
With four individual champions, Newtown won the Gary Tiger Ridgefield Challenge for the second straight year — the first Connecticut team to accomplish that feat. (Photo courtesy Tom Maurath)
A week ago, Ridgefield was closing the gap on No. 1 Xavier in the Connecticut Wrestling Online top 10 poll with five first place votes.
This week, the voters have put the Falcons firmly back in control of the poll and 14 of 16 voters placing Xavier in the No.1 position after the Falcons (12-1) won six of seven matches at the Demolition Duals in Baltimore over the weekend.
Schools from seven states were at the Baltimore tournament and the Falcons looked sharp in their seven wins. Xavier had a lead in their championship match against host Mount Saint Joseph, who is ranked No. 3 in Maryland. But Mount Saint Joseph took five of the final six matches to secure the championship, 38-30.
East Hartford (13-0) picked up five wins last week including four victories on Saturday over Conard, New Fairfield, Brien McMahon and Fairfield Ludlowe and moved back into the No. 2 spot in the poll with pair of first place votes.
The Hornets have won a school-record 30 consecutive dual meets dating back to February 2023.
That streak will be challenged on Saturday when East Hartford hosts the seventh annual TFC Kevin Millar Duals. No. 4 Fairfield Warde (11-1) and No. 5 Newtown (7-1) are scheduled to compete in the tournament.
Ridgefield (8-0) slipped one spot to No. 3 this week. The Tigers dominated New Canaan on Wednesday, 59-15 but finished second at the annual Gary Tiger Ridgefield Challenge to Newtown, just 4½ points behind the Nighthawks, 212-207½. The Tigers had three individual champions and six finalists.
Newtown (7-1), who remained at No. 5 this week despite their first tournament win of the season, had four individual champions and seven wrestlers place in the top four of their respective division at the Gary Tiger Ridgefield Challenge.
Newtown picked up a pin and a 14-0 major decision in head-to-head matchups with Ridgefield in the finals. The Nighthawks, who won the tournament for the second straight year, beat 19 teams including No. 8 Trumbull.
Newtown is the first Connecticut team to win the Gary Tiger Ridgefield Challenge in consecutive years. Monroe High from Woodbury, N.Y., has won the tournament a record 10 times including a five-year run from 2013-17. St. Anthony, N.Y. was the last back-to-back champion, winning in 2018 and 2019.
Saturday, January 25 scores and boxscores
Friday, January 24 scores and boxscores
Wednesday, January 22 scores and boxscores
There was just one match between top 10 teams last week and No. 5 Fairfield Warde (11-1) dominated No. 9 New Milford with a 69-4 victory on Friday. The Mustangs also beat Foran, 53-14 and RHAM, 69-12. Foran slipped to 23-4 with the loss to the Warde and a 41-36 loss to New Milford (5-1).
No. 6 Danbury (7-1) had one meet last week and the Hatters beat Westhill, 63-18.
No. 7 Killingly (27-1) won their fourth tournament of the season with a 42-30 win over Bristol Eastern in the championship of the Shoreline Scuffle in Branford on Friday night. Killingly rolled into the final with victories over Derby co-op, Fairfield Prep and Maloney. Killingly won the tournament for the third straight year.
Killingly had a more challenging victory in a 39-32 ECC win over Windham last Wednesday.
No. 8 Trumbull (24-1) beat Stamford, 55-18 last week before taking third at the Gary Tiger Ridgefield Challenge.
Southington (7-2) remained at No. 10 with a 45-32 win over Berlin last Wednesday.
Saturday, January 25 scores and boxscores
Friday, January 24 scores and boxscores
Wednesday, January 22 scores and boxscores
In other action last week, Ledyard (18-3) beat Notre Dame-West Haven, 51-29 in the finals to win the fourth annual Carl Snitkin Duals for the first time. It was the second tournament win of the year for the Colonels, who won the Casey Yates Invitational at Lyman Memorial earlier this month.
Shelton (16-2) won four matches to win the Battle at the Eagle’s Nest dual meet tournament at Joel Barlow with a 54-27 win over Bethel in the finals.
North Haven won the first championship trophy in team history with a 59-18 win over Wethersfield in the final of the third annual Arrigoni Classic Duals in Portland. North Haven got five pins to outlast Glastonbury, 40-39 on criteria in pool play to advance to the three-team championship pool. In the finals, North Haven beat Pomperaug co-op to set up the title bout with Wethersfield. New Canaan won their pool but declined advancing to the championship pool to get an opportunity to wrestle Glastonbury.
Saturday, January 25 scores and boxscores
Friday, January 24 scores and boxscores
Wednesday, January 22 scores and boxscores
Greenwich had two individual champions, six finalists and nine wrestlers in the top four of their respective weight classes to win the 17th Doc Myers Brawl at Rocky Hill. Greenwich beat defending tournament champion Longmeadow, Mass., 210-168 to win the tournament.
