The NHS Wrestling team traveled to Joel Barlow of Redding on January 8 and, in a dominating performance, the Nighthawks won 75-3. The Nighthawks came out on top in 13 of 14 weight classes, including pins from Owen Blair, Kenna Gioffre, Ty Jorgenson, Ryder Symes, Shaun Daoust, Grayson Renkert, Antonio Arguello, Andrew Corey, Preston Green, and Brayden Ayles.

Newtown then sent ten Nighthawks to battle for two days at the Eastern States Classic in Clifton Park, N.Y. As a team, Newtown placed 13th out of 157 squads from eight states and was the highest-placing team from Connecticut. This is considered one of the toughest tournaments in the Northeast and attracts 500-plus competitors, including nationally-ranked wrestlers and athletes that are committed to college programs. Jake Maddox placed sixth and Marc Maurath placed seventh in their weight classes at the event.

Connwrestling.com updated its Connecticut rankings on January 6; Newtown has three athletes ranked as the top wrestler in the state including Senior Kenna Gioffre ranked No. 1 at 120 pounds, sophomore Antonio Arguello No. 1 at 150, and senior Marc Maurath No. 1 at 165.

Other ranked NHS wrestlers include: Sophomore Jake Maddox No. 3 at 157, senior Charlie Dunn No. 4 at 190, freshman Owen Blair No. 13 at 106, senior Grayson Renkert No. 14 at 144, and sophomore Ty Jorgenson No. 25 at 126.

This week the varsity squad is preparing for the Colter Abely Mid Season Classic, hosted by the top-ranked team in the state, Xavier of Middletown, on Saturday, January 18. The junior varsity team competes at the Enfield JV Tournament on Monday, January 20.