Killingworth’s Wezenski Ready for Division I Football

UConn told Austin Wezenski he was too small to play football for the Huskies, but Austin's parents might disagree considering the grocery list their son has commanded over the years. Small might not be the right word to use when describing the 6-foot-2, 280-pound Xavier senior, who recently gave his parents' shopping list and wallets a break on Feb. 1 when he accepted a football scholarship to compete at Central Connecticut State University.

Austin, a Killingworth resident, recently committed to play football for the Blue Devils, capping off what has been a sparkling high school career. A back-to-back state champion on the Falcons' defensive and offensive lines, Austin is preparing to take his game to the next level, looking to devour the "too small criticism," just like he did his opponents this past fall.

"There is a lot of pressure considering football is basically a job now," Austin says. "My sister is in college and my parents have to pay for that and they would be willing to pay for my college, but I consider myself an expensive kid already; I eat a lot. It is a good feeling knowing [my scholarship takes some pressure off them]."

Growing up in Killingworth, Austin played Tri-Town football before joining three of his friends at Xavier, at which he spent his first two season behind upperclassmen on the depth chart, not-so-patiently biding his time.

"I always thought I was good enough for varsity, but I had a senior ahead of me so I worked even harder for the next year," says Austin.

By the time he was a junior, there was no denying Austin was ready for the big stage. Austin played on both sides of the ball for the Falcons, becoming a dominant force on defense as a nose tackle and a stout blocker as a right tackle on offense. He led Xavier to the Class LL titles as a junior and a senior, earning numerous honors along the way. As a junior, Austin was named Hartford Courant All-State, All-Southern Connecticut Conference, and New Haven Register All-Area. Then by virtue of his 46 tackles this past fall, 21 of which were solo, including 14 for a loss, with three sacks, five quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, and 43 pancake blocks, he was named to the All-SCC team, the Connecticut High School Coaches' Association All-Connecticut Team, and the Walter Camp All-Connecticut Team, along with All-State honors and making the All-Area New Haven Register, All-State Hartford Courant, and All-Area Middletown Press squads.

"Austin is a very talented young man, who for a big guy, is very athletic," said Central football coach Jeff McInerney. "We saw him playing on defense and doing a good job; he comes from a winning tradition and we are about recruiting men from winning programs. We see Austin having a big future for us."

While Austin admits being named to All-State teams was thrilling, nothing compared to basking in the glory of state title wins with his childhood friends.

"I actually thought we should have won it my sophomore year, too," he says. "I've always known we should win it. I enjoyed it more my junior year because it was a lot more sad my senior year, going from youth football with four of us to Xavier. We've all been playing football forever so it was great to share that with them."

But now Austin will begin a new football chapter with a new family of teammates at Central, despite having similar offers from the likes of Albany, University of Maine, University of New Haven, and Merrimack College. Gone are the days of playing on both sides as he will be used solely as a defensive tackle for the Blue Devils, a position which other bigger programs like UConn said he was too small for.

"I definitely want to prove that it shouldn't really matter the size of the player, but instead the skill set," Austin says. "I want to prove that I should have been picked by the best schools out there; I feel like I definitely could play with Division I-A programs. So I've got to prove to them they made a bad decision by not offering a scholarship to me."

Austin says he is confident in his strength and is more concerned about working on his quickness as playing defensive tackle will require him to get more of a pass rush opposed to just run-stuffing. In preparation for that change he says he will be taking boxing lessons to improve his hand speed, his overall reaction time, and quickness, because unlike the start to his Xavier career, Austin doesn't plan on taking a back seat to anybody at Central.

Says Austin: "I don't really think going into a season thinking that you are going to be on the bench is acceptable. I'm going in and going to attempt to take a starting spot."