Shelton’s Pat Gillen and Sheehan’s Nick Giulietti extended their unbeaten wrestling seasons by claiming State Open championships. New Haven’s Tito Slaughter fell just short of accomplishing those same feats.

In a successful day of action for area athletes Sunday at the New Haven Athletic Center, Amity’s Alex Carpenter and Cheshire’s Kyle Copes also claimed championships, while Hand’s Ed Carroll finished as a runner-up.

A slew of others also advanced to Saturday’s New England championships, also scheduled to be held at the athletic center. The top four in each weight class qualified for that event.

Danbury won its 10th straight Open title, finishing with 98.5 points. South Windsor (84), New Milford (67.5), Hand (64) and Bacon Academy (57) rounded out the top five.

Law’s Jason Richardson (fourth at 119), Derby’s Tyler O’Connor (fourth at 130), Hand’s Brian Onofrio (third at 152) and teammate Joe DeMichele (third at 285) also advanced to the New England championships.

To see final results, click here.

Today's State Open wrestling has been postponed to Saturday, beginning with the Round of 16 at noon. The championship finals are now scheduled for Sunday at 4 p.m.
Click here for the revised schedule.

From the South-West Conference executive secretary Noah Winnerman:

"The SWC Girls Basketball finals between Lauralton Hall and Pomperaug is scheduled for Friday evening at Bunnell. If the weather is horrible, the next move is to play the championship on Saturday. If that happens, we will move the site to Weston High School. Bunnell will be hosting the boys quarter finals."

We will keep you updated on this situation.

Jocelyn Chang has been hired as the softball coach at Sheehan, replacing Ray Ramelli, Jr., who resigned in the offseason.

Chang, 27, was an assistant at Career last season after serving two years as the freshman coach at Amity and one year as an assistant at Bethany Middle School. This will be her first head coaching job.

"It’s very exciting," Chang said. "This is a new step for me; I am going to have my own squad."

The Titans went 13-10 last season, and advanced to the Class L second round and to the quarterfinals of the Southern Connecticut Conference tournament.

"I have a whole team to build upon," said Chang, a former pitcher at West Haven. "What I’m told is we have a good core coming back."

The seeding and brackets for the State Open wrestling championship has been released. To view, click here.

The championship round is slated for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at the New Haven Athletic Center.

Wilbur Cross senior Tito Slaughter made history Saturday by becoming the first city athlete to capture a wrestling state championship. Slaughter claimed the title after a dominating performance at the Class LL state championships. Slaughter, wrestling for the New Haven co-op team, won three matches, including a pin at 5 minutes, 40 seconds over South Windsor's Quincy Thomas in the final at 189 pounds.

Slaughter, who entered as the top-seed, improved to 29-0 this season and 57-12 in his career. Slaughter had a commanding 7-2 lead before pinning Thomas in the third round of the championship match.

Danbury captured its 14th straight championship after scoring 209.5 points and edging runner-up South Windsor (196). Xavier (156) was third, Shelton (145.5) was fourth and Amity (101) finished sixth.

Shelton's Pat Gillen won at 215 after finishing second the past two years. The junior, who is 39-0 this season, was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler after defeating Trumbull's Bryan Barnash by technical fall in the championship.

Gillen, who has 136 career victories, breaking the school-record of 132 set by Robbie Ferrante, lost to Simsbury's Lawton Arnold in the Class LL final the past two seasons.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL
NVL
Seymour at Ansonia, ppd. to today, 7 p.m.
SWC
Stratford at New Milford, ppd. to today, 7 p.m.
Pomperaug at Bunnell, ppd. to today, 7 p.m.
Non-league
Derby at O’Brien Tech, ppd. to Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
SCC interdivision
Hillhouse at Wilbur Cross (New Haven Athletic Center), 4 p.m. (STILL ON)
Hamden at Career, ppd. to today, 7 p.m.
Notre Dame-West Haven at East Haven, ppd. to today, 7 p.m.
Shoreline
Old Lyme at Old Saybrook, ppd. to today, 7 p.m.
Valley Regional at North Branford, ppd. to today, 7:30 p.m.
Westbrook at East Hampton, ppd. to today, 7:30 p.m.
Coginchaug vs. Hyde at Wilbur Cross, ppd. to today, 7:30 p.m.
SCC Housatonic
Amity at Sheehan, ppd. to today, 7 p.m.
Preps
Brunswick at Hopkins, ppd. to Monday, 5:30 p.m.
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
SCC interdivision
Wilbur Cross at Hillhouse (CROSS WON IN DOUBLE OT)
SWC
New Milford at Stratford, ppd. to Saturday, 3 p.m.
Non-league
O’Brien Tech at Derby, ppd. to today, 7 p.m.
Sheehan at Platt Tech, ppd. to today, 7 p.m.
Haddam-Killingworth at Woodstock Academy, ppd. to today, 7 p.m.
NVL
Ansonia at Seymour, ppd. to today, 7 p.m.
BOYS’ ICE HOCKEY
Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe at Cheshire (Wesleyan), ppd. to today, 1:30 p.m.
Sheehan at Masuk (Shelton), 8 p.m.
GIRLS’ HOCKEY
New Canaan at Guilford (East Haven), ppd., TBA
Lauralton Hall at West Haven, 6:45 p.m.
BOYS’ SWIMMING
SCC
Shelton at West Haven, ppd. to today, noon
Hamden at North Haven/North Branford, ppd., TBA
Sheehan at Foran, ppd. to today, 6 p.m.
Notre Dame-West Haven at Amity (High Plains, Orange), ppd. to Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
GYMNASTICS
Non-league
Glastonbury at Hand, ppd. to Friday, 6 p.m.

