After placing fourth in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) Class L Central Connecticut Conference (CCC) State Tournament, junior Kyle Wolkner lost in the first round of CIAC State Opens.

“[Wolkner] is a talented young man; he worked hard on his technique both in season with us as well as off season at other training sites,” head wrestling coach Eric Misko said.

Going into the State tournament, Wolkner was seeded fourth. He wrestled five matches, winning one 5-2 decision and two pins, placing fourth in his bracket. At the State Open, Wolkner fell to Branford High School senior Noah Pantani who won 125 matches throughout his high school career in the second period. In his run-off match, Wolkner fell to senior Mike Fedorko with a score of 13-0 who took fourth place in the overall tournament and advanced on to the New England Championships.

“I felt that my season went very well this year as I improved greatly from last year. I…[went] to State Opens which was my goal for this year,” Wolkner said.

Wolkner joined the wrestling team his freshman year and wrestled on the varsity team at 106 pounds.

During his sophomore year, he competed in the 113 pound weight class and wrestled at 120 pounds this past year. His record for this season was 20-3.

“Kyle started off as a kid who kind of just walked into the wrestling room as a freshman, not really knowing what to expect or what he wanted to get out of the sport and as a freshman he got success on the mat… this year as a junior he was one of our best wrestlers,” junior varsity wrestling coach Craig Suhre said.

Wrestling plays a prominent role in Wolkner’s life. He does freestyle and greco-roman wrestling off-season during fall and spring. Looking forward to the next season, Wolkner hopes to incorporate different takedowns and strategies he utilizes in freestyle and greco roman wrestling into the high school season.

“I really want to go big my senior year. My goal is to hopefully place in the top five at State Opens next year which would qualify me for New England’s,” Wolkner said.

In addition to Wolkner, sophomores Max Bartholomay and Daon Hudson, juniors Luke Popolizio and Jermaine Carter and senior Julian Mashkovitz had multiple wins at the State tournament and nearly qualified for State Opens.