Hatters Wrap Up Wrestling Season With Victory

The Hatters wrapped up the regular season Tuesday with a 44-19 victory over the Golden Eagles of Trumbull at Danbury High School. 

Captain Dylan Bryant started things off for the Hatters with a first period pin over Joey Aloi at the 119-pound weight class.  Other first period pins were turned in by Shane Jennings at the 130-pound slot, Tyler Hancock at 171 pounds, and Will Jack at 189.

Bryant’s pin came with a crafty arm lock that several Hatters employed against their Trumbull opponents.

“It’s just an arm bar,” Bryant said.  “It’s great because it goes in any direction you want it to.  Once you lock it up, you’re scoring points.”

Trumbull proved to be stiff competition for the Hatters, a somewhat rarity on a season that’s featured multiple blowout victories.  The Golden Eagles were able to win six bouts in the meet.

Several matches came down to the wire, including 125-pounder Luke Chavez’ bout against Trumbull’s David Barbar.  Chavez found himself down 8-3 in the third period, but after an escape and takedown with just :25 remaining brought him within two points of Barbar.  With limited time on the clock, Chavez was unable to score any near fall points, and lost 8-6.

Danbury junior Tommy Gaboardi had an impressive performance at the 145-pound weight class, earning a major decision over Trumbull’s Jeff Sam.  Most of Gaboardi’s points were scored on near fall opportunities in a three period stretch of dominant wrestling.

In the match’s final action, sophomore Zack Tepper earned a victory by tech fall over Golden Eagle Brandon Linsky.  Linksy jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, but Tepper stole the momentum back before the end of the first period with a powerful reversal and three near fall points.  From there it was all Tepper as the Hatter was able to gain four more sets of near fall points en route to victory.

After the match, Tepper was happy with his victory but disappointed that Saturday’s match against New Milford was cancelled.

“It was disappointing,” he said.  “We were really looking forward to showing them that we’re still first in the state, regardless of what the rankings say.”

With the win, Danbury finishes the regular season at 14-1.  The only blemish came against Mt. Anthony, a Vermont team with more consecutive state titles than any team in the nation.

“Everyone has been saying it’s our down year, but I’ll take it,” laughed Danbury Head Coach Ricky Shook as the gym was emptying.  “Our only loss was against Mt. Anthony, and they’ve beaten everybody in New England.”

The Hatters will compete in the FCIAC tournament on Friday and Saturday.  Action starts Friday at 4:15 at New Canaan High School.

COMPLETE RESULTS

119: Dylan Bryant (D) pin Joey Aloi (T) 1:59

125: David Barbar (T) dec. Luke Chavez (D) 8-6

130: Shane Jennings (D) pin David Briganti (T) 1:29

135: Ben Anderson (T) dec. Chris Eanniello (D) 10-4

140: Tim Douthit (T) maj. dec. Tyler Arsenault (D) 15-3

145: Tommy Gaboardi (D) maj. dec. Jeff Sam (T) 13-0

152: Ryan Peterson (D) pin Jimy Lindine (T) 4:39

160: Stephen Penney (D) dec. Tristan Jakobson (D) 2-0

171: Tyler Hancock (D) pin Diego Carrillo (T) :44

189: Will Jack (D) pin Andrew Marino (T) 1:11

215: Bryan Barnash (T) dec. Eddie Garcia (D) 5-3

285: Zach Votek (T) dec. Jevon Pegues (D) 4-0

103: Kevin Jack (D) tech. fall Dylan Haviland (T) 15-0

112: Zack Tepper (D) tech. fall Brandon Linsky (T) 20-4