Gymnasts Sparkle at Snowflake Invitational
On Dec. 14 and 15, over 360 gymnasts competed at the annual Snowflake Invitational. Despite the unfinished construction site and wet weather, the Wilton YMCA hosted a successful meet with Wilton gymnasts winning Champion titles and finishing in several top All-Around placements. Overall, Levels 6, 7 and 8 placed 2nd AA, Levels 3 and 5 placed 3rd AA, and Level 4 placed 4th AA.
Level 3
For age 9, first time competitor Brianna Shiue was crowned Bars Champion with a 9.35, placing 3rd on beam (9.45), 4th on floor (9.15), scoring 9.1 on vault, and taking home the 3rd AA trophy. Jane Carroll’s first meet was a success, scoring 9.3 on vault (3rd), 9.3 on beam (5th), 9.0 on floor, and placing 4th on bars. Lily Blessing’s excitement was evident as she earned the silver on beam with an impressive score of 9.5. Allison Massaua stood atop the podium with 4th on bars.
For age 10, Brooke Vallerie scored 9.3 on vault to capture bronze.
For age 11, Chloe Kenstrick placed 5th on vault and bars. Emma Hendricks won the silver medal for her bars routine.
First time Level 3 competitors (Pictured above, main image): Back row–Piper Young, Nora Walencikowski, and Kensey Diglio; Front row–Allison Massaua, Brianna Shiue, Jane Carroll, and Lily Blessing
Level 4
For age 11, Kyra Doran took home the trophy for 3rd AA, with silver on beam (9.4) and floor, bronze on bars, and placing 4th on vault. Evy Theriault earned bronze for her vault.
For age 12, Alyssa Duarte placed 4th on bars, 5th on vault, and finished 5th AA.
For ages 13+, Abigail Schmitt was the 3rd AA champion, placing 3rd on vault and floor, and 5th on bars and beam. Winnie Quigg earned silver on beam (9.2) and bars, 4th on vault and finished 5th AA.
Level 5
For ages 9-10, Gabriella Martin won the 3rd AA trophy, taking bronze on vault (9.3) and beam, and scoring 9.2 on floor (5th). Ashlynne Fudale scored an impressive 9.45 on floor for silver, 9.05 on vault (5th), placed 4th on bars and 5th AA.
For age 11, Grace Jeanes earned silver on vault and bronze on floor with scores of 9.0, placed 4th on beam, 5th on bars, and finished 4th AA.
For age 12, Rowan Morse placed 2nd on vault with a score of 9.1, 3rd on bars and beam, 4th on floor and 4th AA.
Level 6
For ages 12-13, Kaelyn Talisse scored 9.2 for her floor routine, and placed 5th on bars. Alyssa Mariani earned the silver medal on vault, and scored 9.2 on beam and 9.05 on floor. Teagan Stengrim placed 5th for her vault.
For ages 14-15, Ella Mancuso scored 9.1 on floor (5th), placed 4th on vault, 3rd on bars, and earned the 4th AA trophy. Ella Arghirescu won the silver medal on floor with a score of 9.3, placed 5th on bars, and finished 5th AA. Elizabeth Fahey was the Vault Champion with a 9.1, and placed 3rd on floor and 5th on beam. Jeni von Bartheld earned the title of Floor Champion with a strong 9.5, and scored 9.05 on vault for the silver medal. Isabella Silverstein placed 3rd on vault with a score of 9.0.
Level 7
For ages 12-13, Ashley Umhoefer earned the titles of Vault Champion (9.3) and Bars Champion, while winning silver on floor (9.15) and beam, and was crowned AA Champion.
For ages 14-15, Alyssa Smeriglio placed 4th on floor (9.0) and bars, 5th on vault (9.05) and beam, and finished 4th AA. For her lovely beam routine, Kaylie Berghaus took silver, and was 5th on bars and AA. Donna Stepnowsky placed 4th on beam.
For ages 16+, Isabella Jureller earned 9.3 on floor (4th), placed 5th on bars and AA. Michaela Kane took home the silver on bars, and placed 4th on vault and 5th on floor.
Level 8
For ages 15-16, Olivia Mannino was crowned Vault Champion with a score of 9.150, took silver on beam (9.3), and placed 4th on floor (9.2), bars and AA.
For ages 17+, Kate Ginsburg took home the gold on floor (9.3), beam and vault, silver on bars, and earned the enviable position of 1st AA. Emma Daugherty’s beautiful tumbling led to 1st on floor (9.3), while also placing 1st on bars, 2nd on vault and beam, and finishing 2nd AA.
