Roundup
Centaurs fall to Barlow in Class S state championship
It’s one of the worst feelings in high school sports. A team gets to a state championship game only to finish as runner-up.
The Woodstock Academy boys’ volleyball team now knows that feeling after the Centaurs lost to Joel Barlow in the Class S state championship match on Friday, 3-0,
The team, as a whole, stood and watched the Falcons receive the plaque that denoted them as state champs for a second consecutive year. Joel Barlow won the Class M championship in 2025.
But the look on the Centaurs’ faces may have sent a message — a message of a hunger for a similar celebration of their own.
“There is a lot of hunger now,” said junior Brayden Bottone. “This was a winnable game for us; we just didn’t play all that amazing like we could have. Next year, having this experience, we will be better off.”
And next year could produce similar results as the Centaurs lose only three seniors to graduation.
One of those being Gavin Hecker.
The setter’s high school career came to a close on Friday.
“There is nothing better than making a state championship, winning a state championship is better I guess but I can’t complain. I had never made it past the second round of States and we were in the finals this year,” Hecker said.
A problem for the Centaurs, they could never establish much momentum in the match.
They gradually fell behind in the first set and the lead for the Falcons continued to build to as much as 13 before the Centaurs rallied behind a Hecker service run that got the Centaurs to as close as seven before they yielded the match point and lost, 25-17.
That little surge carried into the second set.
 “We had a little momentum at the start of the second set after that and built a 4-0 lead but we had a service error and that let them back in. Any time we started to get going, something would deflate us, a hitting error or some good kills against us. It’s a struggle if you can’t keep it going or keep it in play. We always talk about errors, someone always has to error and, unfortunately, that was us the majority of the time (Friday),” coach Adam Bottone said.
The ball just would not bounce the Centaurs way which helped to contribute to the consecutive 25-21 losses in the second and third sets.
For example, in the third set, Hecker set a ball to the outside which middle hitter Sam Anderson wisely let go by him to Brayden Bottone.
Unfortunately, Anderson didn’t see that Brayden Bottone had slipped on some moisture on the floor and was on the ground.
“The same thing happened when Gavin tried to send a ball and it slipped right through his hands. Unfortunate when it’s super-hot and humid out and the AC wasn’t working, those things pop up. It seemed like it was always happening to us and not to them. They made their fair share of errors too, but we just weren’t able to capitalize on them,” Adam Bottone said.
That was, in part, due to the play of two brothers, Alex and Sam Stinson.
Alex was the outside hitter and he delivered 15 kills while Sam, the setter, had 31 assists for the Falcons.
“They are two brothers who have played against us in club and beat us twice there so we were looking for the get back but didn’t quite get it,” Brayden Bottone said.
Brayden Bottone finished with 14 kills while Evan Chernik added nine and Owen Budd had seven.
Hecker had 17 assists and Christian Hart delivered 12 digs.
The Centaurs finished the season with a 24-2 record.
“We wished the seniors the best in the huddle after the match, apologized that we weren’t able to pull it out for them, but as I told them, we can get back here next year and this is the team that we will likely face again if we do. What are we going to do about it because a lot of them are coming back too,” Adam Bottone said.
The volleyball team advanced to the Class S state championship match the Tuesday before with a 3-0 win over SMSA in a semifinal.
The top-seeded Centaurs posted wins of 25-15, 25-19, and 25-22 to advance past fourth-seeded SMSA.
“We came out pretty strong with a lot of energy and intensity, the reverse of what we usually do,” said Woodstock Academy coach Adam Bottone, “We backed off a little bit in the third set, not purposely, it took a little while but we got it back together.”
Brayden Bottone had 14 kills while Chernik added seven to go along with a team-best 12 service points.  Hecker led the team in assists with 15 to go along with six kills and Jake Henderson contributed 13 assists. 
Ermin Alic did have 25 kills for the Tigers.
“He’s their outside hitter and is a solid player but it seemed like we were able to keep him out of the flow of their offense and we were able to keep them out of system a lot,” Adam Bottone said.
Boys’ Golf
The boys’ golf team went into the CIAC Div. I state championship tournament as the ninth seed.
The Centaurs lived up to their billing as they placed ninth with a 337 early last week.
“I think that is a good thing. It means we played how we should have, tough competition, but I think we’re happy with how we finished,” said senior Aidan O’Connor.
Xavier won the event with a 293-stroke total.
The only ECCe team that finished better than the Centaurs was Norwich Free Academy which placed fourth with a 306 total.
Junior Brady Hebert paced Woodstock as he finished 11th overall with a four-over par 76 including an even-par finish on the back nine.
That included three birdies.
“I think that it was a par 37 (on the back) just made birdies a little easier,” Hebert said. “Hole 10 was a short hole where I had a good approach shot and a good putt same with 17 and 16 was a par-5 and you can birdie par’5’s.”
For Hebert, the 76 total was also a best-ever personal finish for 18 holes.
“I bounced back after (the Eastern Connecticut Conference championship) where I had that nine on the 17th hole. I was definitely happy with my score,” Hebert added.
O’Connor finished second-best for the Centaurs with an 84.
“The course was really nice. I got a round in (Sunday) and it felt like the course played really well and was in great condition. I just could not get the putts to go in,” O’Connor said.
Alec Nunes carded an 88 with Max Kopp one stroke back of the senior.
“I was OK with the season. We did well in the regular season with the 11-5 and we played well in the ECC, finished right where we were supposed to (in the top five) which was different than previous years where we haven’t finished where we wanted so for the team to round it all out at the end was definitely a good thing,” O’Connor said.
The Centaurs will be losing O’Connor, Nunes, Blake Hudock, Nate Faucher, Luke Thompson and Alex Haggerty to graduation.
