Connect with us

High School

No. 1 Danbury shows who is boss, beating No. 2 Simsbury, Timberlane

Danbury’s Jordan Agosto has Simsbury’s D’Sean Martin on his back in Saturday’s match at 285 pounds. Agosto won by pin as No. 1 Danbury beat No. 2 Simsbury. (Photo courtesy Danbury High wrestling)

The Danbury High wrestling team has been winning for so long that it’s nothing new for opposing teams to get excited for the opportunity to challenge the Hatters. Long-time head coach Ricky Shook has been going through this for years. But each Danbury team has to learn how to fend off those challenges.

No. 1 Danbury looked sharp Saturday making a statement against an excited Simsbury team that had just come off a thrilling one-point win Timberlane Regional-Plaistow, N.H., the top-ranked team in New Hampshire. Against No. 2 Simsbury, Danbury won eight of the first nine bouts of the match with six pins as they dominated in a 51-17 victory in Danbury.

Then the Hatters followed that up with a 44-24 win over Timberlane with five pins for their first win over the Owls since 2017. Danbury (12-0) made it a sweep with a victory over Nashoba Regional from Bolton, Mass., 57-21. Nashoba is ranked No. 9 in the Bay State in the latest team rankings from MassWrestling.com.

During the off-season, Simsbury coach T.J. Silva jumped at the chance to be a part of this four-team meet. He wants his team to be contending for State Open and New England championships and wants his team to be challenged.

The Trojans were thrilled after beating Timberlane, 29-28 with a win by Saul Pera (145) in the final match. But Danbury quickly popped that bubble by winning eight of the first nine bouts against Simsbury with six pins to take a commanding 37-6 lead. Two of the six pins came in under 15 seconds.

“They were ready today from top to bottom,” Shook said. “A great day of wrestling for Danbury. A big days by (the kids) in the upper weights.”

They set the table and the lower weights cleaned up in all three bouts.

Danbury’s Kai O’Dell ties up Simsbury’s Ryan Finn in Saturday’s bout at 113 pounds. O’Dell won with a pin. (Photo courtesy Danbury High wrestling)

Jaylen Hawkins (170) began the match for Danbury with a pin followed by Tyrell Jones (182). At 195, Danbury’s Sean Donvan (195) squeaked out a 4-3 win over Simsbury’s Jack Cunningham before D.J. Donovan (220) and Jordan Agosto (285) got pins to give the Hatters a 27-0 lead after five matches. D.J. Donovan’s pin in 11 seconds really fired up the Danbury team and the crowd.

Ty Finn (132) won with a technical fall for Simsbury with teammates Saul Pera (145) and Carter Sirois (160) battling for victories. Sirois beat Daniel Camacho, 6-4 in the final bout of the dual meet.

Danbury kept the momentum going against Timberlane with three pins in the first four matches to take an 18-3 lead. With a major decision, the Owls cut the lead to 18-7 but Danbury won the next three matches with a decision, a major decision (worth four points) and a pin to extend the lead to 31-7.

Danbury had nine pins in a 57-21 win over Nashoba Regional-Bolton, Mass., who is ranked No. 9 in Massachusetts this week. Nashoba took a 9-0 lead by winning the first two matches of the bout before the Hatters got eight pins in the next nine matches to take command.

Tyrell Jones (192), Jordan D’Agostino (285), Kai O’Dell (113) and Tyler Johnson (126) were each 3-0 on the day with three pins for the Hatters while D.J. Donovan (220) and Kevin Pina (120) were 2-0 with a pair of pins. Ryan Jack (138) was 3-0 with two pins and a tech fall for Danbury.

Danbury’s Sean Donovan outlasted Simsbury’s Jack Cunningham, 3-2 in the bout at 195 pounds. (Photo courtesy Danbury High wrestling)

Simsbury’s victory over Timberlane was a thriller and when you win by a point, you get contributions up and down the lineup in victory and defeat.

After Simsbury’s Sirois (160) and Tyler Coiro (170) won their matches, the Trojans had a 9-0 lead only to see the Owls win three in a row to take a 12-9 lead. Simsbury’s D’Sean Martin (285) got a pin and Cael Finn (106) beat Timberlane’s John Fabrizo, 8-0. Winning by eight points gave the Trojans an extra point for a major decision – a crucial achievement in a one-point decision.

Timberlane won three straight bouts to take a 24-19 lead before Ty Finn (132) stopped the run with a 6-2 win over Timberlane’s Cody Wilde. At 138, Simsbury’s Chris Tamboulis lost to Timberlane’s Nick Pallara by just nine points, giving up four points instead of six (pin) or five (technical fall).

Simsbury’s John Mairano (145) gave the Trojans a chance to win after his 12-9 win over Adam Marquis that left the Trojans three points behind the Owls, 28-25. It came down to the final minute in Pera’s match at 152 against Timberlane’s Hale Russo.

Pera was able to turn Russo to his back in the final 20 seconds and ride out the clock to earn a 10-2 decision and four points that gave the Trojans the win, which snapped Timberlane’s 53-match winning streak.

Simsbury (8-1) finished out the day with a 52-9 win over Nashoba Regional.