Seymour senior Jacob Drozd broke a 30-year-old meet record in the high jump with a personal-best 6 feet, nine inches at the Class S state indoor track championship. The previous record (6-6.75) was set by Joe Patrone of Woodstock in 1980.

In the shot put, Drozd finished second behind Derby’s Enis Bukalo, who tossed a meet record of 55-7. Drozd threw 49-9.

Rodrigo Souza, the defending State Open indoor champion from Old Saybrook, added another medal to his already large collection. Souza won the 55-meter hurdles in a Class S-record time of 7.42, eclipsing the old mark of 7.49 set in 1996. The time was a personal-best for Souza.

A total of eight records, including seven on the boys’ side, were broken during the competition held Saturday at the New Haven Athletic Center.

Read the full story in Sunday's Register.
For complete results, click here.

Buoyed by junior Chris Turner’s victory in the 55-meter dash and a winning 4x400 relay team, Hillhouse cruised to the Class M state championship Friday at the New Haven Athletic Center.

The Academics compiled 61 points to easily outdistance runner-up Woodland (37). Sheehan was fifth (30). Hillhouse won its first indoor state title since 1998.

"I pretty much told the boys that it was theirs to lose," Hillhouse coach Gary Moore said. "If they came with their ‘A’ game, they would win. They did a great job today."

In a competitive girls’ portion, Nonnewaug and Weaver tied for first place with 58 points. Career was third (56) and Hillhouse fourth (55).

Read the complete story in Saturday's Register.
For full results, click here.

Bill Parkinson, the Notre Dame-West Haven boys’ indoor track coach, thought his team would have its hands full — literally — at the Class L championships.

Although optimistic, Parkinson would’ve been content with a Top 5 finish. Despite a talented squad, Parkinson didn’t think the Green Knights had enough depth, especially in the distance events, to emerge with the team title.

But as the final event, the 4x200 meter relay, approached, Notre Dame was tied with fellow Southern Connecticut Conference member Hand atop the team standings.

Despite a second-place finish in the relay, Notre Dame outpointed the Tigers to win the championship Thursday at the New Haven Athletic Center. Notre Dame scored 54 points. Hand, which placed fifth in the 4x200 relay, finished with 48 points. North Haven was fifth (32).

Read the complete story in Friday's Register.

To view complete results, click here.

In order to prepare for the postseason, many high school hockey coaches in the state try to put together the toughest regular-season schedule possible to help develop and improve their players. Some teams like to close the regular season against strong competition.
The top three teams with the toughest remaining regular-season schedule are Fairfield Prep, defending CIAC Division I champion Hamden and Notre Dame-West Haven and I wouldn't be surprised to see at least one or two of these teams in this season's Division I final.
Only one word to describe their remaining schedules - BRUTAL!

No. 1 - NOTRE DAME-WEST HAVEN (remaining schedule): West Haven (Saturday), LaSalle Academy-R.I. (2/15), Notre Dame-Fairfield (2/17), Prep (2/20), West Haven (2/24) and Hamden (3/3). All remaining teams are ranked in the Top 10, including LaSalle Academy which has been ranked in the Top 10 in Rhode Island.

No. 2 - FAIRFIELD PREP: Notre Dame Fairfield (Saturday), Catholic Memorial (Mass.) (2/17), Notre Dame-West Haven (2/20), Hamden (2/24) and North Haven (2/27).

No. 3 - HAMDEN: South Windsor (Saturday), Xavier (2/15), Winchester-Mass. (2/19), West Haven (2/20), Prep (2/24), Notre Dame-Fairfield (2/27) and Notre Dame-West Haven (3/3)

While today's snowstorm wiped out the high school hockey slate in the area, it also forced the cancellation of games with out-of-state teams.
The Seton Hall Prep at Fairfield Prep game and LaSalle Academy-R.I. at Hamden game will not be rescheduled.

West Haven, ranked No. 1 for the first time since 2003 this past week, suffered a setback on Saturday at South Windsor Arena.
Goalie Chris Marchi made 20 saves to lead unranked South Windsor to a stunning 5-1 non-league win over West Haven.
The Bobcats (8-6) took a 3-0 lead after the first period and cruised to their third win in a row. Nate Swaldeisen had a goal and an assist for the Bobcats.
Tim Baylis scored the lone goal for the Blue Devils (12-2) in the second period. Goalie J.P. Withington made 15 saves for the Blue Devils.

To check out the complete results, click here.

Hamden track standout Chris FitzSimons will sign a National Letter of Intent to attend Villanova on Wednesday as part of the National Signing Day festivities.

Continue to follow this blog and the Register print editions for the latest on Signing Day.