Brunswick wrestlers stun WNEISWA, finish 2nd

Written by Paul Silverfarb
Thursday, 16 February 2012 02:45

With a young and inexperienced team taking to the mat during last weekend’s WNEISWA tournament, Brunswick wrestling head coach Tim Ostrye wasn’t sure what to expect.

Sure, he believed his squad was high on talent and were a motivated group. However, the lack of upperclassmen with his young group in a highly-competitive state tournament isn’t the best thing to have.

“I went to the seeding meeting Thursday at Hotchkiss and leaving the meeting, I looked at all the seeds and, on paper, we were shooting for top five. With the seeds we had, we were supposed to finish fourth.”

Well, that just wasn’t acceptable for a focused and determined Brunswick wrestling team. The Bruins finished the WNEISWA as the surprise team in the state tournament, taking second place overall with 188 points. They barely edged out Suffield, who finished third with 187.50 points, while Avon Old Farms took the WNEISWA tournament championship with 235.50 point.

“Everybody medaled and we had a great championship,” Ostrye said. “They all wrestled really hard and were really focused on the task at hand. To get second overall was amazing and I am so proud of this team. We’re only losing two seniors off this team. If you were to ask me if I thought we would accomplish this back on the first day of practice, I would say no.”

However, that’s not because he was concerned about the talent in the program.

“The fact is that we are young and raw on the mat,” Ostrye said. “This team has been working hard all season and we just peaked at the right time. We won the FAA Duals, beat Canterbury, beat [Greenwich] High School and then went into states and took second.”

At WNEISWAs, Brunswick was led by Owen Schubert, who finished runner-up in the 120-pound weight class. Rohan Das (106), Connor Kupersmith (145) and Costas Hadjipeteras each finished with the bronze, while Clay Berger (113), Johnny Erdman (170), Will Hayden (195) and Nick Ulanoff (285) each finished fourth.

Jimmy Bell (126) finished fifth and rounding out Brunswick’s stellar performance with sixth place overall was Petey Briggs (138), Gregg Nabhan (160), Michael Keating (182) and Willy Rosato (220).

As the day tournament started, the Brunswick wrestling team was looking strong in the opening round. However, in the quarterfinal round, things weren’t so optimistic. That all changed in the in the first two consolation rounds, as the Bruins dominated the field.

Brunswick ended up with one grappler in the finals and a plethora of wrestlers had a very successful wrestlebacks. After the consolation semifinals, Brunswick was gaining in the standings, but also accomplished something that hasn’t been done at the school.

While getting ready for the medal round of the championship, Ostrye looked over the brackets and noticed that 13 members of the Brunswick wrestling team that was competing at the WNEISWA championships were guaranteed a medal and top six finish.

“That’s never happened here,” Ostrye said. “I gathered the kids together and told them that now we start moving. Some kids took third, others took fourth and so on, but what an achievement by this team to have 13 out of 13 kids medal. I am so proud of this team.”

Brunswick’s wrestler that advanced to the championship match was sophomore Owen Schubert in the 120-pound weight class. In the final match in the weight class, Schubert battled Canterbury’s Kenny Jordan, but fell in that championship match 4-0. While Schubert came up with the impressive silver medal, he dominated his competition to get to the finals.

In his first round, Schubert pinned Salisbury’s Denni Bui at the 1:20 mark of the match. It was much of the same against Avon’s Ryan Woelfel, as Schubert came away with the pinfall victory at the 5:19 mark of his match. In the semis, Schubert exacted revenge from earlier in the season on Hotchkiss School’s B.J. Shapiro-Alpert, winning in a 6-3 decision to advance to the finals.

“Owen looked great for us in the semifinal match that he won, beating a kid from Hotchkiss that beat him earlier in the year,” Ostrye said. “In the championship match, he got taken down in the first period and then got a reverse in the second and that was it. We knew it was going to be a tough match, but I thought he had a spectacular day. He was totally focused, just like he was all year. He’s only a sophomore, but mentally prepares for a match like a senior.”

