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NORWALK, Conn. Luke Villaluz of the Norwalk Mad Bulls wrestling program added another state wrestling title to his resume when he won the Connecticut Cup Freestyle Championship in Danbury.
The second-grader was also a Connecticut Bantam state champion this winter in Folkstyle wrestling.
We decided to make the transition into freestyle wrestling this spring, which is what you will see in the Olympics this summer. It was new to the kids, but everyone, including Luke, picked up on the freestyle and was very competitive, coach Randy Haus said.
Villaluz won the final by pinning Simsburys Ryan Finn. The Simsbury wrestler took an early lead, but Villaluz responded in the final period. Luke remained calm, cool and collected, he didnt panic, Haus said. In the end, he wrestled the match at his own pace and settled in for the pin to win the title.
Teammates Sammy White, Mike Bartush and Noah Fraas worked with Luke prior to the tournament. We basically threw everything but the kitchen sink at him in the wrestling room all week to fine-tune Luke and have him ready,'' Haus said. "The whole team shared in this win. We knew he would be challenged in Danbury, so we wanted to cover all of our bases leading up to this tournament.
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