LUCA the LUMBERJACK
Chopping wood allowed Newtown’s Manfredi to give back, get stronger
The red oak trees had to come down. It was for a practical reason, Newtown’s Luca Manfredi pointed out: “They were about to fall down on my house.”
From there, Manfredi came up with an idea to give back to the community called a “Warm Hearts Project.”
Manfredi is a senior co-captain on the Newtown wrestling team. He’s been competing for 13 years and, as of Saturday, is a twotime CIAC Class L champion. Wrestlers don’t get to that level without a lot of hard work and strategizing on the mats.
Manfredi’s ingenuity came through when the trees came down last spring.
“I asked my dad why are they taking the wood away, don’t we need that?,” Manfredi said. “It’s so precious now.”
With energy costs skyrocketing, Manfredi thought he could help.
“I wanted to come up with an idea for a school project and thought I could donate all the wood to people in need, people who can’t heat their homes,” he said.
That idea wasn’t surprising to Tom Maurath, a Newtown assistant coach who ran the town’s youth wrestling program for seven years and got to know Manfredi well.
“Watching him develop from a young kid who has talent, but not only develop his talent to the next level, but more importantly develop his leadership skills, that’s what has been the most gratifying to me.”
That’s also a part of what made Manfredi a selection as team captain as a junior, Maurath said.
That junior season was highlighted by a remarkable comeback win for the Class L 132-pound weight class title. Manfredi trailed Anthony Basile of Xavier 9-3 late in the second period, but scored the final seven points to take a 10-9 win and the title.
So it’s safe to say any obstacles weren’t going to stand in Manfredi’s way for his project.
The first thing, he said, was “not many people use wood burning stoves as their sole source or heat anymore.”
So, the senior approached Monsignor Robert Weiss at St. Rose of Lima Church in Newtown. The Monsignor suggested he could sell the wood, and the church would then give the proceeds to people in the community who couldn’t afford their heating bills.
Then there was the matter of actually splitting the wood.
“Originally I was going to split it with a maul, but that was horrendous,” Manfredi said. “After a day, my back was aching. My cousin had a log splitter that he lent me and that made it a lot easier. Me and my dad spent probably about 100 hours splitting wood, stacking it and delivering it to people.”
In all, Manfredi split, stacked and sold nearly 10 cords of wood, raising nearly $2,000 in a relatively short period of time.
There was an added benefit as well.
“A lot of strength for wrestling,” Manfredi said. “At the time, I didn’t think that would get me any stronger, but now I realize that my grip strength got stronger from it, and also I felt better from doing it too. It kept me outside, kept me active and it was something to do outside of wrestling.”
That helped Manfredi put together a 46-5 record with SWC and Class L titles. In the postseason, he’s 8-0 with seven pinfalls. The lone decision was a 3-1 win over Xavier’s Matthew Ferrucci in the Class L final on Saturday.
“What I’ve seen from Luca is he’s now been able to put together all the things he learned in youth and in high school,” Maurath said. “So his maturity on the mat, not just how to manage a match against a really tough opponent. Going back to the basics has got him where he is. Many kids watch YouTube and DI videos and think all the crazy moves are great.
“Luca has figured out that going back to the basics of a really strong takedown, a really good defense, and standard pinning combinations is what helps you win matches.”
Manfredi surpassed the 100-win milestone in January, despite being in a class of Connecticut wrestlers who missed one season due to the pandemic
“I feel good this season, I feel strong and I’m not cutting any weight,” Manfredi said. “And it’s my 13th year and you’d think I’d know everything by now, but I’m learning a lot of new techniques.”
As a team, Newtown finished second in the SWC tournament and fourth in a loaded Class L tournament, but the Nighthawks had four weight class champs, with Fisher Stites (170), Marc Maurath (145) and John Dasilva (285) joining Manfredi in the winner’s circle.
Coach Maurath said the younger wrestlers, including those who are not yet in high school, have seen Manfredi as a mentor and “superstar.”
He counts his son, Marc, a sophomore, as part of that group.
“Every stage that Marc has gone through, Luca has already experienced that and he’s helped Marc develop too,” Maurath said. “He’s gone to him as a mentor and said ‘hey, I’ve been through that same stuff.’
“A kid is going to respond to another kid’s mentorship probably more than a coach or a parent.”
Manfredi is seeded third for this weekend’s State Open, and has his sights set on reaching the New Englands. After that, he may step away from wrestling.
“I think wrestling has run its course for me, so I don’t think I’m going to wrestle in college,” Manfredi said. “I’ve had some coaches talk to me, some DIII stuff, but I think I’m just going to focus on academics in college.”
That is likely one of the reasons he is living in the moment, according to Maurath.
“Some kids realize that this is a fleeting thing,” the coach said. “Luca definitely recognizes that and is enjoying every minute of it.”