Another Brunswick wrestler that stood out was Connor Kupersmith in the 145-pound weight class. Throughout the season, one of the main goals for Kupersmith was to make it to this weekend’s New Englands. However, the Brunswick senior needed a top four finish to reach his goals. Despite the pressure, the No. 7 seeded Kupersmith finished third overall.

Kupersmith started his afternoon with a pinfall victory over Marianapolis Prep’s Keith Moya at the 1:18 mark. Although Kupersmith lost to Trinity Pawling’s Christian Werlau in the second round, he came back in wrestlebacks and beat Gunnery’s Andrew DePaulis with a pinfall at the 3:32 mark. He kept the good times rolling by beating Chase Collegiate’s Tom Aviles and Canterbury’s Thomas Harrison each by a 4-3 decision.

In the third place match, Kupersmith dominated Avon’s Nick Papadopolous, picking up a pinfall victory at the 2:13 mark.

“He was seeded No. 7 and just got on a roll,” Ostrye said. “He beat four at States that beat him earlier in the season. It was great. He had a goal, set his goal and was on a mission. He showed what he was capable of. For him to go in with a lot of pressure was amazing. He did a great job.”

Both Das and Hadjipeteras also had strong performances and each finished with the bronze for the Bruins.

Competing in the lightweight division, Das opened his tournament with a pinfall over Suffield’s Nick Miers at the 1:53 mark. After falling to Avon’s Joey Creen, Das came right back and beat Greens Farm’s Christian Rivera via pinfall at the 4:59 mark. Against Marvelwood’s Herman DelBosque in the third place match, Das scored the victory with 2:42 gone by in the match.

In the 152-pound weight class, Hadjipeteras started play by beating Forman School’s Alex Hickson with a pinfall at 1:54 and Chase Collegiate’s Nick Arisco with a 16-5 major decision. Although Hadjipeteras fell to Hamden Hall’s Jack Templeton, the Brunswick wrestler remained strong and beat American School for the Deaf’s Jose Vega at the 4:20 mark of his first wrestleback match. Against Avon’s Mike Zhai in the third place match, Hadjipeteras came away with the hard-fought 6-4 decision.

Brunswick’s strong second place finish at WNEISWA was motivated from earlier in the year’s disappointment with the team’s lone home tournament.

All season, the Bruins were psyched for the school to host the annual Brunswick Invitational Tournament, a chance to take center stage at the school and perform in front of a raucous home crowd.

That excitement turned into depression very quick. Despite the plethora of warm weather that has been blanketing the tri-state area, the weekend of the BIT turned out to be the lone snow event this winter. Because of the inclement weather, the Bruins were forced to cancel its home tournament.

“It was very disappointing for everybody on the team, but the team was focused on not letting it get to them,” Ostrye said. “We refocused them on the upcoming FAA Duals because that was all that was left before the state tournament. We kept on pushing and I kept telling them that we were going to win that state championship, whether that was realistic or not. It would be a disservice to the kids if we didn’t set that high goal to win. The way we ended up, we overachieved our goal.”

Up next for the Bruins will be the New England championships, which gets underway tomorrow afternoon. Ostrye won’t set any goals this time around, but he’s still hoping his grapplers place in a bunch of the weight classes.

“It’s going to be really tough for us,” Ostrye said. “The States were already really tough. New Englands is two or three levels above States. Every weight class is tough and anybody could place. It’s all about luck of the draw and having a good day, but I know we will give it our best shot.”

Brunswick wrestlers Das, Berger, Bell, Briggs, Schubert, Kupersmith, Hadjipeteras, Erdman, Hayden, Rosato an Ulanoff will be competing for New England gold this weekend.

Win or lose, Ostrye couldn’t be happier for the future of his team. With only two grapplers graduating this year, nearly his entire roster got to experience several big time tournaments and what it’s like to compete on a varsity schedule.

“It’s great,” Ostrye said. “Before States, a lot of the kids were looking to the tournament as a way to gain experience. They’ve only been on varsity for a year. We got a lot of kids that gained experience and know what is needed to be successful next year.”

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