By Kim J. Harmon

BRISTOL – For the last year, Steve Selezan has been haunted by the memory – what there is of it – of being knocked nearly unconscious in the semi-finals of the CIAC Class L wrestling tournament and losing out on an opportunity for a state championship.

Well, Selezan exorcised that particular demon last Saturday at Bristol Eastern High School when he pinned Mike LaRoche of Berlin in 5:40 of the CIAC Class L 160-pound division championship.

This is the Mike LaRoche . . . the defending CIAC State Open Champ, the guy who was one of two Connecticut wrestlers named by USA Wrestling magazine as one of the outstanding wrestlers in the country, and the guy who defeated Selezan just a few weeks ago.

“Since last year, Steve has been carrying that monkey on his back,” said head coach Alan Potter. “In one fell swoop, he took that weight right off his shoulders.”

Selezan fell behind in the final, 6-2, before registering a couple takedowns to even the count at 6-6. Then, after letting LaRoche up, he was facing a one-point deficit, 7-6.

But in the third period, Selezan took LaRoche down and right to his back, grabbing five quick points and an 11-7 lead. That was just the beginning, though, as that takedown was quickly turned into a pin with just 20 seconds left in the match.

It was over.

Selezan was a champion . . . and the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the state tournament.

“When he first went out there,” said coach Potter, “he knew the pressure was on him and he was a little tentative. But he got more and more aggressive as the match wore on. (The last takedown) was just so fast and so aggressive, (LaRoche) was surprised by it.”

Coach Potter remarked, a few weeks ago, that Selezan’s regular-season matchup with LaRoche was huge because if Selezan were to win a CIAC state title, it would be through LaRoche.

“The kid is just huge,” said Selezan, who was the defending South-West Conference champion before falling to Matt Palermo of Bethel on February 10. “He reminds me of James Monroe – that big. The first match I tried to out-muscle him, but in practice (this week) I worked on my speed and my technique.”

It worked.

“We realized because of (LaRoche’s) strength,” said coach Potter, “that Steve would have to shoot lower – between his knees and his ankles – in order to take him down.”

This stunning victory came just a week after Selezan was disappointed in the SWC finals by Matt Palermo of Bethel. Down 4-2, Selezan spun a reversal to tie the match at 4-4, only to see Palermo pull a move that put Selezan on his back for a three-count and three back points.

“I was upset at first,” said Selezan, who is 33-3 on the year and 118-15 for his career, “and though I’m not happy about it, I think I benefited from it. I stepped it up a level and worked really hard in practice. This definitely makes up for (the loss in the SWCs). I won the conference last year, so I already had that, and now I’m just glad I was able to do this.”

With his CIAC Class L championship in hand, Selezan now has bigger fish to fry.

Like, the CIAC State Open.

“Since I took first at Class L,” he said, “I’m in pretty good position in the Opens. I’m hoping to wrestle Palermo again. If I’m going to take first, it will either be him or that kid LaRoche.”

Selezan will not be the only Newtown High School wrestler heading to the State Opens this weekend – and that is an incredible story in itself. Jon Read (103 pounds), Matt Sullivan (119 pounds) and Dan Maley (135 pounds) all took third place at the CIAC Class L state tournament and, thusly, all earned spots in the State Open.

“It’s a big achievement,” said coach Potter. “It’s a very proud moment for all of us. To put as many people as we have into the State Open – this is a special year.”

Read and Sullivan were both third at the SWC tournament and Maley was second – all helping the Nighthawks capture second place overall behind front-running Bethel.

At the Class L tournament, Read took third with an 8-2 win over Luis Espinosa of Warren Harding; Sullivan took third with a 9-1 decision over Eric Soucy of Newington; and Maley took third with a 6-2 decision over Andy Hering of Ridgefield.

Newtown was eighth overall.

Coach Potter will be losing Selezan, Sullivan and Maley to graduation this year, yet he was particularly pleased that Read, a sophomore, got a great lesson in state-caliber wrestling.

“He got more aggressive as the day wore on,” said coach Potter. “He realized the level of intensity that is required to move on and he dominated his last three opponents.”

Even without an individual champion at the SWC tournament and even while finishing second overall at the tournament, it has been a mighty successful season (11-4 overall, 7-2 in the conference) for the Newtown High School wrestling team.

“I think we did real well,” said Selezan, “because of some of the losses we suffered. To be second in the SWC behind the second-best team in the state is pretty good.”

And it’s not quite over yet. With four wrestlers heading to the State Opens, there are four chances that a Newtown wrestler will be heading to the New England Tournament in another week.

All it takes is a fourth-place finish.

For four wrestlers.

Now, that would be something.