2024-25 Winter Sports Recap
The long winter sports season has finally come to an end. Once again, the Winged Beavers made us proud, whether on the ice, court, mat, or in the pool.
This season was Eric Lundell’s first as head coach of the varsity wrestling team, after spending several years as an assistant coach. His first year proved to be one of vast improvement for many wrestlers, several of whom had great individual seasons.
In particular, nine Avonians placed in the top five in their weight class at the Western New England Championship tournament. Peter Jalinskas ’26 and Philip Yu ’26 placed fifth; Luke Jalinskas ’26, Michael Norman ’26, and Torre Veneziano ’26 placed fourth; Ian Choi ’25 and Jameson Bell ’26 placed third; John Granger ’26 placed second; and Tyler Rebick ’26 took the top prize in the 215 lb weight class. These scores were good enough to earn Avon Old Farms fourth place in the team competition. All of these wrestlers, as well as Chance Campbell ’25, qualified for the New England tournament.
Four Avon wrestlers placed in the top 10 at the New England championship meet. Rebick placed third in the 215 lb weight class, Granger placed fifth at 150 lbs, Campbell placed sixth at 190 lbs, and Bell placed eighth at 144 lbs. For Rebick, Granger, and Campbell, these placements were enough to qualify them for the national tournament. With many of the season’s top performers being underclassmen, there is a lot to look forward to next winter for Coach Lundell and his team.
On Cole Court, competition was just as fierce. The team had a tough start to the season, but from there had several commendable performances, including wins against Taft and Trinity-Pawling, and a 23-point win over Westminster.
As a team, the varsity basketball team personified Avon’s core values of integrity and sportsmanship. Individually, a few players put up particularly positive performances over the course of the season. AB Coulibaly ’25 earned first-team All-Founders League honors, and Joel Nash ’26 was selected to the second-team All-Founders League team.
Only three members of this year’s team are seniors, and with impressive seasons from several JV players, next year’s team is sure to continue to compete with the best.
As always, the varsity hockey season was one to remember. An early season highlight was hoisting the 41st annual AOF Christmas Hockey Classic trophy, after defeating Berkshire 5-2 in the final. After entering winter break with a tournament win, the team returned from break like they never left, winning their first four games by a combined total of 24-5, including a 6-2 win on Westy Monday.
The team racked up 17 wins on the season, which qualified them for the Large School NEPSAC postseason tournament. The team battled hard, winning their quarterfinal matchup against Thayer Academy behind a hattrick from Indiana Grossbard ’26. Unfortunately, they came up short, bowing out in the semi-finals.
It was yet another memorable season for our varsity hockey team, and multiple players received individual accolades. Grossbard was selected as the forward of the year by Neutral Zone Prep Hockey, and named to their All-New England first team. Oskar Drabczynski ’26 was awarded with rookie of the year honors.
Our varsity squash team continued their upward trajectory, earning five team wins on the season. “I’m proud of our team,” assistant coach Jack Sanford said. “I hope to be able to continue to improve next year.”
Junior Pablo Paredes ’26 proved to be an excellent addition to the team, winning seven of his matchups as the team’s number one. Fellow underclassmen Charlie Carruth ’26 and Zachary Deans ’27 each collected close to double-digit individual wins as well.
The team qualified for the Class E New England tournament, where they placed third. They beat Buckingham Browne & Nichols in the first round en route to defeating Canterbury School in the third-place match.
Perhaps the most successful season was had by our smallest team—the six-man varsity swim team. With so few athletes, they were at a major disadvantage when it came to team scoring, but they still managed to beat several teams over the course of the season.
The team really showed their ability in the New England championship meet, where they finished third. At this meet, the team finished second in the 200-yard relay and third in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Individually, Brady Tollis ’26 finished third in the 200-yard IM and second in the 100-yard breaststroke, Cale Strober ’27 took third in the 500-yard freestyle, and captain Robert Riccobon took first place in both the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. Riccobon, in particular, had a stellar season, setting a new school record in both of his events. The previous record in the 100-yard butterfly was set almost 40 years ago!
While many of our winter athletes will soon have to jump right into their spring athletic commitments, we hope they take advantage of March Break to rest and recover after working hard all season.