Wildcats Roar Back to Topple Enfield, 45-33

Despite trailing 33-6 at the midway point of Monday night's wrestling meet, coach Chris Potter felt confident his team could pull out a win over .

"I knew they'd get an early lead for sure, all their upper weights are tough," Potter said, "but I knew with our lighter weights, we'd get our lead back. I figured it would come down to the last match, and our captain, Joey Gleason, really stepped up."

Gleason completed a streak of seven straight Wildcat victories, including six by pinfall, by pinning Tony Perrone in the second period, enabling Suffield to prevail, 45-33.

The host Raiders dominated the first half of the meet, which began with the 152-pounders. Enfield picked up four pins, a decision and a forfeit win, while Suffield had just one forfeit victory. "We have a lot more experience in the upper weights," Enfield coach Brian Olsen said.

Suffield's comeback began at 112 pounds, where Dillon Lisk pinned Whitney DeClaybrook. Three more pins followed, then the Wildcats tied the meet 33-33 on a thrilling 10-8 overtime win by Dan D'Ostuni over Jarret Maloney.

"That one surprised me," Potter said. "We were counting that one as a sure win, and their kid really wrestled his heart out."

"(Maloney) is a first-year wrestler going up against a junior, so there's a bit of a size difference there," Olsen said, "but Jarret's been working hard all year, and he's really psyched about wrestling. We expect a lot from him in the future."

Nate Muska pinned Enfield's Richard Wages to put the Wildcats in front for the first time, then Gleason sealed the victory for Suffield by pinning Perrone.

"I knew it would come down to the last few matches, and it could have gone either way," Olsen said. "(Gleason) actually weighed in to go 140, so he bumped up; smart move by their coach to go head-to-head, so hats off to them."

Suffield improved to 8-10, while the Raiders dropped to 7-13.

Both teams conclude their regular season Wednesday night. Suffield hosts Stafford, while Enfield travels to Somers. Match time for both meets is 6 p.m.

Match Results

103 - Nick Martocchio (E) won by forfeit
112 - Dillon Lisk (S) pinned Whitney DeClaybrook at 1:31
119 - Kevin Bentz (S) pinned Kyle Haber at 1:15
125 - Taylor Davenport (S) pinned Amanda Rader at 3:26
130 - Ryan Hunihan (S) pinned Bryan Murphy at 1:54
135 - Dan D'Ostuni (S) dec. Jarret Maloney, 10-8 (OT)
140 - Nate Muska (S) pinned Richard Wages at 0:41
145 - Joey Gleason (S) pinned Tony Perrone at 2:40
152 - Ryan Rader (E) pinned Kyle Taylor at 1:12
160 - Tristen Cauley (S) won by forfeit
171 - Jack Cimino (E) pinned Zach Whittle at 1:01
189 - Jon Landry (E) pinned Hector Leon at 2:44
215 - Kyle Fedorowsky (E) dec. Sean Kucia, 7-2
285 - Tony Young (E) pinned Geoff Kaplan at 3:16