Congratulations to Fairfield Warde Wrestlers for Capturing FCIAC Championship and Ending Danbury's 23-Year Reign as League Champion

The following appeared in this morning's edition of the Connecticut Post and was written by Richard Gregory.

NEW CANAAN -- For the first time in more than two decades, the FCIAC has a new wrestling champion.

Danbury's remarkable 23-year reign as the king of FCIAC wrestling came to a dramatic end on Saturday night as Fairfield Warde High School edged the Hatters by eight points to claim the title. The last time Danbury didn't capture the FCIAC title was when Greenwich won in 1986 -- several years before any of the wrestlers in the New Canaan High gym Friday night were even born.

"It feels awesome, finally beating them," Warde's Mike Sullivan, pictuted below, said. "It was great that everyone cheered us along the whole time, too. We lost to them early in the season, and this just made our season. Now we just have to win Class Ls."

For the Danbury wrestlers, meanwhile, the magnitude of the defeat was written all over their faces. Tears fell and heads hung low under the weight of the Hatters' dynasty.

"We could've won this tournament today if all our guys wrestled to their potential," Danbury co-captain J. D. Damici said. "But they didn't."

Warde led by only two points heading into the finals, meaning the team title was very much up for grabs. Danbury placed seven wrestlers in the finals and Warde placed six. The meet was tied when Danbury's John Smith and Warde's Mike Sullivan stepped onto the mat for the 160-pound final.

Smith led 8-5 with 54 seconds remaining in the match but Sullivan rallied to tie the score at 9 with a pair of two-point takedowns with 44 seconds and 21 seconds remaining. The score was tied at the end of regulation, and five seconds into sudden-death overtime, Sullivan scored another takedown for the win.

That gave Warde a four-point lead in the team scoring, and made the 215-pound final between Danbury's Dylan Hancock and Warde's Marcio Ventura the deciding match for the title.
And what a match it was.

With the fans in the bleachers going absolutely insane -- half cheering for Danbury, half cheering against Danbury -- the two wrestlers grappled through a scoreless first period. Ventura took a 2-0 lead into the third period, but an escape by Hancock with 1:54 remaining made it 2-1.

With 41 seconds remaining, Hancock scored a takedown to take a 3-2 lead. Just 13 seconds later, however, Ventura scored a two-point reversal to take the lead for good. He held on for a 5-3 victory and secured the title for Warde.

Ventura -- a senior and a first-year varsity wrestler who is pictured above being congratulated by his coaches -- was awarded the Most Valuable Wrestler award for his efforts.

"I had to do my best. I had to have my best match ever," Ventura said. "I had to wear him down and wear him down until I had a chance to win. It was hard."

Also capturing titles for Warde were Brandon McBrearity at 130 pounds, Ian McAllister at 135 and Bobby Rigilano at 145.

"It's always good to see somebody else win it," said Warde assistant coach Jason Cuculo, a 1999 Darien High graduate and two-time All-FCIAC wrestler. "I'm excited for our guys. They've been working hard all season long and it shows."

While Warde's performance in the finals was impressive -- five champions out of six finalists -- the Mustangs' efforts in the wrestle-backs were important as well.

"It was an amazing day," Warde coach Jason Shaughnessy said. "Lots of good things happened. We won lots of finals matches. It started this morning in the consolation finals. We won seven out of seven consolation finals matches. All we've been asking is that the kids wrestle at or above their potential, and that's exactly what they did, from top to bottom."

Please sign the AWHS Guest Book.

Visit the Andrew Warde High School Gift Shop.

Watch the AWHS 1976 vintage "film".