In a battle between two of the top prep school programs in New England, Greens Farms Academy in Westport whipped Northfield Mt. Hermon from Northfield, Mass. 53-9. GFA came into the match ranked No. 31 in the country and Northfield Mt. Hermon at No. 40. You can watch the match on You Tube.
Saturday, January 25 scores and boxscores
Friday, January 24 scores and boxscores
Wednesday, January 22 scores and boxscores
Eight teams are set to compete in the Class S/M Dual Meet Invitational tournament on Saturday in Killingly. Avon (13-3) and New Fairfield (3-1) are the two wild card entries to join qualifiers Killingly (27-1), Windham (15-5), Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech (12-6), RHAM, Berlin (11-5) and Foran (23-4).
Each team will wrestle four matches. There will be two pools of four teams each with a championship round when pool play is complete. Medals will be awarded to each member of the winning team and an All-Tournament team will be selected. A John Vino Memorial Sportsmanship Award will be selected by the tournament officials.
Wrestling begins with the first round at 9:30 a.m. The championship round begins at 2 p.m.
The winning team will have the option to host next year’s event. Killingly won last year’s event with victories over Foran and RHAM in the championship round.
Saturday, January 25 scores and boxscores
Friday, January 24 scores and boxscores
Wednesday, January 22 scores and boxscores
On Saturday, Griswold/Wheeler won two matches on criteria. The Wolverines beat Windsor, 41-40, picking up an extra point for having fewer forfeits than Windsor. Griswold/Wheeler picked up a 43-42 win over Plainville on criteria for, again, have fewer forfeits than the host Blue Devils. … Farmington beat Gilbert/Torrington/OWTS on criteria Friday night, 43-42 for having fewer forfeits than the Yellowjackets. Farmington tied the match when Ciyris Livorsi got a pin in the final match (275 pounds) to tie the match at 42-42. His opponent Billy Orellana had Livorsi on his back earlier in the match but couldn’t get the pin. .. Ridgefield junior Leo Moore won an individual championship at the Gary Tiger Ridgefield Challenge and won his 100th career match. … Canton’s Nick Leadbetter won his 100th career bout at the Warrior Invitational. … Bristol Central senior Lincoln Archibald (165) earned his 100th career win against Middletown. Archibald’s father, Brian, also wrestled at Bristol Central and had 99 career wins. … Amity had two individual champions as they beat Platt, 107.5 to 91.5 to win the second Queen of the Hill girls tournament in Rocky Hill. Forty-two teams had girls competing in the tournament.
Top 10 poll
Tuesday, January 28, 2025 (week 4) | |||||
Team | Rec | TW | Pts | LW | Class |
1. Xavier (14) | 12-1 | 1 | 470 | 1 | L |
2. East Hartford (2) | 13-0 | 3 | 418 | 3 | LL |
2. Ridgefield | 8-0 | 1 | 400 | 2 | LL |
4. Fairfield Warde | 11-1 | 1 | 384 | 4 | LL |
5. Newtown | 7-1 | 1 | 378 | t5 | L |
6. Danbury | 7-1 | 1 | 324 | t5 | LL |
7. Killingly | 27-1 | 4 | 285 | 7 | S |
8. Trumbull | 24-1 | 2 | 260 | 8 | LL |
9. New Milford | 5-1 | 3 | 224 | 9 | L |
10. Southington | 7-2 | 1 | 185 | 10 | LL |
Also receiving votes: Foran (23-4) 108, Ledyard (18-3) 104, Avon (13-3) 91, Windham (15-5) 78, Platt (18-3) 62, Shelton (16-2) 43, Berlin (11-5) and Bristol Eastern (8-3) 26, Enfield 17, Notre Dame-West Haven (12-4) 15, Fairfield Ludlowe (12-6) 11, Simsbury (5-6) and East Lyme/Norwich Tech (7-5) 8 | |||||
TW: Wins as a team at individual or dual meet tournaments. LW: Last week | |||||
Voting this week: Charlie Anderson, Trumbull; Matt Boissonneault, Bristol Central; Mike Cunningham, Xavier; Derek Dion, Southington; Gerry deSimas, Jr., Connecticut Wrestling Online; Chris Gamble, Waterford; David Green, Nonnewaug; Chris Piel, New Milford; Tim Jensen, Patch Media, T.J. Silva, Simsbury, Paul Musso, New Fairfield, Patrick Risley, Windham High; Matt Schoonmaker, Jonathan Law-Milford; Jason Shaughnessy, Fairfield Warde; Jimmy Zanor, Norwich Bulletin |
Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of Connecticut Wrestling Online. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.


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