By Kim J. Harmon

NEW FAIRFIELD – Clinging to a slim 28-25 lead over Cheshire in the New Fairfield Duels last Saturday, the Newtown High School wrestling team – which had just two wrestlers available for the final three weight classes – knew things had to break just right.

Oh, they did.

And it started with Chris Symes in the 189-pound bout.

Down 4-1 in the third period, Symes registered three back (near fall) points on Jason Ferelice to tie the match at 4-4 and send it into overtime . . . where he came up with a takedown to win, 6-4, and give the Nighthawks a critical six-point cushion.

“It was a big match for Chris,” said head coach Alan Potter. “He was giving up 15 pounds on that kid and when he took him down in overtime, that took the pressure off (Angelo) Bodetti.”

Bodetti, who normally wrestles in the 215-pound division, was held out for the heavyweight bout (giving Cheshire the forfeit at 215 and tying the match up at 31-31).

“We thought their captain (John Candosia) would be good,” said coach Potter, “but we didn’t know much about their heavyweight (Lou Colello).”

Coach Potter didn’t get a chance to learn much because Bodetti pinned Colello in 40 seconds to lift Newtown to an impressive 37-31 win.

“That was a big win for us,” said coach Potter, “because Cheshire has always beaten us.”

The Nighthawks went 2-2 during the Duels (finishing fourth overall) and ran their record to 11-5 on the season, 5-1 in the South-West Conference. They also defeated New Fairfield (41-36) while falling to Berlin (58-15) and Newington (54-18).

There were some pretty good performances all around for the ‘Hawks.

In particular, Mike Daniels was 3-1 at 145 pounds with an 11-9 win over Jared Schumann of Newington, an 11-10 win over John Geldney of Cheshire and a pin (1:33) of Devin Samaha of New Fairfield.

Matt Sullivan was also 3-1 at 119 pounds with a pin of Matt Rosen (:43) of Cheshire, a pin (1:47) of Matt Bonte of Berlin, and a 13-8 win over Eric Savey of Newington.

Dan Maley was 4-0 at 135 pounds with a 9-6 win over Ian Whytt of Cheshire, a pin (3:53) of Brian Triglia of Newington, a pin (4:33) of Kyle Poellet of New Fairfield and a pin (:56) of Matt McCormick of Berlin.

Adam Prokop was 3-1 at 140 pounds with a pin (3:13) of Anthony Trudell of Cheshire, a 6-5 win over Gianella of Berlin, and a pin (1:47) of John Mastrocchio of New Fairfield.

Steve Selezan was 3-1 with a 16-5 win over Jon Rowe of Cheshire, a pin (1:25) of Keith Early of New Fairfield, and a pin (1:31) of Chris Kerantzas of Newington. Selezan’s only loss was a 9-3 decision to Mike Laroche of Berlin.

“Steve and (Mike) Laroche are probably the two top 160-pounders in the state,” said coach Potter, “and it was good for Steve because he had a chance to wrestle this kid and learn something about him. We hope they meet again in the states.”

Now, after the tragedy in New Milford last week (the car accident that claimed the life of a student) and the snowstorm this week, postponements have forced the ‘Hawks to hustle in order to wrap up their schedule prior to the SWC Championships on Saturday.

“We’re wrestling well right now and looking forward to it,” said coach Potter.

The ‘Hawks were on their way to Weston on Wednesday (after presstime) to take on the Weston/Joel Barlow/Masuk Co-Op and on Thursday were slated to battle both New Milford and Pomperaug back-to-back.

The SWC Championships will be held on Saturday at Newtown High beginning at 9 am (and likely running to about 9 pm).