GOOD Morning Wilton features Wilton High School sports photos taken by Gretchen McMahon Photography, who shot all images unless otherwise noted. The WHS Athletic Department has provided results and updates, including write-ups from coaches, teams and boosters. Scores and results are also compiled from CIAC and FCIAC when available. Additional materials of interest can be submitted to GMW for consideration submitted via email.
Message from the Athletic Director
Hello Warrior Nation!
We are one week into the spring season, and Wilton Athletics is undefeated so far (11-0)! With the exception of girls tennis, every team has had at least one contest, and tennis will be competing on Monday, Apr. 11 at home against Trumbull. Let’s keep the great spirit and positive energy rolling as we go into next week, facing mostly FCIAC Teams.
Fans please remember to cheer for Wilton not against the opponent. If you hear people acting in a manner associated with poor sportsmanship, please say something. We are all in this together. If you are uncomfortable saying something, please come find me or one of the site directors and they will handle the situation. Remember we are a Class Act School. Let’s show our Pride.
Go Warriors!
Baseball
Wilton High School Varsity Baseball opened the season with an 11-1 win Saturday, April 2 against Weston. Sean Lengyel was the winning pitcher. and also had two hits for the Warriors. Cole Silvia had two hits including a home run. Max Jarvie had an RBI double. The Warriors also defeated Wright Tech (11-0) on Friday, April 8, and Pomperaug (13-2) on Saturday, April 9.
Softball
After a strong showing in the preseason, Wilton softball is off to a 3-0 start in the regular season with wins over Weston, Greenwich, and New Milford.
On Saturday, April 2, the Warriors scored six unanswered runs in an 8-5 win over Weston. Sophomore Sadie Klyver got the win in relief, and junior Kat Costanzo led the offense with 4 hits, 2 stolen bases, 2 runs scored, and an RBI. Klyver also had a multi-hit game, while sophomore Marin Burke (pictured main image above, Gretchen McMahon Photography) went 2-3 at the plate with an RBI triple and a single, and scored 2 runs.
On Monday, April 4, the Warriors hosted Greenwich and won 12-0. Klyver threw a complete game shutout with 10 strikeouts for the Warriors, while Costanzo, Burke, junior Avery Samai, and sophomore Lauren Sanfilippo each had a multi-hit game at the plate to lead the offense. Costanzo added 2 stolen bases and 2 runs scored to her totals for the season, and Samai scored 3 runs on the day.
On Tuesday, April 5, the Warriors traveled to New Milford and won a close 3-1 game in which all of the scoring occurred in the first inning. Junior Jenna Soltis, Costanzo, and Klyver each scored in the first inning, and all three had a multi-hit game for the Warriors. Klyver posted 7 strikeouts as the winning pitcher, while sophomore Grace DiBuono-Krafick threw 3 strikeouts in 2.1 innings of relief to earn the save. Great defense from Soltis in centerfield, Samai at shortstop, Costanzo at second base, and freshman Kaitlin Feldman at first base helped secure the win for the Warriors.
Boys Lacrosse
The Wilton High School Boys Varsity and JV Lacrosse teams played their first games of the season on Thursday, April 7, against the Rams of Fordham Prep. Through driving wind and rain, the varsity won with a score of 16-3. Next up for the Varsity and JV teams was Fairfield Prep on Saturday, April 9 at Fairfield University’s Rafferty Stadium. Varsity won, 11-7.
The freshman team’s first game against Trumbull was postponed so they opened the season by hosting Darien on Friday, April 8. There are 27 players on the freshman Team: led by four captains — Connor Buchichio (midfield), Joey Haggerty (attack), Tanner Schmauch (defense) and Jack Schwartz (defense). The other players by position: Attack — Michael Bilokin, Cole Galante, Luke Ginsburg, Emmett Kane, Liam McKiernan, Sean Randol, and Grant Solomon; midfield — Ethan Bailey, Matt Demasi, Cael Dexter, Hudson Hagmann, Cole Johnson, Charlie Keller, Henry Mangum, Oliver Richards, Ryan Stoker and Jack Vermulian; defense — Dom Cilento, Kyle Harlacher, Liam Murphy, Nick Oliveri and Henry Soojan; and goalie Liam Porter.
Girls Lacrosse
The Warriors kicked off their season to a good start. Both JV and Varsity teams got great preparation in their scrimmages against Greenwich Academy. Varsity faced off against Guilford on Tuesday evening, April 5, taking the W for their home opener. The Warriors’ offense was a force to be reckoned with as there were nine different point scorers. The final score was 20-11. The Warriors took on Rye on Saturday, April 9 at Lilly, and won decisively at 14-1. The freshman team won its first game on Wednesday, April 6 against Trumbull, 14-2!
Boys Tennis
The varsity boys tennis team is off to a good start. Led by senior captains Dylan Koziol and Sam Gioffre, the Wilton singles defeated Weston 6-1. Junior Owen Dyer (3rd singles) won the first game of the year for the squad before winning in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. Koziol won in a great early season battle with great defense and timely passing shots to prevail 6-4, 0-6, 10-8. Sophomore Akhil Vallabhajosula (2nd singles) displayed his great all-court game, winning 6-3,6-0. And senior Rubin Jha wore his opponent down 6-2,6-3.
