Xavier is No. 1 in first Connecticut Wrestling Online top 10 poll of season

Xavier, who has been No. 1 in the Connecticut Wrestling Online top 10 state wrestling poll since January 2023, is the unanimous selection as the No. 1 team in the first poll of the season in voting by state coaches and media members.

The Falcons (3-4) are the four-time defending State Open and Class L champions, who finished second in New England a year ago.

Ridgefield, who spent all season in the top 10 a year ago, is ranked No. 2 with Danbury at No. 3 and Fairfield Warde at No. 4. That is three FCIAC teams in the top five and four in the top 10.

Foran-Milford is ranked at No. 5 with Plainville coming in at No. 6 after their first-ever victory at the Dennis Siegmann Invitational in Bristol last weekend.

Trumbull, the fourth FCIAC team in the top 10, is No. 7, followed by New Milford, Notre Dame-West Haven and Newtown to round out the top 10.

Last week was a busy one for Xavier (3-4), who won the Tony Iasiello Memorial Christmas City tournament in Bethlehem, Penn., on Dec. 30 against field of teams from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia and then participated in The Clash dual meet tournament in Wisconsin on January 2-3 against a variety of teams from the Midwest.

At the Tony Iasiello tournament, Xavier beat host Bethlehem Catholic by 2½ points, 195-192½ points to win the championship. Braylon Gonzalez (145) won an individual title for Xavier while Evan Langford (114), Zack Dixon (121), Alexander Depratti (133) and Chase Catalano (172) each advanced to the finals and finished second.

Depth keyed Xavier’s win. Xavier won this tournament with one individual champion, five finalists and 14 wrestlers in the top six of their respective weight classes. Host Bethlehem Catholic had five individual champions and six finalists but only 11 medalists (top 6).

Pins by Xavier’s Josh Perez (107) and Alex Stahl (145) in the medal round and a 1-0 win by Jason DeMarco (114) in the consolation final helped the Falcons earn the necessary points for their 2½ point win.

In their first match at the Clash tournament in LaCrosse, Wisc., Xavier dropped a 35-32 decision to Evansville, the No. 9 ranked team (Division II) in Wisconsin. The Falcons rebounded with a pair of wins over Caledonia, Minn., 52-18 and Owatonna, Minn., 54-15.

On day two, the Falcons were competitive but dropped decisions to Hononegah, Illinois, 40-31, Apple Valley, Minn., 39-22 and Delta, Ohio, 37-26.

The Falcons return to action on Wednesday when they host Amity in a SCC bout in Middletown.

Ridgefield (5-0), who was ranked No. 2 at one point last season (week 3), has won their first five matches of the season including a victory over No. 7 Trumbull, 41-33. The Tigers won their first 13 matches of the season a year ago.

No. 3 Danbury (4-0) finished fourth at the Spartan Wrestling Area Tournament (SWAT) in Sanford, Maine over the weekend. Emrick Henry (165) and Harrison Muller (175) came home with individual titles for the Hatters.

No. 4 Fairfield Warde is off to a 5-0 start with FCIAC victories including a 51-26 win over Wilton, who is 6-4 after 10 matches.

No. 5 Foran (7-0) won the Lawman Duals at Jonathan Law on Saturday with a 58-23 win over Shelton, who finished at No. 12 in this week’s voting.

No. 6 Plainville (2-1) won the 43rd annual Dennis Siegmann Invitational, formerly known as the Bristol Central Invitational, for the first time on Saturday with a 170-149½ win over defending champion New Milford.

Josue Lamb Alvarado (165), Cooper Theriault-Dinielli (175) and Christopher Wright (285) each won individual titles for the Blue Devils. Theriault-Dinelli beat Staples Damian Rousseau, 6-5 in overtime.

The previous best finish for Plainville at the tournament were a pair of second place finishes in 1991 and 1992.

Plainville also won the Haddam-Killingworth tournament on Dec. 20 with a 244-218 win over Platt. The Blue Devils had three individual champions in the tournament – Dylan Waugh (138), Alvarado (165) and Theriault-Dinelli (175).

No. 7 Trumbull is 3-1 with one tournament victory. The Eagles won the Skip Ardan tournament in Manchester on Dec. 20 with a 195½ to 144½ victory over Glastonbury. Trumbull had one champion, three finalists and six wrestlers that finished third.

No. 8 New Milford (2-0) finished second at the Dennis Siegmann Invitational and won the Frank Chaves Holiday Classic on Dec. 20 in Simsbury with three individual champions and four finalists.

No. 9 Notre Dame-West Haven (9-2) is off to a fine start. Notre Dame dropped a 56-16 decision to Xavier on opening night but has won nine of their last 10 matches including a 45-33 win over No. 10 Newtown at the Nighthawk Duals on Saturday and a 43-33 win over Waterford on Dec. 27.

