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12/22/2016 11:00 PMThe winter sports season saw some championship glory for the Indians on the strength of a fencing program that doubled up on the gold. Meanwhile, Guilford teamed up with Branford for a new-look boys’ swimming and diving team, led by junior Corey Gambardella, who turned in exceptional performances at the state level and beyond this year.
Boys’ and Girls’ Fencing
Head Coach Kyle Mezzi and the Indians’ fencing program cleaned up the hardware at the Team State Championship meet in North Haven on March 12 as both the boys’ and girls’ squads claimed overall state championships based on the cumulative performances of their respective foil, épée, and sabre teams. This marked the second overall state crown for the Guilford boys’ team and was the third for the girls.
In terms of specific disciplines, the girls’ foil squad also took home a first-place finish. Additionally for the Indians, their boys’ épée team saw a runner-up finish, foil was third, and the sabre squad placed fifth. Rounding out the day for the girls, Guilford’s épée and sabre groups both fought their way to fourth.
For the Individual State Championships the week before the team state meet, Laurel Zhang and Isabella Migani each made First Team All-State in foil, while Second Team honorees were Brendan Balestracci (foil) and Grace Beady (sabre).
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
Guilford and Branford joined forces to form a co-op team and Head Coach Ray Beaulac’s squad recorded regular season wins against the likes of Foran, Sheehan, Lyman Hall, and Hand.
Then at the SCC Championship, Gambardella, a junior at Guilford who trains with the Soundview YMCA Stingrays from Branford, claimed first place in two events to help the Hornets finish fourth. Gambardella won both the 200 individual medley (1:56.14) and the 500 freestyle (4:34.23) at the SCC meet. He also swam on the second-place, All-SCC 200 freestyle relay that featured Guilford’s Cole Horton, Eric Weidman, plus Branford’s Thomas Shao. Those three athletes captained the squad with Branford student Kevin Jin. Following the SCC meet, the Hornets swam at the Class LL State Championship and notched a seventh-place finish. Gambardella placed second in the 100 butterfly and finished third for the 200 freestyle, after which he took second place in the butterfly and fourth in the 200 free at the State Open.
Also during the winter season, Gambardella qualified for the United States Olympic Team Trials in Men’s Swimming in the 200-meter butterfly by swimming a time of 2:01.52 at the Arena Pro Swim Series at the University of Texas on Jan. 16. Gambardella also swam the 100 butterfly in 54.97 at that meet. Then at the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska on June 28, Gambardella swam the 200 butterfly in 2:01.96 to finish 47th out of 81 athletes, including Olympic legend Michael Phelps.
Boys’ Ice Hockey
Head Coach Ralph Russo and Guilford won their first two games in the Division II State Tournament to advance to the semifinals before taking a 5-1 loss to No. 2 seed Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe on March 14 at Ingalls Rink in New Haven. Chris Cafiero scored the lone Guilford goal from John DeLucia and Stephen Thibault with 8:46 left in the first to put the Indians ahead 1-0, after which Fairfield scored the game’s next five goals. The Indians, who were seeded 3rd, finished the year at 15-7-2 overall and also made the SCC/SWC Division II Tournament.
Chris Cafiero and Stephen Thibault were All-SCC/SWC Division II selections for Guilford with Cafiero, a senior forward, also making the New Haven Register All-Area Team and its All-State First Team. Thibault, a senior, was Honorable Mention for the Register’s All-State squad, as was freshman forward John DeLucia. Cafiero also made the Connecticut High School Coaches Association All-State Division II First Team with Thibault making the Second Team.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
Guilford moved up to Division I of the SCC this year and finished with a mark of 3-15-1.
The victories for Head Coach Gil Schaper’s club came against Lauralton Hall (3-2 in overtime on Jan. 9 and 7-1 on Senior Day on Feb. 17) and Hand (5-2 on Jan. 6).
Catherine Lawrence was an All-Conference First Team defender for Guilford.
Wrestling
Guilford went 22-8 for the dual-meet season and then finished fourth out of 13 clubs at the SCC Championship with 104 points on Feb. 13 at Wilbur Cross. Finalists for Guilford included Andrew Ignoto (in the 126-pound weight class, taking a 12-0 loss in the title bout); Colin Rook (132, pinned at 4:14); Drew Tischer (152, 17-4 decision); Oscar Carmona (160, 3-1 decision in overtime); and AJ Moscato (170, 6-3 decision). All five athletes made the All-SCC Team by virtue of their performances.
In states for the Class M competition, Guilford placed fifth out of 27 schools with 147.5 points while competing in its home gym. Placing for the Indians were Ignoto (126-pound weight class, 2nd place, 12-6 loss in the final); Tischer (152, 2nd, 9-5 defeat in final); Rook (132, 4th, 7-5 loss in the consolation round); Carmona (160, 4th, 7-3 loss in consolation round); Moscato (170, 4th, 7-5 defeat in his last match), and McKayd LaRose (145, 5th, winning 4-3 in his final bout). For the State Open, Guilford tied for 38th place with 18 points on Feb. 26 and 27 at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven. Competing for the Indians were Ignoto (126-pound weight class, going 1-2); Colin Rook (132, 2-2); Tischer (152, 1-2); and Moscato (170, 1-2).
Ignoto and Tischer, both seniors, earned New Haven Register All-Area honors.
Boys’ Basketball
Head Coach Jeff DeMaio’s club gradated seven seniors from 2015 and the campaign had some ups and downs as Guilford was 6-10 through 16 games. However, the Indians responded by capturing victory in their final four regular season contests to qualify for both the SCC Tournament and the Class L State Tournament.
Then as the No. 13 seed in SCCs, Guilford upset No. 4 Notre Dame-West Haven on the road, 46-45, in the first round before losing to No. 5 Amity in the quarterfinals. The Indians were then defeated by 7th-seeded Harding in their opening matchup of the state draw.
Jordan Krause made the All-SCC Hammonasset Division Team and earned Honorable Mention for the New Haven Register’s All-Area squad.
Girls’ Basketball
The Indians started the year at 4-2 prior to a four-game losing skid to move to 4-6. However, Guilford only dropped two decisions in the regular season’s final 10 contests—including a stretch in which it played five games in six days and won four of them—to finish 12-8 and make both the SCC and state tournaments.
Head Coach Bob Welsh’s squad then won its first game versus Hillhouse in the SCC draw before dropping a quarterfinal contest to eventual conference champion Hand. After that, the Indians defeated Barlow in the Class L bracket and then saw their season end with a second round defeat against New London in the second round.
Meredith Shank garnered All-Hammonasset honors for the Indians.
Boys’ Indoor Track
The Indians and Head Coach Jon Rivera took 13th place out of 18 teams with nine points at the SCC Championship at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven.
Guilford then finished tied for 13th place out of 30 teams with 10 points at the Class M State Championship. Ben Siciliano later raced to seventh in the 1,600 (4:26.72) at the State Open on Feb. 20.
Girls’ Indoor Track
Head Coach Jon Rivera and Guilford placed 15th out of 18 teams by scoring 12 points at the SCC Championship. After that, the Indians finished 20th out of 23 teams with five points at the Class L State Championship on Feb. 13 at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven.
Meredith Bloss collected All-SCC honors as she was the runner-up in the 3,200 with a time of 12:08.76 at the conference championship meet.