|
|
It was a different story on the mat where he was a bundle of energy and determination. Martin, who won his second straight CIAC State Open championship at 112 pounds a week earlier, made the finals of the New England Tournament but was tied up by Rollie Peterkin of Wellseley, Mass., 6-1 in the final.
It was the first loss of the season for Martin and only the second loss of his varsity career.
Avon senior Rob Tolk (140) won six matches at the New England Tournament and finished third. A week earlier, Tolk's bid for a second State Open championship was dashed in a one-point semifinal loss with 37 seconds left in the match. Tolk took third at the Open.
Other area wrestlers that finished the season strong included Farmington's Chris Rackliffe, who took sixth at the State Open at 275 and Avon's Este Lara (103), who was fifth at the Open.
Martin (47-1, 95-2 career) fell behind early to Peterkin in the New England final, giving up a takedown and reversal. "He was an all-around good wrestler and he was always moving which made it hard to set up moves," Martin said. "He started being real aggressive and I forgot a lot of what I know."
It was just a momentary lapse. Martin wasn't fazed by aggressive wrestling earlier in the tournament or in the State Open. In the New England semifinals, Martin's reversal early in the third period lifted him to a 3-1 win over Justin Belanger of Exeter-West Greenwich, R.I.
At the State Open, Martin earned the tournament's outstanding wrestler award and won his second straight Open crown with an entertaining 5-1 win over freshman T.J. Hepburn of Ledyard.
In easily the most entertaining final of the evening, Martin battled toe-to-toe with Hepburn. Using a double chicken wing, Martin was able to score a three-point near fall in the second period to take the lead.
Hepburn (41-1) cut the lead to two with an escape, but Martin iced the bout with a reversal with 1:11 left in the third period as he won 5-1. Neither wrestler held anything back and went at each other hard, frequently bouncing off each other.
"I knew what I had to do," Martin said. "Some have said if (we) got into a dogfight, (Hepburn) couldn't stick with (me). We had a lot of scrambles. But one of my favorite things is to scramble."
Martin used a double chicken wing to turn Newington's Kevin Horan to his back in a semifinal victory. It's move that he has used a few times, but one he learned on the living room rug from his older brother.
"It was one of the first moves he taught me," Martin said.
Tolk (140) had big expectations for himself at the State Open and for the New England Tournament. As a junior, he won an Open championship and wanted to complete his career with another state title.
But he fell in the semifinals to eventual Open champion Kurtis Strout of Windham, 3-2 on an escape with 37 seconds left in the match. Still, Tolk rallied to win two more bouts to finish third, including a hard-fought 5-1 decision over Southington's Chris Lee in the consolation final.
"It was a heartbreaking loss for him," Avon coach John McLaughlin said of the Strout bout. "One of the toughest things to do is to repeat at the Open. A lot of kids basically give up (after losing). But Rob showed his true character the way he didn't quit and stayed focused to come back and win third place. I was proud of that."
At the New England Tournament, Tolk won his first two matches before dropping a 3-2 decision to Massachusetts champion Brian Sheehan of Lowell in the quarterfinals. Again, Tolk remained focused winning four straight bouts in the consolation round to finish third.
"At this level, there is very little that separates the top 10 wrestlers. It is who is having a good day and who has the mental toughness at that time," McLaughlin said.
Tolk outlasted Vermont champion Kainen Mattison of Mt. Anthony, 4-2 in the consolation quarterfinals and used two third-period takedowns and an escape with 50 seconds left in the match to beat Mike Dumas of Kennebunk, Maine, in the consolation finals, 6-5.
"Rob has the unique ability to get nasty and find another level whenever he needs it," McLaughlin said. "Right when you think he is at one level, he jumps into another gear."
Tolk finished the day with the most pins (5) of any Connecticut wrestler in the New England tournament and a school record for career victories (164-13). He won two straight Class S titles.
MAT DUST: Canton's Kelvin Valencia (215) was the only other area wrestler outside of Martin and Tolk to win a state championship. Valencia won a Class S championship with a 7-6 victory over Granby's Nick Venn. After being penalized one point for stalling, Valencia trailed Venn, 6-5 with a little more than a minute left in the third period.
But that penalty spurred Valencia into action. He tied the bout with an escape with 50 seconds left and immediately attacked Venn with a takedown attempt. Ten seconds later, Valencia scored on a two-point takedown and controlled Venn the rest of the way to become the 14th wrestler in CHS history to win a state championship.
Canton senior Josh Bristol threw a scare into Northwestern's Joel Webster in the 130-pound final by putting Webster to his back and scoring near fall points. But Webster still prevailed with a 20-9 victory for his second straight Class S title.
