Danbury match with MAU cancelled due to auto accident

The Danbury and Mt. Anthony wrestling programs have a long history of competing against each other.

Danbury’s traditional Martin Luther King, Jr. Day wrestling match with long-time Vermont state champion Mt. Anthony Union was cancelled after an Mt. Anthony assistant coach and three wrestlers were involved in a serious auto accident on Saturday returning from a tournament in Essex, Vermont.

According to Vermont State Police, troopers responded to an accident on Saturday at 5:35 p.m. in Monkton, Vermont, where they found a two-vehicle crash.

Police said that a GMC Yukon XL, driven by Chao Xu, 35, of McLean, Virginia, lost control of his vehicle and slid into the opposing southbound travel lane where it collided with a Toyota Tacoma driven by a Mount Anthony assistant coach Christopher Glaski, 53, of Bennington, Vt., and carrying three members of the MAU wrestling team.

The police report said that it was clear but there was snow and slush on the road.

Police said that Glaski and one passenger sustained moderate injuries while two passengers sustained serious injuries. Police said that airbags deployed in both vehicles and there was severe contact damage to the front end of both vehicles.

School officials confirmed to the Bennington Banner that Glaski and the three passengers in his vehicle were transported to a local medical center for treatment.

The Mount Anthony wrestlers were returning from the Michael J. Baker wrestling tournament in Essex, Vermont, in the northern part of the state. MAU is located in Bennington, which is in the southern part of the state. The Patriots finished second behind Massabesic, Maine in the Baker tournament.

Beginning in 2001, Danbury and Mt. Anthony faced each other each year through 2020, traditionally on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Since 2021, Danbury and Mt. Anthony have met just twice in 2023 and 2024. The other matches were cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic that cancelled the season in 2021 and snow storms in 2022 and 2025.

Mt. Anthony Union has won 36 consecutive Vermont state championships, including their latest title last March. In Vermont, there is just one state-wide tournament. The Patriots have also won nine New England championships.