Danbury is No. 1 in top 10 poll with Xavier, Fairfield Warde also getting No. 1 votes

After missing an entire season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still a lot to learn about the new Connecticut wrestling season. But after two weeks action, some familiar teams sit atop the first Connecticut Wrestling Online top 10 poll of the season.

Danbury (2-0) is the No. 1 team in the state with 11 first place votes followed by No. 2 Xavier (4-1) with four first place votes and No. 3 Fairfield Warde (5-0), who picked up one first place vote.

Simsbury (3-2) is ranked No. 4 with undefeated Killingly (8-0) ranked No. 5 with a strong start to the season. Foran (2-0) is sixth with Staples at No. 7. Both teams were ranked in the top 10 in 2020, the last year the poll was conducted.

Avon is back in the top 10 for the first time since week 7 in 2019 while Newtown is making their first top 10 appearance since the final poll in 2017, when the Nighthawks were ranked No. 3.

East Hartford is making their first appearance in the top 10 poll since 2005, when they were ranked tenth in the week 9 poll.

Danbury has had just two duals meets against Wilton and Fairfield Ludlowe along with an appearance at the Beast of the East tournament in Newark, Delaware in December. The Hatters’ annual Ryan Sabbagh holiday tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.

Danbury has been ranked No. 1 in the top 10 poll for 41 consecutive weeks dating back to 2016. But the Hatters have a ways to go before coming close to their own record of 104 weeks on top of the poll from 1999 through 2010.

Xavier has been very active over the first two weeks of the season. The Falcons sent three wrestlers to compete in the Beast of the East tournament while the rest of the squad finished second behind Fairfield Warde at the Guilford Invitational on Dec. 18.

Xavier (4-1) beat Simsbury and Ellis Tech in a dual meet last week only dropping a match to undefeated Saint John’s Prep (15-0) from Danvers, Mass., the same squad that won the George Bossi Lowell Holiday Tournament in Lowell, Mass., for the first time with a two-point win over Timberlane Regional in Plaistow, N.H.

Warde (5-0) won the Guilford Tournament in December and was third at the Bossi Lowell Holiday tournament. Simsbury (3-2) won their own Chaves Invitational and was sixth at the Bossi Lowell Holiday tournament. The Trojans two losses have come against Xavier and Saint John’s Prep.

Killingly (8-0) won the 38^th annual Lancer Tournament in Waterford for the first time and their first eight dual meets despite minimal preparation. Several Killingly wrestlers returned to practice just five days before the Lancer Tournament after Killingly won the Class M football championship on Dec. 11.

Foran (2-0) won the C.J. McCormack tournament in Berlin while Staples (1-0) was second at the Lancer Invitational. East Hartford (1-0) won the Skip Ardan tournament at Manchester High with Newtown finishing third at Guilford Tournament, in the top 20 at the Bossi Holiday tournament (16) and winning their own Nighthawk Duals.

Avon opened the season with their first win over Bristol Eastern since 2009 and a second place finish at the C.J. McCormack tournament.

Connecticut Wrestling Online’s top 10 wrestling poll

Connecticut Wrestling Online’s top 10 high school wrestling poll for the 2021-22 season. 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 week’s poll ranking.

Week 1, Monday, January 3, 2022