Nick Wood of Danbury, top, beats Dave
Nuzzolo of Amity in a 160-pound match at the Danbury Holiday
Tournament Saturday at Danbury High.
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For the 20th time, the Hatters claimed the overall title with 289.5 points, while Amity was a distant second at 124. Stamford took third with 113.5 points.
"We always strive to win our own tournament," said Danbury coach Ricky Shook. "Individually, I like to see our kids pushed and this was the hardest, most competitive tournament we have had here while I have been coaching."
While Shook was impressed with the overall level of competition in the tournament, the 16 visiting teams from New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts did little to stop Danbury.
The Hatters secured the overall title by the middle of the afternoon and then went to work on individual goals. With 11 grapplers in the finals, Danbury collected seven titles and improved on recent holiday tournament performances. More importantly, the Hatters continued a start to this season that has some believing that capturing that elusive New England team championship is possible.
"We think that as a team we have something special this year," said Danbury captain Dean Smith. "We are just taking this one tournament at a time -- first being the FCIACs, then the LLs, then the Open and then New England."
The Hatters demonstrated their ability to score team points early and often against the field. Out of the 15 weight classes the Hatters had a top-four finisher in all but two (135 and 160 pounds).
In the 145 final, Danbury conquered both halves of the bracket with John Goncalves and Tucker Schaefer reaching the final.
"We've always come here and it's the toughest tournament that we attend," said Newtown coach Alan Potter. "This is the chance to the see the best wrestlers in the state and it allows the kids something to shoot for."
"It is impossible when you get to the level of Danbury to compare or question whether they are better or worse from year to year," Potter added. "It looks like they will once again win the LL and the Open and as always they are deep."
The Hatters' first title of the night was claimed at 95 pounds as freshman James Patton took a 4-0 decision over Amity's Pete Litwin. That win demonstrated the depth of the Hatters as Patton rarely cracks the regular Danbury lineup.
In the 112 final, Danbury sophomore J.D. Damici dismissed two-time defending SCC champion Mike Briskin of Cheshire with an 11-3 major decision for the Hatters' second title.
Two local South-West Conference wrestlers and a Massachusetts import briefly interrupted the Hatters' lightweight run.
New Milford's Anthony Amorando pinned Tyler Arsenault at 119 and Newtown's John Goveia beat Danbury's George Madkour by a 4-2 decision at 125. At 130, Todd Patterson, of Northfield Mount Hermon, breezed to a 11-0 major decision over Danbury's Charlie Costanzo. New Fairfield's Mike Frick claimed the 135 title with a 6-4 decision over Amity's Stephen Krohley.
With the middleweights on the mats, Danbury claimed its third and fourth titles. At 145, Schaefer took a 5-0 decision from Goncalves and at 152 Smith claimed his sixth consecutive victory over New Milford's Mike Bellagamba with a 6-0 decision. It was the Hatters' fourth title on the night and a second consecutive title for Smith in the Holiday tournament.
"This tournament is a big deal to us," said Smith. "It prepares us for bigger tournaments because we know the wrestlers we face here we will face later in the season."
Danbury scored three more titles with their upper weights. At 189, Dylan Hancock came from behind with a monstrous third period for a 10-4 decision over Max Wright of Northfield Mount Hermon. At 215, Joe LaDuca remained undefeated with a 5-0 decision over Southington's Alex Uliasz. Heavyweight Humphrey Swift secured the final Hatter title with a pin against East Windor's Steve Storosuk.
TEAM SCORES: 1. Danbury 289.5, 2. Amity 124, 3. Stamford 113.5, 4. New Milford 111, 5. Northfield Mount Hermon 106.5, 6. Southington 102.5, 7. Hand 78, 8. Cheshire 71.5, 9. Bunnell 68, 10. Newtown 60, 11. Danbury B 53, 12. East Windsor 52, 13. New Fairfield 48.5, 14. Shepaug 38, 15. Trinity Pawling 28, 15. Fermi 28, 17. Westhill 9.
95: James Patton, Danbury, dec. Pete Litwin, Amity, 4-0. Consolation: Gram Davies, New Milford, by forfeit.
103: Ryan Ponte, Northfield Mount Hermon, dec. Kevin Workman, Bunnell, 2-0. Consolation: Doug Fontaine, Southington, by default.
112: J.D. Damici, Danbury, dec. Mike Briskin, Cheshire, 11-3. Consolation: Eddie Caroll, Hand, dec. Spencer Ciancola, Amity, 3-2.
119: Anthony Amorando, New Milford, pinned Tyler Arsenault, Danbury, 3:28. Consolation: Rob West, Windsor, dec. Joe Cala, Amity, 4-2.
125: John Goveia, Newtown, dec. George Madkour, Danbury, 4-2. Consolation: Jason Camacho, Stamford, dec. Jake Miller, East Windsor, 7-4.
130: Todd Patterson, Northfield Mount Hermon, dec. Charlie Costanzo, Danbury, 11-0. Consolation: Mike Battinelli, Stamford, dec. Jessie Broderick, New Fairfield, 4-1.
135: Mike Frick, New Fairfield, dec. Stephen Krohley, Amity, 6-4. Consolation: Alex Camacho, Stamford, dec. Marty Tarantino, Northfield Mount Herman.
140: Kyle Palmer, Trinity-Pawling, pinned Mike Vernik, Amity, :57. Consolation: John Smith, Danbury, pinned D.J. McCarthy, New Fairfield, 3:49.
145: Tucker Schaefer, Danbury, dec. John Goncalves, Danbury, 5-0. Consolation: Joe Riesman, Shepaug, dec. Doug Robinson, Amity, 11-4.
152: Dean Smith, Danbury dec. Mike Bellagamba, New Milford, 6-0. Consolation: Erialy Pierre Sain, Stamford, pinned Kyle Copes, Cheshite, 3:42.
160: Jesse Posl-Rhinea, Northfield Mount Hermon, dec. Joe Lambert, Fermi, 7-0. Consolation: Rob Tomlinson, Cheshire, dec. Dillon Ritchie, Southington, 2-0.
171: Trevor Ritchie, Southington, dec. Cody Griswold, New Milford, 3-2. Consolation: Kyle Kennedy, Danbury, pinned Scott Wolf, Shepaug, 2:34.
189: Dillon Hancock, Danbury, dec. Max Wright, Northfield Mount Hermon, 10-4. Consolation: Andrew Pugliese, Amity, dec. Nick Charney, Bunnell, 12-2.
215: Joe LaDuca, Danbury, dec. Alex Uliasz, Southington, 5-0.
Consolation: Damien Velez, Stamford, pinned Matt Gillespie, Amity, 1:48.
285: Humphrey Swift, Danbury, pinned Steve Storozuk, East Windsor, 2:44. Consolation: Julian Bosch, Stamford, pinned Kevin Holmes, Danbury, 2:29.