Origins Of Local Wrestling

One of the first wrestling teams in the area was this one based at the Danbury War Memorial (1954-56) and featuring Leo McIlrath of Newtown (front right). Mr McIlrath was a captain on the team along with Jack Menzer of New Fairfield (front middle). The team wrestled prep schools like Wooster, Kingswood and Taft, tangled with YMCA teams from Greenwich and New Haven and Boys Clubs from Springfield, and also grappled with the freshman team from Wesleyan University and a team from the American School for the Deaf. The team dissolved at the end of the 1956 season. - Photo courtesy of Leo McIlrath