This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
04/16/2020 12:00 AMA wrestling match can be decided in just a few seconds. It doesn’t take long for the outcome of a bout to change. However, while there are many rapid changes in wrestling, one thing stayed the same for North Haven freshman Joey Iamunno this winter: Getting his hand raised in victory.
Joey trained and competed with the wrestling team at Notre Dame-Fairfield during the regular season. In the postseason, he represented North Haven as a team-of-one. Joey made a phenomenal high school debut by taking home the gold in the 120-pound weight class at the Southern Connecticut Conference Championship and the Class L State Championship this year. He went on to finish second at the State Open and then won three matches in the New England Championship.
“At first, it definitely gave me a chip on my shoulder. I was unranked. No one really knew who I was,” says Joey of wrestling as a freshman. “I just had to go out there with nothing to lose. After I started winning some big matches, I didn’t really think about my grade. I was just thinking about how all these kids were the same weight as me. It should be an even match.”
Joey defeated Connor Loria from Xavier on a 15-0 technical fall to win the 120-pound title at the SCC Championship. Then at the Class L meet, Joey won all four of his bouts via pinfall to take the title, pinning Mason Lishness of Bristol Eastern just 40 seconds into their championship clash. Joey didn’t allow any of his opponents to even score a single point against him throughout his run to the state crown.
“I worked really hard, and I had my mind set on what I was going to do. I went out there and accomplished it,” Joey says of his SCC victory. “After SCCs, I was really focusing on the Class L. Instead of [winning by technical fall], I wanted to pin. I wasn’t necessarily focusing on my opponents, but on myself, working on my moves and bettering myself.”
After the Class L meet, Joey wrestled at his first State Open and advanced all the way to the final, where he took a 5-0 loss against Drew Currier of Hall to finish in second place. Joey completed his season by posting three victories at the New England Championship on his way to a top-eight finish.
Joey says that competing among so many talented athletes at these meets was a great experience and raised the bar for what he can achieve the next three years. Joey finished his freshman season with an overall record of 31-3.
“I was definitely getting a little nervous. It was so far into the season, and I don’t want to mess anything up,” says Joey of wrestling at the Open. “It got the best of me later on, but I was trying to do what I did at the other tournaments and try not to get in my own head. The [New England Championship] didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to, but I was just happy to be there, and I was just grateful of everybody who got me there.”
While Joey achieved a ton of success for a freshman (or any wrestler for that matter), the best part of the experience for him was working with the team at Notre Dame-Fairfield. Joey says the team’s athletes always made him feel like he had a home away from home.
“Early season duals with Notre Dame was the highlight of my season,” Joey says. “Meeting all the kids made my freshman season and is something I’ll never forget.”
Joey began his journey to the wrestling mat when he was just five years old. Joey did jujutsu with his father for about a year. When one of the members of the jujutsu club started a wrestling program, Joey’s father asked him if he wanted to join. It took a little while for Joey to get into it, but wrestling ultimately became a passion.
“I wasn’t always in love with it. It’s a tough sport,” says Joey. “It’s not for every kid, but I always just stuck with it, and I’m glad I did. All the relationships I’ve made—coaches, teammates, kids that aren’t on my team but I see at tournaments—are all great.”
Joey will be transferring to Greens Farms Academy in Westport next year. Joey says that he exceeded his own expectations and then some as a freshman at North Haven.
“It was way more than I expected,” Joey says. “I never thought I could accomplish the things that I did. I had no clue.”
Following a freshman campaign for the record books, Joey wants to continue achieving big things as he moves on to the prep school level.
“I think it’s more motivation. It gives me the ability to say that, ‘I did all this in my first year. I should definitely be able to do better next year,’” says Joey. “All I have to do is train my hardest and get better.”