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Wrestling
Woodstock Academy's Daniel Ntamwemezi wrestles Evan Highley of East Lyme in the consolation quarterfinal. Courtesy photo.

When Daniel Ntamwemezi came to The Woodstock Academy from the Ukraine late in the summer, he wanted to participate in athletics.
He just didn’t know what sport.
So this past fall, he tried running cross-country.
The dorm student then had to figure out what he was going to do in the winter.
It was a choice between indoor track and wrestling.
“I like to wrestle. It was a good choice,” Ntamwemezi said with a smile.
Feb. 10 Ntamwemezi placed fifth in the 220-pound division at the Eastern Connecticut Conference championship wrestling tournament at Fitch High School in Groton.
“He wrestled as well as he could have in the tournament,” said Woodstock Academy coach Wes Jenkins.
Kellen Horst also placed in the tournament.
The freshman finished sixth in the 106-pound weight class.
Ntamwemezi was not completely foreign to the sport.
“I wrestled for a couple of months when I was a kid, about eight or nine-years-old. I don’t remember much about it,” Ntamwemezi said. “We didn’t use the headgear in the Ukraine. We just wrestled. There were some different rules, too.”
But he, like the rest of a young Centaur wrestling team, grew during the season.
Evidence of that growth was seen in the consolation quarterfinal.
“I really wanted to see (Ntamwemezi) against Killingly’s 220 (Rene Bernier) which he didn’t see in the very beginning match of the season,” Jenkins said.
It went about how Jenkins anticipated.
The two finished in a 1-1 tie in regulation.
In the second overtime, things went awry.
“I didn’t even know a double technical violation existed and I’ve been doing this for 11 years. I never have seen a double hand lock. Usually when the hands are locked, (the official) blows the whistle, they stop, and reset. It prevents a double jeopardy scenario. But because it was overtime, (the official) didn’t want to blow the whistle, he allowed it to continue because (Ntamwemezi) separated (his hands), but then he locked again and it put him at a two-point deficit,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins felt like Ntamwemezi could have won the quarterfinal because in the third overtime, he would have been on bottom and he was able to get up against Bernier throughout the match.
He settled for the 3-2 overtime loss.
Ntamwemezi tossed aside the disappointment and carried on, winning the fifth-place match, 5-1, over Ben Grottole of Bacon Academy.
“He handled that one well. He wrestled tough, he wrestled smart (Saturday), nothing stupid. Sometimes, he gets funky and puts himself in weird positions but he was smart and stayed behind,” Jenkins said.
“I didn’t do any stupid things, saw the opportunity and did my best. I’m excited,” Ntamwemezi said of his finish.
Horst wasn’t all that happy after he lost to Rylan Grant of Bacon Academy in the fifth-place bout, 14-5.
“I think it’s great. He wrestled a kid who either pinned or beat him pretty badly previously so it was a much closer match, just some critical mistakes. It’s not the end of the world. He will be an awesome wrestler,” Jenkins said.
The two were the highlights of the weekend event for the Centaurs.
Jenkins could only shake his head when he thought about the cases of flu that ravaged his team and a concussion suffered by Tyler Mathieu in the consolation quarterfinals.
“We’ve been hit with wave after wave of sickness. It seems like (wrestlers) come back and get other wrestlers sick who go out and come back and then they get sick again. It’s an endless cycle. I, myself, am sick right now, I just hope it’s not the flu,” Jenkins said. “We’re plague-ridden.”
Jenkins said, overall, it has been a good year.
“The coaches last year laid the ground work for a building season and I came in and took it to the next level with the help of (assistant coach) Brandon (Thuotte) and the support of the school,” Jenkins said.
The highlight being the Jacob Bowen Invitational tournament on Feb. 3 which he considered to be a huge success.
“It’s one of those sports where you don’t need the big, beautiful wrestling room. You’re OK with the dingy. It can be used, whatever, you don’t care. You get the hand-me-downs, the last to get uniforms so whenever you have something that you can take a lot of pride in and the whole community together behind it, that’s definitely something that made me aware of the spirit of the school.
“The building that we have done this year makes me hopeful that next year will be even better. Some of our losses were just bad luck. That’s cyclical. Sometimes things fall in your favor, sometimes they don’t. Recruitment will be a big thing between now and next year especially with a rising class of seniors among my group, seven will be seniors next year,” Jenkins added.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director

