NEW HAVEN, March 7 – Five wrestlers from the Canton Youth Wrestling club earned medals at the USA Wrestling Connecticut state championship tournaments. Keith Penney (85 pounds) and Sean Penney (80 pounds) finished third in the Novice tournament while Angelo Folino (54 pounds) finished third in the Intermediate tournament. In the Middle School tournament, Tucker Salls (144 pounds) and teammate Jacob Feldman (152) each finished fourth.

Keith Penney, who lives in Simsbury, won his first two matches of the Novice tournament before dropping a 7-0 decision in the semifinals to eventual champion Max O’Dell of KT Kidz in South Windsor. Penney rallied in the consolation bracket with a 1-0 win over Joseph Accousti of Newtown and took third by pinning Charles Schultz of New Milford in 3:14. Penney wrestled with a soft cast on his hand after severely spraining his thumb in early February.

Sean Penney lost in the quarterfinals, 6-4, to eventual champion Anthony Meyers of KT Kidz but won four straight matches in the consolation round to finish third. Penney beat Joseph Pettinelli of Berlin, 6-2 to finish third. Penney finished 5-1 in the tournament.

Canton’s John Graziano (95 pounds) made it to the semifinals in the Novice tournament but was eliminated with a 5-2 loss to Cullan Contos of Silverback Wrestling Club in Windham.

Luke Salls (90), who lives in Simsbury, went 2-2 in the Novice tournament. Salls lost his first bout of the tournament in overtime, 7-6, to George Sfakios of Silverback Wrestling. After winning two matches in the consolation round, Salls faced Sfakios again and fell, 7-6.

In the Intermediate tournament, Folino was beaten in the semifinals by Logan Smith of Waterford, 6-0. But Folino, who lives in New Hartford, rebounded in the consolation bracket with a pair of victories. He pinned Bethel’s Max Lynch in 18 seconds and beat Eric Park of Griswold Youth Wrestling, 6-0, to take third.

In the Middle School tournament, Tucker Salls (144) made it to the semifinals before dropping a 7-3 decision. He captured one of two matches in the consolation round to finish fourth. Salls lives in Simsbury.

Teammate Jacob Feldman (152) dropped a 4-3 decision to Bethel’s Jonathan Cole in the semifinals of his Middle School division. Feldman, who was nine pounds lighter than other wrestlers in his class, finished fourth.

Canton had nine wrestlers qualify for the state tournament by finishing in the top four of their weight class at the qualifying event at Bristol Central. Keith Penney, Graziano, Tucker Salls and Folino each won the qualifying tournament. Ah Lee Mumin-Walker of Winsted and Anthony Tripodi of Avon also qualified and wrestled at the state tournament.

Top records this spring were earned by Keith Penney, who was 19-1 and John Graziano, who was 11-1. Sean Penney finished the season 21-3 while Folino was 23-3. Tucker Salls was 20-6 while his brother Luke went 20-7.

BRISTOL, Feb. 21 – Nine wrestlers from the Canton Youth Wrestling club earned spots in the upcoming USA Wrestling Connecticut state championship tournaments by finishing in the top four of their respective weight class in Sunday’s qualifying tournament at Bristol Central.

Keith Penney (85 pounds) and John Graziano (95 pounds) each won their respective weight classes in the Novice division while Tucker Salls (144) won in the Middle School tournament and Angelo Folino (54 pounds) won his weight class in the Intermediate division.

Penney had a dominating performance, beating Ridgefield’s Colin Storm by tech fall, 12-0. Graziano outlasted New Milford’s Brett Leonard, 5-2. Salls won the qualifier with a 6-0 win over Mergim Isaku of Terryville/Thomaston. Folino advanced by winning a round robin tournament.

Also qualifying for the state tournament from Canton were Sean Penney (80 pounds, 2^nd), Luke Salls (90, 3^rd) and Anthony Tripodi (70, 4^th) in the Novice division. Jacob Feldman (152) took fourth in the Middle School division. Ah Lee Mumin-Walker (58) qualified by taking third in the Intermediate division.

Wrestlers in the middle school tournament are in seventh or eight grade and are born in 1995, 1996 and 1997 (ages 13-15). Wrestlers in the Novice tournament are born in 1998 and 1999 (ages 11-12) while wrestlers competing in the Intermediate tournament are born in 2000 and 2001 (ages 9-10).

YORK, Pa., January 30 – Canton Youth Wrestling club wrestler Angelo Folino finished second at 55 pounds at the Northeast National tournament in age 8 and under division. Folino went 2-1 in the tournament. Drew Munch of Pennsylvania won the event. Wrestlers from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware were in Folino’s weight class.

A photo from the tournament is in the PHOTO section of the Web site. 

Results for wrestlers in the Canton Youth Wrestling club are available in the "Files" section of the Web site. Click on the 10CantonYouth file for the latest results from this year's team and career records for some wrestlers.

The next three Thursday night practices begin at 7 p.m. due to the Little Warriors program. Practice on Thursday, Jan. 21, Thursday, Jan. 28 and Thursday, Feb. 4 will begin at 7 p.m. instead of 6:30 p.m.

Practice will begin at 6:30 p.m. again on Thursday, Feb. 11.

SOUTHINGTON, Jan. 3 – The Canton Youth Wrestling Club had three wrestlers win titles at the 24^th annual Southington Youth Wrestling tournament on Sunday. Keith Penney, Sean Penney and John Graziano each went 3-0 to win their respective pools in the novice division. The Penney’s are from Simsbury and Graziano is from Canton.

James Demaio won a match in his novice division pool and took third. Jason Feldman won a match in his middle school division pool and placed third. Max Linley, Tommy Deal and Angelo Folino each won matches in the tournament as well for the club. William Gentile also wrestled well.

The club will host practice on Tuesday night at the high school from 6:30 to 8:15 p.m. There will be weigh-ins at practice for Saturday's youth tournament in Southington. Wrestlers participating on Saturday will also need to provide a check on Tuesday night for $16 to enter the tournament.

Canton will be wrestling the Thomaston Youth Club in a scrimmage on Wednesday night, Dec. 30, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Connecticut Green Knights Training Center at 33 River Street in Thomaston. Please get to the facility before 6 p.m. Wrestling will begin at 6.

Practices will be held on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. in the wrestling room at Canton High. Please come ready to wrestle.

The Canton Youth Wrestling club is open to wrestlers from ages 7-14 from Canton and surrounding towns. Sponsored by the Canton Park and Recreation Department, the club has veteran coaches and instructors that teach the sport of wrestling in a fun and informative atmosphere. The team practices four times a week and competes in scrimmages and tournaments on the weekend. Registration is now open.

The direct link to our website is: http://totalleague.com/cantonyouthwrestling. Come back often for updates, news, and team progress.