It was a busy and overall ultra-successful Saturday, February 19, for Newtown High School athletes competing in postseason action in various sports.

In girls’ track, the 4x800 relay team won the State Open championship and again broke the school record in the event, and the boys’ 4x800 relay set the school record.

On the wrestling mats, 132 pound grappler Luca Manfredi won the title as his Nighthawks placed third as a team in the Class L State Championships.

In an upset, on the basketball court, the NHS girls were defeated by Brookfield in the conference tourney quarterfinals.

Track Standouts

The 4x800 relay team of Riley Powers, Hannah Snayd, Sophia Guevara, and Ally McCarthy won the State Open title in a time of 9:43.92, nearly four seconds faster than the closest competitor. This also reset the school mark.

Powers was third in the 600 meter run in 1:38.90. The 4x800 relay and Powers both qualified for the New England Championships.

Newtown’s boys 4x800 relay came in seventh in school record-breaking time. Aidan Budge, Colby Harrell, Cameron Whorf, and Soheib Dissa finished in 8:18.99.

The track championships took place at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven. As a team, the Nighthawk girls placed 11th with 16 points.

Wrestling Winner

Manfredi edged Xavier of Middletown’s Anthony Basile in a 10-9 decision in the 132 weight class finals. Marc Maurath earned second at 138; Tommy Milligan (106) and Ben Plaue (120) both took third; Brendan McAnaspie was fourth at 145; and Kenna Gioffre (113), Acea Shaham (195), and Fisher Stites (160) all placed fifth.

As a team, Newtown was third. Xavier placed first with 318.5 points and Simsbury was second with 234.5. Newtown scored 173.5 to edge out South-West Conference rival New Milford (fourth with 159). New Milford narrowly defeated Newtown for the conference tourney title. Guilford came in fifth in the the Class L competition with a score of 142. The Class L Championships were held at Wilton High.

Basketball Defeat

Seeded third and facing a Brookfield team it has defeated in the regular season, Newtown High’s girls’ basketball team was beaten by the sixth-seeded Bobcats 27-23 in the SWC Tournament quarterfinals.

Allie Bradley had 13 points in defeat. The Nighthawks led 20-16 going into the fourth quarter and were held without a point until the final 26 seconds of regulation. By that time, Brookfield had established a 23-20 lead. Bradley made a free throw, missed the second attempt, but got her own rebound and scored to tie the game. The Bobcats, however, got the last four points to move on.

Read more about all of these teams in the February 25 print edition of The Bee.

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