WOODBURY — As the dim and lonely gyms continue to sit in silence, Nonnewaug’s winter sports teams have been starting to prepare for their long-awaited seasons. Countless hours in the gym, and hard work have highlighted the dreaded offseason. 

Individual athletes have been focusing on honing and refining their skills as they get ready for their seasons. To increase their chances of accomplishing something spectacular this year, this entails offseason training and several hours in the weight room. Nonnewaug’s boys basketball and wrestling teams enter this winter with particularly high expectations.

Boys Basketball 

The 2022-23 boys basketball season will provide particular difficulties when we lace up the sneakers once more. This upcoming season will bring with it new challenges, fresh faces, and more expectations. Seniors who graduate create more opportunities for returning players to take on leadership roles and increase the need for the new squad to work as a unit. 

“Our main goal is to win it all,” said senior Ben Faraci. “As well as improve as individuals and as a team. We completely changed up our play style, and we have been taking conditioning very seriously.” 

Following a disappointing season last winter that ended in early exits from the Berkshire League and state tournaments, it appears that this season’s expectations have been raised.

“We have some good senior leadership this year,” said head coach Tim Fitzpatrick. “We’re expecting to come out stronger than last year since there is less of a learning curve.” 

“Our team is great because we’re playing this season with kids that everyone has played with their whole lives,” said senior Trey Medonis. “We’re all getting better than we were last year.”

The Chiefs intend to play at a quick tempo on the offensive end of the court in addition to their renowned tough defense.

“We want to win the Berkshire League,” said Fitzpatrick. “Having a healthy, positive, and winning season makes a good experience for all of our players. We want a group of players who are focused on one goal, don’t care about playing time and don’t care about individual achievements.”

Wrestling 

It seems like the basketball team isn’t the only team putting in the work. Nonnewaug wrestling has been working hard every day and has high hopes for the season. 

“I have been working hard to try and stay in shape,” said senior Aiden Cooper. “I want to maintain a good weight and win the Berkshire League, we also want to win states.”

Nonnewaug wrestling had a historic season last year, winning their first Berkshire league title since 2016. Nonnewaug also won the Berkshire-Valley tournament in an 11-team wrestling competition held at The Gilbert School. 

“Our goals for this season are to try to improve each week,” said head coach Dave Green. “We would like to defend our league championship and perform well in the individual state tournament.” 

This group of boys is confident that they will defend their BL title through hard work and dedication. Having Jack Wendel, the reigning Class S and BL champion at 170 pounds, returning along with a number of other top performers will help in that pursuit.

“Like most teams, we would like a group that works together to reach their potential,” said Green. “Wrestling offers both team and individual accolades, so it is important to have the team helping each other and working to reach both team and individual goals.”