A tremendous season of high-level success came to a conclusion for Newtown High School’s wrestling team on March 7. The Nighthawks put forth a valiant effort in the two-day New England championship competition in North Andover, Mass., and placed second among 169 schools representing Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Newtown had two finalists and four grapplers among the top five to compile 84 points. Mount Anthony of Vermont won the meet with 122.5 points.

Runner-up finishes by Luca Crudo in the 113 pound weight division and Anthony Falbo at 170 led the way for the Nighthawks. Additionally, Joe Accousti placed third at 152, James Leuci came in fifth among 138 division wrestlers. Ed Lovely, at 126, and Andy Hubina, at 195, also participated in the event.

Fairfield Warde placed third with 69 points. Other Connecticut schools among the top 20 were Danbury in sixth with 51.5 points, Trumbull in tenth with 40, and New Milford in 19th with 27.

“I was really happy,” Newtown Coach Chris Bray said. “It was a tough tournament and everybody pretty much did their job.”

Crudo, after defeating New Fairfield’s Alec Ospal in a 6-1 semifinal round decision, fell 4-2 to Ambraham Bloom of Moses Brown in the finals. Falbo, coming off a 3-1 win over Cody Hughes of Marshwood, lost 13-4 to Fritz Hoehn of North Andover in the pinnacle bout.

The Nighthawks will lose seniors Crudo, Leuci, Ryan King, Matt Gonzalez, Stephen Grasso, Connor LeMay, and Logan Walsh, and Bray notes that he’ll miss this group not only for their efforts on the mats but because of the relationships he’s formed with his team members — many of whom he’s coached for several years dating back to their beginning stages of wrestling in the town’s youth feeder program.

The Newtown coach said he was pleased that the grapplers who have dedicated so much hard work and time into their training got to end their careers with such a successful run. The Nighthawks won South-West Conference, Class LL, and State Open championships this winter.

“We had this big senior class and I really wanted these guys to go out on the right note,” Bray said. “I’ll miss them on a couple different levels.”