At the risk of committing an atrocious pun, bowling is really on a roll in Vermont. The Upper Valley’s four competing schools all return with their coaching staffs intact, filled with competitors geared toward moving their squads up the ladder.
Hartford’s in the best shape for a concerted run, with its entire roster back from last year, when the Hurricanes’ sixth-place finish in the regular season left them in the middle of the pack. Windsor, South Royalton and Oxbow all have young squads looking to improve. The state lost Lyndon but gained Burlington for its second varsity season.
Stevens, the area’s lone New Hampshire program, is also seeking growth after a semifinal run last year.
Hartford
Coach: Ryan Hoisington (2).
Last Year: Seventh at state tournament.
League: Vermont Division I.
Returnees: Seniors — Dylan Crowley, Steven Neilly. Juniors — Alexis Johnston, Cole Gardner-Buisson, Camden LeBrun. Sophomores — Joseph Raymond, Peyton Wardwell.
Newcomers: Freshmen — Thomas Raymond, Paul Cormier, Grace Belmont.
Analysis: The Hurricanes look to take a big step forward this season as they are returning their entire team from last winter. Joseph Raymond and Dylan Crowley bring plenty of varsity experience to the table and will be team leaders. Freshman Thomas Raymond has years of bowling experience and should contribute immediately.
“It’s a really good group of kids; I can’t say enough about them. They’ve bought into the team concept, they have each other’s backs and are always upbeat. This team is built to battle, and it should be a good year for us,” coach Ryan Hoisington said.
Oxbow
Coach: Kimberly French (2).
Last Year:Steele LaHaye and Justin Mather each had top-50 averages among Vermont individuals.
League: Vermont Division I.
Returnees: Seniors — Steele LaHaye, Nicole Tuttle. Junior — Justin Mather. Freshman: Charlie Simmons.
Newcomers: Junior — Preston Loura-Bumps. Freshmen — Graham LaHaye, Merrett Young.
Etc.: Preston Loura-Bumps is a student at Lyndon Institute who is joining up with the Olympians this season after Lyndon dropped bowling as a varsity sport. Loura-Bumps had the 11th-best individual average last season as a sophomore while bowling for the Vikings. The Olympians have a diverse group, now with athletes from Lyndon, Danville and Oxbow as well as some home schoolers.
Analysis: Coach Kimberly French looks at returning senior Steele LaHaye as a team leader. LaHaye brings a great sense of humor, is a good motivator and supporter of teammates and does his part as a top bowler on the team. Junior Justin Mather also brings plenty of experience.
“We don’t have strength in numbers, but we do have dedication. There are other teams in the state that are able to practice at lanes numerous times a week, and we are not able to do that. This puts us at a disadvantage sometimes, but we make up for that, to a degree, with our desire to succeed. We know that we are the underdog, and our bowlers work harder because of it,” coach French said.
South Royalton
Coach: Shannon Palone (6).
League: Vermont Division I.
Returnees: Juniors — Gabe Howe, Christopher Lamson.
Newcomers: Freshmen — Alex Madden, Jacob Wilkinson. Eighth grade — Braden Martin, Nicholas Ramos, Kaleb Thornton.
Analysis: The Royals were hit hard by graduation, so they will be looking to rebuild with some new faces. Juniors Gabe Howe and Christopher Lamson provide some much-needed varsity experience.
“One of the challenges we have is not having a lot of students who know we are a varsity sport. I have been speaking to (other) students about joining and giving it a try. Everyone on the team is an important part of the whole, and we can’t do it without them. We’ve had students who have made it to states who’ve said they would have gotten a varsity letter for any sport; it just shows that everyone who is willing to try can do anything. I’m looking forward to great things from this team this year and for them to have a lot of fun,” coach Shannon Palone said.
Stevens
Coach: Shawn Wadsworth (7).
Last Year: Six match wins in regular season, No. 2 seed in state tournament where they lost to Bishop Guertin in the semifinals.
League: NHIAA Division I.
Returnees: Juniors — Ian Fitzpatrick, Riley Dickinson.
Newcomers: Seniors — James Mason, Spencer Chase. Junior — Brandan Perry, Ethan Simino. Sophomore: Kassie Melcher. Freshman — Clayton Wadsworth.
Analysis: The Cardinals return only two bowlers from last season, so the large group of first-year varsity bowlers will have plenty of chances to assert themselves in the lineup. Spencer Chace bowled for Newport last season before transferring to Stevens for this school year. Many of the new faces on this year’s team bring plenty of experience from the Claremont junior league.
