Each week, GOOD Morning Wilton will run news of weekend results and scores from Wilton Youth sports teams. Please send all stories and updates, along with a photo to editor@goodmorningwilton.com by noon on Monday of each week. Stories received after the deadline may not be included. Results write-ups will be grouped by sport and published in the order they are received.

Wilton Youth Wrestling

On Sunday, Jan. 15, Wilton Youth Wrestling (WYW) sent five wrestlers to the South Side Scuffle at Trumbull High School and walked away with five medals. In the morning session, Beckett Simmons and Trevien Goldman wrestled tough, each taking home bronze. Following the morning session success, Kieran McGuire earned the gold, while Nouri Sayegh and Michael Arbisi wrapped up the day both grabbing the bronze. Next weekend WYW will head to New Fairfield where they look to continue to build off their success.

Pictured in main photo, above:  Michael Arbisi (left) and Nouri Sayegh (right) show off their hardware from the afternoon session with Coach Sean DeJager (center). Kieran McGuire not shown. Below:  Beckett Simmons (left) and Trevien Goldman (right) pose with their bronze medals from the morning session. 

Basketball

Wilton 7th Grade Girls Win Both Weekend Games

The Wilton 7th Grade Girls team, sponsored by Pinocchio Pizza, won both games this weekend. They defeated Guilford Travel, a FCBL league team on Saturday, Jan. 14, and on the next day they beat the Fairfield Mystics, a non league team.

Saturday’s contest began with great ball movement and defense from Wilton. The first quarter had great rebounding from Bela Andjelkovic, which translated into many second shots for the Wilton team. A great pass from Ellie Copley to Katie Umphred–who made a fantastic layup–and steals from Erin Floyd led to a Wilton lead of 16-4 at the end of the half. The Wilton girls were able to swing the ball and create opportunities for layups by Ellie Coffey and Catherine Dineen. Amelia Hughes had a 3-point play and Grace Williams made two baskets in a row to increase the score by 12. Leah Martin had a breakaway steal and then made the layup. With intense defense from Gracie Kaplan and Floyd the Guilford Travel team could not seem to get any momentum going. Wilton triumphed 35-14.

On Sunday, Wilton played the Fairfield Mystics. Again great rebounding by Wilton created several second- and third chance shots for the girls. Copley and Andjelkovic had another great game with several rebounds each.  Defense also played a huge role with steals from Williams, Hughes, Umphred and Martin. Long passes from Coffey to Dineen resulted in a layup adding to Wilton’s lead. The first half ended with Wilton ahead 20-11. The Fairfield Mystics could not seem to get anything going as they started the second half, which was filled with more steals and rebounding from all the Wilton players. Martin and Hughes both had several steals and baskets increasing Wilton’s lead. In the end Wilton won, 37-15.

7th Grade Warrior Boys Find Double Success, Beating Greenwich and Darien

The 7th Grade Warrior Boys, sponsored by Servco, had a successful weekend beating Greenwich 66-32 and Darien 38-33 to improve their record to 9-4.

On Saturday, Jan. 14, the Warriors initially struggled against the visiting Greenwich squad, trading baskets until Kevin Hyzy (8 points, 3 assists) broke a 10-10 tie with a 3-pointer. This led to an 11-1 run which included 3-pointers from Dillon Mannix (8 points, 3 steals) and Matthew Giller (10 points, 5 rebounds) to close out the first quarter up 21-11. The home team brought the crowd to their feet with great passing and cutting in the second quarter; beneficiaries of the great playmaking were Craig Hyzy (8 points, 5 rebounds), Max Andrews (11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists) and Parker Woodring (8 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals). When the half ended, Wilton had a commanding 43-18 lead. In the second half, the Warriors continued their pressure with stifling defense from talented guards Zarius Eusebe (6 points, 3 assists, 2 steals), Sean Wiseman (2 points, 2 steals), Max Silva (5 points, 1 steal) and center Connor Cummings (2 points 6 rebounds, 4 blocks). With that group on the floor, they made it difficult for Greenwich to set up their offense and frustrated them into numerous turnovers. They only gave up two points to Greenwich in the fourth quarter to complete their most dominant performance of the season, winning 66-32.

