Sports

Fairfield Schools Listed in Preseason Wrestling Coaches Poll

Warde is ranked in the top five in the state, and Ludlowe also received support from Connecticut coaches.

FAIRFIELD, CT — High school wrestling officially got underway Wednesday in Connecticut, but before the first grapplers had even taken to the mat, more than a dozen coaches submitted their rankings of the top squads in the state.

To no one's surprise, defending Class LL champion Danbury tops the preseason poll, receiving 14 of 15 first-place votes. Since 1989, the Hatters have accumulated 18 Class LL titles and 12 State Open championships.

Fairfield Warde is ranked third, up two spots from the position it held in the final poll of 2015-16, while Ludlowe missed the top 10 but received considerable support.

Find out what's happening in Fairfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The top 10, with first-place votes in parentheses, are:

1. Danbury (14)
2. New Milford
3. Fairfield-Warde
4. Foran
5. Trumbull
T6. Windham
T6. Newtown (1)
8. Bristol Eastern
9. Ellis Tech
10. Ledyard

Find out what's happening in Fairfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Others receiving votes: New Fairfield, Xavier, Southington, Middletown, Montville, Fairfield-Ludlowe, Simsbury, Killingly, Bristol Central, Platt, New London, East Hartford, Guilford, Waterford, East Haven, Daniel Hand, Somers.

Coaches voting: Matt Boissoneault (Bristol Central); Ricky Shook (Danbury); Rafael Calixto (Ellis Tech); Jason Shaughnessy (Fairfield Warde); Matt Schoonmaker (Jonathan Law); Steve Bilheimer (Ledyard); Paul Gallo (New Canaan); Chris Piel (New Milford); Chris Bray (Newtown); Brian McCarty (Platt); Derek Dion (Southington); Charlie Anderson (Trumbull); Chris Gamble (Waterford); Pat Risley (Windham); Mike Cunningham (Xavier).

Photo credit: Tim Jensen

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