By Kim J. Harmon

While the holiday break hasn’t been all that festive for the Newtown High School basketball teams, the wrestling and hockey teams have certainly been in a joyous mood.

As the hoop girls dropped a heartbreaker to Bunnell on a three-pointer with less than five seconds left to play and as the hoop boys lost their first after opening the season at 3-0, the wrestling team was busy pinning defeats on Weston and Joel Barlow to improve to 2-1 and the hockey team was busy coasting by Joel Barlow, Masuk and Fitch/East Lyme to run its record to 3-0-0.

But a new year is fast approaching and who can say what fortunes lay ahead …

HOCKEY

Newtown 4, Joel Barlow 1

Newtown 4, Masuk 0

Newtown 15, Fitch/Lyme 1

Even though the game was slowed down by penalties, brothers Christian and Max Beitel led the Newtown High School ice hockey team to a solid 4-1 season-opening win over Joel Barlow last week at the Danbury Ice Arena.

The Nighthawks followed up with a 4-0 shutout of Masuk last Friday at the Danbury Ice Arena and a 15-1 shellacking of the Fitch/East Lyme Co-Op at Connecticut College on Tuesday night to improve to 3-0-0 on the year.

Against Joel Barlow, the Beitel brothers had two points with one assist and one goal each. Feeding off one another, they set the tempo for the game, and the Nighthawks never looked back.

Barlow managed to temper the excitement of the first Beitel to Beitel goal when senior Ronny Basak-Smith scored, tying the game 1-1. However, Newtown came racing back immediately. Off of a nice pass from junior Matt Wright, fellow junior Francis Oggeri hit a great short-hand shot in the upper right corner of the net, and Newtown took the 2-1 lead.

From that point on, Newtown played a physical game and they continued to outplay the Falcons.

Matt Wright scored the third goal of the night for Newtown, notching his second point of the game. Then in the third period, Beitel and Beitel connected once again, this time junior Max scored and sophomore Christian and senior Chris Kraft assisted him.

First year starter sophomore Mitch Bloomberg played well in the net for Newtown, as did senior Taylor Casey on defense and junior Blake Bell playing center.

 – Jake Burg contributed

Newtown 4, Joel Barlow 1

GOALS: Newtown – Christian Beitel, Matt Wright, Max Beitel, Francis Oggeri; Joel Barlow – Ronny Basak-Smith. ASSISTS: Newtown – Max Beitel, Matt Wright, Christian Beitel, Chris Kraft; Joel Barlow – Kevin Mallozzi. SHOTS: Newtown – 28; Joel Barlow – 12. SAVES: Newtown – Mitch Bloomberg 11; Joel Barlow – Drew Smithers 24.

 

WRESTLING

Newtown 53, Weston 27

Newtown 63, Joel Barlow 13

Riding the momentum from a strong third-place finish at the annual Guilford Tournament, the Newtown High School wrestling team rolled over a pair of South-West Conference foes last Wednesday to improve to 2-1 overall.

The Nighthawks pounded Weston, 53-27, and crushed Joel Barlow, 63-13.

John Gouveia, Dana Van Buskirk, and Jagi Gyamcho won both of their matches to improve to 7-0 overall. At the same time, Joel Minalgo, Bryant Aliaga and Kenny Cardelle remained undefeated in SWC matches at 3-0.

The match of the night was Tyler Reszoly’s pin of Weston’s Drew Grabfield in the 103-pound division.

Reszoly earned the pin in 96 seconds … but it wasn’t the fastest of the six pins the Nighthawks earned in the match against Weston. In the 189-pound division, Aliaga nailed down a pin of Tom McNally in just 49 seconds.

Meanwhile, Van Buskirk earned a couple of pins over two of the toughest opponents he has faced as of yet – Cody Nusbaum of Weston and Kyle Pratt of Joel Barlow. Van Buskirk pinned Nusbaum in 1:25 and then downed Pratt in 3:39.

Mark Bonamici earned a key pin, as well, at 130 pounds when he stopped Tucker German of Weston in 1:42.

The locals host Immaculate on Wednesday morning and will be in Danbury this weekend for the annual Danbury Tournament. They will return to South-West Conference action next Thursday when they host New Milford at 7 pm.

Newtown 53, Weston 27

103 – Tyler Reszoly (N) pins Drew Grabfield 1:36; 112 – Bryan Turnell (W) forfeit; 119 – John Gouveia (N) forfeit; 125 – Dana Van Buskirk (N) pins Cody Nusbaum 1:25; 130 – Mark Bonamici (N) pins Tucker German 1:42; 135 – Tom Lavine (W) pins Andrew Kmetetz 2:35; 140 – Andy Pressman (W) pins Mitch Rucinski 4:41; 145 – Jesse Nusbaum (W) dec. Chris Salvatore 17-9; 152 – Jagi Gyamcho (N) tech fall Ryan Emberling 17-2; 160 – Kenny Cardelle (N) pins Jake Richard 1:36; 171 – Remy Bolea (W) pins Matt Breede 1:07; 189 – Bryant Aliaga (N) pins Tom McNally 0:49; 215 – Joel Minaglo (N) pins Matt Drucks 3:03; 285 – Thaddeus Adams (N) forfeit.

