By Kim J. Harmon

 

The timely onslaught of winter (which officially began on Tuesday) might have been able to force the postponement of the start of the 2004-05 boys’ basketball season, but the wrestling and swimming teams had a chance to open their seasons last week … and did so in impressive fashion.

The wrestlers rallied back from a 21-10 deficit with a strong middle of the order push while the swimmers unveiled a superb front line (veterans and newcomers, alike) and blasted Masuk out of the water.

Neither the hockey nor girls’ basketball teams fared as well, but both were going up against extremely difficult competition.

Read on –

WRESTLING

Newtown 45, Bunnell 33

From floundering to flourishing … in the blink of an eye.

The Newtown High School wrestling team was close – so close – to seeing its season-opening match with Bunnell slip away when the middle of the order (from Justin Bass at 145 pounds to Brandon Thomas at 215 pounds) tore through the Bulldogs lineup and led the Nighthawks to a 45-33 win.

The ‘Hawks were down 21-10 after suffering pins at 112, 125 and 135 pounds and losing out on a decision at 140 pounds. But the ‘Hawks kept themselves in the hunt when Mike Rambone pinned Steve Chueka at 119 points and Steve Giacolone earned a 10-2 major decision over Dan Makowicki at 130 pounds.

Still, the ‘Hawks couldn’t really afford to fall into a deeper hole.

Then the rally started.

Bass got the ball rolling when he pinned Alpert Ortiz in 2:25 at 145 pounds. That started an epidemic, with three more pins – Ryan Peters pinning Mike Corcia in 1:04 at 152 pounds; Skye Perry pinning Ryan Henn in 1:12 at 160 pounds; and newcomer Bobby Pattison pinning Ben Howley in :47 at 171 pounds.

Peters’ pin gave the ‘Hawks a 22-21 lead and Pattison’s pin widened the lead to 34-21. And even though Alex Read went into the third period against David Blackwell at 189 pounds, he pinned an 18-3 major decision on Blackwell and put the ‘Hawks on top 39-21.

With three weight classes left, the best the Bulldogs could do was tie and all the ‘Hawks had to do was avoid a pin in one class.

But Thomas took care of things right away at 215 pounds, pinning Dan Perez in 1:17 to assure the victory.

All that was left was for Joel Minalgo – in his first varsity match – to tussle with Felix Berios at 275 pounds and Kimberly Solheim to grapple with Rob Flader at 103 pounds; both gave spirited efforts, yet suffered pins (Minalgo in 1:29 and Solheim in 3:39) and the ‘Hawks walked away with the 45-33 win.

On Saturday, Read finished second at 189 pounds at the 2004 Guilford Invitational while Perry finished third at 171 pounds.

Read fell 15-6 to Anthony Parish of Fairfield Warde, the No. 1-ranked wrestler in Connecticut. Giacolone (130), Colin O’Connor (140) and Thomas (215) brought home trophies for fourth-place finishes while Solheim picked up two pins at 103 pounds and finished fifth.

The ‘Hawks took to the mat against Masuk on Wednesday (after presstime) and will entertain Pomperaug next Wednesday in a match slated to begin at 10 am.

Newtown 45, Bunnell 33

112: Mark Halper (B) pinned Dana Van Buskirk, 1:33; 119: Mike Rambone (N) pinned Steve Chueka, 1:30; 125: Dennis Boguesky (B) pinned Jeff Lipnick, 3:10; 130: Steve Giacolone (N) dec. Dan Makowicki, 10-2; 135: Yurl Auli (B) pinned Ben Snyder, 1:12; 140: Walter Ruilous (B) dec. Colin O’Connor, 10-4; 145: Justin Bass (N) pinned Mike Corcia, 1:04; 160: Skye Perry (N) pinned Ryan Henn, 1:25; 171: Bobby Pattison (N) pinned Ben Howley, :47; 189: Alex Read (N) major dec. David Blackwell, 18-3; 215: Brandon Thomas (N) pinned Dan Perez, 1:17; 275: Felix Berios (B) pinned Joel Minalgo, 1:29; 103: Rob Flader (B) pinned Kimberly Solheim, 3:39.

Guilford Invitational

Team: Fairfield Warde 310, Ward Melville (Melville N.Y.) 261.5, Brunswick 185, Guilford 169, Newtown 97, East Haven 70, Brien McMahon 61, Hopkins 44, Green Farms Academy 44.

