NEW FAIRFIELD — Led by 13 place winners, nine finalists, and six individual champions, Newtown High School’s wrestling team captured the South-West Conference Championship at neutral site New Fairfield High on February 17. The competition was postponed by the weekend snow, rain, and icy conditions, but very good things came to those in blue and gold who waited.

The Nighthawks had a big presence in the 14 championship bouts. Newtown effectively locked up the team title, its first since 2019, by sending so many grapplers to the finals with an outstanding day of wrestling across the board. Newtown had place winners (top four) in all but one weight division in this dominant performance. The Nighthawks racked up 273.5 points; runner-up New Milford, which had won the last four titles dating back to 2020 (no championship in the COVID year of 2021), scored 174 points. New Fairfield was third with 156 and Stratford fourth with 152.5 points.

“It feels good, especially considering we fell short of what we should have probably accomplished last year,” said Newtown Coach Chris Bray, alluding to his team’s fourth consecutive runner-up finish to New Milford at last year’s competition. “Everybody wrestled hard today. I’m really excited — it’s been a while since we had one of these banners.”

Individual champions were Owen Blair with a pin fall victory in the 106 pound weight division. Kenna Gioffre with a 16-3 major decision triumph at 120, Antonio Arguello who posted a 20-8 major decision at 150, Jake Maddox taking the forfeit at 157, Marc Maurath with a 19-2 technical fall victory at 165, and Charlie Dunn with a pin at 190.

Ryder Symes battled hard to a second-place finish in the 132 division. Shaun Daoust also came in runner-up, battling back from a late 7-4 deficit to force overtime tied 8-8 before falling 11-8 on an early-OT takedown. Brayden Ayles held a lead before being pinned in his match at 285.

Gioffre received the Most Outstanding Wrestler award with another dominant SWC championship win with two pins and a major decision in the finals. Gioffre also reached 100 career pins, making him only the third wrestler in Newtown’s 54 year history to reach this milestone.

Maurath received the SWC Career Award by the 12 SWC team coaches. Maurath is a four-time finalist and two-time individual SWC champion.

Dunn returned from a preseason injury to win his second SWC title by pin, including beating the No. 7 and No. 8 ranked wrestlers in the state.

Two freshmen made it to the finals. Blair pinned his way to his first SWC championship and Symes beat the No. 6 and 7 seeds before finally falling to the top seed in the finals.

Ty Jorgenson (126) and Andrew Corey (175) both battled back from losses in the semifinals to place third, earning important points toward the team’s title win. Dante Ames took fourth place in the 138 weight class.

Newtown was coming off a late-season loss to New Milford. Avenging that setback — along with the recent run of New Milford dominance — was made possible, in part, by the return of some standouts sidelined with injury and illness late in the regular season. The Hawks were able to accomplish this despite losing key grappler Thomas Morgan to injury in early January.

“Everybody came to wrestle their matches,” Bray said.

The Nighthawks worked hard to win back the SWC title from New Milford and now have their focus set on the Class L State Championships scheduled for Friday and Saturday, February 21 and 22. Newtown will battle against all Class L teams including the top-ranked team in the state, Xavier of Middletown. Xavier also defeated Newtown late this past regular slate and overcoming the four-time Class L champs (NHS was second to Xavier last winter) will be an “uphill battle,” Bray acknowledged.

That said, Bray noted: “I get the sense that it’s within reach. We have to do our job.”

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