Dan Carbonaro, a two-way starting offensive lineman at Oxford High School, has accepted a spot as a preferred walk on at UConn according to Oxford coach Joe Stochmal.

Carbonaro, a three-year starting left offensive tackle, drew interest from Division II programs New Haven and Southern Connecticut State and also received an offer to walk on at Central Connecticut State.

Carbonaro had 31 tackles as a senior at Oxford but Stochmal said that UConn is looking for him to play on the offensive line.

"He is a big kid, he is about 6-5 285 pounds,' Stochmal said. "He was an all-area wrestler and all-state wrestler. A big kid, very physical and can move people. When he run blocks, he is a kid who can take a player down field five or 10 yards and he likes to finish them off by putting them on their back. He’s got a little edge to him and I think they saw that on film, they liked that and offered him to come on as a walk-on.

"He has the body type and the demeanor to play at the Division I level," Stochmal said. "The sky’s the limit for Danny. He knows what work lies ahead of him and how much work he is going to have to do but he is really appreciative of the opportunity."

Stochmal reached out to UConn After Bob Diaco was named the head coach beginning the process which resulted in Carbonaro accepting the invitation to join the program.

"Once the job was filled I sent an email out to the staff," Stochmal said. "Coach Diaco didn’t have everybody in place yet so I reached out to everybody. I got a hold of Coach (Josh) Reardon and he got back to me immediately. He wanted to see film on him very impressed with his size."

As Stochmal mentioned, Carbonaro was an outstanding wrestler at Oxford as he was the Class S champion at 275 pounds and received the fastest fall winner award in the meet as he recorded four pins in a total of 4 minutes and 36 seconds. He finished fifth in the State Open at 275 pounds.