FAIRFIELD, Conn. Fairfield Wardes wrestling team and coach Jason Shaughnessy had a special motivation for Wednesday's match against Greenwich. The mental energy for the Mustangs' 61-6 romp came from a setback in the meeting between the teams last year.
Warde wrestlers registered seven pins and lost just two matches to improve to 8-1 on the season. The Mustangs only loss is to New Milford, which is ranked third in the state in the latest coaches poll by the Norwich Bulletin. Warde is ranked seventh.
This one was a little personal for us, coach Jason Shaughnessy said. They beat us in the first match last season, and we wanted to come out and wrestle well. We pointed it out to the kids and we wrestled well from top to bottom. It was a very dominating performance.
Warde looked particularly impressive in the heavier weight classes. Joey Marx, at 189 pounds, won by pin in 1:05. David Wolff decked his opponent in 1:29 at 200 pounds, and heavyweight Mike Money needed just 94 seconds to wrap up his match. In the final match of the night, Jack Anderson at 106 pounds topped them all with a pin in just 32 seconds.
All of those upper weight classes are very strong, athletic kids, Shaughnessy said. Theyre all football players and with the change in weight classes, it opens up lot of room for big, strong athletic kids.
The Mustangs are riding high after winning their invitational last weekend and rolling through the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference. The Mustangs also finished second in a tournament in Guilford in December, trailing only a team from Long Island. What distinguishes is we have a strong lineup from top to bottom, Shaughnessy said. We dont have any holes in our lineup. That consistency makes us tough to beat.
Warde will get a better barometer when it meets Danbury on Jan. 25. The Hatters are the No. 1 ranked team in the state, and the perennial conference champion. Warde knocked off the Hatters in 2010, and beat them again in the league championship meet. Win or lose, the match against the Hatters is always one of the focal points of the season for the Mustangs.
In any sport you want to go up against the best, Shaughnessy said Were not required to wrestle Danbury every year, but I always get them on the schedule. If you want to be the best, you have to go through Danbury.
Wardes other winners via pin on Wednesday included Dylan Bender at 120, Aaron Beinstein at 126 nd Phil Neomontis at 132. Pharoah Eaton (132) won by technical fall, while Casey Stoppa, Kevin Kollar and James Heinzman won decisions.
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