Wolcott Tech’s Anton Dzeidzic pins Gilbert’s Arthur Ding in 45 seconds of the first round. Wolcott Tech won the match 36-34.
Pete Paguaga – Register Citizen
WINSTED >> In a battle of attrition, Wolcott Tech wrestlers Anton Dziedzic and Kevin Crispin got pins in a 36-34 win at The Gilbert School Thursday evening.
That was enough to edge the Yellowjackets.
Gilbert’s Logan Smith scored a pin; Greg Rutkowski took a major decision.
The rest of the matches for the two small teams were forfeits, with a steady stream of wrestlers in the weight classes from one team, then the other, coming up to the table looking for an opponent.
In two classes, 182 and 285, neither team had a contestant.
“Our new class just killed us,” said second-year Wildcat coach Chris Mark. “We got just one freshman to come out.”
Gilbert coaches Doug Smith and Dan Langer were happy to draw three wrestlers from a contingent of 22 international students at the school.
The bad news is, they’re all new to wrestling.
“We have a couple of strong guys, a couple of new guys, but a lot of holes in our lineup,” said Coach Smith. “Last season, Gilbert typically forfeited five or more weight classes each match. At six match points apiece, we were 30 or more points behind before any wrestling event began.”
Thursday, the forfeits were even, five apiece, but the experience levels were lopsided.
At 195 pounds, Wildcat Crispin, a senior, pinned one international freshman, Taurus Wu, in 41 seconds.
Teammate Dziedzic is a sophomore with just one year of experience. It showed up big against no experience at all. He pinned another international student, Arthur Ding, in 45 seconds.
Gilbert’s wins were tougher.
Gilbert’s Logan Smith pinned Wolcott Tech’s Adam Green 15 seconds into the third period.
Pete Paguaga – Register Citizen
Logan Smith, a sophomore who was sixth in Class S at 152 as a freshman, faced Adam Green, a tough sophomore who held off Logan’s pin until the final period was almost gone.
Smith, one of Coach Doug’s five wrestling sons, grew up wrestling.
“There’s a lot of team effort,” he said. “We work together real well. Because of the small numbers, we get even closer.”
Smith wrestled at 160 pounds Thursday. He expects to get back to 152 by state tournament time.
“I like to experiment and see where my body wants to go,” he said. “It’s okay to go down in weight, but I never want to wrestle weak.”
Gilbert’s Greg Rutkowski, a senior, and Tech sophomore Juan Constango-Samuel had a close match for two periods. Then Rutkowski’s experience pulled him away.
Coaches on both sides need more kids to coach.
Marks, who won back-to-back state open titles in 2004-05 as a student at Northwestern, led the Highlanders to a State Championship as a senior, along with fellow champions Joel Webster and Tim Mandel.
With a ton of likable enthusiasm, he’s primed to turn wrestlers into champions. So far this year, he has just eight candidates, plus two more still working on a required 10 practice sessions before they can compete.
The same is true of Smith and Langer.
Head coach Smith, a 13-year veteran along with assistant Langer, bemoans the dropoff in numbers across the league, especially in the loss of Thomaston’s entire program.
Winsted has a youth wrestling program, Steel Hill, which may re-stock Gilbert and Northwestern programs.
For the rest of the league, Smith hopes leaders might consider adding the NVL’s Seymour and Derby to its regular wrestling competition, since the NVL lacks a formal wrestling program.
Wolcott Tech 36, Gilbert 34
At The Gilbert School
145: Gage Coon (WT) by forfeit. 152: Anton Dzeidzic (WT) pinned Arthur Ding (G), :45. 160: Logan Smith (G) pinned Adam Green (WT), 4:45. 170: Greg Rutkowski (G) maj. dec. Juan Constanzo-Samuel (WT), 23-13. 182: double forfeit. 195: Kevin Crispin (WT) pinned Tauras Wu (G), :41. 220: Jake Thulin (WT) by forfeit. 285: double forfeit. 106: Moonis Ansari (G) by forfeit. 113: Tyler Duplin (G) by forfeit. 120: Kyle Thomas (WT) by forfeit. 126: Mike Phillips (G) by forfeit. 132: Eric LaCava (WT) by forfeit. 138: Johnson Xu (G) by forfeit.
Records: Wolcott Tech 1-0; Gilbert 0-1.
