Staples, which finished second at the Ryan Sabbagh tournament behind Danbury, is ranked in the top 10 of the state wrestling poll for the first time since 2000. (Photo courtesy Staples High wrestling)
AVON, December 31, 2019 — Defending New England champion Danbury is the unanimous choice as the No. 1 ranked team in the first Connecticut Wrestling Online top 10 wrestling poll of the season compiled with input of state coaches and members of the media. Danbury received all 15 votes in this week’s poll with Fairfield Warde coming in at No. 2 and Simsbury at No. 3.
Danbury has been the No. 1 team in the top 10 poll since early in the 2015-16 season when Newtown was the No. 1 pick in the first poll of that season. Since then, Danbury has been the No. 1 selection for the past 31 weeks.
Danbury (2-0) participated in the annual Beast of The East tournament in Delaware earlier in December was the top team from Connecticut in the tournament. The Hatters captured their own Ryan Sabbagh Holiday Tournament last week.
Fairfield Warde (1-0) was the top Connecticut team at the 52nd annual George Bossi Lowell Holiday Invitational earlier this week and was second at the Guilford Invitational behind West Springfield, Mass.
Simsbury (1-0) was eighth in the George Bossi Lowell Tournament and won their own Frank Chaves Invitational for a record 18th time.
Bristol Eastern (2-0), which won the C.J. McCormack Memorial Invitational in Berlin, comes in at No. 4 with Xavier, which won the Mid-Hudson Classic this past weekend in Arlington, N.Y., coming in at No. 5.
Staples-Westport (1-1), which finished second to Danbury at the Ryan Sabbagh Tournament, is ranked No. 6. It is the first top 10 appearance for the Wreckers in 20 years. Their last top 10 appearance came in the final poll of the 2000 season when they were ranked tenth.
Southington (1-0) is ranked No. 7 in the poll with Foran (8-2) at No. 8, undefeated Killingly (6-0) at No. 9 and Manchester (6-0), winners of the Skip Ardan Tournament in Manchester on the opening weekend of the season, coming in at No. 10. Manchester has not been in the top 10 since the late 1990s.
Week 1, December 31, 2019
The Connecticut Wrestling Online’s Top 10 high school wrestling poll. First-place votes in parentheses, record through Saturday, points tabulated on a 30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7 basis, and last year’s final poll ranking.
| Team | Record | Pts | LY | Class |
| 1. Danbury (15) | 2-0 | 450 | 1 | LL |
| 2. Fairfield Warde | 1-0 | 384 | 6 | LL |
| 3. Simsbury | 1-0 | 364 | 5 | L |
| 4. Bristol Eastern | 2-0 | 344 | 2 | L |
| 5. Xavier | 2-0 | 273 | 3 | L |
| 6. Staples | 1-1 | 252 | nr | LL |
| 7. Southington | 1-0 | 204 | 7 | LL |
| 8. Foran | 8-2 | 193 | 10 | M |
| 9. Killingly | 6-0 | 151 | 8 | S |
| 10. Manchester | 6-0 | 132 | nr | LL |
| Others receiving votes: Montville (7-0) 127, Bristol Central (6-0) 123, New Milford (2-0) 118, Wethersfield (1-0) 89, Haddam-Killingworth (2-0) 84, Platt High (6-0) 81, Guilford (2-0) 55, East Haven (0-0) 45, Trumbull (4-3) 41, Ledyard (3-2) 33, Greenwich (2-3) 28, Avon (4-2) 27, Ellis Tech (6-0) 24, Windham High (3-1) 18, New Canaan (0-0) 14, Joel Barlow (2-5) 12, Glastonbury 11, Middletown 9, Ledyard (3-2) 8, Suffield/Windsor Locks (0-0) 7 | ||||
| Voters: Charlie Anderson, Trumbull; Matt Boissonneault, Bristol Central; Mike Cunningham, Xavier; Gerry deSimas, Jr., Connecticut Wrestling Online; Chris Gamble, Waterford; David Green, Nonnewaug; Tim Jensen, Patch Media; Bryan McCarty, Platt-Meriden; Chris Piel, New Milford; Patrick Risley, Windham High; Matt Schoonmaker, Jonathan Law-Milford; Jason Shaughnessy, Fairfield Warde; Ricky Shook, Danbury; T.J. Silva, Simsbury; Jimmy Zanor, Norwich Bulletin. Not voting this week: Derek Dion, Southington; Paul Musso, New Fairfield | ||||
International
Four American women win medals at world championships
High School
Maurath hopes to collect 1,000 cleats to donate
International
Three Americans advance to finals at world championships
International
Olympic berths up for grabs at world championships
International
Four American women win medals at world championships
International
Three Americans advance to finals at world championships
Brian Mills
January 20, 2020 at 10:53 am
Much props to Fred Mills, getting Staples into the top 10 in only 2 years! Great coach, comes from the storied South Plainfield wrestling program, and not for nothing, taught many of the Danbury team(top-ranked) as youngsters, so he can actually take some credit for Danburys success as well, not that he would, humble guy. And great wrestling coach and teacher!