“We lost some really good bowlers to graduation, so we’re pretty much starting over. I think after a few weeks the comfort level will be there. We should be right there at the end of the season, ready to see what happens in the tournament. We’re pretty excited to get going after a good three or four weeks of practice,” coach Shawn Wadsworth said.
Windsor
Coach: Steve Bly (6).
Last year: Brandyn LeBarron and Troy McCabe each finished in the the top 32 in Vermont for individual season average to qualify them for the individual state championship tournament.
League: Vermont Division I.
Returnees: Senior — Tatyana Malikowski. Sophomores — Grayson Frazer, Rayce Gilbert, Wyatt Bean.
Newcomer: Freshman — Jared Storms.
Analysis: The Yellowjackets were hit hard by graduation and will look to rebuild with a young and inexperienced team this season.
“I expect us to come out of the gates a little slow. We have some new kids with a lot of potential, though. The team will get stronger as the season goes on, and I feel we’ll be a contender to get to the state championship tournament,” coach Steve Bly said.
Some of the same swimmers who have been making waves at the Upper Valley Aquatic Club in the past year are now in the pool for their various schools, hoping for similarly strong results.
The Hanover High boys nearly grabbed an NHIAA Division II state title last year, and the graduation loss of Christian Hansen will hurt. Erik Hansen, his younger brother, is back, and Jack Wadsworth could be set as a major factor after making the recent USA Swimming Winter Junior Nationals.
An Illinois transfer, Aiden Urnezis, stands to give Lebanon hope for individual honors at states. Stevens’ Elyse Scott is also poised for a big season in the water.
Hanover
Swimming Coach: Fritz Bedford (1). Diving Coach: Carl Renshaw (3).
Last Year: Boys second at D-II state championship meet, girls fourth.
League: NHIAA Division II.
Returnees: Seniors — Ethan Adner, Sarah Dunbar, Azor Goodwin, Atticus Kangas, Emily Murphy, James Napier, Clayton Pogue, Kyle Postons. Juniors — Charlotte Bedford, Hazel Garrity-Hanchett, Daria Gunderman, Erik Hansen, Ben Hoffer, Aidan Marshall, Oliver Parrado, Kai Renshaw, Eliza Rodi, Iroha Shirai, Sydney Stearns, Benjamin Stroud, Ray Tso, Rebecca Wilson. Sophomores — Isabel Brennan, Alice Garner, Mia Manheimer, Christopher Reiseberg, Amelia Wallis, Grace Wenger, Margaret Wenger.
Newcomers: Freshmen — Emma Dunbar, Luna Falkenberg, Emily Fitts, Jocelyn Hazen, Gunnar Langhus, Rain Liu, Annika Milliman, Nika Renshaw, Emma Sablan, Carsten Spaeth, Brian Tso, Reilly Uiterwyk, Fletcher Zeng, Christopher Onyango.
Analysis: Plenty of talent returns to the pool for the Marauders this season. One key loss to graduation was freestyle specialist Christian Hansen, now swimming at the University of Minnesota, who set a New Hampshire state record of 4:33:61 in the 500-yard freestyle last season.
“The season looks to be promising, though we will miss some strong performances from athletes who have graduated or moved. We have some promising new members to the squad who look fast, and the team has been working hard in practice,” new Hanover coach Fritz Bedford said.
Erik Hansen and Jack Wadsworth each had very high finishes at the D-II state meet last year and are back for more this season. Grace and Margaret Wenger figure to lead the way on the girls side. Four top divers return from last season (Kai Renshaw, Ben Hoffer, Amelia Wallis and Hazel Garrity-Hanchett).
“The divers will kick off their season with home meet at the Dartmouth pool on December 20,” diving coach Carl Renshaw said.
Lebanon
Coach: K.C. Shepherd (6).
Last Year: Girls sixth at D-II state championship meet. Scott Shepherd won 100-yard butterfly and was second in 50-yard freestyle. Catherine Gavell won two events on the girls side.
League: NHIAA Division II.
Returnees: Seniors— Natalie VanderNoot, Emma Thibodeau, Jack Molloy. Juniors — Hannah Budner, Shane Balise, Skye Gulledge, Andrew Han, Maria Kennelly, Maverick O’Meara. Sophomores — Marissa Hebert, Sarah Katz, Zethan Moss.
Newcomers: Sophomores — Jillian Miller, Stacie Strombom. Freshmen — Iona Gulledge, Aiden Urnezis.
