By Kim J. Harmon

It was a flying elbow that saved pretty much saved Newtown from what would have been a heartbreaking defeat.

Angelo Bodetti had done the math heading into his 189-pound match with Rich Ferrera of New Fairfield on Wednesday night and knew – with the Nighthawks forfeiting at 215 pounds and Tom Denninger up against a tough opponent at 275 pounds – that the fate of the match could be resting on his shoulders.

Or, make that on his nose.

Bodetti was tangled up in a match he was well within his ability to win, but he was plagued by a bloody nose throughout the first period of his match. Holding a slim 4-3 lead in the second, Bodetti had already exhausted his blood time and another stoppage would force a forfeit to New Fairfield.

Early in the second, his nose started bleeding again. He felt it, touched his nose, and that’s when the whistle blew.

“It was frustrating because it doesn’t hurt or anything and you can’t do anything about it,” said Bodetti. The ref told me I would forfeit if he had to stop the match again and when the whistle blew I thought I lost.”

But he hadn’t. The referee blew the whistle to default Ferrera for throwing an intentional elbow aimed at forcing another bloody nose. The match was awarded to Bodetti and the ‘Hawks had sealed up another win.

“It was clear (Angelo) could beat the kid,” said head coach Alan Potter, who saw his team raise its record to 7-4 overall, 5-2 in the South-West Conference. “It was just something that happened. I thought he was going to forfeit and we would lose the match.”

The default gave the ‘Hawks a 39-27 lead, but the Rebels earned six on the forfeit at 215 pounds and then four more when Ryan Donneruth earned a major decision over Denninger at 275 pounds, giving the ‘Hawks the 39-31 final score.

Of course, Newtown would not have even been in a position to win the match at 189 pounds without a couple of stunning wins by Mike Daniels (135 pounds) and Adam Prokop (140 pounds). And then there was Dan Maley, who won a thriller at 125 pounds.

“If I had to pick two matches,” said coach Potter, “it would be Mike and Adam. Those were critical wins. But everybody did what they had to do. We knew it would be a real close match and now (a win) gives us a good shot at second or third in the conference.”

With Newtown holding on to a 12-5 lead (thanks to wins by Matt Sullivan at 112 pounds and John Dietter at 119 pounds), Dan Maley (18-3 on the season) locks horns with Matt Drew in a match that went down to the final three seconds.

There were five lead changes and four ties in the match, which started with Maley down 2-0 on a takedown. He quickly tied on a reversal and then was down two on a reversal by Drew. It went back and forth into the third period, where Maley clung to an 8-6 lead after another reversal. With 11 seconds to go, though, Drew pulled a reversal right near the edge of the circle that tied the match at 8-8.

But with three seconds to go, Maley spun around Drew to gain position, earn the two points, and win the match.

It was a stunning match that led into the 130-pound bout between Nick Feola and Mike Azzarito. It was a hard match and there were only a couple dangerous moves that nearly amounted to something, but Feola was content to come away with an 8-2 win.

That gave the ‘Hawks an 18-5 lead heading into the 135-pound match between Mike Daniels and Sean Finnerty. Finnerty quickly got the upper hand in the match and built a 7-0 lead before Daniels could score on a reversal in the second period. But with 55 seconds left in the second period, Daniels earned his only advantage of the match and quickly used it by slapping a very surprising pin on Finnerty.

Newtown led, 24-5.

Prokop was much quicker about his work at 140 pounds, pinning Devon Samaha in 1:20 to give the ‘Hawks a 30-5 lead.

After Adam Esarey was defeated at 145 pounds, Steve Selezan (22-1 on the year) put forth another workmanlike effort at 152 pounds, earning a 7-1 decision over Mike Walsh. Tyler Miles (160 pounds) and Chris Symes (171 pounds) were both defeated, narrowing Newtown’s lead to 33-21.

Leading to the Bodetti match.

The Nighthawks will be traveling to Enfield on Saturday to take on Enfield, Newington and Conard in a quad match. They will return to the mat on Wednesday with a match against New Milford down in New Milford.