On Sunday, Jan. 15, the Warriors traveled to Darien to avenge an early season loss. The Wilton defense again led the way, stifling a talented Blue Wave front court to a season low point total winning 38-33. Since Wilton’s outside shooting was cold, they had to pound the ball inside to their center Andrews (14 points, 12 rebounds) and slashing guard Woodring (10 points, 7 rebounds). Guards Wiseman (2 steals), Eusebe (1 steal, 2 rebounds) and Mannix (2 steals) led the defense in the second half and made sure Darien never took the lead. Cummings (2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks), Silva (2 assists), C. Hyzy (4 points, 2 rebounds) and Giller (3 points, 3 rebounds) kept the points in the paint at a minimum. K. Hyzy (5 points, 3 assists) and Woodring sealed the victory with clutch free throws down the stretch. The season continues next weekend as they play divisional foes, Monroe (away) and Danbury (home).

Wilton 4th Grade Boys Future Warriors Win Two Back-to-Back Games

The Wilton 4th grade boys Future Warriors team, sponsored by Diamond Deli, won back-to-back games at Middlebrook gym on Sunday, Jan. 15. Coming off of a convincing win in the first game against Westport, a tired Warriors crew got off to a slow start against a very strong squad from Greenwich. At half time Wilton was behind 12-15 but center Liam Murphy (19 points, 17 rebounds), led Wilton to a comeback. Grady Kaliski added 9 points for the Warriors and it was one basket each for Luke Perna, Patrick Lillis and Henry Soojian.  A true team effort on offense was rounded out by Charlie Keller (2 assists).

Tough defense by Wilton held Greenwich to only 9 points in the second half. Murphy had 4 steals, Perna 3 steals and Kaliski, Lillis and Soojian each added one more steal. Wilton dominated the boards, moved the ball well and earned a 35-24 win.

Wilton 8th Grade Boys Notch 2 Wins, 1 Loss Over Weekend

The Wilton 8th grade boys team, sponsored by Tavern on 7, defeated Fairfield PAL, 48-39, to advance to the semi-finals of the McGivney Winter Classic Holiday tournament. Wilton was led by Trevor Martines (13 points), Matt Gulbin (10 points), Matt Murphy (8 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocked shots), and Michael Coffey (9 points, 9 rebounds). Owen Lillis (4 points) and Chase Autore (2 points) rounded out the scoring.

Wilton lost its first league game to New Canaan, 38-42. After a very slow start, Wilton rallied from a 18-point, early second half deficit to get within one point late in the game before a New Canaan 3-pointer extinguished the comeback. Murphy fueled the offense with 12 points. Josh White, Coffey and Gulbin (12 rebounds) each scored 6 points.

On Sunday, Jan. 15, Wilton defeated Mount Vernon in a league game, 58-45. Wilton effectively handled Mount Vernon’s full court press and turned up its own half court defense to help earn the win. Mack Kepner (5 points) set the defensive tone by flying after several loose balls. Lillis (9 points), Martines (5 points), Alex Cocoros (4 points), and Sean Sullivan (2 points) also excelled at pressuring the ball. Gulbin (14 points) and White (10 points) led the scoring while Coffey (11 rebounds, 7 points) and Murphy (8 rebounds, 2 points, 2 blocked shots) dominated the glass. Wilton shot 22-for-43 in the paint. Wilton is now 5-1 in the league and 12-2 overall.

Wilton 5th/6th Grade Girls Win 2-of-3 Weekend Games

The Wilton 5th/6th Grade Girls team had a great weekend of basketball, winning two of three games.

Friday evening, Jan. 13, they took on New Canaan, and despite multiple rebounds by Ella Mulfinger and Harper Judelson, they went into half-time down by four. However, the warriors came back in the second half with fierce determination. With baskets by Judelson and Mulfinger and with four points following steals from Hannah Fitzgerald, the warriors tied up the game by the end of the third quarter. They held New Canaan to only four points that quarter, thanks to the many defensive rebounds by Avery Schestag  Wilton continued its strong defensive play in the fourth quarter, allowing New Canaan to score only three additional points, thanks to many defensive rebounds by Anna Joy and Georgia Russnok. With two points each from Mary Kate Doyle, Maddie Phelan, Fitzgerald and Russnok, the warriors won with a final score of 24-19.

