Xavier remains No. 1 in Connecticut Wrestling Online’s top 10 poll

Newtown’s Fisher Stites (170) is in control of his match at 170 pounds in Saturday’s Matt Bishel Bobcat Classic in Colchester. Newtown won the tournament for the first time.

For the fifth consecutive week, Xavier is the No. 1 team in the Connecticut Wrestling Online state top 10 poll as voted by state coaches and media members.

But there was some movement within the top 10 this week with Simsbury replacing Southington in the top 10 after a strong performance at Saturday’s Central Connecticut Conference (CCC) championship meet.

Top-ranked Xavier (10-4) only had one dual meet last week with a 70-12 win over Guilford to win the SCC Division I title. The Falcons were scheduled to face Danbury on Friday but the dual meet was cancelled due to injuries in the Danbury program, according to a story from GameTimeCT. The cancellation sparked a spirited debate on Connecticut Wrestling Online’s Facebook page.

That was Danbury’s only scheduled event last week. The Hatters (11-1), who dropped one spot to No. 3 despite getting a pair of first place votes, close out the regular season on Tuesday night when they face Greenwich. The Hatters will be competing at the FCIAC championship meet this weekend in New Canaan.

Undefeated New Milford (7-0), which traditionally takes off the first weekend in February, moved up one spot to No. 2. The Green Wave, which beat Pomperaug last week, closed out the dual meet portion of the schedule against New Fairfield on Monday. New Milford will be at Saturday’s SWC championship meet in Stratford.

East Hartford (9-1) moved up one spot to No. 4 after winning the Central Connecticut Conference tournament for the first time with five individual champions and six finalists.

Newtown (17-2), which won the Matt Bishel Bobcat Classic at Bacon Academy in Colchester, slipped one spot to No. 5. The Nighthawks had six finalists and all six won by pin or technical fall. Seven other Newtown wrestlers finished in the top five of their respective weight class.

Fairfield Warde (16-1) remained at No. 6 in this week’s poll. The Mustangs have won 16 straight dual meets after losing to Danbury on the first day of the season. Warde beat then-No. 8 Trumbull last week, 45-26.

No. 7 Killingly (25-0) won four matches last week with victories over NFA, Amity, Foran and Notre Dame-West Haven to finish undefeated for the fourth time in team history and the first time since 2000. Killingly will be hosting the Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament this weekend, looking for their fifth straight ECC title.

No. 8 RHAM (26-2) moved up two spots to No. 8. The Raptors picked up dual meet wins over Manchester and Windsor last week to see a new school record for most wins in a single season before they finished second at the CCC Tournament behind East Hartford.

No. 9 Trumbull (23-3) slipped one spot after going 2-1 last week. Trumbull beat Westhill and Fitch but lost to No. 6 Fairfield Warde.

Simsbury jumped back into the top 10 after a one-week absence after finishing third at the CCC championship meet.

Connecticut Wrestling Online’s top 10 high school wrestling poll for the 2022-23 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.

Week 6, Tuesday, February 7, 2023