As season winds down, Xavier remains No. 1 in state top 10 poll

East Hartford’s Drayvn Roberts puts the squeeze on Bristol Central’s Lincoln Archibald in the finals at 165 pounds in Saturday’s CCC Tournament in Plainville. More tournament photos

The dual meet portion of the 2024-25 season has just a few days remaining here in Connecticut as the conference and state tournaments approach for most schools.

Conference championships will be decided this week with six conference tournaments this weekend. The Central Connecticut Conference hosted their conference tournament last weekend in Plainville.

Xavier (16-1) remains No. 1 in the latest Connecticut Wrestling Online top 10 poll with 12 of the 15 first place votes in this week’s survey of state coaches and media members.

It was a productive weekend for the Falcons who earned a pair of top 10 victories on Friday with a 46-26 win over then-No. 5 Newtown and a 52-30 win over then-No. 8 New Milford.

Xavier will attempt to capture their eighth straight SCC championship at the league tournament on Saturday at Guilford High.

Fairfield Warde (21-1) remained at No. 2 with four victories this week, including a 54-18 win over then-No. 7 Trumbull. The Mustangs will be looking for their third consecutive FCIAC championship at the league tournament on Friday and Saturday in New Canaan.

The last team – outside of Danbury – to win three straight league titles was Staples in the early 1970s.

No. 3 East Hartford (19-1) moved up one spot after winning the Central Connecticut Conference tournament for the second time in three years. The Hornets, who have won four tournaments this year, had six finalists and six individual champions.

East Hartford can win another CCC North pennant on Wednesday with a win over Manchester.

After 13 straight wins to open the season, No. 4 Ridgefield (13-1) lost a match in a 50-26 decision to West Springfield, Mass., in the finals of the New Fairfield Duals on Saturday. The Westies (30-2) had seven pins in the victory to win their fifth tournament of the year.

Ridgefield, who had victories over Nonnewaug, Haddam-Killingworth and Branford in the tournament, had won 24 matches in a row dating back to January 2024 when they lost to Newtown in the finals of the Ray Southland Duals tournament in Southington.

West Springfield was the first Bay State team to win the New Fairfield Duals since Natick in 2015, who beat host New Fairfield by a point.

Danbury (11-2) moved up one spot to No. 5. The Hatters beat Greenwich, 57-16 last week.

New Milford (10-2) moved up two spots to No. 6 with 39-33 win over then-No. 5 Newtown on Friday night. The Green Wave scored 30 points in a 52-30 loss to No. 1 Xavier on the same night. New Milford can win the SWC Colonial division with a win over Pomperaug co-op this week.

No. 7 Newtown (12-5) beat Masuk last Wednesday, 48-30, before dropping a pair of top 10 matches to Xavier, 46-26 and New Milford.

The Nighthawks will be looking for their first SWC Tournament win since 2019. The SWC Tournament is Saturday in New Fairfield and New Milford has won the las four tournaments.

No. 8 Trumbull (29-2) dropped a 57-18 loss to No. 2 Fairfield Warde last week but earned wins over Bridgeport, Shelton and Notre Dame-West Haven.

No. 9 Foran (31-4) won a pair of bouts last week against Guilford and Darien while No. 10 Southington (9-2) moved one win away from a CCC West championship with a 78-6 win over Farmington last Wednesday. The Blue Knights were second at the CCC Tournament.

Saturday, Feb. 8 results and boxscores
Friday, Feb. 7 results and boxscores
Thursday, Feb. 6 results and boxscores
Wednesday, Feb. 5 results and boxscores

While the Central Connecticut Conference hosts a large postseason the tournament, the league is split up into four divisions with divisional championships on the line.

No. 2 East Hartford (19-1, 4-0) can win their fourth straight CCC North championship and their seventh in the last nine years with a victory over Wethersfield on Wednesday. Avon (16-5, 3-1) is second place in the CCC North.

In the CCC West, Southington (9-2, 5-0) can clinch their first divisional title since 2018 with a victory over Newington on Wednesday night.

There could be one, two or three champions in the CCC South. Defending divisional champion Bristol Eastern (9-4, 4-1 CCC South) can win a share of the title with a win over arch-rival Bristol Central (11-11, 2-3). The match begins at 6 p.m. at Bristol Central.

In Meriden, Platt (20-3, 4-1) is looking for a share of their first-ever CCC South championship and can secure it with a win over cross-town rival Maloney (16-10, 1-4) on Wednesday. The match begins at 6 p.m. at Platt.

Berlin (14-8, 3-2) has an outside shot at winning a share of the title if they beat Middletown (10-10, 1-4) and Maloney and Bristol Central each come up with victories.

The last time that two teams shared the CCC South title was in 1994 when Bristol Central Newington finished tied.

Saturday, Feb. 8 results and boxscores
Friday, Feb. 7 results and boxscores
Thursday, Feb. 6 results and boxscores
Wednesday, Feb. 5 results and boxscores

Canton (18-10, 6-0) can finish the NCCC undefeated on Wednesday night with a win over Rockville (10-10, 4-2) at home. The NCCC determines their league champion with a combination of points earned during the dual meet season and at the conference tournament, which will be held Saturday in Canton.

Stafford (16-5, 6-1 NCCC) is currently second in the league.

In the Berkshire League, the Gilbert co-op team (6-6, 4-0 BL) can finish their league schedule unbeaten with a win over Terryville (8-10, 2-2 BL) on Wednesday. The Kangaroos have won six of their last seven dual meets with a third place finish at the Doc Meyers Brawl on the Hill and a fourth place finish at the Matt Bishel Bobcat Classic.

The Berkshire League also uses a point system to determine their league champion. The BL championship meet is Saturday in Derby.

In the FCIAC, Ridgefield won the Eastern Division (13-1, 7-0) while Danbury (11-2, 6-0) captured the Western Division.

Saturday, Feb. 8 results and boxscores
Friday, Feb. 7 results and boxscores
Thursday, Feb. 6 results and boxscores
Wednesday, Feb. 5 results and boxscores

Foran’s Queen of the Mat girls-only tournament will be Sunday in Milford. The tournament was postponed a week ago due to snow.

Six wrestlers won their second CCC Tournament championship on Saturday while East Hartford’s Jaeckez Mendez (144) became the first wrestler to win three CCC Tournament titles since the league began hosting one league-wide tournament in 2022.

Enfield’s Ethan Buonaducci (126), East Hartford’s Issac Quiles (132), Avon’s Elijah Fagin (138), East Hartford’s Yaxier Rivera (157) and Drayvn Roberts (165) won a second title along with Manchester’s Noah Colon (175).   … East Lyme/Norwich Tech’s Lincoln Carlson set a new school record for career wins with 159 on Saturday, breaking the old record of 158 set by Ryan Clark in 2009.

This week’s top 10 poll