After a two-year wait, Newtown High School’s wrestling team finally got back to competition in the season-starting Guilford Invitational on December 18.

The Nighthawks had several standout wrestlers on the way to a third-place team finish. Fairfield Warde was first with 269.5 points, Xavier of Middletown placed second with 220.5, and Newtown took third with 160, edging host Guilford, which finished fourth with 156. There were 11 teams in the event.

All of last season was wiped out due to the coronavirus and the Nighthawks had to wait a few extra days to get going. Newtown’s originally-scheduled season opener, at New Fairfield on December 15, was postponed due to coronavirus protocol.

“It was exciting to come back after how very many months it was,” said Marc Maurath, one of eight Nighthawks to place among the top four in their weight division.

Second-place finishers were Tommy Milligan in the 106 pound division, Kenna Gioffre in the 113 weight class, Ben Plaue at 126, Brendan McAnaspie at 138, and Fisher Stites at 170; third-place wrestlers were Maurath at 145 and Acea Shaham at 195; and Luca Manfredi came in fourth at 132.

“They had a great tournament,” Newtown Coach Cory Fisher said. “They’ve been working really hard for three weeks. To get them out on the mats and see the result was really rewarding.”

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.