Newtown 63, Barlow 13

103 – Tyler Reszoly (N) forfeit; 112 – Matt Bellantoni (B) forfeit; 119 – John Gouveia (N) pins Matt Traggianeese 4:57; 125 – Dana Van Buskirk (N) pins Kyle Pratt 3:39; 130 – Mark Bonamici (N) forfeit; 135 – Andrew Kmetetz (N) pins Yago Carneiro 0:50; 140 – Mitch Rucinski (N) pins Mike Ashtan 0:23; 145 – Rob Fiore (B) major dec. Chris Salvatore 18-4; 152 – Ed White (N) forfeit; 160 – Jagi Gyamcho (N) pins Kyle Ungar 3:53; 171 – Kenny Cardell (N) dec. Billy Fow 9-6; 189 – Bryant Aliaga (N) forfeit; 215 – Joel Minaglo (N) forfeit; 285 – Flores (B) dec. Thaddeus Adams 12-9.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Bunnell 43, Newtown 40

It seemed inevitable … almost fated.

As shaky as the Bunnell High School girls’ basketball team was shooting from the perimeter all night in its pre-holiday battle with Newtown, it seemed inevitable that the Lady Bulldogs would win the game on a three-pointer.

And they did.

Alice Guglielmoni canned a trey with less than five seconds left to play to snap a 40-40 tie and hand the ‘Dogs the improbable win – improbable in the sense that the Lady Nighthawks had a 38-32 lead midway through the fourth quarter before the hosts rallied with a 12-2 run to close out the game.

Newtown fell to 3-2 overall.

The ‘Hawks had taken that lead after Bunnell had slipped out in front, 32-31, when Christie Iwanicki had to spend some time on the bench in foul trouble. But Morgan Knees started the rally with a turnaround shot in the low post and Katie Condon kept it going with back-to-back baskets. And Nora Lynn Shimko – who had the only three for Newtown on the night – canned a free throw to put the ‘Hawks up by six.

But with 2:30 left to play, the ‘Dogs started the rally that would win the game. Knees (12 points) and Iwanicki (14 points) would have the only Newtown points down the stretch, both coming at the free throw line.

The locals misfired on 32-of-45 shots from the floor and misfired on 9-of-22 shots from the free throw line.

The girls travel to Bridgeport Central on Wednesday afternoon and will host Stamford on Friday before returning to their South-West Conference schedule next Wednesday when they host Kolbe Cathedral.

Bunnell 43, Newtown 40

NEWTOWN (40): Jen Brewer 0 0-0 0, Jordyn Good 0 0-0 0, Christie Iwanicki 4 6-9 14, Nora Lynn Shimko 1 1-2 4, Kristi Nowak 2 0-0 4, Morgan Knees 3 6-10 12, Katie Condon 2 0-1 4. TOTALS: 13 13-22 40.

BUNNELL (43): Shannon Hovan 0 0-0 0, Chrissy Calabrese 1 3-4 5, Alice Guglielmoni 2 0-0 6, Erynn Miller 3 0-0 6, Ishere Milfort 5 4-5 14, Joelle Schrock 2 2-2 8, Rebecca Carss 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 15 9-11 43.

Three-pointers: Guglielmoni (B) 2, Schrock (B) 2, Shimko (N).

BOYS BASKETBALL

Bethel 69, Newtown 64

Talk about funny.

For three games, the Newtown High School boys’ basketball team was laying bricks at the free throw line and yet, somehow, the Nighthawks managed to win all three.

Last Friday in Bethel, the ‘Hawks were nearly perfect, hitting on 24-of-26 attempts from the charity stripe and yet, somehow, dropped a 69-64 overtime decision to the Wildcats.

Of course, the outcome had less to do with free throws than with the effort of Bethel’s Donny Walsh, who scored all 16 of his points after the third quarter but was only one of four ‘Cats in double figures on the night.

Chris Carillo and Kyle Devany scored 15 apiece while Ryan Rose added 13.

Newtown – which had opened the season at 3-0 with wins over Masuk, Kaynor Tech and Bunnell – was led by senior center Mike Kennedy, who scored 18 points while hitting 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Kevin Troy added 13 and Shaun Coakley had another strong day in the middle, scoring 11.

Jason Smith and Jack Quinn both hit treys for the Nighthawks, who rallied from a three-point third-quarter deficit to take the lead until Walsh hit a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

The locals opened the Newtown Holiday Tournament on Wednesday against Ridgefield. The consolation and championships games will be Friday at 6 and 8 pm.

NOTE: With their 24-of-26 effort from the foul line, the Nighthawks raised their team foul-shooting percentage nearly 13 points – from 44.6 to 57.

Bethel 69, Newtown 64

NEWTOWN (64): Mike Kennedy 4 10-11 18, Tucker Kass 0 2-2 2, Dan Smith 0 0-0 0, Jack Quinn 2 0-0 5, Kevin Troy 5 3-3 13, Jason Smith 2 0-0 5, Jake DeVellis 1 2-2 4, Shaun Coakley 4 3-4 11, Joey DeVellis 1 4-4 6. TOTALS: 19 24-26 64.

BETHEL (69): Chris Carillo 5 1-1 15, Keegan Burke 1 0-0 3, Ryan Rose 3 7-8 13, Matt Barnes 1 1-3 3, Adam Bomberger 1 0-0 2, Robbie Phelps 0 0-0 0, Kyle Devany 6 3-4 15, Donny Walsh 4 8-10 16, Clay Hines 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 22 20-26 69.

Three-pointers: Chris Carillo (B) 4, Jason Smith (N), Jack Quinn (N), Keegan Burke (B).