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The Woodstock Academy boys’ basketball team played tough on the road last week.
It came home with mixed results. The Centaurs lost a heartbreaker in Stonington, 59-58 Feb. 9.
That followed a 55-51 overtime win over Bacon Academy in Colchester Feb. 6.
It left The Academy with a 6-11 record going into its final three games.
The two games this week are on the road at Montville and Fitch before the Centaurs come home for their finale Feb. 19 against Ellington. They need to win two of the last three games to qualify for the state tournament.
The Centaurs opened a 30-18 lead on the Bears in the first half, but then Zack Scott got hot for Stonington.
He hit a trio of 3-pointers and scored 14 of his 20 points in the third quarter to help the Bears scramble back into the game.
“Stonington came at us with 3’s from every direction and we nearly had the answers because we owned the paint. But when you trade 3’s for 2’s, it can add up against you,” said Centaurs coach Marty Hart.
The 3-pointers did take their toll and with 30 seconds left in the game, the Centaurs were down by two.
Aaron Johnson gave the Centaurs the 1-point advantage with a 3-pointer, but Stonington quickly retook the lead on a layup by R.J. Parilla with 7 ½ seconds left in the game.
The Academy got off a last second shot, but it failed to find the basket.
Luke Mathewson led the Centaurs with 20 while Cole Hackett added 17.
“They keyed on Chase (Anderson who was held to seven points),” Hart said. “I give credit to Mathewson and Hackett who stepped up and to Chase for deferring his shots and being a facilitator.”
The Centaurs continued their quest to make the state tournament with a good win on the road over the Bobcats.
It wasn’t an easy start for the Centaurs against the Bobcats.
As he did at the Alumni Fieldhouse, Jared Smith had the hot hand early against the Centaurs.
He hit four 3-pointers and had 17 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, single-handedly outscoring the Centaurs, 17-15.
“Heading into the game, it was our intention to stop him. We made a much better effort to do that in the second half,” Hart said.
The Centaurs pulled within five by the end of the third quarter and then outscored the Bobcats, 16-11, in the fourth to send the game into overtime.
“Down the stretch, I really have to credit our willingness to share the ball and find the right shots by working from the inside-out,” Hart said.
It benefitted the Centaurs in the extra period where they outscored the Bobcats, 13-9.
Hackett had five of his team-high 17 points, to go with 13 rebounds, in the overtime. Mathewson added six of his 13 in the overtime as the Centaurs outscored Bacon Academy, 13-9.
“Maintaining our composure and poise when faced with such adversity in a key overtime road win shows us we are maturing and want to play hard, smart and together,” Hart said.
Anderson added 15 points and eight assists in the win.
Gold team continues to win
Chris Childs paced the Woodstock Academy Gold prep basketball team with 14 points in an 82-61 win over Lee Academy Feb. 11 at the Frank Monahan Showcase in Concord, N.H. Jakigh Dottin and Jeameril Wilson each added 13 points as the Gold team raised its record to 26-3.
The Gold team also downed MacDuffie on the road, 81-71 Feb. 8. Tre Mitchell led the way as the center had a double-double, 20 points, 11 rebounds, in the win. Luis Rodriguez added 20 points and five steals.

Blue splits weekend fare
The Blue prep squad put together a nice win over the Monroe Community College JV team Feb. 10, but struggled against Springfield Commonwealth Academy Feb. 11.
The Centaurs opened the home weekend with a 97-79 win over Monroe which hails from Rochester, N.Y., and had already beaten the Centaurs this season.
E.J. Dambreville led the way with 32 points.
“The kid is tough,” said Blue prep coach Nick DeFeo. “He was scoring it early from the outside and then he got to the rim. He got banged up in the second half, was bleeding, and that really set him off. He got three straight 3’s after that and didn’t even hit the rim. He gets us going. He paces us, offensively and defensively.”
Gedi Juozapaitis added 19 points while Alex Illic tossed in 15 in the win.
Dambreville (13 points) never got going Feb. 11.
Neither did the Centaurs (17-9) in a 72-70 loss to the Tornadoes.
The play on the floor reflected the dreary, wet conditions outside as the Centaurs only showed one glimpse of life.
Trailing 29-28 at the half, the Centaurs turned it up a notch and went on a 17-4 run to open the second half and put the Blue squad up by 12.
Juozapaitis and Illic each had five of their 12 points in the run, but the candle went out as fast as it was lit.
Commonwealth responded with a pair of 3-pointers that ignited a 14-2 run of its own and was quickly back within a point.
The lead see-sawed back and forth until the Tornadoes took it for good on a basket by Jajahn Joyner with 48 seconds to play.

Centaurs boys hockey takes 3
Two games against the Redhawks cooperative came at the right time for the Woodstock Academy boys’ hockey team.
The Centaurs downed the Redhawks, 4-1, on Monday at the Norwich Ice Rink and followed that up with a 12-0 win Feb. 10 at the Jahn Ice Rink in Pomfret.
Sandwiched in between was a 7-4 win over South Hadley, Mass.
The three victories, collectively, brought the Centaurs back to the .500 mark at 7-7.
Goalie Dylan Shea was spot-on.
He faced 64 shots and allowed just five goals.
The offense got contributions from just about everyone.
Eleven different players scored in the Saturday rout with Jake Starr as the only player to get two goals.
He, Doug Newton and Jake Black all had three assists.
Black and Guerin Favreau had two goals each in the win over South Hadley while Matt Odom, Favreau, Black and Pat Delaney scored in the first game against the Redhawks.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director

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Starting 5
The starting five for the PMS Wolfpack. Courtesy photo.

