” Gordon said of Reynolds. “He had a bad match at North Providence. He’s now getting used to the heavyweight style and he’s wrestling much better.”
Sophomore Dom Passanante entered Saturday’s meet undefeated against New England competition after winning a pair of tournament titles, but the No. 1 seed was downed in the semifinals by Bristol Eastern’s Tom Nichols. Passanante picked up two pins in the consolation bracket to earn third place.
Two other Clippers were looking to reach the finals to try and avenge defeats to Ponaganset wrestlers. While Ponagaset’s Michael Joyce won the 113-pound weight class, Clipper sophomore Colby Reilly lost in the semifinals, 11-1, to Bristol Eastern’s Jordan Champagne.
Junior Kaream Sangare wanted a rematch with 195-pound champion Tyler Riggs, but the junior suffered a 5-3 semifinal defeat. Sangare did avenge his Gorman title match defeat to Bristol Eastern’s Trinidad Gonzalez, 2-1, in the third-place match.
Freshman Aidan Faria placed at his second straight tournament after finishing fourth at 126 pounds.
Faria will be one of a number of Clipper lightweights who will face their toughest test of the season Wednesday night when Coventry comes to town.
Gillis will take on returning state finalist Joziah Fry, who just picked up a tournament title at the Ridgefield (Conn.) Challenge. Faria will face reigning state finalist Mason Clarke, while Coventry’s other returning state finalists – senior Seth Brown (132 pounds) and Sean Caltagairone (138 pounds) are undefeated after winning titles Saturday in Ridgefield.
“We’re very happy with where we are now,” Gordon said. “Our kids are wrestling well and our young kids are getting better.