Dylan Warner’s love of wrestling dates back to third grade, when his older brother, Max, participated in the sport. While Max transitioned to coaching after middle school, Dylan continued to compete on the mat, not only improving his skills, but finding success throughout his career.
Dylan recently completed his senior season with the Branford High School wrestling team, captaining the squad as a junior and senior. While he wrestled his last match for Branford, he hasn’t hung up his singlet yet, as he will continue his career at Roger Williams University after graduation.
“I’ve lived in this town forever, and wrestling is a big part of it, especially when I was in middle school, so leaving the culture of Branford wrestling really saddens me,” says Dylan. “I’ve been thinking about wrestling in college my whole life — it’s what I dreamed of. I remember watching Iowa on the big TV during my middle school years and I wanted to be on that big mat with the big audience. After I lost a year to COVID and another to an injury, I was more determined to keep going and felt I had more to accomplish.”
Dylan’s dreams started with Power Half Wrestling Camp in elementary school. As a fourth-grader, he competed with Branford’s club team in the Connecticut Kids’ State Championship, winning the title, a feat he repeated two years later.
After his first state title, he was encouraged by Tom Ermini, who coached the club team, to join a full-time wrestling club. Dylan joined Marcaurele in 2017, training and competing with the club until COVID hit. When Dylan got to Walsh Intermediate School, he was excited to join the wrestling team, which Ermini also coached, assisted by Max.
“Tom has been a good friend of my family since Max joined, and he’s the reason I fell in love with the sport,” says Dylan. “He was my first-ever coach, and I felt so comfortable with a great group of kids. What he did to the program was incredible, and he made us better people in general. One of the best moments was reaching 100 wins as a team and being undefeated for two seasons, but even when we caught that first loss, we didn’t stop working. We still were a family.”
Unfortunately, Dylan’s middle school career was cut short due to COVID. When he got to high school, he was 5-foot-5 and 140 pounds, putting the freshman in a tough weight class. Dylan saw some varsity matches, but despite working hard, it was difficult to get a win against the older, stronger, more experienced wrestlers.
“I went into high school this pudgy little kid, and it was a really different atmosphere where I was debating how I was going to get through it, but I was going against these really good kids every practice — Jace Korab, Josh Berdon, Pat Zdunek — and it helped me get so much better and made me ready for the tough competition coming forward,” says Dylan. “In my first varsity match, I got absolutely destroyed - I was teched in the second period, but I learned from that loss.”
Dylan continued to work in practice, and the next week, he was put out against Guilford’s senior captain. He wrestled “the best match of my life to that point,” taking a 14-11 loss. Despite the loss, he saw how his hard work was paying off. While Dylan didn’t tally many wins as a freshman, his coaches saw the effort he put in, and he was given the Team Dedication Award.
After working throughout the offseason, Dylan was ready to make big contributions to the Hornets as a sophomore. Just four matches into the season, though, Dylan hurt his knee during a match. He tried to limp back to the match, but the trainer made him stop. By the time he got to the emergency room (ER), the pain was worse, and he needed a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). While he, his family, and teammates were optimistic waiting for the results, the results confirmed that Dylan had torn and flipped his meniscus — a bucket handle tear — and he had to have surgery.
“It was the worst possible news — my season was over, and I couldn’t do offseason, but I realized I had to be there for the team,” says Dylan. “The older kids deserve it more than I did, and I was there cheering Carter [Burgess], Drew [Schwartz] and everyone on, knowing this is their moment, and I just have to heal through it. Those seniors my sophomore year, those were the people I really cared about, and I focused my mind on that year.”
Dylan had surgery on Jan. 2 and began physical therapy, which he had to continue through the summer. Despite his injury, Dylan didn’t miss a practice or a match and was given the Band-Aid Award at the postseason banquet.
Once he was cleared, Dylan began preparing for football season, a sport he played since he was young. He was eager to get back on the mat, though, and joined FishEye Wrestling, training with the club while playing football.
Heading into his junior season, Dylan not only felt the pressure of returning to competition, but leading the team as well, as he was named a junior captain alongside a trio of seniors in Cole Snider, Dom Zdunek, and Max Parsell. Dylan notes that he was nervous about re-injuring his knee in the early season, but soon he hit his stride, notching 44 wins that season, including placing second at Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC)s and third at Class Ms.
“I went from four wins freshman and sophomore year to 48, so it was pretty good,” says Dylan, who got the Comeback Award that season. “ I was pretty impressed with myself because I’d never felt that strong in a season and had a lot of energy."
By senior year, Dylan had given up football to focus on wrestling full-time. He was the lone captain of the squad this past season that saw him go 46-8 for a career record of 93-21. As a senior, he placed second at SCCs for Second Team All-SCC honors and second at the Class M Championship to qualify for the State Open Championship, where he placed sixth.
“Dylan was a role model for Branford wrestlers as to what hard work and grit can earn you, and he worked year-round to reach his goals this season,” says Branford wrestling Head Coach Kevin Kapushinski. “His grit allowed him to work through injuries and tough tournaments. He was an integral part of Branford Wrestling, and he will be surely missed.”
Dylan is grateful to the coaches he has had over the years, including Kapushinski and Zach Cash at Branford High School, Ermini, and his club coaches, TJ Marcaurele from Marcaurele Wrestling and Jeff Fernandes from Fisheye. While his coaches and teammates have made a big impact on Dylan’s career, he is most grateful for his family.
Dylan’s mom, Holly, has been involved with the booster clubs since Max started wrestling, his dad, Neil, works for the bus company and always drove the team bus, and his brother, Max, helped coach the Walsh team throughout Dylan’s middle school career. In addition to coming to all of his school matches, his family traveled throughout New England to tournaments for his club teams, as well, and supported him during the challenges he faced.
“At my lowest points, through blood, sweat, and tears, their support has been incredible, and I thank them every day for that every day,” says Dylan. “I didn’t always like to listen to Max, but I’d realize he was right and got me to be a way better wrestler than I was before. Everyone who wrestles knows my mom and dad, and they would do anything for our team. Wrestling is our whole life, and we always talk about how hard the sport is and how much it teaches us.”