By Shawn Bates
The Putnam High School Lady Clippers went to play the Lady Wolverines in Griswold Feb. 8 and showed Griswold no mercy. Putnam held Griswold to a total of 9 points in the first half of the game and would go on to beat the Wolverines 42-25.  Freshman Abby St. Martin and Kayleigh Lyons would each net eight points to lead the Clipper ship.
The ladies are now 13-4 and are ranked fourth in the Class S rankings for the state. The Clippers played one more game at home against Wheeler on the 12th and the next two will be on the road against Windham Tech and Grasso Tech. Putnam has defeated all 3 teams and can possibly win out!
Putnam Middle School
Boys
It’s hard to believe the year is complete and for the Wolfpack they took a talented 8th grade heavy team to the finals against Ashford. In the first game of the tournament, they would face Eastford and would win easily 65-40 on the Wolfpack‘s home court. Karson Bates would net 13 and Carter Morissette dropped in another 13 to lead the team-high scorers in the convincing.
But Feb. 8, in front of a packed house, Putnam would fall short losing 51-45 against last year’s defending champs Ashford. Putnam would fall behind early and would be behind the entire game but with key baskets by Cooper Livingston, Karson Bates and Carter Morissette, Putnam would climb back from a 20 point third-quarter lead to be in striking distance by 6 .
But Ashford couldn’t miss the hoop in the final minutes of the game to take the championship two years in a row from Putnam. Karson Bates had 12 points and Carter Morissette 11. Putnam ended their season 9-5
Girls
The girls took an early exit from the tournament with a first round loss to Ashford.
The ladies finished up the year a successful season, according to coach Miller. He said, “I’m very pleased with play this year and the hard work that the ladies put in over 2 and ½ months. Hopefully like the boys they came away better then they started off to give the high school and Coach Hogan some more reserves for the Lady Clippers.”
Putnam High
Boys
The Clippers hosted ECC foe Griswold Feb. 8 and walked out with a loss. Putnam would come out and match point for point with Griswold for the first half of the game and would go into the locker room with a 3-point lead at half time.
With the start of the 3rd quarter Griswold would start to pull away and would lead the Clippers going into the 4th quarter, 38-30. But in the 4th the Wolverine’s would take advantage of some key turnovers and would walk out of the gym with a 64-36 win over the Clippers.
Putnam is now in a four-game slump with 5 to go in the season. Putnam is two shy of the magic number of eight for tournament play. Putnam has three games coming up with Cheney away, Wheeler away, and Grasso Tech home for the last game in Putnam for the year.

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Category: Current Issue

caption:

Starting 5
The starting five for the PMS Wolfpack. Courtesy photo.

By Shawn Bates
The Putnam High School Lady Clippers went to play the Lady Wolverines in Griswold Feb. 8 and showed Griswold no mercy. Putnam held Griswold to a total of 9 points in the first half of the game and would go on to beat the Wolverines 42-25.  Freshman Abby St. Martin and Kayleigh Lyons would each net eight points to lead the Clipper ship.
The ladies are now 13-4 and are ranked fourth in the Class S rankings for the state. The Clippers played one more game at home against Wheeler on the 12th and the next two will be on the road against Windham Tech and Grasso Tech. Putnam has defeated all 3 teams and can possibly win out!
Putnam Middle School
Boys
It’s hard to believe the year is complete and for the Wolfpack they took a talented 8th grade heavy team to the finals against Ashford. In the first game of the tournament, they would face Eastford and would win easily 65-40 on the Wolfpack‘s home court. Karson Bates would net 13 and Carter Morissette dropped in another 13 to lead the team-high scorers in the convincing.
But Feb. 8, in front of a packed house, Putnam would fall short losing 51-45 against last year’s defending champs Ashford. Putnam would fall behind early and would be behind the entire game but with key baskets by Cooper Livingston, Karson Bates and Carter Morissette, Putnam would climb back from a 20 point third-quarter lead to be in striking distance by 6 .
But Ashford couldn’t miss the hoop in the final minutes of the game to take the championship two years in a row from Putnam. Karson Bates had 12 points and Carter Morissette 11. Putnam ended their season 9-5
Girls
The girls took an early exit from the tournament with a first round loss to Ashford.
The ladies finished up the year a successful season, according to coach Miller. He said, “I’m very pleased with play this year and the hard work that the ladies put in over 2 and ½ months. Hopefully like the boys they came away better then they started off to give the high school and Coach Hogan some more reserves for the Lady Clippers.”
Putnam High
Boys
The Clippers hosted ECC foe Griswold Feb. 8 and walked out with a loss. Putnam would come out and match point for point with Griswold for the first half of the game and would go into the locker room with a 3-point lead at half time.
With the start of the 3rd quarter Griswold would start to pull away and would lead the Clippers going into the 4th quarter, 38-30. But in the 4th the Wolverine’s would take advantage of some key turnovers and would walk out of the gym with a 64-36 win over the Clippers.
Putnam is now in a four-game slump with 5 to go in the season. Putnam is two shy of the magic number of eight for tournament play. Putnam has three games coming up with Cheney away, Wheeler away, and Grasso Tech home for the last game in Putnam for the year.