After suffering a difficult loss to St Mary’s of Ridgefield on Saturday, Jan. 14, (18-28), Wilton played a fantastic, intense game at home Sunday afternoon, Jan. 15, beating Weston 30-26. With a strong defensive effort by Annie Savarese, Maddie Ratcliffe, Aly Rappaport, and Russnok, Wilton led most of the game. Anna Joy was the high scorer, with 14 points (six coming from the free throw line). Judelson contributed 8 points to the win as well.

Wilton 8th Grade Girls Stumble Against St. Mary’s in Ridgefield, 30-38

Wilton Hoops 8th Grade Girls met up with St. Mary’s in Ridgefield on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 14.  The exciting game started out as a very tough defensive battle between the two teams, with only three points separating them after the first quarter. Wilton played both offensively and defensively with a lot of energy and stamina. Strong defense played by Caitlin Greeff, Meghan Koziolkowsky and Lily Umphred kept the pressure on St. Mary’s throughout the game. Despite the great rebounding of Marygrace DelliSanti and leading scorers Christina O’Sullivan, Callie Judelson and Alexis Castaldi, Wilton came up short, falling to St. Mary’s 30-38.

Wilton 5th/6th Grade Boys Fall to Westport, 40-47, Despite Hard Work

The Wilton 56’er Boys Basketball Team squared off against a tough Westport 6B team on Sunday night, Jan. 15. Wilton came out with a bang with Jefferson Mitchell, Baily Finn, Declan Brokaw and Andre Wiest effectively using a full court press to stymie Westport, while Andrew Roth had the hot hand for the Warriors putting down a number of baskets. Wilton doubled up 14-7 after first period. Second period saw continued pressure from Wilton with a number of great hustle plays from Michael Wall, Harrison Lent and Wyatt Jones. Wall dropped in a bucket, Lent had a nice rebound with a coast-to-coast bucket while Kyle Rosser made his presence felt in the paint at both ends of the floor. Jones worked to get open and had a few good looks at the basket but could not get the shots to drop. Halftime saw the score get closer as Westport broke the press but Wilton still had the edge at half with a score of 22-19.

In the second half Wilton continued to rely on Finn and Roth as the formula for scoring with 14 and 17 points respectively, as well as continued hustle to keep the Warriors in the lead. With continued pressure, the Warriors were able to complete some great plays, like Mitchell’s key steals and a nice 3-pointer while Michael Byrnes’ hustle secured a nice steal and score in the third period. The game was a typical Wilton/Westport grind and, although Wilton put in hard work and hustle the entire game, they ended up on the short end of a 40-47 score at the final buzzer.

4th Grade Boys Future Warriors Lose the Good Fight Against Norwalk, 34-36, but Come Back to Defeat St. Stephens of Trumbull, 28-12

The Future Warriors 4th Grade Boys team, sponsored by Diamond Deli, fought the good fight against Norwalk at Chelsea Piers in Stamford on Saturday, Jan. 14, losing 34-36 in a nail-biter. At the half the Future Warriors were 15-16 .

Leading the scoring were Luke Ginsburg (6 baskets, 1 assist, 4 steals), Ryan Luchetta (4 baskets, 1 assist, 3 steals) and the tenacious Liam McKiernan (5 baskets, 2 assists and a free throw). They were assisted defensively by Mason Andrews, Matt Garcia and Nathaniel Kalter. The game came down to the last seconds of the kids giving their all.

The Future Warriors came back to win their next game 28-12 against St. Stephens of Trumbull. The game started off as a defensive battle lead by McKiernan (10 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 blocks, 6 points), Andrews (9 rebounds, 3 steals) and Kalter (5 rebounds, 4 steals). The game was tied 8-8 at halftime. After a fiery halftime speech by coaches Evans and McKiernan, Wilton exploded on a 12-0 run in the third quarter lead by Luchetta (11 points, 4 assist, 6 steals, 9 rebounds), Ginsburg (8 points, 5 steals, 7 rebounds) and Garcia (4 points, 3 rebounds).