NHS Grapplers Lose Nail-biter To Pomperaug, Look Forward To Rematch

By Andy Hutchison

A season of high expectations started with a tough-to-swallow defeat for the Newtown High School wrestling team.

The Nighthawks were edged by South-West Conference rival Pomperaug of Southbury 37-36 at home in the season opener on December 15.

“We knew that the score was going to be close. In wrestling, a one-point score you wouldn’t even consider close — it’s almost non-existent. It’s almost that if just one thing, one match had been different, we would have won,” NHS Coach Alan Potter said.

Potter questioned some of his own strategy he implemented during individual matchups but emphasized to his grapplers that hindsight is 20-20. The outcome may also have been different if this match were later in the season. Making weight is always a challenge, particularly in the early going, for some wrestlers based on needs within weight classes, and the team had to use some newcomers in this match.

“We had some inexperienced wrestlers we had to put out there,” said Potter, adding that the preseason time span high school teams have to prepare is simply not long enough.

Fortunately for the Nighthawks, they will have a chance at redemption as they are slated to face Pomperaug in a rematch in a quad meet on January 23.

“We get the chance, again, to wrestle them and hopefully the outcome will be different,” Potter said.

Among those wrestling in a varsity match for the first time was Becca Castegner, who was also the lone girl to compete in this match.

“I was extremely nervous for an hour leading up to my match,” said Castegner, who was pinned by Pomperaug’s Ryan Ahearn in the 119-pound weight class in 1:50.

Castegner said the Nighthawks will come together as a team and succeed in the rematch.

Newtown had plenty of positives to take from this match. At 140 pounds, Newtown’s Joe Pieretti pinned Will Sheehy in an exciting back-and-forth bout in 2:44.

“It was fun. It was actually really exciting,” Pieretti said of his match.

Other Newtown wins were as follows: 103: Nick Crudo pinned Justin Griffin in 1:01; 130: Sam Wiener won via forfeit; 145: Cory Fisher pinned Khafi Jack in 5:31; 152: Will Northrop pinned Ben Calkins in 4:59; and 160: Brian Kuruc pinned Will Morqui in 3:15.

“Pomperaug is going to be one of the top teams in the SWC and so are we,” Potter said.

“As a team I’m very proud of how they wrestled. We came up short this time but it’s a long season and it’s really who’s healthy and who works the hardest during the season to see who gets to the finish line first,” the coach added. “We certainly wanted to win. We came up short this time but in the future we hope to attain greatness in the face of adversity.”