Twenty years ago, Derby High was the defending Southern Connecticut Conference champions and the Raiders won for the 29th time in 30 matches with a 63-10 win over Branford. Newington secured the 200th win in the history of their program and Ledyard handed Bacon Academy a 43-27 defeat in the Bobcats’ first-ever Eastern Connecticut Conference (ECC) match.

It was also 20 years ago that Connecticut Wrestling Online made its first appearance on a Friday evening, January 5, 2001. On the next day, Connecticut Wrestling Online covered their first event as Cranston East, R.I., won the 20th annual Bristol Central Tournament.

It’s one of about a dozen high school wrestling websites to survive over the last two decades.

In that time, Connecticut Wrestling Online has published hundreds of pages of scores, boxscores, tournament brackets and information about high school wrestling in Connecticut. The website, which can be found at http://ctwrestling.com, has been compiling standings, chronicling league tournaments, state tournaments (Class LL, L, M and S), the State Open and the New England championships. 

The site’s editor and founder, Gerry deSimas., Jr., researches and publishes the Connecticut High School Wrestling Record Book each year to provide perspective on the achievements of wrestlers and coaches. DeSimas is also a member of the executive board for the Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Over the years, Connecticut Wrestling Online has expanded their coverage to include how Connecticut wrestlers are doing at the collegiate level, at the national-caliber tournaments and international competitions.

“The site and information helped grow the wrestling community’s excitement for the sport,” said long-time Platt High head coach Bryan McCarty. “Gerry’s own touch on covering wrestling has not only sparked intrigue but has given a coach a sense of pride to see his team’s accomplishments in print and digitally.“

David Nowakowski was a wrestling coach in eastern Connecticut for many years before becoming a talented tournament coordinator, who one can find at the ECC, Class S and State Open tournaments each year along with a few other key events. 

“I have always appreciated the resources provided to the wrestling community (on the website),” said Nowakowski, who is also a member of the CIAC wrestling committee. “The record book is a valuable source of information, in terms of not only results, but also hard-to-find stuff such as Hall of Fame inductees. I am especially appreciative of (Gerry) taking over the weekly (state coaches top 10) poll (in 2018), as that was something the state of Connecticut would have missed greatly once the Norwich Bulletin decided to pass on it.”

Ted Oczkowski was a coach at Bridgeport Central and Trumbull High before becoming an athletic director and an official. 

“The website emerged and was instantly popular among the wrestling community. My wrestlers would inform me of results of wrestlers they would be competing against in upcoming weeks, information they found on the website,” he said. 

Coaches quickly began to use the site for competitive purposes.

“As coaches, you had to review the website to be prepared,” said Oczkowski. “It was a strategic resource. Which weight classes were forfeited? Which kids were recording unexpected results? How would my team match up against other teams? It wasn't long before it was essential, to remain competitive, to review and dissect the results posted on your website.”

To this day, there are coaches that provide dual meet scores to Connecticut Wrestling Online but still decline to submit a boxscore for competitive reasons.

“The information on the website has been insightful, supportive and many times, inspirational as more and more people in the wrestling community rely on the website to bring wrestling into their households, said Oczkowski, who is also president of the Connecticut chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Danbury High’s Hall of Fame wrestling coach Ricky Shook said, “Thanks for making it the best news source for wrestling in the state,” he said.

Published January 4, 2021 by the Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame