Bryant Crowned Champion

Danbury captain Dylan Bryant won the 119-pound championship at the State LL Tournament in Trumbull on Saturday, but the Hatters’ streak of 13 consecutive State LL titles was snapped by the Falcons of Xavier High School.

“We just didn’t have a great day,” Hatters Head Coach Ricky Shook said after the tournament.  “We’re bound to have those once in a while, and Xavier had a great day.  We beat them in a dual this year, and we wrestled great that day, better than them.   Today, they wrestled better than us.”

The Hatters made a strong push towards capturing yet another state title in Friday’s opening rounds, advancing 12 wrestlers to today’s quarterfinals.  Of those quarterfinalists, just five Danbury wrestlers advanced to the semifinals, and Bryant was the Hatters’ sole finalist.

Bryant, the No. 3 seed in the 119-pound slot, advanced easily through the quarterfinals with a tech fall victory over Southington’s Nathan Solomon and squared off against Glastonbury’s second-seeded Cody Keane.  Although Keane had defeated Bryant in the past, the Hatter handled his opponent easily and won 10-2.

In the finals, Bryant faced top-seeded Sam O’Dell of South Windsor, who he lost to in last year’s LL final.  The Danbury wrestler exacted revenge on O’Dell, rolling to a 9-0 major decision victory.

“It feels good, considering I was runner-up last year, and lost to [O’Dell],” Bryant said after his championship victory.  “I feel a lot better this year, and more confident.”

Hatters Head Coach Ricky Shook said that with Bryant’s drive for excellence and determination to constantly get better, it’s no surprise that Bryant came home with the crown.

“He worked for it all year.  I watched him, the past two years, wrestle all those guys, and he always came up short,” Shook explained after the tournament.  “He put in all the work and he got what he deserved.”

Danbury freshman Kevin Jack reached the 103-pound semifinals with a 13-3 major decision over Shelton’s Mark Failla.  In the semifinal round, Jack faced Westhill’s top-seeded Pascal Medor in a rematch of last week’s FCIAC final matchup, which Jack won.  This time, Medor got the better of the Danbury freshman and went on to take second place in the tournament.  With his performance in consolation rounds, Jack qualified for the State Open Tournament in New Haven with a fourth-place finish.

Also qualifying for next week’s State Open was Kevin’s brother, Will Jack, who finished at third place in the 189-pound weight class for the Hatters.  Will, the No. 7 seed, was pinned in the third period of his semifinal match to No. 3 Duncan Cozens of Ridgefield.  Will went on to win the consolation bracket, resulting in his third-place finish. 

The “Cinderella story” of the tournament was undoubtedly Danbury’s Jevon Pegues, who reached the semifinals as a No. 14 seed with upset victories over No. 3 Gus Garcia of Platt Tech and No. 11 Luis Jiminez of Brien McMahon.  Pegues’ memorable run ended with a 5-0 loss to Staples’ Julian Gendels in the semifinal round.

Other Hatters to reach the semifinals included 112-pounder Zach Tepper and Shane Jennings at 130 pounds, both of whom finished in fifth place and will be alternates for the state open.