The Daniel Hand Wrestling Team suffered their only loss of the year this past Saturday at the New Fairfield Duals. At that event Hand defeated New Fairfield 72-12; Westhill 70-27; and Bristol Eastern 48-18. That set up the final match with #1 ranked Danbury. Danbury showed why they are the top ranked team in the state as the Tigers could only manage three wins against them as they fell 44-10.
The Tigers had no time to lament their loss as they needed to prepare to meet the #2 ranked team in the state at SCC rival Xavier on Wednesday night. The Xavier gym was packed as it was Senior Night for the Falcons.
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The match started at 195 and Carter Chatillion moved up from his usual 182 weight class to face Jake Whalen. Chatillion had a big third period to win the opening match 7-5. At 220 Xavier’s Sean Marinan was too strong for Victor Buchetto as Marinan recorded a pin in 47 seconds. At 285 Joe Demichele (H) and Ben Lisle ended the first period standing up (0-0) as no one was able to get a takedown. In the second period Demichele was able to turn Lisle and get the pin at the 3:29 mark. Hand now led 9-6 and would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the night.
At 106 Matt Elias (H) recorded the fastest pin of the night over Patrick Precort (X) in 21 seconds. At 113 Will Chowanec (X) was in control throughout over Jonah Lewis (H) and won 15-6. At 120 Will Crisco (H) earned a major decision over Alex Kasinskas (X) 19-10. At 126 Max Flanagan (H) went the distance and was awarded a technical fall when he earned 3 back points at the final buzzer to make the score 17-2. At 132 Justin Elias (H) won by major decision over Colin Cunnigham (X) 14-2. With four matches remaining Hand led 28-10.
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At 138 Tucker MacGregor (H) won a hard fought match 3-2 over Brendan Butler (X). This win made the score Hand 31, Xavier 10 and clinched the match for Hand as Xavier was now trailing by 21 with only three matches remaining.
At 145 Jake Savoca (H) defeated Nishan Valentini (X) 16-3. At 152 Ben Onofrio (H) was outscored 7-0 by Ryan Butler (X). At 160 Luke Edwards (H) was pinned by Tyler Cunningham (X) in 33 seconds. Hand forfeited 170 and in the final match, Kevin Wivell (H) moved up from his usual 170 to wrestle Drew Pichnarcik (X) at 182. Wivell won his match 5-2 to make the final score Hand 38, Xavier 25.
Hand’s next action will be this Saturday at home for the SCC Tournament. They will likely see several repeat match-ups with Xavier opponents. Last year Hand defeated Xavier in the regular season but came in second to them at the 2011 SCC Tournament.
Hand was ranked #3 in the most recent Norwich Bulletin Coaches Poll. Xavier was ranked #2, their record now falls to 23-2. Xavier's only other loss this year was also to Danbury.
Box scores:
Daniel Hand 38, Xavier 25
at Xavier
195 Carter Chatillion (H) dec Jake Whalen (X) 7-5; 220 Sean Marinan (X) pin Victor Buchetto (H) 0:47; 285 Joe Demichele (H) pin Ben Lisle (X) 3:29; 106 Matt Elias (H) pin Patrick Precort (X) 0:21; 113 Will Chowanec (X) major dec Jonah Lewis (H) 15-6; 120 Will Crisco (H) major dec Alex Kasinskas (X) 13-3; 126 Max Flanagan (H) Tech Fall Jeremy Dilzer (X) 17-2; 132 Justin Elias (H) major dec Colin Cunningham (X) 14-2; 138 Tucker MacGregor (H) dec Brendan Butler (X) 3-2; 145 Jake Savoca (H) major dec Nishan Valentini (X) 16-3; 152 Ryan Butler (X) dec Ben Onofrio (H) 7-0; 160 Tyler Cunningham (X) pin Luke Edwards (H) 0:33; 170 Elliott Antler (X) forfeit; 182 Kevin Wivell (H) dec Drew Pichnarcik (X) 5-2
Danbury 44, Hand 10
At New Fairfield Duals (Sat. Feb. 4)
132 Dylan Bryant (D) dec. Justin Elias (H) 8-6; 138 Shane Jennings (D) dec. Tucker McGregor (H) 5-0; 145 Anthony Cote (D) dec. Ben Onofrio (H) 11-4; 152 Jake Savoca (H) dec. Johnny Garcia (D) 13-6; 160 Ryan Peterson (D) dec. Connor Carroll (H) 7-4; 170 Wesley Spears (D) dec. Kevin Wivell (H) 3-1 OT; 182 Will Jack (D) pin Carter Chatillion (H) 5:11; 195 Tyler Hancock (D) forfeit; 220 Eddie Garcia (D) pin Victor Bucetto (H) 0:42; 285 Joey DeMichele (H) dec. Jevon Pegues (D) 4-1; 106 Kevin Jack (D) major dec. Matt Elias (H) 11-2; 113 Chris Bryant (D) major dec. Jonah Lewis (H) 8-0; 120 Will Crisco (H) major dec. Zach Tepper (D) 16-6; 126 Steven Beckham (D) dec. Max Flanagan (H) 8-5
