Led by a trio of individual winners among nine place winners, the Newtown High School wrestling team came in second behind Xavier of Middletown in the Class L State Championships, which wrapped up at Wilton High on February 22. Xavier had 296.5 points and Newtown scored 219; there were 25 schools in the competition.

Kenna Gioffre won the championship in the 120 pound weight division, Antonio Arguello won the title at 150, and Marc Maurath was first at 165.

Gioffre defeated East Lyme-Norwich Tech’s Noah Caisse 7-0, Arguello earned a 10-3 decision over Xavier’s Vincent Rivera, and Maurath pinned Xavier’s Chase Catalano. Maurath is a four-time finalist and two-time State Champ, winning in 2023 and 2025. Gioffre is a back-to-back State Champion.

Jake Maddox was second in the 157 weight class and Charlie Dunn took third at 190. In fifth place were Owen Blair at 106, Ty Jorgenson at 126, Shaun Daoust in the 138 division. Finishing sixth was Andrew Corey in the 175 division.

Newtown bested 23 other teams from across the state, including scoring 92 more points than South-West Conference rival New Milford. The Nighthawks lost to Xavier for the second time in as many seasons. Xavier is a private school that brings in wrestlers from 20 towns across the state and Newtown’s roster comprises only student-athletes that live in Newtown, with 70 percent of the varsity lineup having participated in Newtown’s youth program, Nighthawks coaches note.

Dunn, a senior captain and Johns Hopkins wrestling commit, reached the milestone of 100 varsity wins. All of these Nighthawks advance to the State Open, which will take place at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven February 28 and March 1.