 

SWIMMING

Newtown 95, Masuk 76

Bolstered by an impressive front line (made even more impressive with the addition of some exciting new freshmen), the Newtown High School swim team made pretty short work of Masuk in its season-opening meet last week.

With co-captains Andrew Heller and Chris Jacob winning two events each and freshman Stefan Toi finishing second in two events, the Nighthawks nailed down a 95-76 win over the Panthers at the Newtown pool. After first- and second-place finishes in the 200 freestyle relay, the ‘Hawks had built up a 95-44 lead and swam the remainder of the meet unofficially.

While Heller earned a first-place finish in the 200 individual medley (2:19.35) and 100 butterfly (56.73) and Jacob earned a first-place finish in the 50 freestyle (23.95) and 100 freestyle (53.74), it was not unexpected.

Toi, though, gave the ‘Hawks a nice spark with a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle (1:58.70) and a second-place finish in the 500 freestyle (5:35.33). Freshman Anthony Fiore was part of two winning relays (one unofficial) and won the 100 backstroke (also unofficial). It being the first high school varsity meet for both swimmers, those performances gave the ‘Hawks a lot to look forward to.

Bryan LaCouture also earned a comfortable first-place finish in diving (174.4 points) while the 200 medley relay foursome of Fiore, Jake Maher, Heller and Jacob captured a first-place finish (1:49.78) and the 200 freestyle relay foursome of Jacob, Max Barrett, Maher and Dave LaMarche also captured a first-place finish (1:43.76) to put the meet away.

Maher unofficially finished first in the 100 breaststroke while the 400 freestyle relay foursome of Heller, Toi, Barrett and Fiore also unofficially finished first.

The 1-0 ‘Hawks were back in the water on Tuesday afternoon (after presstime) against New Milford and will host Pomperaug next Tuesday at 4 pm.

Newtown 95, Masuk 76

200 medley relay – 1. Newtown (Anthony Fiore, Jake Maher, Andrew Heller, Chris Jacob) 1:49.78, 2. Masuk, 3. Newtown (Mike Parker, PJ O’Dell, Nick Maurer, Jeff Bonaccorso). 200 freestyle – 1. Lui (M) 1:57.11, 2. Stefan Toi (N) 1:59.10, 3. Dave LaMarche (N) 2:11.97, 4. Dave Modzelewski (N) 2:14.98, 5. Porter (M) 2:34.35. 200 individual medley – 1. Andrew Heller (N) 2:13.35, 2. Jake Maher (N) 2:25.24, 3. Honrath (M) 2:26.24, 4. Horton (M) 2:31.30, 5. McMillan (M). 50 freestyle – 1. Chris Jacob (N) 23.95, 2. Max Barrett (N) 24.98, 3. David (M) 25.42, 4. Anthony Fiore (N) 25.98. Diving – 1. Bryan LaCouture (N) 174.4 points, 2. Britta Cedergren (N) 125.4, 3. Tim Kutt (N) 88.45, 4. Jolly (M) 80.9. 100 butterfly – 1. Andrew Heller (N) 56.76, 2. Kovach (M), 3. Dave LaMarche (N) 1:04.46, 4. Maturo (M), 5. Rob Morlath (N) 1:27.25. 100 freestyle – 1. Chris Jacob (N) 53.74, 2. Reed (M) 57.40, 3. Max Barrett (N) 58.16, 4. Reed (M) 58.34, 5. Nick Maurer (N) 1:00.01. 500 freestyle – 1. Kovack (M) 5:09.10, 2. Stefan Toi (N) 5:35.33, 3. PJ O’Dell (N) 6:04.56, 4. Scott Whalley (N) 6:21.76. 200 freestyle relay – 1. Newtown (Chris Jacob, Max Barrett, Jake Maher, Dave LaMarche) 1:43.78, 2. Newtown (Nick Maurer, Dave Modzelewski, Jeff Bonaccorso, Stefan Toi) 1:46.00, 3. Masuk 1:57.41. 100 backstroke – 1. Anthony Fiore (N) 1:03.46, 2. Lui (M) 1:06.06, 3. McMillan (M) 1:09.76. 100 breaststroke – 1. Jake Maher (N) 1:09.14, 2. Porter (M) 1:17.82, 3. Allen Hubbard (N), 4. Honrath (M) 1:19.33, 5. PJ O’Dell (N) 1:28.23. 400 freestyle relay – 1. Newtown (Andrew Heller, Stefan Toi, Max Barrett, Anthony Fiore) 3:46.83, 2. Masuk 3:56.66, 3. Masuk 4:06.40.

