Yeah, a year ago, when the ‘Hawks had a very, very strong middle-weight quartet – James Monroe (a conference champion, state champion, state open champion, the wrestler with the most wins in the history of the program, and a Newtown Sports Hall of Fame member), Brian Tomasulo, Paul Giarratano and Steve McCulloch)

 

. . . but he has made a convincing argument, nevertheless, that the Nighthawks are not only as solid as they have ever been, but that they have a legitimate shot at challenging for the South-West Conference championship.

“We have been able to refill all those weights,” said coach Potter, “and the upper weights have been filled, too, which was a problem for us last year. Last year’s class of freshmen and sophomores really stepped it up in the off-season with lots of weight lifting and training.”

The mantle of leadership – the kind of leadership that Monroe provided in the way of dominating the conference – for the 1999-2000 season falls now to tri-captain Steve Selezan, who spent much of his off-season with the Connecticut National Freestyle wrestling team.

And then there is the other tri-captains – the always fired up Nick Feola and Matt Sullivan, who showed so much promise last year for a Newtown team that finished 7-3 in the SWC. Feola was 19-8 during the regular season.

“We learned a lot of valuable lessons last year,” said coach Potter.

While the coach has still yet to finalize his basic lineup, it looks like Matt Selezan will lead the 112-pound division while Ross Alpert will take over at 119. Dan Maley, who missed some of the season because of a broken collar bone, has beefed up and will wrestle at 125. Feola is the 130-pound man while Adam Esarey will take on the 145-pound division. At 152, there is Steve Selezan, with transfer Steve Santaniello plugged into the 160-pound hole. Chris Symes at 171 and Tom Denninger at the heavyweight position also look much improved.

To back up those weights and to fill the holes at 135 and 140, coach Potter has a large team of some two dozen wrestlers and says, “We had a great turnout and have some excellent prospects for those other weights.”

Coach Potter has a stable of assistant coaches to help lead the team through the rigors of the 1999-2000 season – Dmitri Karaponof, Ron Chivinski and Steven Ford. Ford is a local wrestler who has donated time in the past to work with the wrestlers. And, of course, coach Potter will still seek the assistance of Mike Monroe, who proved to be invaluable to the team last year.

Coach Potter also noted the support of new athletic director Gregg Simon.

“It seems as if the school is really committed to the program,” said coach Potter, who will be the coach hosting the SWC Tournament when it comes to Newtown in February. “And it’s looking as if we’re going to be able to do something. We’ll see a big improvement. We’ll know better in January, but I just have a feeling.”