The number one doubles team of Gioffre/junior Alex Reyes lost the first two games, then won 12 games in a row for the victory. They have the ability to be one of the best teams in the FCIAC and State and will be fun to watch this season. Juniors Harry Becraft/Aaron Leinberger started off slow, losing the first set, but played better in the second but lost 4-6,1-6. Juniors Nikolai Naydenov/Jonathan Yerrall used their athleticism to dominate 6-1,6-1.
Girls Tennis
Wilton girls tennis started off its season with a scrimmage against St. Luke’s Monday, April 4. With the loss of several seniors from last year, the team has spent the last few weeks restructuring and practicing for the upcoming season with new and talented players. They are excited to start the season off this week and coaches look forward to seeing the team come together. While tennis may seem like an individual sport, playing for Wilton High School is truly a team effort, with each player finding support from their teammates on and off the court. After a week full of practices, they are preparing to take on Fairfield Warde on Monday, April 11, at home for the first match of the season!
Girls Golf
The third week of the Warriors’ season looked like the first two weeks — cold, overcast and wet. This combination led to less-than-ideal golfing conditions. In spite of the subpar conditions, the Warriors started off their match schedule with three matches during the week:
Tuesday, April 5 against Darien (W 192-209, +17 strokes, non-FCIAC): Cold temperatures, overcast skies and the Blue Wave of Darien did not phase the Warriors —senior Samhita Kakarlapudi, junior Ella Christ, junior Olivia Mannino and junior Keerthi Vijay — as they cruised to the program’s first victory since the spring of 2019. To put that into perspective at the time of the Lady Warriors golf program’s last victory- few, if anyone, had ever heard of the video communication software Zoom, American Sign Language was not offered at Wilton High School, Assistant Coach Matt Kelly was finishing up his MA in Germanic Studies at the University of Maryland and freshman Saanvi Kakarlapudi was in her final months of the sixth grade! Speaking of Saanvi Kakarlapudi, she had a breakout performance during her debut with the Warriors. Paired with older sister and senior captain Samhita Kakarlapudi, and the top two players from Darien, Saanvi Kakarlapudi was the best player on the course from the moment that she stepped up to the first tee until she completed her round at the ninth green. En route to shooting a 41 (six strokes better than the next best player, her older sister), Saanvi Kakarlapudi almost made a hole in one with the first tee shot of her high school career, just rolling her ball past the cup on the tricky, uphill 102-yard par 3 first hole. She quite literally ran away with the match after her tremendous start, conceding a total of only three holes to the other nine players during her round (two of which went to Wilton players). Although it was certainly Saanvi Kakarlapudi’s day, the winless streak could not have been broken without the superb efforts of her teammates Samhita Kakarlapudi, Christ, Mannino and Vijay, who combined to only submit one “max” hole (double par +1) for the Warriors that day.
Wednesday, April 6 against Ridgefield (W 203-216, +13 strokes, non-FCIAC): Wednesday saw the Warriors battling arch-rival Ridgefield and the elements. Day two of the Warriors’ back-to-back-to-back match week saw conditions that made the prior day feel like paradise. In conditions that left all other sporting events held on natural grass canceled, Samhita Kakarlapudi, Mannino (‘23), Vijay (‘23), and sophomore Eva Filipponi (playing for scratched Christ, out due to illness) and Saanvi Kakarlapudi slogged their way around Silvermine and turned in respectable scores. The Kakarlapudi sisters turned in the lowest scores of the day, with Samhita edging younger sister Saanvi by one stroke (46, 47 respectively). Unlike Tuesday, where the Warriors stuck around to take a photo to celebrate breaking the program’s winless streak (see photograph below), all five players ‘walked with purpose’ to their cars in order to find the warmth that eluded them during their rounds.
Boys/Girls Track & Field
The boys and girls track teams opened the 2022 outdoor season with a dual meet at New Canaan, and both squads returned home victorious. The boys bested the Rams by a comfortable 84-69 margin, while the girls eked out a one-point victory, winning the final relay to prevail 73-72.
Individual winners for the boys were Garret Bouvier (100m and 200m), Garrett Moe (800m), Malcolm McCormick (1600m), Mikey Byrnes (3200m), Ryan Johnson (long jump and triple jump), Andre Tovar (tied first in high jump) and the 4×800 and 4×100 relay teams.
For the girls, first places were recorded by Marianna Lombardi (100m and 200m), Kaitlyn Lane (400m out of the unseeded heat), Emily Mrakovcic (800m and 1600m), Anna Labant (100m hurdles), Akiro Nobomuto (300m hurdles), Vivien Latt (pole vault), and the 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams.
The Warriors christen their new outdoor oval on Monday, April 11, when they host Stamford for the first home meet of the season.
