No. 2 Warde wins 3rd straight FCIAC title, Killingly wins ECC, Newtown dominates

With six individual champions, Newtown won their first SWC championship on Monday since 2019. (Photo courtesy Tom Maurath)

No. 2 Fairfield Warde (22-1) won their third straight FCIAC title with a 281½ to 193½ win over Danbury in New Canaan on Saturday. The Mustangs have won their last three tournaments, including the Kevin Millar Duals in East Hartford beating two top 10 teams and the Warde Invitational.

After losing to Ridgefield in early January, the Mustangs have won their last 21 consecutive dual matches.

Warde had eight individual champions and nine finalists. Dominick Spadaro (150) was the tournament’s outstanding wrestler among the upper weights.

“It was a fun tournament,” Warde coach Jason Shaughnessy said. “The kids won big matches, going 13 for 14 on day 2. That is the outcome you’re looking for at the end of the season.

“We are excited for next week to compete at the (CIAC Class) LL (championship meet) with a goal to defend the state title,” he said.

Victor Defarias (99), Jude Grammatico (113), Owen Sheiman (144), Spadaro (150), Louis Soracco (157), Dylan O’Brian (165), Cole Grenier (190) and Anthony Albanese (285) won individual titles for the Mustangs.

O’Brian beat Danbury’s Harrison Muller in three overtimes, 7-6.

Cristian Pote (132) and Victor Velez (138) won titles for Danbury, which beat Trumbull by 2½ points to finish third. Pote was leading by one when he escaped with 15 seconds remaining in his win over Ridgefield’s John Carrozza.

Trumbull’s Ibrahim Kadri, outstanding wrestler in the lower weights, prevailed in the finals at 126 pounds with a technical fall. Kadri was 3-0 with two pins in the tournament.

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For the sixth time in the last seven tournaments, Killingly won the Eastern Connecticut Conference championship with a 230-207 win over Ledyard. Killingly had four individual champions and seven finalists to win the ECC title for the second straight year.

Gavin Jonasch (106), Ronald Wood IV (120), Exael Padilla (165) and Anthony Oates (275) won titles for Killingly with Bradey Jonash (120) and senior Brady Zadora (138) finishing second.

Zadora, Killingly’s all-time leader in victories, was upset by NFA’s Ed Lavoie in the final, 9-2. Zadora was aiming for a fourth consecutive ECC championship.

Seth Christie (126) of Griswold/Wheeler won a third straight ECC title with a 17-7 win over Windham’s Delmazio Despard. “I won two ECC championships in overtime,” Christie told the Norwich Bulletin’s Jimmy Zanor. “I didn’t want to leave any doubt this time. I’ve got to be happy. The only ECC I didn’t win was my freshman year when I broke my wrist just before the tournament.”

With two pins and an 18-7 win over Windham’s Malachi Fowler in the final, Lincoln Carlson of East Lyme/Norwich Tech was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler.

At the Southern Connecticut Conference championships in Guilford, No.1 Xavier won for the eighth straight year with a 271-171 win over No. 9 Foran.

The Falcons put nine wrestlers and all nine came home with individual titles. Five of the wins were by pin and two were by technical fall. The 271 points scored by Xavier was the second-highest in tournament history, second to the 281½ that the Falcons scored a year ago.

Shelton’s Chase Galke (215) was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler. He was 3-0 with three pins.

East Lyme/Norwich Tech won the ECC Division I title, Killingly grabbed the ECC Division II championship with Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech capturing the ECC Division III title.

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With six individual champions and nine finalists, Newtown dominated the SouthWest Conference championship tournament Monday in New Fairfield to capture their first SWC title since 2019.

It was a big victory for the Nighthawks (13-5), who had dropped their last four dual meets against top 10 teams including a 39-33 decision to New Milford on Feb. 7.

Newtown scored 273½ points, the second-highest number of points in tournament history with New Milford finishing second with 174 points. Only New Milford (278½) scored more a year ago.

Owen Blair (106), Kenna Gioffre (120), Antonio Arguello (150), Jake Maddox (157), Marc Maurath (165) and Charles Dunn (190) each won individual titles for the Nighthawks. Gioffre was named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler. The tournament was originally scheduled for Saturday but was moved to Monday due to snow.

Monday, February 17 results
Saturday, February 15 results
Friday, February 14 results
Wednesday, February 12 results
Tuesday, February 11 results
Monday, February 10 results

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A victory in January over defending league champion Stafford helped Canton win their first NCCC championship since 2019.

Stafford beat the Warriors by 24 points in a non-league match on the first weekend of the season. But when the teams met in a league match 11 days later, Canton prevailed, 39-33, thanks to a pair of forfeits and an overtime win by Carter Chambers (157).

That victory helped Canton go undefeated in the NCCC season with a 7-0 record with Stafford finishing second at 6-1 in the league.

Stafford won the NCCC Tournament on Saturday by 51 points with a 219½ to 168½ victory over Canton. The Bulldogs had six finalists and four individual champions and won the NCCC tournament for the first time since 2003.

But in the NCCC, teams get one point for each league team they beat in the regular season and a half point for every team they beat at the league tournament.

Thanks to its undefeated regular season and a second place finish at the NCCC meet, Canton won the league championship with Stafford finishing second.

