This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
03/08/2017 11:00 PMNoah Pantani recently completed his career with the Branford wrestling team having amassed 125 career victories with four medals at the Class M State Championship. Noah has put himself in some great company as just the second Hornet to medal four times at the state meet, plus his 125 wins are the second most in program history.
“It’s a huge accomplishment,” says Noah. “I’ve looked up to a lot of people over the years and it’s cool to think I was able to surpass them my senior year. That is just a cool experience.”
One of Noah’s biggest moments with Branford came when he earned his 100th win during his recent senior season. Noah achieved that feat by pinning an opponent from Platt in a match at Southington on Dec. 31.
“It was awesome. A huge milestone,” says Noah. “A lot of people there knew it was my 100th win, so it was very cool and exciting.”
During the postseason, Noah competed at the Class M State Championship and took third place in the 120-pound weight class. After that, he won a pair of matches at the State Open Championship. Chris Bonagiuso, who was Noah’s head coach for the past four years, praises Noah for his performance on the mat.
“If I had to sum things up in one word, it would be consistency. He’s one of only two wrestlers ever to medal in states every single year that he wrestled for us,” says Bonagiuso. “He was absolutely one of our more consistent wrestlers in our program that we’ve ever had. If you look at a four-year career with 125 wins, he’s averaging a little more than 30 a year. That’s absolutely tremendous.”
A lot went into Noah’s routine to ensure that he was always ready for every match. Noah does a lot of extra work on his own to stay in tip-top shape. He also competes for Branford’s boys’ lacrosse squad, and that plays a huge hand in his fitness. Noah is a captain who plays attack for the Hornets.
“It was just hard work. I work myself the hardest in the room every day and push everyone to get better, which led to good success,” says Noah. “Running on your own, working out on your own, pushing everyone when we were together, I did all of it.”
Noah started wrestling in 106-pound weight class as a freshman, moved up to 113 for his sophomore and junior seasons, and finished at 120. Noah knew the competition would get better with each jump, but that never deterred him from doing plenty of lat drops throughout his career.
“I liked doing throws a lot. One specific was the lat drop, which would lead straight to a pin,” he says. “Basically, I’d have an under hook under one of my opponent’s arms and an over hook on the other. Then I’d throw them over and onto their back.”
Noah also competed for the wrestling team at the Walsh Intermediate School in Branford. As a result, he came to the high school already owning many of the skills that he needed to succeed. Noah’s experience at Walsh proved a huge benefit for Bonagiuso’s squad at the high school.
“It was a plus when he came up as we didn’t have to teach him any of the basics. He already wrestled in tournaments and had success in them, so we didn’t have to build up his confidence,” says Bonagiuso. “Other than physically building him up, it was an easy transition for Noah. He was a great role model for our team and we were blessed to have him with us for four years.”
Although Noah is sad that he’s wrestled his last match, he’s happy that he leaves the Hornets having put a giant exclamation mark on the final chapter of his career.
“Sadly, this is the end of my career as I don’t plan to wrestle anymore. I just want to move on to new things,” says Noah. “This was my senior year and I wanted to do the best that I could. I feel I left it all out there.”