Printer Friendly Version - Girls’ Ice Hockey Splits the Week, Wrestling Opens the Season

Freshman Ashton Manacchio, who placed fifth at 113 pounds and went 4-2 on the day at the Guilford Invitational, stands proudly with North Haven wrestling Head Coach Pete Tseperkas. Photo courtesy of Jaime Manacchio

On Dec. 13, the Amity/Cheshire/North Haven girls’ ice hockey co-op team traveled to Stamford/Westhill/Staples and took a 3-0 loss. Kylie Schwab recorded 26 saves in net in the contest.

The team then hosted Masuk Co-op on Dec. 17 and won 3-2. Goal scorers for the Blades included Lucy Dickenson (assisted by Emelia Brandi and Maura LeBreck), Maybelle Caron (assisted by Abby Fitol), and LeBreck (assisted by Dickenson). Ivy Massicotte recorded 20 saves in goal.

The North Haven wrestling team traveled to Shelton for the first match of the season on Dec. 13. Coming off a very successful inaugural campaign last winter, the North Haven wrestlers are poised to improve and compete with the highly competitive teams of the SCC.

The Nighthawks ended up losing the dual meet by a score of 66-18, but Head Coach Peter Tseperkas and his assistant coaches were very pleased with the effort and resilience the team showed throughout the night. North Haven earned a convincing victory from junior Jace Iamunno at 150 pounds with a pin in the first period. Junior captain Tyler DiMauro was also victorious at 190 pounds with a pin, after coming off the football field and right to the wrestling mats with just two practices under his belt.

Ashton Manacchio, a freshman starting at 120 pounds, earned his first career victory with a pin, as well. The teams also held exhibition matches, and many North Haven grapplers were able to come away with a victory, including Mike Moran, Eli Ellis, Sean Millman, Yaseen Mahmoud, and Joey Rotondo.

The team then took to the mats at the 47th Annual Guilford Invitational with some of the best teams in Connecticut on Dec. 16, finishing 13th out of 17 teams, with two individual place winners. Fairfield Warde won the team championship, followed by Newtown and Xavier. Last year, the Nighthawks finished 17 out of 17 and had no place winners, so this was a big step up.

Leading North Haven was freshman Ashton Manacchio at 113 pounds, who finished in fifth place with a record of 4-2 on the day. Junior Jace Iamunno turned in a very solid performance on the way to a sixth place finish. Iamunno defeated both the first and third seeded wrestlers in the tournament at 150 pounds.

Several North Haven wrestlers won two matches at Guilford, including Anthony Purchio at 106 pounds, Matt Kauhl at 157 pounds, and Tyler DiMauro at 190 pounds. Also earning victories were Hayden Minns at 138 pounds, Christian DeMaio at 215 pounds, and Russell Kieslich at 285 pounds. As a team, the Nighthawks won 16 matches this year, while only winning four last year at the Guilford Invitational.

The coaching staff was very pleased with the effort and progress that the team has shown.

The North Haven fencing team had its first match of the season on Dec. 15 vs. Greenwich, and both the boys and girls came away with victories. The girls won 22-5 and the boys won 16-11. Mens’ and Womens’ Epee and Mens’ and Womens’ Foil came away with individual squad wins, as well.

Several fencers earned their first varsity wins, including Ilana Liu, Jonas Miller, Gavin Brawn, Ben Pollio, Emily Cerasoli, Zayna Saidi, and Skye Carlisle. Top performers for the Nighthawks were Ayla Sivri, Anna Hansard, Rachel Adams, Cerasoli, Pollio, Brawn, and Tim Flanagan.