Youth Doesn’t Hold Back Newtown High School Grapplers

By Andy Hutchison

The Newtown High School wrestling team carried a 7-5 record into the middle of this week and Coach Alan Potter is pleased with the way things are going thus far — especially given the fact 12 wrestlers graduated a year ago.

At the start of this season, Potter said he wanted to be competitive and finish in the top half of the South-West Conference.

So far, so good.

Actually, so far … very good. In fact, Newtown won its first five SWC meets. Newtown defeated Oxford 58-24 on January 8 for its most recent conference triumph.

Beginning with Wednesday’s scheduled clash with defending conference champion New Milford (after The Bee sports section went to press), however, Newtown still has to face the best the SWC has to offer, including Pomperaug and Bethel.

The emergence of strong freshmen additions to the lineup has helped the Nighthawks get off to a good start.

Nick Crudo and Cory Fisher are ninth-graders who bring experience from the town’s Over The Top youth wrestling program. Fisher brings skill to the mats in the 140-pound weight class. Crudo, at 90 pounds, wrestles up and has had success in the 103-pound weight class despite a weight disadvantage.

“They totally underestimate him and then he goes out there and after six minutes the opponents can’t believe someone of that size could be that good,” said Potter, adding that Crudo has already earned six varsity wins.

In the 215-pound weight class, a freshman, Mac Morlock, has stepped in and competed after being “recruited” and persuaded by Potter.

“I told him if he wrestled for the team for four years he’ll come back to me and tell me that was the best decision he made in high school,” Potter said.

Not all of the newcomers are freshmen. In the heavy weight class, senior Dave Bray (a football player) joined the team to fill another void left by last year’s sizable graduating class.

“We have all of the weight classes covered,” Potter said. And that was not the case as the preseason wound down. But the pieces have fallen into place and the Nighthawks have enjoyed a fair amount of success given the fact this is a rebuilding year.

There are some veteran leaders back in the fold who have played necessary roles in that success. Senior captain John Gouveia (130), as a matter of fact, is undefeated. He has 15 wins under his belt, including victories in tournament competition.

Among the highlights in the win over Oxford, junior Brian Kuruc pinned his opponent, seniors CJ Donahoe (135) and Gouveia both pinned their way to wins, and Crudo also won by pin. Sophomore Rob Franzino (189) earned his first victory by pin in the Oxford meet. Newtown split in a pair of meets against Westbrook/Old Saybrook (a 63-13 win) and Thomaston. Among the winners in that meet were sophomore Ian McEvoy (who claimed both of his bouts in the 119 weight class) and Bray (who won both of his heavyweight matches), junior Dan Milot (171), sophomore Will Northup (145) and Fisher.

Newtown, following Wednesday’s challenge with New Milford, is scheduled to go to Trumbull for the Eagle Classic on Saturday, then visits Brookfield on January 21.

Although the team is striving for success this winter, Potter is keeping an eye on the future at the same time. He rotates grapplers in and out of some weight classes to allow the up-and-comers to gain exposure to the sport on the varsity level.

“I’m pleased with the team this year and I’m trying to get them to work hard, learn as much as they can and ready for the years to come,” the coach said. “We’ve got a very young team this year and we’re getting as many matches as we can for each kid so we can get them up to speed for next year.”