Newtown High Grapplers Show Fight, But Drop Thriller To Rivals On Tie-Breaker 37-36

By Andy Hutchison

BROOKFIELD — Technically it was a loss. Newtown High School’s wrestling team earned a 36-36 tie at South-West Conference rival Brookfield, but officially ended up on the short end of a 37-36 score thanks to the tie-breaker system (the team that comes out on top in the most individual matches wins the overall match) in the January 21 meet.

In reality, the Nighthawks earned as many points as their counterparts, but since Brookfield wrestlers won eight of 14 matches the hosts captured the win.

“It was a thrilling match. We went toe to toe right to the very end,” NHS Coach Alan Potter said.

“It was tough — it was an exciting meet,” said freshman Cory Fisher, one of Newtown’s six winners in the match.

He pinned David MacDonald in 2:30 to claim the 140-pound weight class win.

Newtown’s other winning results were as follows: 130 John Gouveia pinned Matthew Kryspin, 1:39; 135 CJ Donahue pinned Arcangelo Petretta, 1:20; 189 Rob Franzino won by forfeit; 215 Dillon Kelly pinned Ryan McManus, 1:12; 285 David Bray won by forfeit.

Franzino’s forfeit win and Kelly’s victory were linked to a strategic attempt to pick up points by Brookfield, Potter said — but it didn’t work.

“They tried to score some points by forfeiting to Rob Franzino, thinking they were going to be able to win at 215 versus Dillon Kelly,” Potter said. “Dylan Kelly has been working hard — he showed them.”

Kelly is a freshman, as is Donahue. Newtown’s younger grapplers are getting better as the season unfolds.

“They’re trying — everyone’s starting to get it now,” said Gouveia, the team’s senior captain.

“They’re doing well for the time they’ve had on the mat,” Potter added.

Perhaps the toughest part of varsity wrestling, sophomore 145-pounder Will Northrop said, is reducing weight to qualify for a designated weight class. “Once you get that down, it’s about strategy and becomes a lot of fun.”

Despite the defeat to Brookfield, this match was fun for the Nighthawks.

Heading into the final match of the competition, Newtown trailed seven matches to six. It came down to Newtown sophomore Ian McEvoy against Brookfield standout senior Joe Levine in the 119-pound weight class.

“We told Ian ‘don’t get pinned. Wrestle hard,’” Potter said. “We thought we could win this on criteria.”

McEvoy didn’t get pinned, dropping a 4-1 decision, but it was enough for Brookfield to walk away victorious.

“It doesn’t happen that often so we weren’t really sure,” the coach said of tiebreakers in wrestling.

“We look forward to meeting the same kids in the SWCs so we can see if we can even up the score,” Potter said.

Until the South-West Conference Championships, Newtown has the remainder of its regular season to play out. On January 24, the Nighthawks went 1-3, defeating Wilton 64-12 and falling to Pomperaug (48-28), Manchester (46-33), and Fitch (47-27).

Gouveia was 4-0 during the weekend matches, pinning two opponents and winning twice by forfeit. Donahue, Nickolas Crudo at 103, Joe Pieretti at 125, Will Northrop at 145, Stephan Gardner at 152, and 160 Brian Kuruc at 160 all posted solid 3-1 records. Newtown’s 171-pounder Dan Milot missed weight by .1 pound, forcing him to wrestle in the 189-slot. He went 1-3 along with McEvoy and Aaron Nezvesky, who filled in at 171. Dillon Kelly at 215 went 2-2 along with 285-pounder Mac Morlack and Fisher at 140. Leigh Gerety won her first wrestling match (see related story) against Wilton.