In a one-minute sudden death period after regulation ended in a 1-1 tie, Dan deLalla ’07, grabbed top-seeded Jake Tyler of Springfield’s leg and secured a takedown. This decisive move gave deLalla the victory in the match and the New England Championship title at 157-pounds after a hard fought two days on the mat at Wesleyan.

But for deLalla, the road to victory was never a sure path, as he didn’t even think he would be wrestling in this tournament halfway through this season. A preseason left elbow injury forced deLalla off the mats for the majority of the season, until the NECCWA Championships.

Despite the injury deLalla continued to practice and train on his own throughout the winter. The week before the NECCWA Championships, deLalla faced teammate and fellow 157-pounder Ed Kenney ’07 for a spot in the tournament.

“He looked like he had been wrestling all winter,” Kenney, who lost to deLalla in the wrestle-off, said. “His moves and reflexes were quick. He hadn’t missed a beat.”

In first round of the tournament, seventh-seeded deLalla defeated Mike Donovan of Bridgewater State 16-5. deLalla won by default in the second round when second-seeded Matt Thurston of Norwich was forced to remove himself 3:08 into the match due to an injury. He closed out the first day of competition in Bacon Field House with an 8-6 victory over third-seeded James Sheehan of Williams to set himself up for a match with top-seeded and also undefeated Jake Tyler of Springfield.

Since the NECCWA tournament is double-elimination, deLalla and Tyler faced off in the finals of the winner’s bracket. The loser of the match would face Sheehan of Williams, who had risen to the top of the loser’s bracket after falling to deLalla on Saturday. In a close match, deLalla defeated Tyler 3-2, but Tyler was quick to rebound and defeat Sheehan in the loser’s bracket to earn a spot in the official finals against deLalla. In order for Tyler to win, he needed to defeat deLalla twice.

Tyler put up a strong fight, winning the first match against deLalla with a pin in the third period, meaning that one final match was needed to determine the winner at 157-pounds.

In the final match, both wrestlers refused to give up any ground, and the score was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation. The next wrestler to score a point would win.

“It was unprecedented,” Kenney said. “The final match of the tournament going into sudden death was unbelievable.”

Before a packed crowd in the Wesleyan arena, deLalla scored a takedown and became the first Wesleyan wrestler to win a NECCWA title since 2001.

“This is the most intense thing that ever happened to Wesleyan wrestling,” said Mike Lima ’07. “He came back after only two weeks of wrestling to win the tournament at home.”

deLalla’s victory helped a squad that was plagued by injury and setbacks all season finish sixth in the tournament with 55 points. Springfield won the tournament with 145 points. Also contributing to the team score were All-New England performers Josh Wildes ’08 and Lima, who placed third at 133-pounds and fifth at 197-pounds respectively.

After a rough start, losing in the second round to fourth-seeded Pete Marques of Springfield, fifth-seeded Wildes fought his way through the loser’s bracket, winning three straight matches to reach the finals of the bracket. In a rematch with Marques, Wildes exacted revenge, winning 4-3. In a semi-final match against second-seeded Brian Zane of Norwich, Wildes fought hard but tired from a long string of matches and fell 7-2.

Lima went 4-2 in the tournament and avenged a second round loss to Steve Young of Southern Maine with a 2-1 victory later in the tournament to secure fifth-place at 197-pounds.

“I’m thankful to be on the All-New England team,” Lima said. “I had a lot of tight matches, and I thought I could’ve done better, but I’m satisfied for this season.”

Next up for deLalla will be the NCAA Championships at the College of New Jersey on Mar. 3 and 4, where he hopes to become an All-American at 157-pounds.