For the sixth time, Xavier has been voted the No. 1 team in the state in the final top 10 poll of the season.
For the fifth straight year and sixth time, Xavier has been selected as the No. 1 team in the state in Connecticut Wrestling Online’s top 10 poll thanks to voting by state coaches and media members.
With a team-record five wrestlers winning State Open championships, Xavier (11-4) won their fifth straight Open championship on Saturday. It comes a week after winning a sixth consecutive Class L championship. All 14 voters selected the Falcons, who won five dual meet or individual tournaments this season, the most in the state.
“You can’t do anything without hard work,” Braylon Gonzalez of Xavier said after winning his third straight State Open title on Saturday. “That’s the key. Working hard.”
Ridgefield, which won their first Class LL championship two weeks ago, was the unanimous selection as the No. 2 team in the state. It’s the highest finish in the top 10 poll for Ridgefield since polling began in 1983.
Fairfield Warde (19-2) finished the year at No. 3, the 13th consecutive season that the Mustangs have been in the final top 10 poll of the season. The Mustangs won three tournaments this winter.
Danbury (12-2), who was second in Class LL and eighth at the State Open, was ranked No. 4 in the final poll.
Ledyard (18-4), who finished third in the Class S championship and fifth at the State Open, finished the year at No. 5. It’s the first top 10 finish for the Colonels since 2017.
Newtown (11-2) moved into the top 10 poll for the first time since week 2 in early January, finished at No. 6. The Nighthawks were third in a tough Class L tournament and sixth at the State Open.
Class M champion Foran (31-2, four tournaments won) finished in the top 10 for the second straight year at No. 7 while Trumbull (14-3, 3 tournaments won) finished at No. 8.
At No. 9, Killingly (26-2) is finishing the season in the top 10 for the eighth straight season, dating back to 2018.
New Britain (22-2, 3 tournaments won) finished at No. 10 and closes the season in the top 10 for the first time in team history. The Hurricanes were ranked in the top 10 in the final two weeks of the season for the first time since January 1996.
Xavier has been voted No. 1 in the final poll of the year in 2012, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026.
Top 10 poll
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 | LW | Class |
| 1. Xavier (14) | 11-4 | 5 | 420 | 1 | L |
| 2. Ridgefield | 13-2 | 1 | 392 | 3 | LL |
| 3. Fairfield Warde | 19-2 | 3 | 358 | 2 | L |
| 4. Danbury | 12-2 | 0 | 312 | 4 | LL |
| 5. Ledyard | 18-4 | 2 | 237 | 7 | S |
| 6. Newtown | 11-2 | 1 | 226 | nr | L |
| 7. Foran | 31-2 | 4 | 213 | 8 | M |
| 8. Trumbull | 14-3 | 3 | 206 | t5 | LL |
| 9. Killingly | 26-2 | 2 | 157 | 10 | S |
| 10. New Britain | 22-2 | 3 | 148 | 9 | LL |
| TW: Dual meet or individual tournaments won by team; LW: Last week’s poll | |||||
| Also receiving votes: Waterford (23-6, 1 TW) 139, Bristol Eastern (18-2, 1 TW) 130, New Milford (10-3, 3 TW) 99, Notre Dame-West Haven (24-8, 0 TW) 89, Staples (7-13, 0 TW) 83, Southington (10-2, 1 TW) 76, East Lyme/Norwich Tech (14-6, 1 TW) 70, Lyman Memorial/Windham Tech (10-6) 53, Glastonbury (19-2, 3 TW) 25, Shelton (18-7, 3 TW) 18, Middletown (15-11, 0 TW) 7 | |||||
| Voting this week: Charlie Anderson, Trumbull; Matt Boissonneault, Bristol Central; Mike Cunningham, Xavier; Gerry deSimas, Jr., Connecticut Wrestling Online; Derek Dion, Southington; Chris Gamble, Waterford; David Green, Nonnewaug; Chris Piel, New Milford; John McLaughlin, Avon; Paul Musso, New Fairfield; Patrick Risley, Windham; Matt Schoonmaker, Jonathan Law-Milford; Jason Shaughnessy, Fairfield Warde; Jimmy Zanor, Norwich Bulletin. | |||||
