Newtown High School's wrestling team, as the postseason draws nearer, is looking to push itself and get back to as close to full strength as it has been throughout the campaign.

The Nighthawks competed against Norwalk, Enfield, and Foran of Milford at Fairfield Warde on January 26, as Warde hosted wrestling teams from a variety of conferences. The Hawks came away with wins over Norwalk (41-27) and Enfield (47-33), and fell to Foran (60-12) in a battle with one of the top teams in the state.

Newtown has a busy stretch run. After visiting perennial South-West Conference powerhouse New Milford on January 30, in a rescheduled competition and, following a January 31 visit to Masuk of Monroe at 7 pm, NHS will go to the Jonathan Law Duals in Milford on Saturday, February 3, and close out the regular slate when Brookfield visits NHS on Monday, February 5, beginning at 7 pm.

"We're just trying to embrace the grind, trying to get as many matches as we can. We're not looking to sugarcoat it," said Newtown Coach Ron Chivinski, whose team is striving to head toward the postseason having been battle-tested all the while overcoming some minor injuries that have partially depleted an already thin roster in which not all weight divisions are filled.

"We're trying to get back and get healthy for the end of the season," said Chivinski, whose team will hit the mats in the SWC championships at New Milford High on Saturday, February 10, beginning at 9:30 am. "You're looking for good matchups, tough matches."

Newtown certainly got that in the visit to Fairfield. After defeating Norwalk, the Hawks impressed their coach with a solid performance against Enfield, which had beaten (by 20 points) Manchester, a team that has won three consecutive weekend tournaments, twice finishing ahead of Newtown.

The Hawks defeated Enfield behind the strength of six pinfall triumphs, each resulting in six points.

Aidan Occhipinti kicked things off in the 120 pound weight division and pinned Messina in 3:07. Fritz Maurath followed, at 126, and pinned Sean Keeler in 2:47.

Steven Leuci defeated Kesaean Mason in a 17-1 technical fall outcome, at 138. At 145, Justin Bogdanoff pinned Ella D'Inca in 0:22. At 152, Owen Walsh got a good test from Tallon Stager before earning a third-period pin, in 5:36. In the 160 division, Steven Vournazos pinned Max Carson in 1:47. Joe Zeller, at 285 (heavyweight), pinned Freddy Centrella in 1:15.

"Aidan reversed a loss to a tough opponent from the previous week. He dominated the match and earned a pin, which resulted in a nine-point swing. Fritz continued the momentum by securing another pinfall against a tough opponent and our wrestlers never looked back. Even though we've been short-handed all season, our team understands how bonus points can win a match," Chivinski said. "Enfield wasn't expecting that level of intensity from our guys."

In the win over Norwalk, at 132, Nik Accousti pinned Chase Larkin in 4:52. At 138, Leuci scored an 8-2 regular decision over Connor Gilchrist. At 152, Walsh pinned Max Schwartz in 2:56. In the 160 division, Vournazos won a 13-1 major decision over Simon Gaetano. At 182, Doug Carriero picked up an 11-3 major decision triumph over Axel Nicanor. In heavyweight action, Zeller pinned Brendan Farrell in 1:05.

Newtown had a trio of winners against Foran. At 126, Maurath won a 10-4 regular decision over Jordan Lang. In the 152 bout, Walsh won a 3-1 regular decision over Tyler Stanko. At 285, Zeller pinned Phillip Boyles in 1:57.