“We dropped our match to Canton earlier in the season and our goal from that point one was to wrestle strong and use that as motivation,” Stafford head coach Rich Ives said. “We came into that (Canton) match with a little bit of sickness and we dropped a match or two that we shouldn’t have.

“So, all year long, we’ve used that (loss) as motivation,” he said. “You can’t take anything for granted. You have to up and work hard.”

Since losing to Canton on January 2, the Bulldogs have won nine of 11 duals, won the Rodney Smith Invitational and finished second in two other tournaments – the Casey Yates Invitational and the Stafford Invitational. Stafford (17-5, 6-1 NCCC) took third at the Ben Aleks Duals in Enfield, losing to then-No. 7 Trumbull and dropping a one-point decision to Ledyard, 40-39.

Not only did Canton win a tight match with Stafford. They won a close bout with Suffield/Windsor Locks.

Four days after beating Stafford, Canton (19-10, 7-0 NCCC) slipped past Suffield/Windsor Locks, 36-32. Two pins from Joaquin Vasquez (215) and Thomas Johnson (285) provided extra bonus points with teammate Kian Murphy (190) winning a tough 4-2 decision for the Warriors.

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The Gilbert co-op squad clinched their first Berkshire League championship since 2019 with a victory at the BL Tournament in Derby. The Yellowjacket squad that has wrestlers from Gilbert, Torrington and Wolcott Tech had four individual champions and 10 finalists.

Gilbert/Torrington/OWTS outlasted Nonnewaug 200½ to 163 with Terryville/Thomaston taking third with 157½ points.

Antonio Zetye (106), John Laquio (120), Dylan Desanti (132) and Evan Schibi (157) won individual titles for the Yellowjackets.

Anthony Shivas, the Holy Cross wrestler on the Derby/Oxford/Holy Cross co-op team, was named the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.

Shivas won his third straight BL Tournament championship as did Schibi and DeSanti, who wrestled for Wolcott Tech for the past two seasons before joining the co-op program.

Monday, February 17 results
Saturday, February 15 results
Friday, February 14 results
Wednesday, February 12 results
Tuesday, February 11 results
Monday, February 10 results

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Platt High head coach Bryan McCarty has seen success on the mat throughout his 35-year career as leader of the Panthers. He is one of only six coaches in state history with more than 500 wins. He has coached state champions, State Open champions and All-American wrestlers.

One thing that was missing was a divisional championship.

Last Wednesday, Platt won eight straight matches to snap a 12-12 tie and grab a share of their first championship with a 52-21 win over cross-town rival Maloney. The win gave Platt (21-3, 5-1 CCC South) a share of the divisional title with Bristol Eastern (10-4, 5-1).

“I am so excited. First time in 35 years. Second place, I don’t know how many times. There are great teams in our (CCC South) division,” McCarty said. “I am just so proud of these kids. We battled all year.”

Platt lost to Eastern, 43-29, in December but the Panthers won 16 of their final 18 matches to secure a piece of the championship. Eastern dropped a 40-35 decision to Plainville on Feb. 5 to open the door for Platt. On that same evening, Platt beat Berlin on criteria, 37-36, to remain in contention.

“We were missing guys that day (against Eastern) and Eastern is definitely very, very good,” McCarty said. “But I knew with our varsity lineup, we would be tough to beat. We went 21-3. We wrestled a lot of tough competition. We were battle tested. We were ready.”

Platt had come close four times. Last year, the Panthers went 23-4 but lost to Eastern, 40-33 in December and finished second in the CCC South. In 2023, Platt was 21-5 but lost to Berlin in February, 44-30 and finished second.

In 2018, Platt finished second after losing to Eastern and the Panthers were second in 2009 to Bristol Central.

“The moment was too big. There was too much on the line,” Platt’s Isaiah Smith said. “The  streak is on the line. The conference is on the line. Our pride. Everything. We wrestled our hardest and the results speak for ourselves.

“All we thought about was putting a banner up there (on the gymnasium wall) for coach McCarty and coach West (Johnson),” Smith said.

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In the final Connecticut Wrestling Online top 10 poll of the regular season, Xavier (17-1) remains the No. 1 team with Fairfield Warde (22-1) at No. 2 and East Hartford (20-1) at No. 3.

Danbury, with their 42-29 win over Ridgefield and their second place finish at the FCIAC championship meet, moves up to No. 4.

Newtown (13-5), who won their first SWC championship since 2019 on Monday, moved up two spots to No. 5. Trumbull (30-2), who finished third in the FCIAC tournament, moved up two spots to No. 6.

Ridgefield (13-2) slipped three spots to No. 7 with New Milford (10-2) slipping two spots to No. 8. Southington (10-2) moved up to No. 9 with Foran (31-5) slipping one spot to No. 10.

The final top 10 poll of the season will be conducted following the State Open championships in two weeks.

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East Hartford (20-1, 5-0) beat Manchester, 78-6, to win their fourth straight CCC North championship while Southington (10-2, 6-0) blanked Newington, 82-0, to win their first CCC West title since 2018, ending a five-year run by Simsbury.

Monday, February 17 results
Saturday, February 15 results
Friday, February 14 results
Wednesday, February 12 results
Tuesday, February 11 results
Monday, February 10 results

Top 10 poll