Wilton Youth Basketball
Wilton’s 5th Grade Boys Dominate Weekend Play, Beating Bristol 35-8 and Brookfield 43-19
The Wilton 5A boys traveled to Bristol on Saturday, and came out on fire. They went on a 16-0 run to start the game before Bristol was able to put points on the board. Wilton kept the pressure on right from the start of the game, with Will Viggiano playing strong on both sides of the ball. Wilton was up 19-2 at the half, and cruised to a 35-8 victory. Scoring was led by Gavin Toohill (10 points) and Jimmy Dineen (10 points). Also putting up points were Anthony Palumbo (2 points), Charlie Cretella (3 points), Charlie Heffernan (2 points), Mark Sylvester (4 points), and Jeff Fox (4 points). Wilton had a particularly strong day defensively, with Cretella, Palumbo, Heffernan, Toohill, Sylvester and Dineen all picking up key steals.
The boys followed their Saturday win with another win at home on Sunday against Brookfield, 43-19. After an initial stalemate, they finished the first half ahead 15-7 then came on strong in the second half, scoring another 28 points while letting up only 12. The team’s offense was led by Dineen (10-points) and Heffernan (7-points). Toohill, Sylvester, and Cretella each posted 6 points; Fox had 4 points, and Jack Cunningham and Viggiano each scored 2. Cretella and Dineen dominated on defense with 9 rebounds and 8 steals, respectively. Fox, Viggiano, Cunningham, Heffernan and Palumbo also had key plays on defense.
Tough Weekend with Two Losses for Wilton 5/6 Boys
The Wilton 5/6 Grade boys team lost a tough battle against Greenwich to begin the weekend. The teams swapped leads in the first half on the back of solid play by Liam Joy (9 points) and aggressive defense by Jack McMenamey, Boden Davi and Hans Greene. Early steals by Greg Bocchino and Casey Meyer combined with solid rebounding by Matthew Fogerty and Nicholas Mercado (1 point) kept Greenwich close throughout the first half. The second half saw Blake Ongley (10 points) take over offensively with additional support from Joy and Laszlo Miller (3 points). Grant Stein (3 points) was a force in the paint with 6 rebounds and solid defense. Unfortunately the Greenwich offense was able to pull away late in the game, with Wilton losing by a score of 26-43.
The Wilton 5/6 Grade boys were back on the court Sunday facing some fierce competition from Darien. Darien pulled ahead early but were kept in check by Wilton’s defense with rebounds and blocked shots from Ongley, Fogarty, Stein (5 points), Greene and Davi. Wilton surprised Darien with nice steals from Meyer, Mercado, Joy (1 point), and Miller (2 points). In the third quarter, McMenamy (2 points) and Jack Mulfinger (2 points) each wowed the packed crowd at Middlebrook with solid jump shots from the top of the key. Bocchino rounded out the fourth quarter with hard fought blocks with help from the rest of the team. In the end, though, Darien prevailed and Wilton lost 12-37.
Wilton Hoops Boys 6th Grade Determinedly Wins Two Games this Weekend
The Wilton Hoops 6th Grade boys started their weekend with two strenuous wins. They began the weekend on Friday, Dec. 13 with an impressive win over Westport PAL White 6B team in Westport. Then on Saturday, Dec. 14 with continuous strong efforts, they beat St. Theresas Trumbull 6B on Wilton’s home court. Both wins this weekend took persistent hard work and determination for the Wilton Warrior boys.
Friday’s win against Westport demonstrated a very hard pursuit as Westport started the first quarter very strong. The teams battled back and forth in the first half with early scores from Alan Osta (11 points), Will Byrnes (8 points), and Craig O’Neill (6 points). Strategic defense was played by Charlie Roy (2 steals), Dylan Gallo (2 steals), Marco Chila (2 steals), and a steal from Jake Padilla. It was a close game overall, as Chila (4 points) relentlessly tied the score with a basket and then scored soon again to lead in Wilton’s favor 24-22. With tremendous shut down Roy had 11 aggressive rebounds and 2 assists, and Max Totten had 2 rebounds to help keep the game respectively close. The second half also brought in more points from Gallo (5 points), Padilla (3 points), Joe Aversano (2 points), and Curtis Jackson (2 points). With an intense and close finish, the strong team defense had a block play from Padilla and Roy with a final win victory score of 41-38.
