NEW CANAAN - Make it a fantastic four for the Warde wrestling program.
With 11 wrestlers on the podium, five in the finals, and seniors Paul Soracco and Dylan O'Brian winning individual titles, the Mustangs captured a fourth consecutive FCIAC championship Saturday in New Canaan.
Warde scored 203.5 points and overcame a sharp challenge from Ridgefield, which scored 196. The Tigers led the meet with five individual champions, a group which included second titles for John Carozza at 144 pounds and Cole Desiano at 113.
Danbury was a close third at 180.5, and won four individual titles.
"Ridgefield is a super strong team, really good front-side bracket wrestlers, Danbury is a very balanced team like ourselves, and Trumbull's really strong as well," Warde coach Jason Shaughnessy said. "The competition is strong at FCIACs, so we were really pleased that we were able to balance it out between the front side of the bracket and the back side of the bracket, and have enough points to stay ahead of those good teams.
Warde has won five FCIAC championships in total, adding the current four-peat to its first title in 2010. Danbury had won 34 of 35 titles until 2022. The last team other than those two to win the FCIAC championship was Greenwich in 1986.
O'Brian won his second consecutive FCIAC title, following last year's win at 165 pounds with this season's 190-pound victory. He controlled his match with Wilton's Alan Osta from the start, eventually winning via pinfall at 3:59.
It was also the third straight year that O'Brian placed at the meet.
"Freshman year, I didn't get to contribute to it because I wasn't wrestling in this tournament, but now as a senior, I was able to contribute a lot to it," O'Brian said. "These four years, this program has made me a better person and a better athlete. It's been great."
Soracco was the No. 4 seed at 138, and while winning may not have been a surprise, the start time was as he didn't learn his weight class was batting leadoff until about 20 minutes before the match.
Nevertheless, he said he "pulled it together" and won an 8-5 decision over Greenwich's Mark Zolotarevsky.
"Right when I got here as a freshman, seeing the team win, I didn't realize how big of a thing it was," Soracco said. "Last year, we had one of the best teams ever and I was truly gifted to be a starter on that team. This year, we lost a lot of good kids, but our second strings, me included, pulled it together and still got the win."
Ridgefield's runner-up finish matched its 2003 placement as the program's best-ever at the FCIAC meet.
Carozza, who will wrestle at Wesleyan next year, rolled past Stamford's Aiden Lucero at 144 pounds, winning a 16-0 technical fall.
Ridgefield's Leo Moore followed with an 11-10 win over Stamford's Midgerson Gelin at 150.
The Tigers had two wins in the lower weights, with Desiano winning a 15-0 technical fall over Danbury's Robert Barry at 113, and Carter Lanzilli pinning Staples' Gavin Donaldson in 52 seconds at 120.
Dylan Meyers gave Ridgefield its fifth win when he pinned Warde's Jude Grammatico in 1:03 at 132 pounds.
Danbury had four champs: Kai Farstad (99 pounds), William Vazquez (106), Em'Rick Henry (157) and Harrison Muller (175).
Staples' Seamus Brannigan won at 126 pounds for his second straight crown, and Julian Rousseau won at 215 to give the Wreckers two winners.
Trumbull freshman Humbert Szymko won at 165, and Greenwich's Colin Falla was the heavyweight champ.
2026 FCIAC Wrestling Championship
Team scores:
Championship finals
99: Kai Farstad (Danbury) F Jack Forker (Trumbull), 0:26
106: William Vazquez (Danbury) DEC Dominic Romero Flores (Fairfield Warde), 10-3
113: Cole Desiano (Ridgefield) TF Robert Barry (Danbury), 15-0
120: Carter Lanzilli (Ridgefield) F Gavin Donaldson (Staples), 0:52
126:
132:
138: Paul Soracco (Fairfield Warde) DEC Mark Zolotarevsky (Greenwich), 8-5
144:
150: Leo Moore (Ridgefield) DEC Midgerson Gelin (Stamford), 11-10
157: Em'Rick Henry (Danbury) MD Shane Ryan (Trumbull), 16-8
165:
175: Harrison Muller (Danbury) DEC Damian Rousseau (Staples), 6-0
190: Dylan O'Brian (Fairfield Warde) F Alan Osta (Wilton), 3:59
215: Julian Rousseau (Staples) F Augie Furman (Wilton), 3:08
285: Colin Falla (Greenwich) DEC Jose Abreau Barillas (Fairfield Warde), 2-2 UTB
Consolation finals (3rd/4th place)
99: Isha Khanna (Westhill) F Alex Leite (Trumbull), 4:21
106: John Rhodes (Ridgefield) DEC Michael Robles (Brien McMahon), 12-10
113: Cody Palmentiero (Fairfield Warde) DEC Saunder Anastasia (Wilton), 6-5
120: Colin Faranda (Westhill) DEC Dylan Tejada (Danbury), 10-9
126: Aaron Bravo (Danbury) DEC Ellis Frey (New Canaan), 5-2
132: Stone Milligan (New Canaan) DEC Kai Schwartz (Staples), 1-0
138: Victor Velez (Danbury) DEC Christopher Smith (Westhill), 10-3
144: Griffin Caird (Fairfield Warde) F Joseph Demita (Greenwich), 0:46
150:
157: Derek Massey Fairfield, CT (Fairfield Warde) F Abriel Jimenez (New Canaan), 4:43
165: Lucas Serpa (Danbury) F Eli Himelstein (Greenwich), 4:59
175:
190:
215: Benedetto Graziosi (Greenwich) MD Jonathan Kubie (Trumbull), 16-2
285: Peter Brandt (New Canaan) F Brandon Macura (Trumbull), 2:21
This article originally published at Fairfield Warde edges Ridgefield for fourth consecutive FCIAC wrestling championship.