Xavier remains No. 1 in top 10 poll; Busy weekend around state

Somers’ Harrison Accorsi , right, battles Canton’s Nick Leadbetter in the finals of the Warrior Invitational Saturday in Canton. Accorsi won his second straight tournament title, 5-0, and was named outstanding wrestler.

In week two of Connecticut Wrestling Online’s top 10 poll, there wasn’t too much change. Four teams swapped positions with East Hartford moving up one spot to No. 3 and Danbury sliding one spot to No. 4. Simsbury moved up to No. 7 with RHAM sliding one spot to No. 8.

Xavier (7-2) remains the top team in the state as voted by state coaches and media members with 16 of 17 first place votes. Newtown (11-0) grabbed the other first place vote.

Over the weekend, top-ranked Xavier went 4-2 against five teams ranked in the top six in their respective states and finished 18th out of 32 teams at the National High School Duals in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

The Falcons (6-2) opened the National Duals with a 29-25 loss to Stillwater, Minnesota, ranked No. 3 in Class AAA in their state but recovered with back-to-back wins over Caledonia Houston, Minnesota, 48-15 and Glenbard North, Illinois, 42-19 to finish fifth in their pool on Friday.

On Saturday, Xavier beat Marion Central Catholic, ranked No. 1 in Class A in Illinois, 32-26, before dropping a 36-19 decision to Washington, Illinois, ranked No. 1 in Class AA. Xavier closed out the tournament with a 44-23 win over Hastings, ranked No. 6 in Class AAA in Minnesota.

No. 2 Newtown (11-0) won their third tournament of the season on Saturday by beating No. 10 Ridgefield, 58-22, in the finals of the 17th Ray Southland Memorial Duals at Southington Hight. The Nighthawks beat Maloney and NFA, 42-36, in pool play before beating Platt in the semifinals, 62-15.

It was the first win for Newtown in the Southland Duals. Newtown previously won their own Nighthawk Duals this season and the George Bossi Holiday Tournament in Lowell, Mass.

No. 3 East Hartford (6-0) also won their third tournament of the season by winning the 41st annual Bristol Central Invitational for the first time with a 219½ to 166 victory over New Milford. The Hornets had four individual champions and six wrestlers in the finals.

Isaac Quiles (132), Jaeckez Mendez (144), Drayvn Roberts and Sammy Montovani (215) each won championships for East Hartford with Quiltes, Mendez and Montovani each getting wins by pin. Mendez won for the second straight year.

Avery Porter (120) and Yaxier Rivera (165) each finished second for East Hartford. New Fairfield’s Joe Mahoney (126) was named the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.

No. 4 Danbury (6-0) easily beat Stamford last Wednesday and finished second at SWAT (Spartan Wrestling Annual Tournament) in Sanford, Maine.

Shawsheen Tech of Billerica, Mass., won the 54th annual tournament over the Hatters, 240½ to 175. Massabesic High from Waterville, Maine, finished third, the best finish for a Maine team since Massabesic took third in 2018.

Christian Pote (120) and Deydon Soto (132) won individual titles for Danbury with Harrison Muller (144) finishing second and Ioannis Rountos (126) finishing third.

No. 5 Fairfield Wards (5-1) won their own Warde Invitational for the 12th time in 13 tournaments with a 282½ to 227½ win over Simsbury. The Mustangs had seven individual champions (Carson Toth, 99; Jude Grammatico, 106; Zach Brzoska, 113; Owen Sheiman, 126; Dominick Spadaro, 138; Louis Soracco, 165; Anthony Albanese, 285) and nine finalists.

Sheiman won an individual title for the second straight year along with Lewis Mills’ Jack Gedney (126) and Fairfield Ludlowe’s Dylan Sherman (144).

Results: Saturday, Jan. 6

No. 6 New Milford (6-1) rolled over Joel Barlow during the week, 75-6 before finishing second at the Bristol Central Invitational for the second time in the last three years. The Green Wave won the event for the first time over East Hartford a year by two points.

