Canton senior Brian Connelly and the Warriors will be looking to secure the league title on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)
CANTON, February 7 — The North Central Connecticut Conference race in wrestling isn’t as buttoned up as we reported earlier this week.
For the past two seasons, the team with the best dual meet record was acknowledged as the league champion. Canton (20-3, 7-0 NCCC) went undefeated this season in the league including a 42-36 win over Suffield/Windsor Locks (11-4, 6-1 NCCC) with a pin in the final match to secure the win.
However, Connecticut Wrestling Online learned on Tuesday that the NCCC modified the criteria for determining a league champion before the season began. The league has gone back to a point system they used in previous years.
Teams get one point for every dual meet victory over a league opponent and a ½ point for every team they beat at the league championship meet, which is Saturday in Granby.
We reported earlier this week that Canton had won their first league championship since 2002. Well, not quite yet. Canton is in the driver’s seat with seven points. The Warriors need to finish either first or second in the NCCC Tournament to secure the title.
And Canton has won the NCCC Tournament for the past two seasons.
Suffield/Windsor Locks has a chance to grab the title or a share of it. First, Suffield/Windsor Locks has to win the tournament. If Canton finishes third, they will share the league championship with the Warriors. If Canton finished fourth, Suffield would be the league champion.
It is an unlikely scenario. The team with the best dual meet record from the regular season in the NCCC has finished either first or second 22 times in the last 23 NCCC tournaments.
The only exception came two years ago in 2017 when Granby went undefeated in the NCCC and finished third in the league tournament. The Bears would have shared the championship that season but that year, the league champion was determined solely by dual meet results.
NCCC standings
| Team | NCCC | Pts | Overall |
| Canton | 7-0 | 7 | 20-3 |
| Suffield/WL | 6-1 | 6 | 11-4 |
| Stafford | 5-2 | 5 | 7-5 |
| Somers | 4-3 | 4 | 6-8 |
| Granby | 3-4 | 3 | 5-11 |
| Coventry | 2-5 | 2 | 4-16 |
| Rockville | 1-6 | 2 | 4-16 |
| East Windsor | 0-7 | 0 | 0-21 |
| Teams earn 1 point for each dual meet win and a ½ point for each team they beat at the NCCC championship meet | |||
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