It was quite a week for the Newtown High School wrestling team, which followed up its 65-18 triumph over visiting Stratford on January 22, highlighted by Marc Maurath’s team record-setting 161st career win, with a repeat as team champion at the Gary Tiger Ridgefield Challenge on January 25.

Against Stratford, Maurath won his match via pin, his 100th pin fall victory, making him the all-time wins leader in the 54-year history of the program. Newtown won 11 of 14 matches, also receiving pins from Kenna Gioffre, Ryder Symes, Dante Ames, Antonio Arguello, Jake Maddox, and Brayden Ayles. Newtown improved to 7-1 in dual meets and is the top team in the South-West Conference’s Colonial Division at 3-0.

Newtown successfully defended its Ridgefield Challenge title, beating 18 teams from Connecticut and New York, including Ridgefield, the No. 2 team in the state and Trumbull, the No. 8 squad. Newtown had four tournament champions and seven place winners.

First-place finishers were Gioffre at 120 pounds, Arguello at 150, Maddox at 157, and Maurath at 165; finishing third were Micah Houston at 99 pounds and Andrew Corey at 175; in fourth were Owen Blair at 106 and Grayson Renkert in the 144 division; and in sixth place were Ty Jorgenson at 126, Symes at 132, and Shaun Daoust in the 144 bracket.