Under first-year head coach Greg Domestico, Greenwich High School’s wrestling team is faced with a rigorous schedule, and Domestico is hoping that association with tough teams breeds similarity.
As he learned more and more about his own team, Domestico was also soaking in all that the state had to offer during Monday’s Holiday Tournament at Danbury High School.
“I want to get to know the kids here,” Domestico said. “I don’t know any Connecticut wrestlers and I don’t know what teams are good right now. It’s good as coaches for us to see other wrestling, and I think it’s good for the kids, too.”
Domestico was previously the head coach just across the state border in Port Chester, N.Y. for 16 years before accepting the head coach position left vacant following George Albano’s resignation.
“We didn’t venture much through Connecticut,” Domestico said. “Most of our time was spent in New York. We would see some Connecticut teams here and there in tournaments. Every team has their own style, and we have to get used to that as coaches.”
After Monday’s contest up in the Danbury High gym, home of the defending FCIAC champions for 28 of the past 29 years, Greenwich hoped to make slight changes while going pound for pound with the area’s best.
“I want the kids to be exposed the kids to the next level because if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, which means you have to wrestle the best,” Domestico said. “We’re challenging them with our schedule and trying to expose them to the best wrestling we can, so that they can continue to grow and get better.
“We’re changing a few things with the way we teach,” he continued. “I think seeing teams against better competition gives us more of a sense of what works and what doesn’t work and what we need to get better at. As the season goes on and as the postseason comes around, we’re getting exposure on some of these kids so we can have a game plan going in against them. Right now, we’re all trying to get on the same page.”
This year’s team is led by captains Bryce Stanback, Ethan Ross, Erik Menchaca and Michael Ceci.
Placing fifth in last year’s FCIAC Championships, the Cardinals are looking to make some noise early this season after Ceci clinched the 160-pound class title at last week’s Shelton Invitational Tournament.
Stanback and Ross also took second place in their respective 145 and 152-pound weight classes at the meet.
Menchaca is coming off a second-place finish in last year’s FCIAC Championships, as the runner-up to Danbury’s Marcus Joyner in the 220-pound division. The Cardinals had two FCIAC finalists in the two largest weight classes last year.
“We have phenomenal captains,” Domestico said. “They work extremely hard. They’re very vocal and positive with the team. They embody what we want because they just go out there and wrestle. Having kids that lead through example and who are also vocal, you get the best of both worlds with them. Even though it’s only been a month, we have a pretty good relationship with them and they are trusting us. We’re very pleased with the leadership on the team.”
“The biggest thing about this weekend was mentally, seeing these good wrestlers and being in tough situations so it’s not culture shock later. Get it out of the way now and then later they’re calm when they’re wrestling tougher competition and are in very tight situations when the postseason comes.”
The Cardinals finished third as a team in the Shelton Invitational and took ninth place at Monday’s Holiday Tournament in Danbury. After suffering a 49-24 loss to Trumbull, Domestico hopes that his team can remain calm under pressure but with a certain degree of grit.
Greenwich will host Darien, Staples and Fairfield Warde on Wednesday before matching up with Bridgeport Central a week later at home.
“Going in, I think the kids were a little nervous and after they got their first match out of their system, some of them have settled down,” Domestico said. “Some of them do have a history with some of the kids they wrestled. It seems like we started to close the gap with some of those teams that some of these kids haven’t been successful against.
“We want to raise that level of intensity and toughness. We don’t want to be cute, we want to go after people. Wrestling in these types of matches prepares you for the postseason. That’s where we want to be. We want to put as many kids as we can on the podium at the FCIAC’s, the LL’s and the State open as we can.”
