Sophomore Colin Falla produced the best finish for Greenwich’s wrestling team at the 2024 Joe Sikorski FCIAC Wrestling Championships this past Friday and Saturday.

Wrestling in the 215-pound weight class, Falla finished fourth for the Cardinals, one of three competitors to place at the tournament for the team.

“I just wanted to place better than I did last year,” Falla said. “I thought I had a good tournament, I thought the team had a good tournament.”

Fairfield Warde won the team title at the FCIAC Championships for the second straight season, totaling a team score of 258.5 points. Danbury, which dominated the FCIAC Tournament for several decades, winning the title almost every year during that time span, placed second in the team standings with 215 points.

Ridgefield finished third (197 points), while Trumbull (153) and Fairfield Ludlowe finished out the top-five squads in the 15-team tournament. Greenwich placed 12th in the team standings at the FCIAC Championships with 38 points.

Seeded third in the 215-pound weight class, Falla received a first-round bye in the FCIAC tournament. In the quarterfinal-round, Falla won my a major decision against Andrew Lane of Fairfield Ludlowe, 13-1.

The semifinal-round of the 215-pound bracket put Falla against Woodensley Blaise of Westhill. Blaise took a 6-0 lead, before pinning Falla in a tough match, in 5:06.

Competing in the consolation round, Falla proceeded to defeat Liam Finneran of the championship team, Fairfield Warde, by major decision in his first consolation matchup, 13-4.

Advancing to the 215-pound third place match, Falla was close to earning a third-place finish, as he took a 6-5 lead behind a take down and increased his advantage to 11-7 later in the match, thanks to a pair of reversals. His opponent in the third place 215 match was Justin Barker of Danbury.

With only 19 seconds remaining in the third period, the 215-pound match at the FCIAC Championships, Barker posted a pin to earn the third-place finish. Falla took fourth for the Cardinals.

“Colin had a strong performance,” GHS coach Jere Petersen said. “He had a tough match against the Westhill kid and against the Danbury kid for third and fourth. They were all winnable matches, he’s right in the middle of both of those. Both of those losses could have gone either way.”

“The good thing is he is right there, right in the mix,” Petersen added. “He could have easily been in the finals and he should be very proud of his performance.”

Aethan Munden of Trumbull won the 215-pound FCIAC championship. Cardinals junior Anthony Panarella, the No. 9 seed, placed sixth in the 126-pound bracket at the FCIAC tourney.

Panarella pinned Harrison Williams of Darien in 3:12 in the opening round of the 126-pound class. In the quarterfinals, Panarella was defeated by Owen Sheiman of Fairfield Ludlowe by technical fall in 4:47.

Panarella, a captain of the team, along with senior Thomas Andruss, was victorious against Ludlowe’s Elijah Kelly in his first consolation match. In the match for fifth place in the 126-pound class, he was defeated by Ibrahim Kadri of Trumbull, who won the bout my major decision.

Panarella reflected on his efforts at the FCIAC Championships.

“Going into the blood rounds (Round of 12), I was the nine seed and my opponent was the five seed,” Panarella said. “I was prepared and I started off the match getting a take down in the first period and then in the second period, I just dominated and won the match. The next match I was in the consolation semifinals and I wrestled the three seed. It was a tough match, I ended up getting pinned in the second period. It was tough, but I’m going to learn from it and work on the things I did wrong in practice this week.”

Said Petersen: “Anthony is in every match, the effort is great he is always competitive in his matches. He’ll have to battle next week, it is a tough weight class.”

What Petersen was referring to is Saturday’s CIAC Class LL Championships at Trumbull High School. The Cardinals are bringing a long list of wrestlers to the Class LL tourney, including Falla and Panarella.

“The Class LL Tournament is pretty similar to this tournament – most of these schools wrestle in LL,” Panarella noted. “I think if I could place sixth here, I don’t see why I can’t do it there. I placed at the Guilford Invitational, I placed at the Brunswick Tournament and now FCIACs, which are three of our biggest tournaments of the season, so I’m happy with the season. I have a few more wins than I did last year, so this season has been successful.”

Said Falla: “The goal is to make it to Opens (The CIAC State Open Championships). I fell just short last year in the blood rounds.”

Also for GHS at the FCIAC Championships, freshman Ryder Caruso registered a sixth-place finish in the 113-pound division. Seeded eighth, Caruso pinned Lionel Solis of Wilton in 27 seconds in the opening round, then lost to Zach Brzoska of Fairfield Warde in the quarterfinals by pinfall (1:23). Caruso earned a 7-5 decision against Danbury’s Anthony Valenzuela in his first consolation round matchup.

Seamus Brannigan of Staples placed fifth in the 113-pound class, while Caruso finished sixth. Senior Anthony Pereira won his first-round match for the Cardinals in the 175-pound division. Freshman Cody Griesmeyer (106-pound bracket) also won his opening-round match. Sophomore Emmanuel Tertiropoulos was also an opening-round winner for the Cardinals in the 126-pound bracket.