Naugatuck’s Wilcox looking to finish season strong

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NAUGATUCK — This wrestling season has been full of starts and stops for Naugatuck’s Logan Wilcox, but in between illness and injuries the third-year grappler has had his share of success.

Wilcox placed second at the Mike O’Keefe Holiday Classic and fourth at the Bristol Central Invitational early this season. He didn’t participate in the Art Power Duals Jan. 11 due to an illness, missed out on the Colter Abely Classics due to inclement weather Jan. 18 and missed the Shoreline Scuffle in Branford last Saturday due to a shoulder injury.

“It’s a bit frustrating,” said Wilcox, who wrestles as a team of one with Pomperaug. “Obviously, I would have benefited from the competition in those tournaments. But I can’t focus on that, I need to stay focused on finishing the season strong.”

Wilcox expects to be back to full strength this week.

Wilcox was victorious his last time out on the mat against Stratford Jan. 15. In the 182-pound class, the junior pinned Jake Kyszwanos in the second period to improve to 5-3 on the season.

“I came out and had a really dominate first period,” Wilcox said. “I was up 10-0 when the period ended. My coach, Brendan Quinn, was very pleased at how I was able to control the period. I started out with an unsuccessful move but then he went for an upper body lock. I managed to throw him before he could complete that move. From there I was just dominate in the top position getting turns and scoring points.”

Wilcox has a competitive schedule down the stretch as he looks to get back to the Berkshire Valley Invitational and the Class L state tournament in February. Last year, he went 2-2 at the Berkshire Valley Invitational and picked up two more wins at states.

Pomperaug has a match against Masuk on Wednesday, before facing Bethel Feb. 5. Pomperaug will compete in a quad meet with Farmington, Branford and Maloney Feb. 7 and conclude the regular season Feb. 10 against Joel Barlow.

Wilcox said the last two years’ experience has helped him develop as a wrestler. This season, he said, his progress stems from an offensive mindset he developed at a wrestling camp last summer.

“It takes your mind off what you think your opponent is going to do because that has you wrestling from a defensive perspective,” he said. “It has you more focused on attacking. Coach Quinn has really been pushing me to score points to get ahead and stay ahead in a match. Be the last one to score in the period and to be the first one to score in the next period.

“That kind of mindset is going to help me once the Berkshire and the Class L tournaments begin. I’m looking forward to making even more progress than I did last year.”