Danbury 57, Nashoba Regional-Bolton MA 21
Danbury 51, Simsbury 17
Danbury 44, Timberlane Regional-Plaistow NH 24
Simsbury 29, Timberlane 28
Simsbury 52, Nashoba 9
Timberlane 57, Nashoba 21

Danbury 57, Nashoba Regional 21
At Danbury
160 Brevin Cassella (N) pin Azariah Rangel (D), 0:38; 170 Joshua Cordio (N) dec. Jaylen Hawkins (D), 5-1; 182 Tyrell Jones (D) pin Aidan Slater (N), 1:44; 195 Sean Donovan (D) pin Brody Flannery (N), 3:16; 220 Humza Qureshi (N) pin Jhonnyel Ramirez (D), 0:05; 285 Jordan Agosto (D) pin Joe Flannery (N), 2:50; 106 Sean Downey (N) pin Anthony Hacker (D), 1:59; 113 Kai O’Dell (D) pin Logan Shilhanek (N), 0:29; 120 Johnny Cerquiera (D) pin Dylan Brown (N), 2:44; 126 Tyler Johnson (D) pin Ralph (phillip) Lyle (N), 0:35; 132 Matt Lucas (D) pin Wilson Homer (N), 0:19; 138 Ryan Jack (D) pin Nick Cudmore (N), 2:44; 145 Gage Nunes (D) DEC Jamie Padovano (N), 4-2; 152 Jesse Patton (D) pin Deven Hubbard (N), 2:39
Records: Danbury 10-0, Nashoba Regional 12-3

Danbury 51, Simsbury 17
At Danbury
170 Jaylen Hawkins (D) pin Tyler Coiro (S), 3:07; 182 Tyrell Jones (D) pin Ryan Guilfoyle (S), 5:13; 195 Sean Donovan (D) dec. Jack Cunningham (S), 4-3; 220 DJ Donovan (D) pin Tommy Guilfoyle (S), 0:11; 285 Jordan Agosto (D) pin D’Sean Martin (S), 2:44; 106 Cael Finn (S) pin Anthony Hacker (D), 1:17; 113 Kai O’Dell (D) pin Ryan Finn (S), 3:39; 120 Kevin Pina (D) dec. Matt Putnam (S), 12-4; 126 Tyler Johnson (D) pin Nate Hotchkiss (S), 0:15; 132 Ty Finn (S) tech fall Matt Lucas (D), 16-1; 138 Ryan Jack (D) tech fall John Mairano (S), 26-10; 145 Saul Para (S) dec. Logan Kovacs (D), 9-3; 152 Jesse Patton (D) dec. Noah Pryzbek (S), 9-4; 160 Carter Sirois (S) dec. Daniel Camacho (D), 6-4
Records: Danbury 11-0, Simsbury 7-1

Danbury 44, Timberlane Regional 24
At Danbury
182 Tyrell Jones (D) pin Cooper Kelly (T), 4:26; 195 Niko Langlois (T) DEC Sean Donovan (D), 6-3; 220 D.J. Donovan (D) pin Chris Lund (T), 2:58; 285 Jordan Agosto (D) pin Malikai Colon (T), 1:04; 106 John Fabrizio (T) dec. Anthony Hacker (D), 13-5; 113 Kai O’Dell (D) dec. Konrad Parker (T), 4-0; 120 Kevin Pina (D) dec. Jake Rousseau (T), 14-5; 126 Tyler Johnson (D) pin John Leavitt (T), 5:43; 132 Codey Wild (T) pin Matt Lucas (D), 3:35; 138 Ryan Jack (D) pin Nick Pallaria (T), 0:33; 145 Logan Kovacs (D) dec.Adam Marquis (T), 10-8; 152 Anthony Rousseau (T) pin Jesse Patton (D), 3:35; 160 Bryce Parker (T) pin Daniel Camacho (D), 0:33; 170 Jaylen Hawkins (D) dec. Joe Friel (T), 15-4
Records: Danbury 12-0

Simsbury 29, Timberlane (NH) 28
At Danbury
160  Carter Sirois (S) dec. Konrad Parker (T) 5-2; 170 Tyler Coiro (S) pin Joe Friel (T) 1:30; 182 Cooper Kelly (T) pin Ryan Guilfoyle (S) 1:38; 195 Nico Langiuia (T) dec. Jack Cunningham (S) 7-3; 220 Chris Lund (T) dec. Tommy Guilfoyle (S) 5-3; 285 D’Sean Martin (S) pin Malaki Colon (T) 0:21; 106 Cael Finn (S) dec John Fabrizo (T) 8-0; 113 Bryce Parker (T) dec. Ryan Finn (S) 7-2; 120 Anthony Rousseau (T) pin Matt Putnam (S) 1:01; 126 John Levitt (T) dec. Nate Hotchkiss (S) 3-2; 132  Ty Finn (S) dec Cody Wilde (T) 6-2; 138 Nick Pallara (T) dec Chris Stamboulis (S) 15-6; 145 John Mairano (S) dec. Adam Marquis (T) 12-9; 152 Saul Pera (S) dec. Hale Russo (T) 10-2

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of Connecticut Wrestling Online. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

More in High School