January 12, 2012-Official UConn Wrestling T-shirts are now available and will be on sale for $10 (XXL-$12) at the annual Husky Howl Youth Wrestling Tournament @ New London HS on Sun., Jan. 15 or at the Huskies home match on Sat., Feb. 18 at Hawley Armory.  T-shirts may also be purchased through any UConn Wrestling team member or coach.  Many thanks to our supplier, Danielson Surplus Sales of Danielson, CT. 

January 10, 2012 - The UConn Wrestling team is pleased to announce its  spring semester practice schedule as follows:

Monday-Thursday - 5-7 pm

Practice will take place in the newly renovated Willis N. Hawley Armory Mat Room on the lower level and will commence on Tue., Jan. 17, 2012.  Any and all full time students from all UConn campuses are welcome as the "Husky Pack" is always looking expand its membership.  Go Huskies!

"Failing to Prepare is Preparing to Fail" (Wayne Gretzky-Hockey Star)

January 1, 2012-The 3rd Annual "Husky Howl" Youth Wrestling Tournament is scheduled to be held as follows: 

Sunday, January 15, 2012                                                                                                                                                                                           New London High School, 490 Jefferson Ave., New London,  CT   06320                                                                                                            

This is an annual event sponsored by the UConn Wrestling Team & USAW-CT in order to raise funds so that the UConn Wrestling program may thrive.  A concession stand will be available all day.  Many Thanks to Mr. John Satti for his hard work & effort to make this event possible.  Also, many thanks to our sponsors, the New London BOE for use of the gym, CIWOA for their donation of volunteer officials and Mr. Mike Battinelli for his work as a volunteer trainer for the event.  Information sheet for the Husky Howl as well as all the other USAW-CT events may be found at the following link:  http://usawct.org/schedule.php. 

UConn wrestling team members should arrive @ NLHS at 6 pm on Sat. for gym set up and 7:30 am on Sun. for the event.  See you there!    

December 10, 2011 - The UConn Wrestling Team ended the fall semester with Senior Captain Mike "Batman" Battinelli (Stamford HS/Stamford, CT) leading the Huskies in NCWA points with 49.50 points and a 7-2 record as of this writing.  Dropping down to 149 lbs. this season, Battinelli took the lead when he placed 1st in the Veteran's Day Open to open the season and never looked back.  Mike Battinelli is a 3 time Nat'l qualifier, Northeast Conference Champion and a 3 time OW for the Huskies as he holds nearly all the team's records for NCWA wrestling accomplishments.  Following Battinelli with 30.95 points and a 5-3 record is 184 pounder Eric Parsons (Gilbert School/Winsted, CT).  A strong finish in the Ted Reese Invitational Tournament @ the University of Southern Maine this past weekend propelled the big Junior past classmate 174 pounder Alex Sterner (Terryville HS/Terryville, CT) who stands at 25.95 points.  Sophomore Brian Richman (New Milford HS/New Milford, CT) at 197 lbs. is following closely with 23.20 points.  Freshman Dom Folino (Terryville HS/Terryville, CT) at 165 lbs. boasts a 3-2 record and has 18.50 points in his inaugural season of college competition.  Richman, Sterner & Parsons are tied for the team lead in pins with 2 each.   

Making significant contributions to the Huskies success this semester were Zachariah Savic (Wethersfield HS/Coventry, CT) at 133 lbs., Anthony Josie (So. Windsor HS/So. Windsor, CT) at 165 lbs., Freshman Paul Steinhagen (St. Bernard's HS/Griswold, CT) at 157 lbs. and Sophomore Newcomer Ryan Wheeler (Gilbert School/Willimantic, CT) at 235 lbs.  

The Huskies will return to action Jan. 21 with a quad meet @ Springfield Tech. to open the 2nd semester.

October 31, 2011-The UConn wrestling team welcomes veteran Coach Tim Panteleakos to the UConn team's coaching staff as he joins Rick Bartel & Justin Dwork for the '11-'12 season.  Coach Panteleakos moves about 100 yards down the road as he previously served successfully as the head wrestling coach for our friendly next door neighbor, E. O. Smith HS.  He previously was the Head Wrestling Coach for many years at H. H. Ellis Technical HS in Killingly, CT where he also was the head baseball coach.  The former star athlete at Killingly HS also was the head football coach at Tourtellotte Memorial HS in Thompson, CT for many years.  As a former Quinebaug Valley Community College student, he brings a wealth of experience & knowledge to the table serving many years as a coach of football, baseball, softball, wrestling, hockey & track, coaching athletes from the middle school level up to adults competing at the semi-pro and minor league level.  Tim is also a popular football camp instructor & coach who has worked alongside professional athletes preparing players to compete at the highest possible level.  He is also a board certified baseball umpire in CT with much experience at many levels of competition.  The semi-retired real estate agent and substitute teacher resides in East Killingly, CT and his duties will be primarily in the area of training & conditioning as well as transitioning the freshmen wrestlers to competition on the college level.  Welcome aboard Tim!           

June 20, 2011 (DALLAS, TX) – The National Collegiate Wrestling Association joined its collegiate wrestling brethren this year in honoring the top student-athletes within its association. This marks the first time that the NCWA has awarded post-season scholastic honors for its thousands of wrestlers competing at its 140 member schools.

