Fairfield Warde's Josh Pastore works to turn over New Canaan's Ben Clay during high school wrestling action in Fairfield, Conn., on Friday Jan. 31, 2020.
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media
FAIRFIELD — The Warde wrestling team put on a show Friday afternoon, taking down both Trumbull and New Canaan in a quad meet Friday night that also featured John Jay from New York.
As the fourth-ranked dual team in the state per connwrestling.com, Warde outscored it’s in state opponents 127-22 combined.
Warde handled No. 8 Trumbull rather easily 53-18 to open the meet.
Griffin Gallati (195 pounds), Alec Nardone (220), Dylan Cruvinel (120), Jeremy Brault (138), and Cole Shaughnessy (152) each had pins in the match.
Warde got out to a 43-0 lead before Trumbull’s Mikey Longo got his team on the board with a pin.
“Trumbull is always a good team,” Warde coach Jason Shaughnessy said. “We always respect them coming in. We thought that we were the favorite, but we certainly wanted to work hard and get the win on them. It’s all about wrestling well, competing, getting ready for other matches and getting ready for the postseason.”
Warde proceeded to roll through New Canaan 74-4 in its second match of the evening.
“Every time I enter a match and enter a dual I want to win those even matches,” Coach Shaughnessy said. “I want to win the matches where we are underdogs and I think against Trumbull and even New Canaan there are some matches where we were the underdog and we won those matches or it was a toss match and we won those too. As a whole I think we won a lot of close matches and I am pleased with that.”
Nine Mustangs recorded pins in the blowout victory, including an impressive pin by sophomore Josh Pastore.
“Our heavyweight, (Pastore) is a sophomore and he is a first-year wrestler for us,” Coach Shaughnessy said. “He wrestled a big strong senior and we are just really impressed with how well he is developing. He is 17-5 as a first year and he shows us something new every time he steps on the mat.”
Cruvinel, Brault, C. Shaughnessy, and Gallati each had a pin against New Canaan as well, their second of the evening.
New Canaan’s lone four points were credited to Tucker Milligan after taking the decision in the 126-pound matchup.
With perennial powerhouse Danbury looming on Tuesday, Warde will look to continue its success at the highest level.
“That Danbury match is always sitting on the schedule,” Coach Shaughnessy said. “Our goal every year is to beat Danbury, they have always been the best team in Connecticut. All I tell the kids is to do their job. If 14 kids do the best they can then hopefully we can close the gap and see if we can push them this week.”