“I’m really excited for senior year already. This season felt like it went so quick and it got better toward the end so I think I should be able to come out flying in senior year,” Hebert said. “We have Max coming back, a lot of sophomores that have been playing with us so it’s going to be a fun year (next season).”
Girls’ Golf
Woodstock ran not only into some tough teams but a difficult course to finish up the girls’ golf season.
The Centaurs placed 10th at the CIAC Div. II championship tournament early last week.
Woodstock finished with a 404 total.
Berlin won the event with a 351 followed by Masuk with a 356.
“I didn’t tell the girls but I went in thinking we could have a sub-400 score, but the course played really hard  Last year, the winning score was, as an individual, one-under par and (Monday), it was 79 or seven-over. The course played more difficult but it was in great shape,” said coach Earl Semmelrock.
The veteran coach said the course did make a few changes that made it easier for players to get into trouble.
“The rough was really long and the greens were fast. There was a combination of things that led to the scoring and, again, we don’t play 18 holes. It was a first time this year and we were out there for a long time,” Semmelrock said. “It only takes a couple of bad holes for a score to go from 90 to 100 but the girls were troopers and seemed to have a really good time.”
And there were no complaints about playing 18 holes either.
Junior Reagan Scheck again led the way for the Centaurs.
She finished seventh overall individually with an 88.
“She wasn’t really happy (with the score) but she ground it out.  She has been struggling with her driver for the past couple of weeks and she refused to use it (Monday). She hit it once, it didn’t go great, so she played the rest using a four-hybrid off the tee and managed to make it work. She was playing with one of the premiere groups, two of them finished in the top three and she was right there with them,” Semmelrock said.
Liliana Moran shot a 101 and Colbie O’Connor carded a 107.
In an oddity, the Centaurs finished one stroke better than East Lyme (405).
The two teams have met four times this season, three of the matches were decided by one stroke, all won by Woodstock.
Scheck had one more opportunity to play.
The junior finished 17th at the CIAC Girls State Open Golf Championship.
Scheck carded a 92 in the 18-hole tournament.
The rest of the Centaurs get the summer off although Semmelrock is hopeful that his players will not put the clubs away until next season.
“We only lose one senior (Liliana Moran) next year, everyone else is back and we’re hoping to have a competitive team,” Semmelrock said.
That includes Scheck in the list of returners.
Boys’ and Girls’ Tennis
For the first time in recent memory, members of the girls’ tennis team participated in the CIAC girls’ invitational individual tennis tournament early last week.
In singles play, Centaurs senior Gianna Musumeci lost to Cara Thompson of Simsbury 6-2, 6-2 and Musumeci’s senior teammate, Wynter Worth, fell to Amelia Mullane of Mercy High School 6-2. 6-0 in first-round play.
Woodstock was also represented at the CIAC boys invitational individual tennis tournament early last week with junior Rodrigo Diez, the Centaurs No. 1 singles player, falling to Tyler Martinez 6-2, 6-1 in a first-round match.
Boys’ Lacrosse
The goal of making the state tournament was accomplished.
But coach Jason Tata would have liked to have seen just a little more after his boys’ lacrosse team finished with a 9-8 record this year.
“I would have liked to see 10 (wins). It would have been a cool seven-game win streak to finish off the season and we would have been able to carry all that momentum (in the state tournament) and it also would have been the first time the program had 10 wins. Unfortunately, the ball didn’t bounce that way,” Tata said. “And they got that unscheduled game, a state tournament match up with a team they knew little about- Brookfield.
Unfortunately, the Bobcats won that Class M second-round match, 17-6.
Patrick Griswold had four goals in the loss with Dylan Phillips and Jackson Aleman getting the other tallies. Zach Armbruster had a couple of assists in the game.
“Brookfield was tough,” Tata said. “They killed us in the midfield. It was everything between the 30s. The offense was incredibly efficient as we scored six goals but had the ball only nine times. We were having trouble in the midfield winning ground balls and it just was an unlucky day for us. Brookfield was a quality team and it was worth the two-hour drive out there.”
Senior x-player Corey Lafond led the team in scoring with 78 points, most of those coming on assists, as he delivered 16 goals.
Griswold led the team in goals with 50 and finished with 67 total points while Dylan Phillips added 47 goals and 19 assists.
The good news- there is a decent nucleus returning as Griswold will be back.
 “We have a lot of young guys,” Tata said pointing to young defenseman like Aidan Black and Carter Grassi. ”These guys are ready to get some time, ready to go after the ball. We bring back some other key pieces.”
But there will be some holes.
“You don’t graduate 13 guys and not have some holes like the X, left wing, an All-ECC defenseman (David Genay) and goalie. Quan Sangasy had 300 saves for us in goal over his career; we have to figure that out. Fortunately, that is a spring Jason problem. What I would like to see the younger guys do is clubs and camps this summer rather than putting their stick down and not picking it up again until next season,” Tata said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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The boys’ volleyball team captured the runner-up trophy as they lost in the Class S state championship match.

In his last tournament as a member of the boys’ golf team, senior Blake Hudock tees off at the CIAC Div. I state championship tournament.

Freshman defender Carter Grassi (29, right) will be one of the building blocks of the future for Jason Tata’s boys’ lacrosse team. Photos by Marc Allard/ Woodstock Academy.

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page 11

Senior Athlete of the Year, Alec Nunes, tees off on the 13th hole of the CIAC Div. I state championship golf tournament. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.

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Senior Athlete of the Year, Alec Nunes, tees off on the 13th hole of the CIAC Div. I state championship golf tournament.

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Brady Hebert chips up to the 18th green during the CIAC Division I golf state championship tournament. 

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Goalie Quan Sangasy makes one of his 300-plus career saves for Woodstock Academy in a match earlier this season.