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Sports

Wynn-Wynn Situation For Montville Wrestling

Indian Senior Comes Out of Nowhere To Make ECC 135-Pound Final

Dayvon Wynn's run to the Eastern Connecticut Conference 135-pound final resembled the Montville High wrestling team's second-half surge this season.

Seemingly from obscurity, Wynn and the Indians arose from the middle of the pack, maximized their ability and posted surprisingly outstanding results in the state's toughest wrestling conference.

Wynn, seeded 6th in the ECC 135 division, sprung two upsets en route to a berth in the final, where he lost by pin to Griswold's Brandon Walsh, who was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler in the tournament.

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The Indians, 6-7 in early January, won their last 13 matches, including a team title in the Killingly Duals to finish 19-7. Montville placed sixth overall in the ECC Tourney, paced by Wynn's second-place finish.

Though he desired one more victory, Wynn labeled his ECC Tourney run the most positive experience in his wrestling career.

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"I've never made it this far, and haven't made many big steps like finishing second," Wynn said. "I came out with the mindset that I wanted to win and put my heart out there, putting everything I had on the mat. I wish I could have fulfilled  the experience with a win, but I'm happy I advanced as far as I did, especially after the discouraging seeding."

Wynn felt snubbed by the sixth-place seeding, considering he carried  a 28-4 record into post-season. He knocked off NFA's No. 3 Tyler Courter in the quarterfinals, 6-4, and stunned No. 2 Tom Millaris of Waterford in the semis, 4-2.

Montville coach Gary Wilcox was one of few in Wynn's corner.

"I'm not surprised," Wilcox said. "Dayvon has been a very good wrestler for us. He's always been right on the edge of being a state contender. He's worked hard.  Even last weekend he was very mad, he finished third in the Woodstock tournament that he wanted to win. Today the difference was a little bit of extra determination made him win by a point against Millaras."

Wynn, a senior, was one of the few Indian wrestlers with varsity experience heading into the year, joining Kyler Fricke (112), Dan Kuracz (160) and Brian McMahon (215) as seasoned performers from a 21-4, ECC Small champion team last year.

"Everyone else came in a jayvee wrestler," Wilcox said. "We came on really strong. As a program, we have very high expectations and I'm very pleased with the progress we've made. It's been a very successful season. We lose just two kids and will be very good next year, back to where we've traditionally been as an ECC Small Division contender."

Kuracz finished third in the ECC 160. Other Montville placers included Fricke (3rd, 112), Jack Caskey (4th, 119), Ryan Murtha (fifth, 285) and Brien McMahon (5th, 215). Kuracz led Montville with a 30-3 season record. Wynn,  McMahon (26-10), Fricker (25-7),  Caskey (25-7 at 119), Nick Bellarose (25-8 at 125), Ryan Hewitt (23-9 and  140), Devin Bedard (21-11 at 171) and Joseph Rainville (21-7 at 103) topped the 20-win mark.

Wynn, who is seeded third in the Class M state meet this weekend in Windham, won't have Walsh, who is in Class S, to contend with any more except for a possible State Open matchup.

"Dayvon may not realize how good he is, but he has one more good week left," Wilcox said. "We're hoping he can finish in the top three or four in the Ms and make the State Open. That would be great for Dayvon."

An earlier version of this story had Kyler Fricke's name misspelled.

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