HOCKEY

Hand 5, Newtown 1

A long road trip (50 miles) was bad enough, but why compound the misery by scheduling a Division I opponent?

The Newtown High School hockey team suffered through that circumstance last Wednesday night, but the Nighthawks – who opened the 2004-05 season with wins over Sheehan and Masuk – proved their mettle despite a 5-1 loss to Hand of Madison.

“It was an impressive outing,” said head coach Dustin Zima. “The team played hard all game long and just ran out of gas in the final 10 minutes of the third period. The score ended 5-1, but was by no means indicative of how the game actually went. The guys surprised Hand.”

They sure did – at the 3:39 mark of the first period, Corey Regensburger scored on a breakaway (off a nice feed from Blaise LaPorta) to put the Nighthawks on top, 1-0. But Hand (2-0-1) soon tied the score and then – with the action ranging up and down the ice – added two more goals in the second period to take a 3-1 lead.

“Mike Jurasek played spectacularly in goal,” said coach Zima, who saw his backup goaltender notch 22 saves on the night. “He turned away a lot of scoring opportunities, which led to scoring chances for our boys.”

A high-stick penalty nullified a second-period goal by the ‘Hawks, which would have kept the game even closer. Still, Hand – which out-shot the ‘Hawks, 27-12 – scored twice more in the third period to put the game away.

“It is still early in the season,” said coach Zima, “and we are still getting into shape and getting to know the new system and how each player will affect it. I’m very proud of them and I know we will have a good season.”

The ‘Hawks returned to the ice (the Danbury Ice Arena, that is) on Wednesday for a tilt with New Milford (puck drops at 4 pm) and will host Shelton on Monday (puck drops at 4:40 pm) before visiting New Milford on Wednesday at Canterbury School (puck drops at 8 pm).

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Kolbe 60, Newtown 35

It was not nearly as bad as the numbers made it look, but that is small consolation to a team still struggling to find itself.

The Newtown High School girls’ basketball team (now 1-3 on the year) was pounded by Kolbe Cathedral last Thursday at the Shehan Center in Bridgeport … but most of the damage in the 60-35 loss was done in fourth quarter garbage time.

The Lady Nighthawks – who had already fallen to Lauralton Hall and Bunnell before securing a win over Wilton – were down just three to Kolbe at the end of the first period and then took a brief, 17-16, lead in the second period on a steal and subsequent layup by senior captain Ashley LaRocque.

But the Lady Cougars were much too big, much too fast and much too strong for the ‘Hawks. The Cougars regained the lead, extended it to eight points by the close of the half, and then kept the ‘Hawks just out of reach through the third period.

The Cougars had a 12-point lead at the end of the third, but quickly put the game out of reach with six points to start the final period and then held the locals to just four points in the final eight minutes of the game.

Erica Beverly of Kolbe led all scorers with 19 points while Antonea Robinson chipped in with 13. Meghan Kelley led Newtown with 13 points of her own while Katie O’Connor and LaRocque chipped in with six points apiece.

The ‘Hawks traveled to Milford on Wednesday for a rematch with Notre Dame and next Tuesday will face Brien McMahon in the third round of the annual Masuk Holiday Tournament. Should the ‘Hawks win, they will face the winner of the Masuk/Ridgefield game in the tournament championship next Thursday.

Kolbe Cathedral 60, Newtown 35

NEWTOWN (35): Meghan Kelley 4 4-6 13, Darcy Fiscella 1 0-0 2, Katie O’Connor 2 2-2 6, Ashley LaRocque 2 2-2 6, Carly Curran 0 2-2 2, Ciara Simek 1 0-0 2, Siobhan Cooper 0 2-4 2, Kristi Nowak 0 0-2 0, Christie Iwanicki 1 0-0 2, Kacy Foehrenbach 0 0-0 0, Jill Logan 0 0-2 0, Amy Kelly 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 11 12-20 35.

KOLBE CATHEDRAL (60): Erica Beverly 8 3-4 19, Antonea Robinson 4 5-7 13, Deja Mann 1 1-1 3, Mary Webb 1 0-0 2, Tanay Prim 2 3-4 7, Carjon 2 0-0 6, Humbert 1 2-2 4, Cohen 2 2-2 6. TOTALS: 21 16-20 60.

Three-pointers: Carjon (KC) 2, Kelly (N) 1.