Youth Wrestlers Stand Tall, Stand Out On The Mats

By Andy Hutchison

As up-and-coming youth grapplers hone their skills and work toward potential future roles on the high school team, the 50-or-so members of the Newtown Youth Wrestling Association (NYWA) have plenty of evidence that early-on high school success is well within reach.

Several members of Newtown High School’s wrestling team, which capped off a strong season —including a runner-up finish in the South-West Conference championships — earlier this month are, after all, only freshmen. Sure, with the lighter weight classes serving as natural fits for the younger high school students, it’s not unheard of for some freshmen to crack the starting lineup — but the Nighthawks had six first-year high-schoolers in the starting lineup and a seventh who also rotated in and out of the starting group.

Five of those freshmen — Luca Crudo in the 106-pound weight division, Matt Gonzalez at 126, James Leuci at 138, Ed Lajoie at 152, and Forest Speed at 160 — all came up through the NYWA. Freshman Logan Walsh also got some varsity mat time, and fellow freshman Ryan King, although not a product of NYWA, started at 113.

Much of the success of the Nighthawks may be attributed to the freshmen, considering they comprise almost half of the 14-weight class lineup, and thus that success is also attributable, in part, to the youth program here in town.

“Chris Bray has done a great job,” Newtown High Coach Dan McIlrath said of the head coach of the NYWA, who focuses on the middle school grapplers and oversees coaches for the elementary school competitors.

McIlrath notes that some high school students don’t start wrestling until they come to high school, and still manage to develop their skills to a point they are strong competitors by the time they are juniors and seniors. But it certainly helps to have a few seasons of exposure to wrestling under their belts before coming to the high school program, he notes.

“What we teach these kids here is strong fundamentals. We give them the knowledge — the understanding of how wrestling works,” says Bray, who devotes many of his winter and spring weekend hours to ensuring the young wrestlers get a chance to compete in tournaments. He’s also on hand at the team’s practices at Sandy Hook Elementary School on weeknights.

The NYWA recently capped off its winter campaign and jumped right into a new spring season. Tim Bartlett, who serves on the board of directors for NYWA and works hard to promote the organization, says the number of participants have increased throughout the years. Bartlett notes that one of the attractions of wrestling is the relatively low investment cost for participants. “You need sneakers, a shirt and shorts — and you can wrestle,” Bartlett said. Another benefit is that athletes of various sizes find themselves up against similarly-sized competition because of the weight classes. “It doesn’t matter what size you are because you’re always matched up against other kids your size,” he said.

Longtime NHS Coach Alan Potter who, last March, retired after 13 seasons at the helm, continues to help out with the Nighthawks.

He was alongside McIlrath during the Newtown High matches throughout this past season. Potter says he enjoys being a part of the wrestling scene and providing motivation to his former grapplers — and current NHS coaches. Potter has been impressed with the level of experience the young wrestlers have brought to the high school.

“The young blood’s doing really well,” said Potter, adding that he has high hopes for the high school program’s continued success.

“I expect them to do great things in the future and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an SWC championship down the road,” he added.

With the way the NYWA is churning out experienced grapplers, and tasting success — it had representation from 16 wrestlers at the state championships earlier this month — that championship may not be too far away.

“I think the youth program is going to be a big benefactor in the next couple of years — and in the future — to how well we do,” McIlrath said.