Newtown (6-1) rounds out the top 10 with their only loss coming to Notre Dame-West Haven. The Nighthawks beat Wilton, 47-33, Simsbury, 48-35 and Masuk, 53-30 at the Nighthawk Duals on Saturday.

Just outside the top 10 is Killingly, who captured their own Holiday Duals on Dec. 20 for the eighth time in a row with four victories. The closest match was a 40-38 win over Stafford. Shelton beat the Trailblazers, 41-38 on Saturday to win their respective pool at the Lawman Duals. Killingly finished third with a 57-24 win over Bunnell.

More tidbits: Berlin (2-0) won the 36th C.J. McCormack Invitational for a record tenth time on Dec. 20 with a win over Bristol Eastern. The Redcoats finished tied for fourth with Eastern at the Dennis Siegmann Invitational. … Eastern is off to a 7-0 start with their season-opening win over RHAM, 57-24, and a 46-29 win over Maloney on Dec. 30 being the most competitive. … New Britain is off to a 12-1 start with their lone loss coming to Simsbury, 40-38 on Dec. 22. The Hurricane were third at the Skip Ardan tournament.  … East Lyme/Norwich Tech (9-2) won the 16th annual Whippet Duals in Windham for the second straight year with a 42-41 win over Waterford on criteria. East Lyme/NT also beat Guilford on criteria, 38-37, in pool play. … RHAM won the Casey Dane Yates Invitational at Lyman Memorial for third time in the last four years with a 235-217 win over Ledyard. The Sachems had five individual champions — Miles Yorio (120), Caden Bell (126), Landon Roy (132), Seth Dunko (175) and Cayden Caplette (215). … The Trumbull High girls wrestling team has already won two girls tournaments at Skip Ardan tournament in Manchester and the Queen Gambit tournament. Trumbull had 149 points to beat Stratford with 119 at the Queens Gambit event at Jonathan Law. … Outside of Xavier, the last team to be ranked No. 1 in the state poll was Danbury in the first poll of the 2023 season.

* * * *

Westport’s Greens Farms Academy won the Sam Cali Invitational in New Jersey on Dec. 28 with Ryan Schneider (285, Norwalk) and Jeremy McGrath (157, Milford) each winning individual titles.

GFA finished second over the past weekend at the Irvin S. Nayor Duals in Ownings Mills, Maryland, falling to undefeated Faith Christian Academy of Quakertown, Pa., 37-33. GFA went 9-1 in the two-day tournament, giving up just six points with four shutouts and five victories on day one.

The Dragons gave up just 37 in four victories before facing Faith Christian (15-0) in the final match of the day. Five pins and two tech falls helped Faith Christian come away with the victory.

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Top 10 poll

Connecticut Wrestling Online’s top 10 high school wrestling poll for the 2025-26 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.

Team	Rec.	TW	Pts	Class	LT
1. Xavier (11)	3-4	1	330	L	1
2. Ridgefield	5-0	0	279	LL	5
3. Danbury	4-0	0	246	LL	6
4. Fairfield Warde	5-0	0	205	L	3
5. Foran	7-0	0	201	M	9
6. Plainville	2-1	2	176	S	nr
7. Trumbull	3-1	1	171	LL	nr
8. New Milford	2-0	1	147	L	10
9. Notre Dame-WH	9-2	0	130	M	nr
10. Newtown	6-1	0	129	L	2
Also receiving votes: Killingly (10-1) 127, Shelton (5-2) 111, Bristol Eastern (7-0) 79, RHAM (1-12) 57, Berlin (2-0) 56, Platt (5-0) 54, Amity (2-0) 53, Wilton (6-4) 46, Southington (2-0) 33, Fairfield Ludlowe (3-2) 19, New Britain (12-1) 18, Staples (0-5) 17, Stafford (3-1) 17, Waterford (5-2) 14, Ledyard (1-0) 9, Windham (7-4) 9
TW: Dual meet or individual tournaments won by team; LT: Last year’s final poll
Voting this week: Charlie Anderson, Trumbull; Matt Boissonneault, Bristol Central; Mike Cunningham, Xavier; Gerry deSimas, Jr., Connecticut Wrestling Online; Chris Gamble, Waterford; David Green, Nonnewaug; Chris Piel, New Milford; John McLaughlin, Avon; Paul Musso, New Fairfield, Matt Schoonmaker, Jonathan Law-Milford; Jason Shaughnessy, Fairfield Warde; Jimmy Zanor, Norwich Bulletin. Did not vote: Derek Dion, Southington; Patrick Risley, Windham; Mike Cunningham, Xavier