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Sports

Shelton Wrestlers Fall To Amity

Gaels loses 43-32 to Spartans in the SCC match to drop to 8-5 on the season

The Shelton wrestling team dropped a 43-32 decision to Amity on Wednesday night in a Southern Connecticut Conference meet in Woodbridge.

Trailing 37-32 lead heading into the last match, the Gaels still had a chance to win,  but Amity senior Jeff Najmowicz pinned junior Bill Clifford in 1 minute, 45 seconds at 171 pounds to clinch the victory.

Shelton dropped to 8-5, while Amity improve to 7-7, although the Spartans are unbeaten at home.   

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In the previous match at 160 pounds Amity’s Colin Donohue was called for clasping his hands (one-point penalty) with 2 seconds left in regulation.

That penalty sent the match into overtime tied at 11. Donohue had just executed a reversal prior to the penalty to take the lead 11-10.

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In the one-minute sudden death period, the Gaels’ Brian Antunes took down Donohue for a 13-11 victory with 38.2 seconds left.

“We have no excuses,” Shelton head coach Bill Maloney said. “Our varsity 171 pounder was out (Neil Jayakar). He has stepped up for us in the past and got a pin to beat Masuk this year.

"Give credit to Amity. They wrestled well and pinned when they needed to. It came down to the final match. You always just want a chance to win it and it was back and forth all night."

The night started well for the Gaels at 189-pounds as Mac Thompson opened with a pin over Pat Flynn of Amity in 2:51. Flynn had a 7-0 lead before a reversal by Thompson landed Flynn on his back.

Defending state open champion Pat Gillen, who is headed to the University of Virginia, pinned Amity senior Jon Antrum  at 215-pounds in 1:15 and Shelton led 12-0.

“At 189,  Mac Thompson is such an experienced wrestler and happened to catch him on his back,” Maloney addded. “We had a good feeling with Gillen going in and we expected that result. We were happy to be up two pins to begin with.”

Amity’s heavyweight Tyler Vitale got a pin of his own at 2:59 over James Mancini to cut the lead to 12-6.

Shelton got a technical fall and five points at 103 as Mark Failla beat freshman Austin MacDonald of Amity 15-0.

The Spartans’ Dan Grober came back with a pin of Connor McGinnis at 112 pounds in 2:51. Shelton matched with a pin as Sean Kellett stopped Jesse Calla at 119 pounds in 3:36.

Amity cut the lead to 23-18 when junior Nick Litwin pinned Mike Chernesky in 5:03 at 125 pounds.

In the 130-pound contest, The Spartans’  Tyler Bishop had a strong showing beating John Mahoney, 10-1. 

In a strategic move, Amity's Gabe Nudel was moved from his normal 140-pound slot to 135 pounds and pinned Mike Sampson in only 1:20.

Amity’s Jack Ireland then moved up to 140 pounds from his normal 135 slot and lost to junior Ed Hunt by pin in 1:18.

However, the Spartans grabbed the lead for good, 34-29 , on Jack Kane’s pin of  Joe Wardell at 145 pounds

At 152 pounds,  Amity picked up three points as Colby Schaefer beat Liam Cummings, 6-2.

Shelton has several top wrestlers in their lineup. Gillen is 23-0, Kellett is 20-3, Hunt 21-1 and Failla 18-1

“It is not going to get any easier for us,” Maloney said.” We have Hand on Monday and Xavier on Wednesday. I figured we’d be about where we are at this point in the season.

"We have lost to Hand, Amity, Glastonbury and Simsbury. We have lost to some quality teams.”

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