The 215-pound senior wrestler not only won a national championship at the 2023 Prep Nationals over the weekend, but Burrell was also named the meet’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, as well.
The Dragons finished fifth as a team, its best-ever showing and matching the goal head coach Jack Conroy said his team set following its New England championship earlier this month.
It was also the best showing by a New England-based team in more than 10 years, according to Conroy.
Burrell’s run to the national title was simply dominant.
Seeded third, Burrell pinned his first opponent in 1:38, his second opponent in 2:28, and his quarterfinal challenger, the tourney’s No. 6 seed, in 1:27.
That thrust Burrell into the semifinals where an 8-3 decision over Bryce Phillips of Mount St. Joseph advanced the Dragon wrestler into the finals.
Facing top-seeded Carter Neves of Blair Academy, which went on to win the Prep National's team title, Burrell posted a 5-2 decision to win the national championship.
Two other Dragons made it to the championship matches, falling in the finals.
At 195 pounds, Nate Taylor lost a 4-0 decision to Wyoming Seminary’s Jude Corrrea Kingston. Seeded second with a first-round bye, Taylor earned two straight pins (1:07 and 41 seconds) to advance to the quarterfinals. Facing the weight class’s sixth seed, Taylor earned another pin in four minutes to advance to the semifinals where he earned a 6-1 decision to make the finals.
At 165, Xavier Giles lost by a 3-1 score in sudden-death overtime. Seeded fourth, Giles earned a major decision and a pin to advance to the quarterfinals. A 6-0 decision there and a 10-6 advantage in points over the top-seed put Giles into the championship match.
Heavyweight wrestler Chris Murphy placed third overall, posting a major decision (13-1). Seeded fifth, Murphy won his first match with an 8-2 decision and notched a 20-second pin the Round of 16. A 10-7 decision in the quarterfinals put Murphy into the semifinals, where he wrestled the No. 1 seed, Nolan Neves of Blair Academy, falling 17-6. Murphy bounced back with two decisions to take third place.
At 138 pounds, Joey Iamunno won his first two matches to advance to the quarterfinal round. Pins in 31 seconds and 1:11 set up a showdown with the top-seed, which si where Iamunno fell into the consolation bracket. From there, Iamunno won three straight matches and wrestled in for third-place, where he lost a tight 6-4 decision to place fourth.
Harry Kittredge (113 pounds) lost his first-round match by a 3-0 decision, then bounced back to win two straight matches (including a pin in just 16 seconds) before being ousted in the Consi of 8.
At 120 pounds, eighth-seeded Brady Kaupp, who had a first-round bye, won his second-round match by a 15-0 technical fall. In the Round of 16, though, Kaupp lost a 7-1 decision, falling into the consolation round. Kaupp won his first consi match easily before falling 1-0 in the consolation quarterfinals.
JT Schneider (126 pounds) was seeded 12th to receive a first-round bye and also won his second-round match with a pin in 3:11. A loss in the Round of 16 preceded two consolation wins.
Ninth-seeded Ben Zuckerman (132) won his Round of 32 match before falling in the Round of 16. Once in the consolation bracket, Zuckerman won two more matches before falling one round shy of the consi semifinals.
Zahir McLean-Felix (175 pounds) won his second-round match before falling in the Round of 16. He went 2-1 in the consolation bracket.
Tyler Shea went 1-2 at 150 pounds as did Ryan Schneider at 157 pounds, and Ronnie Christolin (144 pounds) also took part in the meet.
GFA also sent two girls to the Prep Nationals, where they scored enough points to finish ninth overall.
April Torres placed second in her weight class, earning a pin in the semifinals (56 seconds). In the finals, Wyoming Seminary’s Alex Alli took the win with a second-round pin.
At 114 points, Izzy Kittredge went 3-2 in the tournament to finish in a tie for fifth out of 15 wrestlers.