The 147 honorees are from the NCWA’s combined Division I and Division II ranks.  Mike Moyer, executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association, welcomed the NCWA’s involvement with the postseason awards. “The coaches association supports programs that enhance the academic side of a student-athlete’s experience in wrestling. The NWCA is glad to have the NCWA on board with the academic awards this year.”

The NWCA sponsors the NCWA academic awards as well as those for the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA.

The Huskies are pleased to announce that Junior Nate Freedman & Soph. Eric Parsons have been named to receive this honor and will be presented certificates at the upcoming awards dinner and outing.  Both are majoring in engineering and have qualified for the Nationals this past season.

 “It’s exciting for the NCWA to recognize our top scholars and student-athletes,” NCWA executive director Jim Giunta said. “We congratulate this year’s Academic All-American teams, and hope that this program can serve as a benchmark that all of our wrestlers will aspire to in the future.

“The NCWA is about opportunities in wrestling, both on and off the mat,” Giunta said. “We’re happy to recognize achievers who excel in the classroom as well as the mat.”

 The NCWA Academic All-American team may be viewed at the following link: http://news.theopenmat.com/2011/06/ncwa-honors-147-student-athletes-on-academic-all-american-team/   

March 8, 2011-The University of Connecticut is pleased to announce that six Husky have qualified to compete in the 2011 NCWA National Wrestling Championships @ Mercer University in Macon, GA on March 10-12.  They are as follows:

133 lbs. - Evan Nahins (Sr./Greenwich HS/Stamford, CT)

141 lbs. - Nathan Freedman (Jr./Cranston HS East/Cranston, RI)

157 lbs. - Mike Battinelli (Jr./Stamford HS/Stamford, CT)

174 lbs. - Eric Parsons (Soph./Gilbert Sch./Winsted, CT)

184 lbs. - Alex Sterner (Soph./Terryville HS/Plymouth, CT)

197 lbs. - Brian Richman (Fr./New Milford HS/New Milford, CT)   

These wrestlers qualified by placing at the Northeast Conference championships held recently at SUNY/Cobleskill.  Good Luck Huskies.

February 21, 2011-The final event of the 2010-11 season @ RPI this past weekend yielded several outstanding achievements by UConn Husky Wrestlers as well as a third straight Connecticut NCWA State Dual Meet Championship.  Without the Univ. of New Haven to deal with, the Huskies easily topped an undermanned Yale University squad to easily score a "three peat."  Seth Lattrell (Central Catholic HS/W. Newbury, MA), who did not compete in the event, finished of the season as NCWA points leader for the Huskies followed closely by Luke "New Shoes" Walsh (Farmington HS/Farmington, CT).  Brian Richman (New Milford HS/New Milford, CT), who competed in every event this season,  ended the season as the team's leader in wins.  Mike Battinelli (Stamford HS/Stamford, CT) broke the UConn team record for the fastest pin by planting his opponent from Northeastern Univ. in just 31 seconds breaking Rich Zschoche's record by 1 second.  Battinelli, known throughout the country for his ability to score takedowns rather than falls, had four pins this season finishing with a 9-1 record in limited action.  Battinelli & Lattrell ended the season tied for the team lead in Takedowns.  The Huskies finished the season 8-2 as a team and look to be at full strength for the NCWA Northeast Conference Regional Championships this weekend @ SUNY-Cobleskill.  The Huskies will contend with a 15 team field headed by another strong Navy squad who appear to be the big favorites.     

January 29, 2011-The UConn Wrestling team finished in 17th place at the NCWA National Duals held at the Northwest Georgia Trade & Convention Center in Dalton, GA on January 28-29, 2011.  Travelling in a blinding New England blizzard, Bus drivers Larry Lucky & Jeremy used their outstanding driving skills in bringing the pack to the venue without a hitch.  The weather conditions caused several team members to be unable to make the trip meaning the Huskies would be shorthanded for the event.  Despite forfieting 4 weight classes, the Huskies competed admirably in breaking the NCWA top 20 for the first time.  After disappointing losses to the Univ. of Central Florida of the Southeast Conference and the Univ. of Cincinnati of the North Central Conference by one point, the Huskies came back in a big way in the consolation round.  Victories over Radford Univ. of the Mid-Atlantic Conference and Auburn Univ. (eat your heart out Cam Newton) of the Southeast Conference put UConn on the board to stay.  Leading the way for the Huskies were Nate Freedman (Cranston HS East/Cranston, RI) at 141 and Mike Battinelli (Stamford HS/Stamford, CT) at 157  who each posted 3-1 records for the event.  Other multiple winners were Evan Nahins (Greenwich HS/Stamford, CT) at 133, Luke Walsh (Farmington HS/Farmington, CT) at 165, Anthony Josie (So. Windsor HS/So. Windsor, CT) at 165, John Casper (Bergen Catholic HS/Bergenfield, NJ) at 157, Josh Schmidt (Wrightstown HS/Greenleaf, WI) at 165/174, Eric Parsons (Gilbert Sch./Wisted, CT) at 174/184, Brian Richman (New Milford HS/New Milford, CT) at 197 and Rich Zschoche (Danbury HS/Danbury, CT) at 184.  Unselfish contributions by Josie, Schmidt, Parsons, Casper, Richman & Zschoche allowed Coach Rick Bartel to be able to manipulate the match line ups in order to score sufficient points to be competitive.  Complete brackets may be viewed at http://www.ncwa.net/files/2011_NCWA_National_Duals_Brackets.pdf.