Category: Sports

Lacrosse Season is Underway

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The 2022 Wyoming Seminary Boys Lacrosse team (Photo courtesy Nansen Wang ’22)

by Maddie Olshemski ’23

As the sunshine and spring weather begins to come out one thing is for certain – boys and girls lacrosse seasons are off and running on Klassner Field. Both squads have prepared extremely hard for their seasons and are off to great starts! 

Boys lacrosse is coming off of a 17-2 season with a spot in the district championship as well as a trip to states for the first time in recent years. This year they look to build on their success from last year and hopefully get back to the District Championship once again and punch another ticket to states. When asked  about building on their successful previous season and what will help them succeed this year attacker and 100 goal scorer explains Jack Herron ’24 explains, “We have a lot of returning players this year and none of us were satisfied with what happened last year in districts and in states. We are using that as motivation for this year to get us into a position to win.” The team is off to a great start to the first half of the season and when asked about what they look forward to in the second part of the season. Herron continues, “we look forward to districts and look forward to seeing how we will advance and get better as the season continues to progress.” 

Girls Lacrosse is looking to build off of their season as well from last year where they came up just short in a district semifinal loss to Lake Lehman. This year seems to be heading in the right direction for the squad and many of the players are saying something seems to be different on the team this year, a good type of different. When asked about this difference from last year Captain Attacker Ashley Metz ’22 explains, “I feel like our team chemistry has changed a lot this year for the better. We are definitely super close not only on the field but also off the field which definitely helps us connect and find success on the field. Last year didn’t end the way we wanted it to and this year it just feels like there is a different vibe surrounding our team and we can hopefully cap off our season in a more positive and successful way.” Both Blue Knight lacrosse squads still have a lot of games to play and they look forward to competing and are thankful for their chance to represent Wyoming Seminary in a great way on the field. Make sure to support both of these teams at Klassner Field as their seasons continue. 

Tennis on Fire

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by Heiger Chen ’22

After defeating Holy Redeemer with a 5-0, Wyoming Seminary tennis team is ending with a strong season. This year’s season began in March and ended in mid-April with Coach Raphael Cooper hoping the team goes into playoffs, which consist of singles, doubles, and teams. He illustrated that the most important goal for the year was for the the team to be competitive and continues learning game to game.

Although Keefer Wu ’22 and Artur Gilicinski ’23 left the team this year, Vaughn Kutish ’22 and Benjamin (Ben) Ziegler ’22 took the positions of team leaders to bring the team together. As Cooper mentioned during an interview “It’s gonna be a difficult but fun and interesting year making adjustments as we could be scrabbing again before districts to make another adjustment to the roster.” 

When asked about who stands out the most to him, he said that “everyone [is] special in terms of what they are doing. You know, they have their own strengthens and weaknesses. But I would just like to say our captains because they are setting the table for all of us.” He continues by wishing his players a good year. “I want every kid leaving feeling like they got better at tennis as well as enjoying the whole experience. It’s not just about winning but progressing and understanding the concept of teamwork.” Cooper added.

The tennis team had their first competition against Berwick and they won 4-1. Specifically, Cooper highlighted Ryan Chun ’23 who had his first time as a singles player and won the match. Additionally, Yicheng Li ’25, who was new to the team, also performed well; he played in a doubles match and had his first victory.

Nail Biter in Carpenter

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2022 Wrestling Team (Photo Courtesy of Wyoming Seminary Communications Department)

By Shane Holcombe ‘23 and Maddie Olshemski ‘23

“It’s a great day to be a Blue Knight,” has been a staple phrase throughout Wyoming Seminary’s Athletic teams for quite some time now, and the #1 ranked Blue Knights wrestling team held true to the phrase in their victorious dual against #2 ranked Blair Academy. The team came together and were able to put on a show for the fans by winning in dramatic style, as the dual came down to the final match of the night. 

Rarely are the duals between these two decorated programs not decided in the final bouts, and this meeting was no different, as the score was 28-27 going into the final match, where freshman Jude Correa ‘25 had immense pressure to not only win his match, but to win the duel for the Blue Knights. Correa took that pressure and secured the victory with ease, closing out the duel for the Blue Knights. The crowd, although smaller than usual because of limited capacity, made their voices heard to bring energy into the gym and help propel the team to victory. 

Victories from Luke Lilledahl ‘24 , Kai Owen ‘22, Joe Sealey ‘24, and incredible pins from DJ Moehring ‘22 and Nic Bouzakis ‘22, put the Blue Knights wrestling squad in an excellent position to succeed. Kai Owen told “Mat Scouts” after the dual that “he knew going into the night his match could flip the tides.” And that it did. A dramatic last second takedown saw the Senior secure three vital points, sending Carpenter Athletic Center into a frenzy. 

This legendary program saw some changes this year with the hiring of Head Coach, Cornell Robinson. Robinson has an incredible resume, including leading the USA cadet team to a second- place finish in the World Championships. Robinson told The Optinator that “the squad has had to overcome adversity throughout the winter via injuries and Covid, but I’m so happy to see our guys step up in crunch time high stakes moments like tonight.”  Robinson is continuing to make this legendary program his own, while still maintaining the winning tradition, and culture that the program has come to possess.