On the strength of four second-place finishes and fourth third place performances, Brunswick School’s wrestling team finished a strong second in the team standings at the 66th annual Western New England Independent School Wrestling Association Championships, held at Taft School on Saturday.

The Bruins totaled 239.5 team points at the ultra-competitive 17-team tournament in Watertown. Greens Farms Academy won the WNEISWA team championship, earning a team score of 400.5 points. Trinity-Pawling School took third (182), followed by Hotchkiss School (152) and Pomfret (98). Greenwich Country Day School finished in 11th place in the team standings with 49 points.

Overall, Brunswick had 13 placewinners on its way to its second-place showing. Michael Accetta, Enzo Vera, Jack Degl and Carlo Tucci each recorded second-place finishes in their respective weight class brackets for the Bruins at the Western New England championships.

Accetta advanced to the championship match of the 132-pound division by pinning Peter Barkley of Hotchkiss in 3:13 in the semifinals. In the championship match, Ben Zuckerman of Greens Farms Academy, the No. 1 seed, defeated Accetta, seeded second, by a 12-3 major decision. Accetta was victorious in the quarterfinals against Taft by pinfall in 2:26 after receiving a first-round bye.

Vera, the No. 2 seed in the 138-pound bracket, earned a berth in the finals by pinning Charlie Fisher from Hopkins in 3:48. In the quarterfinals, Vera pinned James Rice (Pomfret) in 1:19. Joey Iamunno of Greens Farms Academy won the 138-pound title, defeating Vera by pinfall in 48 seconds in the finals.

In the 150-pound division, Degl, the No. 2 seed, lost to top-seeded Tyler Shea, 5-1, in a hard-fought championship match. The semifinals saw Degl beat Phil Kravitz of Pomfret in 2:56. Degl pinned Hudson Wiley from Hotchkiss in the quarterfinals by pinfall in 53 seconds.

Tucci lost a close 8-5 decision to top-seeded Ryan Schneider in the 157-pound championship match. Seeded second, Tucci topped Carson Ames from Pomfret in the semifinals, 1-0, after beating his Avon foe by pinfall in the quarterfinals in 1:16.

Christian Yanoti (106-pound), Patrick O’Donahue (126), Emil Sogaard-Srikrishnan (175) and Tomas Delgado (190) each had third-place finishes in their respective weight class brackets for the Bruins in the Western New England meet.

Quinn McGraw (120), Alec Harned (144) and Whip Gorman (157) were fourth, William MacGillivray (165) placed fifth and Michael Marini (215-pound) posted a sixth-place finish for the Bruins.

Up next for Brunswick’s wrestlers is the New England Preparatory School Wrestling Association Championships at Phillips Academy (Andover) on Friday and Saturday. 

For Greenwich Country Day School at the Western New England competition, Thayer Ross earned a second-place finish in the 113-pound weight class. In the opening round, Ross scored earned an overtime win against David Wu from Pomfret School. Ross pinned Wu for the sudden victory win in 6:07. The match was tied at 8-8 when Ross executed the pin.

In the quarterfinals, Ross beat Adam Polanco of New York Military Academy by a 6-2 decision. Ross advanced to the championship match by pinning Daniel Park of Salisbury School in the semifinals in 3:31.

Also for Greenwich Country Day, Max Dubner finished fourth in the 138-pound division.