Brennan Botelho (144) and Adam Oberc (135) each finished second for New Milford.

No. 7 Simsbury (3-0) dominated Conard, 62-15 on Wednesday before finishing second at the Warde Invitational. Max Konopka (190) won an individual title for the Trojans, who had four finalists. Simsbury is the only other team to have ever won the Warde Invitational, beating Warde by seven points in 2013.

No. 8 RHAM (7-1) won the Casey Dane Yates Invitational at Lyman Memorial for the second straight year with a 227½ to 212½ win over Windham. RHAM’s Ben Fournier (113) won his second straight title as the Raptors had four individual champions and five finalists.

Windham’s Jaycee Diaz was the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.

No. 9 Trumbull (16-1) won another five matches this week, including an 84-0 win over E.O. Smith that included a state-record 14 pins. On Saturday, the Eagles beat Stratford, 61-18, Glastonbury, 58-18, Waterford, 68-10 and East Haven, 64-15.

No. 10 Ridgefield dropped a 42-29 decision to No. 5 Fairfield Warde on Wednesday but wrestled well on Saturday with three wins at the Ray Southland Duals in Southington. The Tigers beat Hand, defending tournament champion Melrose, Mass., and Southington to earn a spot in the final. Newtown topped Ridgefield in the final, 58-22.

Results: Saturday, Jan. 6

For the second straight week, undefeated Killingly (18-0) comes in at No. 11 but they are a bit farther back from the top 10 than they were a week ago. Killingly was three points behind the Tigers a week ago. This week they are 77 points back.

Still, it was another productive week for KHS, who have the most wins in the state. Killingly beat East Lyme/Norwich Tech on Wednesday, 48-31 and their closest match on Saturday was a 42-32 win over Foran-Milford.

In other action on Saturday, Notre Dame-West Haven finished sixth at the third annual East Coast Catholic Classic at Benedictine College Prep in Richmond, Virginia. Chris Matos (285) and Chris Manganiello (126) each finished second for Notre Dame with Tyler Ciarleglio (16) and Sebastian Miranda (165) each taking fourth. J.P. Malafronte (138) finished fifth.

Results: Saturday, Jan. 6

Five wrestlers defending their individual titles at the second Warrior Invitational in Canton – Somers’ Harrison Accorsi (126), Canton’s Reese Titus (132), Joel Barlow’s Scott Romano (150), Windsor’s Jaycob Ly (157) and Derby/Oxford/Holy Cross’ Anthony Shivas (285). Accorsi was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler. Haddam-Killingworth beat Windsor, 204-163 to win the tournament. It’s the first tournament win for the Cougars since 2017 when they won Simsbury’s Frank Chaves Invitational.

Some notable matches this week
Some notable matches in the coming days include two Wednesday night matches with top 10 teams – No. 8 RHAM at No. 3 East Hartford and No. 6 New Milford at No. 2 Newtown. Other notable matches on Wednesday night include Fairfield Ludlowe at No. 5 Fairfield Warde; Killingly at Windham and No. 7 Simsbury at Southington.

This weekend, No. 1 Xavier will be at the War on the Shore, a two-day tournament in Berlin, Maryland. The Falcons are the only state team in the tournament. Danbury and Ridgefield will be at the Eastern States Classic in New York State.

The Greater Hartford Open will be in West Hartford at Hall High and the Art Powers Duals will be in Berlin. Next Monday on Martin Luther King, Danbury will host Mt. Anthony, Vermont in the annual renewal of a rivalry between two of the top programs in New England.

Girls-only tournament in Griswold
The first Griswold Girls Tri-State Tournament will be held on Sunday in Jewett City beginning at noon. High school-age girls from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are invited to compete. The tournament will have 12 weight classes – 100, 107, 114, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 165, 185 and 235 pounds. The top three girls in each weight class will receive medals.

Tuesday, January 9, 2024 (Week 2)