NHS Second In Conference Championships—

‘Great Start To An End’ For NHS Grapplers

By Andy Hutchison

Dan McIlrath, Newtown High School’s wrestling coach, summed up his team’s second-place finish in the South-West Conference championships as “a great start to an end.” The coach is referring to the fact that this is the first of what the team hopes will be three or four successful postseason tournaments.

The Nighthawks were runners-up to host and heavily-favored New Milford in the SWC’s season-culminating competition, which was pushed to this past Sunday from Saturday because of an anticipated snow storm that only dusted the ground.

New Milford won the competition with 229.5 points, and Newtown scored 152.5 to beat out third-place Masuk of Monroe, which had 147.

Newtown’s SWC finals results featured one winner as 170-pound weight division grappler Cory Fisher won the title with a 7-3 decision over Immaculate/Joel Barlow’s Chris Deisenroth (see related story). Fisher was one of eight NHS wrestlers to place in the tournament by finishing in fourth or better. In fact, Newtown had four finalists.

In the 106-pound weight class, Luca Crudo placed third with a 6-4 decision over Stratford’s Nick Casabianca. At 120, Nick Crudo reached the finals with a 9-4 victory over Masuk’s Michael Burgos. He lost a 5-2 decision to New Milford’s Nike Stefantos in the championship match.

At 126, Matt Gonzalez defeated New Milford’s Matt Arnold 9-4 in the semifinals and lost a 4-3 nail-biter to Bethel’s Dmitri Hatzi in the finals. At 138, James Leuci earned third with a 10-3 decision over Oxford’s Chris Manley. In the 145 division, Pat Zingaro earned third with a win over Weston’s Matt Brooks in 2:09. Forest Speed earned fourth place in the 160-pound division. At 285, Mac Morlock worked his way to the finals before finally suffering a 3-0 decision to New Fairfield’s Joey Amorando.

“As much as you might say it’s a heartbreaker to have those kids finish second … we’re peaking at the right time,” McIlrath said. The coach added that the team members are getting better and better as the season unfolds. “So I’m totally stoked for double Ls.”

The Class LL State Tournament gets underway this week and will be followed up by the State Open and, eventually, New England Regionals for the top finishers. Tournament time is a grueling time for grapplers, who have to hit the mats and compete several times in a one- or two-day stretch depending on how deep they advance.

McIlrath said the two-day Greater Hartford Open in the regular season was a way for the NHS grapplers to prepare for the postseason, and that the Hawks had some daylong weekend tourneys that required them to grapple a minimum of a few times in one morning/afternoon.

Newtown went 7-4 to finish fourth in the regular-season SWC standings. The season concluded with a hard-fought 39-37 setback to Masuk on Senior Night, February 8. With Masuk holding a slim lead, it came down to the final match between Speed, a freshman, and Masuk senior Louis Joaquin in the 160-pound division. Speed won the match with a 7-3 decision, but Masuk narrowly escaped with the team win. The match, which was well-attended by chanting fans from both schools, set the tone for the postseason excitement that ensued. “It’s a great loss,” McIlrath said afterward, adding that he was pleased to see his wrestlers compete at a high level. Speed was not at 100 percent and Morlock, who also lost a tough bout, was overcoming a case of mononucleosis, the coach added.