Analysis: Freshman Aiden Urnezis has transferred to Lebanon from a school in Chicago with plenty of experience swimming and has already emerged as one of the top swimmers on the team. Andrew Han, Zethan Moss, Maverick O’Meara and Shane Balise also figure to be stalwarts on the team.
“It’s really a tight group. They mesh together well and are working on getting stronger,” coach K.C. Shepherd said. “I’m really excited to see Aiden. We have a wide range of ability levels, and it’s a pretty young team.”
Stevens
Coach: Paige MacLeay (5).
Last Year: Elyse Scott had a pair of top-20 individual finishes at NHIAA Division II meet.
League: NHIAA Division II.
Returnees: Senior — Elyse Scott. Sophomores — Callaway Barrette, Rylee Little, Clara Avery, Tyler Sullivan.
Newcomers: Freshmen — Lauren O’Grady, Hannah Lembree, Quinn McCaffery, Brady Small, and Ryan Anderson.
Analysis: Co-captains Elyse Scott and Clara Avery will lead a young and rebuilding team. All five freshmen have swimming backgrounds from participating in the Claremont Tiger Sharks program.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing the freshman transition from club swimming to competitive high school swimming. Our big expectation is to have individual and relay qualifiers for the state swim meet this February. This is a great group of kids to work with, and I’m looking forward to watching them push themselves and continue to get personal-best times during the season,” coach Paige MacLeay said.
After making history last winter, the Mascoma High wrestling team will be looking to the future this time around.
The Royals’ Tyler Bill remains one of the state’s best heavyweights, and he’s good enough to repeat as an NHIAA Division III champion. Beyond that, Mascoma continued to build depth and compete with more established teams.
Depth has been Newport’s best friend, and it will be again. Even after losing a state champ to graduation, the Tigers have plenty of competitors ready to take over.
Mascoma
Coach: Rick Simula (5).
Last year: Tyler Bill won individual state championship at 285 pounds and finished fourth in the same weight division at Meet of Champions.
League: NHIAA Division III.
Returnees: Seniors — Tyler Bill, Kyle Roberts. Juniors — Joe Stone, Mike Merrihew, Kristen Currier, Andrew Florence. Sophomores — Dylan Pelton, Lawrence Gibbs, Raven Streeter.
Newcomers: Junior — Lucas Getman. Sophomores — Andrew Bruns, K.C. Conrad, Jacob Rogers, Zack Abrahamson. Freshmen — Caleb Hobbs, Brian Lowell, Kyle Morse, Cam Stebbins, Madeline Tucker.
Analysis: Senior stalwart Tyler Bill looks to win his second straight D-III title as he leads a big group of Royals wrestlers. Among other returnees, Joe Stone and Dylan Pelton each spent the past summer working on wrestling and figure to have big roles on the team this season. The newcomers fill the lower weight classes and are showing good promise in the early going.
“I think one of our strengths is that the kids are eager and compete and get better. They do not back down and have a lot of heart,” coach Rick Simula said. “We are a young team and a young program. It’s always tough to compete against teams that have been wrestling since grade school. We do have a (middle school) program run by Bob Stone, and I think we will start seeing the benefits (soon).”
Newport
Coach: Cole Boone (2).
Last Year: 10-4 in dual meets; third at NHIAA Division III state championship. Tyler Sharron won the individual state championship and Meet of Champions at 160 pounds.
League: NHIAA Division III.
Returnees: Seniors — Dylan Palmer, David Stark, Matt Hennig. Juniors — Joshua Almstrom, Reilly Avery, Gavin Lovely. Sophomores — Garrett Harold, Caleb Palmer, Mike Wilkinson, Cameron Hall.
Newcomers: Senior — Keagan Halleck. Junior — Ben Gallagher. Sophomore — Ben Maynard. Freshmen — Jordan Warburton, Josh Sharron, Marius Edwards.
Analysis: Newport’s strong wrestling tradition continues with another strong team this season. The senior trio of Dylan Palmer, David Stark and Matt Hennig will lead the way and bring plenty of experience to the table. The freshmen group of Jordan Warburton, Josh Sharron and Marius Edwards are all looking to build on successful youth wrestling seasons a year ago.
The Tigers have more numbers in lower weight divisions this season and are a bit light in the upper weight divisions. But there is plenty of talent on board to make a mark in any tournament on the schedule.
“I expect our team to be competitive in our dual meets and tournaments. We bring back a lot of experienced wrestlers. Last year we had wrestlers starting for us in all 14 weight classes. This year we don’t have as many in the (heavier weights), but the wrestlers we do have in upper weights are tough and skilled,” coach Cole Boone said.