BHS Wrestling Tops .500, Hockey Falls To Thunderbirds

With Wednesday night’s 49-25 Southern Connecticut Conference victory over Foran, the Branford wrestling team has a winning record (13-12) for the first time in the six years Chris Bonaguiso has been the head coach. He estimated that it has been at least a dozen years since the Hornet grapplers have been over the .500 mark.

“Coming into tonight/s match, that was our goal. We are pumped,” he said.

Both Bonagiuso and his Lion counterpart Frank Peters felt that the first two matches of the night—171 and 189 pounds, were key to the final outcome. James Lyons pinned Foran Zach Heubler in one minute 44 seconds of their contest at 171 and the Hornets’ Jorge Merallis came back from an early 7-1 deficit to pin John  Lips at 4:40 to give Branford a quick 12-0 lead.

According to Peters, “Those two matches and the heavyweight match could have gone either way. Unfortunately, all the swimming matches went to Branford.”

Bonagiuso added, “Our lower weights have been carrying us all season. Tonight, the upper weights came though and gave us a huge lift. They showed a lot of heart. This is their best efforts of the season.”

Cheyenne Carden  pinned Calvin Vega in 1:08. Carden is now 18-10.

Bonagiuso reported that Carden, who wrestled with a broken nose, is a 2-time female All-American and a US Girls Wrestling Association national champ. He also revealed that she will attending Kings’ University (Tennessee) next year on a full wrestling scholarship.

“All of our losses have been tough this year,” Branford head coach Adolph Brink said. “North Branford played well. They deserved to win.”

Branford Hockey Falls To North Branford

T-Birds netminder Kyle Saroka made 33 saves and made some absolutely vital saves in what turned out to be a much tighter game than the crowd expected after the first period.

The game was extremely physical, and the hard hits increased dramatically as the game went on; especially during the final minutes.

“Branford [vs.] North Branford is a tough rivalry, and nobody wants to lose,” North Branford's coach Shaw said. “They were hanging it out on the line there and throwing everything at us. I thought my guys responded well to the pressure.”

The Hornets composed themselves and caught a big break when Austin Hackett was taken down on the breakaway, forcing the referee to call a penalty shot with 32 seconds remaining in the second period. Hackett would take advantage of the T-Bird's defensive gaffe when he buried the shot into the back of the North Branford net.

Brink was pleased with the referee's decision and Hackett's composure.

“I thought it was the right call. I told [Hackett] to put the puck in the net with your best move,” he said. “He made a nice move and put the puck in.”

The momentum was completely in favor of the Hornets, when they got within a goal with 13:11 left in the third period. On a power play, Hackett scored his second of the game, getting the puck through Saroka's five hole. Despite Saroka's efforts to close on it, the puck trickled into the net.

“We have had trouble scoring all year. We carried play [today],” Brink said. “I'd like to say we have a better team, but we didn't capitalize on the opportunities, and that's what makes you win games.”

Robert Celentano got on the score sheet for the Hornets when he received Alex Mansi's rebound and scored on a saucer shot at point blank range with 7:14 left in the second period. Mansi and Joe Parker were credited with assists on the goal.

Branford drops to 3-10 with the 4-3 loss to North Branford.