Xavier remains unanimous No. 1 in Connecticut Wrestling Online’s top 10 poll

No. 1 Xavier won the Colter Abeley Mid-Season Classic for the third time on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Xavier High Athletics)

For the third consecutive week, Xavier (8-1) remains the No. 1 team in Connecticut Wrestling Online’s top 10 poll. The Falcons received all 17 first place votes.

There was no change among the top eight teams in the poll this week although two new teams did join the poll. New Milford, fresh off their victory at their own New Milford Tournament, leaped two spots to No. 9 while Branford, with the most dual meet wins in the state (21), moved up two spots to No. 10.

Xavier beat No. 7. Foran in a SCC Division I match last week, 68-9 before capturing their own Colter Abely Midseason Classic tournament for the third time with a 22-point win over No. 4 Simsbury (5-2), 234½ to 212½ . The Falcons had three individual champions and three wrestlers finish second.

It’s a unique Connecticut tournament. Wrestlers compete in individual pools of four wrestlers each at their respective weight. Winners of each pool (A, B, C and D) advance to championship pool to determine the top four finishers in a weight class or a consolation pool.

Simsbury, which shutout Newington last week, 83-0, had one individual champion and one finalist at Colter Abely. Bishop Hendricken High in Warwick, Rhode Island was third with 205 points. It was the same order of finishers as in the most recent tournament in 2020.

No. 2 Danbury (6-1) beat Brien McMahon last week, 60-11 while No. 4 Fairfield Warde (10-1) picked up four wins last week including a 54-21 win over No. 7 Foran on Friday. The Mustangs swept Foran, Greenwich, 62-22 and Bunnell, 59-24 on Friday.

No. 5 East Hartford (12-0) remained undefeated with six wins this week. The Hornets beat Avon on Wednesday, 63-18 before sweeping Montville (69-11), Suffield/Windsor Locks (69-3), East Haven (84-0), Darien (78-6) and Bacon Academy (82-0) on Saturday. The Hornets gave up just 20 points in the five matches.

No. 6 Staples built up a big lead with four pins, three other victories and a forfeit win to hand RHAM their first loss of the season Saturday, 38-36, in the finals of the Carl Snitkin Memorial Duals at NFA. The Wreckers had a 20-point lead going into the final three bouts before the Raptors (13-1) ripped off three consecutive pins to cut the lead to two points.

Staples (13-0) beat Jonathan Law (81-0), NFA (47-13) and Ellis Tech (60-18) in pool play before meeting RHAM in the finals. The Raptors beat No. 9 Killingly, 48-31, Ledyard, 45-33 and Notre Dame-West Haven, 54-27 in their pool.

NFA beat Notre Dame-West Haven, 40-36 to finish third at the Snitkin Duals.

No. 7 Foran (13-3) lost twice last week to No.1 Xavier, 68-9 and No. 3 Fairfield Warde, 54-21 but Foran picked up wins over Greenwich and Bunnell.

No. 8 New Fairfield (11-0) remained undefeated last week with four victories. The Rebels beat Weston, 52-30, last Wednesday and swept Fairfield Ludlowe, 39-21, Westhill, 48-12 and Conard, 57-24 on Saturday. New Fairfield is the only Class S team in the top 10.

No. 9 New Milford won their own 36th New Milford Tournament on Saturday for a record 17th time with a 211-197 win over Fairfield Prep with Newtown finishing third with 162 points. The Green Wave had two individual champions and four finalists. New Milford’s Evan Lindner (126) was named outstanding wrestler.

No. 10 Branford (21-1) won five matches on Saturday with victories over Haddam-Killingworth, 41-32, Wethersfield, 54-21, Hand, 54-7, Terryville/Thomaston, 78-6 and Griswold/Wheeler, 64-18. Branford is the second Class M team in the top 10 along with Foran.

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 4, Monday, January 24, 2022