ECC LARGE

East Lyme

Coach: Ed Lorah (7th year).

Key returnees: Sr. Mason Pagan (138), Sr. Kyle Bernard (145), Sr. Matt Pagan (170), Sr. Kevin O'Sullivan (182), Sr. Thomas Hillyer (220), Jr. David Gill (125), So. Jason Williams (106), So. Devin Mazza (120).

Top newcomer: Sr. Matt Sabilia (195).

Outlook: The Vikings, 8-28 last season, are still struggling to field a complete lineup, but do return some experienced wrestlers. Gill, Mason Pagan, Bernard and Hillyer were all place-winners in the ECC tournament.

FITCH

Coach: Marc Kosman (18th year).

Key returnees: Billy Goff (160), Bryan Brown (120), Jonathan Fenty (170), Scott Kydd (126), Ryan Tremont (170), Ryan Koehler (152), Ethan Ervin (145), Isaac Ervin (170), Gabriel Garza (126/132), Kevin Berardi (220), Alper Sahin (160/170), Felipe Rios (220), Gager Collier (120/126), Devin Blais (145/152).

Top newcomers: So. Daniel Benetiz, So. Caleb Chesnut, Jr. Daniel Foster, Fr. North Peters, Fr. Nathan Mansfield, Fr. Elias Davolos, Fr. Tanner LeClair, Jr. Mikayla Richardson, So. Shaun Sandt, Fr. Jarod Kosman, So. Caber Aslayan.

Outlook: Kosman greeted one of his highest turnouts in years, so there will be plenty of competition for varsity spots as the Falcons try to improve upon last year's 11-31 overall record. Goff was an ECC Large all-star and placed fifth in Class L and Fenty was a place-winner in the ECC tournament.

LEDYARD

Coach: Steve Bilheimer (12th year).

Key returnees: Sr. Josh Rahal (132), So. Dan Contino (170), Jr. Daric Johnson (220).

Top newcomers: So. Michael Paige (195/220), So. Jacob Millbach (145/152), Sr. Matt Terrapin (132).

Outlook: The Colonels are coming off another dominating season in which they won they the ECC tournament and Class M state tournament championships, but they were hit hard by graduation losses, including Devon MarcAurele, a State Open finalist (170) and The Day's All-Area Wrestler of the Year. Ledyard may be a bit more vulnerable, but Rahal, Contino and Johnson were all Class M place-winners last season with Johnson winning the Class M state title at 220. Contino, who wrestled up a weight class (182) last year, moves down to 170 this winter to replace MarcAurele.

New London

Coach: Mike Gorton (3rd year).

Key returnees: Mike Commander (132), Alejandro Paulino (126), Pabel Pascual (120), George Hidalgo (160), Xavier Benson (138), Watson Joseph (145), Oscaro Calcano (285), Anson Wang (195).

Top newcomers: Kevin Cancels (113), Christian Torres (106), Allan Ford (220).

Outlook: The Whalers will rely on seniors Commander, Joseph and Pascual to provide leadership to a young team that will feature a number of juniors and sophomores in the lineup. New London was much more competitive last year, finishing 7-11 overall, and had a pair of Class M place-winners in Paulino (2nd at 120) and Commander (3rd at 113). Gorton is confident the Whalers will continue to improve this winter.

NFA

Coach: Kirk Jenkins (1st year).

Key returnees: Jr. Matt Foster (120/126), So. Tyler Knolhoff (132/138), Sr. Selena Berard (145/152), Jr. Tony Hong (160/170), Sr. Sean Doran (170/182), Sr. Khaleed Exum-Strong (195/220), Jr. Richard Crooks (220/285), Sr. Jason Egbert (220/285).

Top newcomers: Sr. Patrick Mahoney-Balestracci (182/195), Jr. Angeline Deslandes (120/126), Abner Logan (160/170), Joshua Huntley (138/145).

Outlook: Jenkins, a former New England champion at Windham and ex-head coach at St. Bernard, takes over an NFA team which went 20-19 overall last season, finished second to Ledyard in the Large and fifth in the ECC tournament. Foster, Hong, Doran and Egbert all placed in the ECC tournament while Foster and Exum-Strong won medals in the Class LL meet.

ECC SMALL

Montville

Coach: Gary Wilcox (17th year).

Key returnees: So. Joel Morth (120), Jr. Zach Looney (126), Sr. Tommy Wynosky (132), Jr. Hunter Driscoll (138), Jr. Austin Concascia (145), So. Nick Leraquento (152), Sr. Ian Concascia (171), So. Emanuelle Diaz (182), So. Augistine Cornish (220).

Top newcomers: Fr. Noah Caskey (106), Jr. Joe Barber (113), Fr. Josh Taylor (120), So. Kyle Liang (132), Fr. Sam Kury (138), Fr. Dane Concascia (152), Fr. Doug Delacruz (160), Fr. Nick Tibbets (195), So. Dakota Leonard (285), So. Noah Gengle (138), Jr. Jaffett Amadore (145), Jr. Brenden Rothholz (285).

Outlook: The Indians were once again one of the ECC's top programs a year ago, finishing 25-5 while placing fourth in the ECC tournament and third in the Class S state tournament. State Open finalist Jake Caskey (138) was the biggest graduation loss, but Montville returns a veteran cast that includes four Class S place-winners from a year ago - Morth (4th at 113), Looney (4th at 120), Wynosky (3rd at 126) and Ian Concascia (3rd at 160). Wynosky is also a returning ECC champion. Wilcox will need some of his younger wrestlers to step into key varsity roles and expects his team to gain valuable experience during the regular season and make another strong postseason run.

St. Bernard/Norwich Tech

Coach: Tom Dowler (3rd year).

Key returnees: So. Alex Britos, So. Chris Dora, Jr. Matthew Dowler, Jr. Robert Newton, So. John Butler, So. Nick Roch, Sr. Mario Lin, Sr. Jarod Citizen.

Top newcomers: Fr. Caleb Marsh, Fr. Mike Jester, Fr. Andrew Costanza, So. Jaron Reed, Fr. Sida Dong, Fr. Dalton Nelson, So. John Zhang, Fr. Jake Ciao, Jr. Dylan Renshaw.

Outlook: The Saints will sprinkle some newcomers into a lineup that has some experience, led by Matt Dowler, who won ECC and Class M championships at 106 as a sophomore and finished second in the State Open. St. Bernard/Norwich Tech was 7-22 overall and Tom Dowler expects his team to be much more competitive this winter and better that record.

Waterford

Coach: Chris Gamble (15th year).

Key returnees: Jr. Sam Lindblom, Jr. Niko Randolph, Sr. Ryan Botseas, Sr. Spencer Sgandurra, Jr. Ben Pickowitz, Sr. Cody Cleary.

Top newcomers: Sr. Dillon McCarthy, Sr. Brian Roscover, Jr. Noah Concascia, Jr. Justin Keating.

Outlook: The Lancers lost three ECC and Class M place-winners, including champion Brentt Smith (120), but they return a wealth of talent and experience from a team which finished second to Ledyard in Class M and third to Ledyard and Class S champion Windham in the ECC tournament. Lindblom was the ECC and Class M champion at 132 last season while Randolph, Botseas, Sgandurra and Cleary placed in both meets. Gamble also welcomes back McCarthy, Roscover, Concascia and Keating, who didn't wrestle last year, and a strong freshman class. Expect the Lancers to contend with Windham in the division and challenge for a Class M title.