Winter sports season recap and playoff review

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Credit: Julia Raymond

The girls varsity basketball team celebrates after its first playoff game win against Hopkinton. The team fell in their quarterfinal game last Thursday against Medfield. WSPN reviews and previews the seasons of the team along with other winter sports.

With some regular and postseason ending and many playoff runs just beginning, the WHS winter sports teams have put in the work for a continuation of their season. While some teams have already finished their state tournament games, others are still journeying ahead. Here are the results thus far:

Wrestling

Record: 17-3

What are you excited about for the upcoming playoff season and how are you preparing?
“The playoff season consists of tournament-based competitions [in] which our team does really well,” senior Marcos Pereira said. “We’re preparing by training hard in the room, and at this point in the season, our conditioning is already good, so we’re focusing a lot more on technique and certain situations we can find ourselves on the mat.”

Biggest Accomplishments:

  • Wayland holiday champs against LS
  • Taconic Tournament champs
  • Winning the DCL Small

Division III State Tournament Placings:
Senior Cam Jones 170 lb. –  second
Senior Marcos Pereira 182 lb. – fifth
Junior Matt Morris 285 lb. – second
Senior CJ Brown 195 lb. – third
Sophomore Greg Deeley 138 lb. – second
Junior Damien Parseghian 152 lb. – eighth
Senior Mason Bolivar 220 lb. – sixth

The All-State wrestling meet was this Friday and Saturday in Methuen. Wrestlers Deeley, Jones, Pereira, Brown, Morris, and senior Emma Sheehan participated in the event. Here are your All-State Place Winners:

Senior Cam Jones – fifth
Senior Marcos Pereira – eighth
Junior Matt Morris – sixth
Senior Emma Sheehan – third (girls states)
Sophomore Greg Deeley – eighth

Girls Hockey

Record: 10-7-4

Why do you think you made it to playoffs this year versus other years?
“We had a lot of good people come up who are eighth-graders, and I think we really focused on working hard and working together that improved our play,” sophomore Sophia Fantoni said.

Biggest Accomplishments:

  • Defeating Concord-Carlisle
  • Making the tournament for the first time in seven years

The team played in their first playoff game this past Monday against Reading. Unfortunately, the team lost 0-3, but members are very happy with how their season went this year.

Girls Basketball

Record: 13-7

How did your regular season go? How did that contribute to making playoffs?
“It’s been a lot of fun, just a really strong group of girls basketball-wise, and also we’re just such great friends, that really helps. Sometimes we struggle with focusing on the court, but it’s something we’ve been working on and something that will definitely help us in playoffs,” senior captain Mary Shine said.

Biggest Accomplishments:

  • Beating Division I Lincoln-Sudbury
  • Placing second in the DCL

States Progress:

  • Beat Hopkinton in the first round of playoffs
  • Lost in the quarterfinal game against Medfield

Boys Basketball

Record: 11-7

What are you excited about going into the playoff season?
“The atmosphere is always a little different,” senior captain Jack Melvin said. “Everyone’s got that edge, and it’s anyone’s game any time. Everyone’s earned a spot, so you know it’s going to be a battle.”

Biggest Accomplishments:

  • Beating Division I teams Lincoln-Sudbury and Acton-Boxborough
  • Earning No. 6 seed in Division II Central bracket

States Progress:

  • Defeating Groton-Dunstable in quarterfinal playoff game
  • Semifinals game against Nashoba at Clark University is scheduled for this Tuesday

Swim and Dive

Boys Team Record: 18-0
Girls Team Record: 11-4

What are you excited about for this upcoming playoff season?
“I’m really excited for the mentality I get when it’s a high stakes tournament meet such as states because you always push yourself farther than you have gone before, and the feeling you get when you look up at the board and see a best time is unlike any other,” junior boys swimmer Armen Abrahamian said.

“I’m really excited about improving a lot because last year, we improved a lot from the year before, and I think that we are going to try to do it again,” junior girls swimmer Juliette Smith said.

Biggest Accomplishments:

Boys Team:

  • Earning top spot in DCL rankings
  • Winning sectionals with the biggest comeback in sectional history
  • Earning undefeated regular season
  • Breaking two varsity records

Girls Team:

  • Beating Division I Concord-Carlisle
  • Second place in DCL

Boys swimming participated in their Division II States meet competing against towns including Hopkinton, Norwell, Nantucket, Weston, Bedford, Duxbury, Nauset, East Hampton, Bishop Stang, Long Meadow NE, Cohasset and Scituate on Feb. 15. The team brought home the state trophy for the fourth consecutive year in a row, with multiple senior swimmers going undefeated throughout their whole high school career.

Winter Track

How do you think your winter season went this year?
“I’d say the season went pretty well,” senior Owen Jay said. “We got to states by qualifying, so we had to get the qualifying time, and in order to do that, we had to put together a team and put in the work, and then we showed up and qualified. I’d say it went pretty well, and it’s still going well.”

Biggest Accomplishments:

  • 4×2 relay placing third in DCLs
  • Boys 4×2, girls 4×2 and boys 4×8 qualifying for states

State Accomplishments:

  • Boys 4×2 relay placing eighth
  • Junior Zach Campana placing eighth in 55-meter hurdles

Skiing

How are you preparing for states?
“It’s really important to just maintain our shape and keep on exercising because the state race is usually about 8km, which is really hard,” senior nordic skier Jenna Ferrick said. We just need to keep working out and doing long distance stuff.”

Nordic Accomplishments:

  • Junior Tali Wong winning the whole league
  • Junior Billy Caddoo statistically ranking as the best skier coach Chris Li has ever had
  • The Boston Globe featuring the team

The nordic ski teams competed in the state race on Feb. 25. The girls finished sixth overall with three skiers in the top 50: junior Tali Wong in sixth, senior McKenna Kelemanik in 25th and junior Julianna Apse in 42nd. The boys finished ninth overall with two skiers in the top 50: junior Billy Caddoo in 10th and junior Dylan Bonanno in 49th, with junior Keenan Schilp just outside the mark finishing 51st.

Alpine Accomplishments:

  • Girls alpine won the league title for the second year in a row
  • Will compete at the state race on March 4