RIDGEFIELD — Newtown Youth Wrestling Association (NYWA) has reclaimed its place atop the Western Connecticut/Eastern New York Youth Wrestling League, securing the championship at Ridgefield High School on Sunday, March 8.

The league championship event, originally scheduled for January 25 but postponed due to a snowstorm, marked the successful relaunch of the youth league after it was shut down for the 2024-25 season. Planning for the restart began in the summer of 2025, when local town programs met to revive a league aimed at growing the sport and keeping young wrestlers active in their community teams.

To boost participation and competition, league organizers expanded membership to include teams from New York, adopted a dual-meet format similar to high school competition to promote team unity, and created a season-ending championship tournament based on dual-meet results.

Founding members of the relaunched league from Connecticut include Newtown, Danbury, New Milford, Ridgefield, and New Fairfield/Redding. New York programs Yorktown, Carmel, Brewster, and John Jay (Cross River) also joined. Over the course of two months, the league hosted 25 dual meets and hundreds of individual bouts. Newtown finished the dual-meet season 6-0, the only team to go undefeated.

At the championship tournament, Newtown wrestlers delivered once again, giving the program its fifth consecutive league title. Newtown topped the team standings with 242 points, followed by Yorktown with 177, New Milford with 130.5, Ridgefield with 95, and then Danbury, New Fairfield/Redding, Brewster, and Carmel.

“This is a huge win for Newtown as a program,” NYWA President Kyle Ibbitson said. “It has ripple effects that go all the way up to the high school as our athletes build bonds that will last them all their years in our program and prepare them for their high school years. The amount of work that the different programs spent putting effort to get this league back up and running cannot be ignored. I’m so proud of our athletes for fighting through the adversity of the reschedule and remaining focused on the goal of winning a team title once again.”

Head Coach Curtis Urbina called it a program-wide accomplishment. “This team championship represents everyone in our program,” Urbina said. “Our athletes pushed each other every day in the room, our coaching staff dedicated countless hours, and our parents and community supported these kids all season. When you see a group come together like that and trust the work, it’s a proud moment for all of us and for our entire wrestling family.”

Newtown and Yorktown tied for the most first-place finishes with seven apiece. Newtown recorded the most second-place finishes (seven) and the most third-place finishes (five), placing in the top three in 19 of 22 weight classes. Every Newtown wrestler earned a place on the podium.

First place: Allen Gaudenzi, Ben Weintraub, Camron Veneziano, Chase Ibbitson, Drake Oatis, Everett Worster, Matt Iacuone.

Second place: Callum Carl, Cole Salce, Hugo Bojorquez, Hugo Borgerding, Joey Guagliano, Nick Morelli, Skyler Nieves.

Third place: Blake Deloge, Evan Huber, Greg Troiano, Silas Houston, Teague Oddo.

Fourth place: Andrew Braunagel, Charlie Langenus.