On Saturday, the 6th Grade Warriors had a successful home game at Middlebrook court defeating a tough team, St.Theresas Trumbull 6B, 57-54. Both teams played strong in the first half. Roy (5 points, 10 rebounds) got the first basket of the game to set the tone of the day with the help of O’Neill, who had many assists and baskets (10 points). Coming up strong was Osta (12 points), who kept the pressure and had some impressive moves to get himself to scoring positions, and then leading the tied score with one minute left in the first half. During the second half this Wilton team proved it all; remarkably, Aversano worked his way around the court on offense and defense to help his team keep the lead (16 points, 13 rebounds). Jackson also played strong (4 points, 11 rebounds, 1 block) as he set the record straight to tie the score again in third quarter 24-24. Also, leading strong were the contributing defensive players Totten (2 points, 4 rebounds), Gallo (4 rebounds), Padilla (2 points) and Chila. Fourth quarter became a nail-biter as both teams were tied and ended up playing in double overtime. O’Neill was able to tie the score in double overtime, 53-53. The fan crowd on the Middlebrook court was enthusiastic and strongly cheering on the Warriors. Soon enough, Aversano made an amazing shot with Roy’s assist, bringing the score up to 55-53. With just a few seconds left on the clock, Byrnes committed to the court (6 points, 2 rebounds) and rose to the occasion to pull Wilton through with a strong win with two fouls shots, ending the game at 57-54.
Wilton 8th Grade Girls Split Two Weekend Games
Wilton 8G dropped the first game of the weekend to Fairfield 28-32 on Saturday. Fairfield’s 3 point shooting led to a 12-7 decisive fourth quarter. Wilton was led by Ellla Mulfinger with 11 points and Ashleigh Masterson with 10 points. Maddie Dineen (4 points) and Mollie Hancock (3 points) also chipped in for Wilton’s scoring. Wilton’s solid defense was supported by Lauren Moe, MaryKate Doyle, Kaitlyn Sullivan, Caroline Hage and Emma Kelly.
Wilton 8G rebounded on Sunday with a 44-37 win on the road against Ridgefield. Wilton’s second unit led by Moe, Sullivan, Mulfinger and Anisa Burrows, came off the bench in the first half forcing Ridgefield turnovers and supercharging the Wilton fast break. Wilton scoring was led by Masterson with 16 points and Burrows with 9 points. Wilton guard play was key to the game led by Dineen, Doyle, Hage, and Burrows. Wilton iced the game with key free throws by Hancock, Masterson, and Burrows.
8th Grade Boys Go 1-for-2 in Three Hard-Fought Games
The Wilton 8th grade boys team went 1-2 on the weekend with three hard-fought games. On Friday night, the Warriors traveled to Redding/Easton and came away with a loss. The Redding/Easton team came out of the gates hot and went on a 7-0 run just 1:30 into the game. The Warriors battled back on the strength of their defense with steals by Anderson Campbell and Wyatt Jones to close the gap to 8-7. Warrior big men Kyle Rosser and Max Jarvie played a great two-man game inside for the Warriors finding each other for easy looks around the basket. However, the Redding/Easton hot shooting continued and they led at the half 16-24. Redding/Easton blitzed the Warriors to start the third with a 6-0 run and were able to stretch the lead to 17 during the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Warriors battled back, cutting the lead down to 7 with strong play from Jarvie, Campbell, Jones and guard Mike Meenan, who had some strong drives to the basket to keep the Warriors in it. The trapping Warrior defense caused multiple turnovers in the quarter but Wilton couldn’t get the break it needed and fell 50-59.
On Saturday the Warriors won a double-overtime thriller against St. Theresa. Wilton came out hot and took an early 13-0 lead with 7 points coming from Campbell and Jarvie dominating on the glass. Ethan Gallo got to work early grabbing three first-quarter rebounds to go with solid defense and some strong drives to the basket for 4 points. However, St. Theresa’s would not go away and hit three consecutive 3-pointers to keep the game in reach. At the end of the quarter the warriors led 21-12. In the second quarter, St. Theresa’s caught fire and went on a 19-7 run to take a 28-31 lead at half. The Warriors gathered themselves and battled back and forth with St. Theresa’s with some strong play from Jones, Brody Hess, Meenan, Jack Minnich, Jarvie and Declan Brokaw, who hit a runner to tie the game midway through the third. In the fourth, the defense of Campbell, Jarvie, Jones, Rosser and Meenan led to transition buckets from each of them including back to back deep 3-pointers from Jones and Meenan to give the Warriors their first lead in the second half. In the fourth quarter and both overtimes, Jarvie took over inside for the Warriors, pulling down tough rebounds and finishing in traffic. In the second overtime, Jarvie, Jones, Campbell and Brokaw all hit shots to pull away for a 64-55 win.
On Sunday night, the Warriors traveled to Greenwich for another hard-fought game and fell 40-52.