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10/15/2017 12:00 AMThe Madison Athletic Hall of Fame recently inducted nine people as part of its Class of 2017. The induction ceremony was held at the Madison Beach Hotel on Oct. 5, and the inductees were also honored the following night during halftime of the Hand football team’s home game. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest accomplishments of this year’s inductees.
Fazio “Faz” Bagnoli (honored posthumously)
Fazio “Faz” Bagnoli grew up in East Haven during the best years in the history of its high school football program and went on to the University of Bridgeport, where he was a starting defensive back for all four years. Bagnoli was elected captain in 1973, when his team played for the coveted Lambert Trophy that signifies the best small college football program in the east. After a short stint as a Division I football coach, Bagnoli settled in Madison, where he and his beloved wife Lori raised their daughter Kristen and son Michael.
Bagnoli was a quiet force behind Madison Youth Football (MYF) from the beginning. He volunteered as a coach and later became the league’s president. During his years as president, Bagnoli brought more teams into the MYF and established a high standard for coaches’ education and sportsmanship. He instituted the master coach concept, and participation increased every year as word spread in the community about the man who was running the show. Under Bagnoli’s leadership as MYF president, the program grew to record levels of participation, the cheerleading program was born, and an unbreakable bond between the Daniel Hand program and MYF was created with the introduction of a common coaching system.
A few years ago, the MYF honored Bagnoli by naming in his honor the practice fields where he poured so much of himself into each player. There is a plaque with a likeness of Bagnoli and these words inscribed on it: Coach Faz’s intensity and passion for Tiger Football rubbed off on every one of his players and coaches. Believing that tackling, blocking, and toughness were the keys to football success, Faz coached his players with tough love and witty remarks. Coach Faz, for all you have done for Tiger Football and for all the players and coaches that have had the honor by being part of your team, we are forever grateful. TIGER PRIDE.
Meghan Bushnell
A 2003 Hand graduate, Megan Bushnell led the Tigers to a conference final and a state semifinal as a member of their girls’ lacrosse team. Bushnell was named to the All-Southern Connecticut Conference First Team in her freshman year. In addition to earning that honor again as a sophomore, Bushnell garnered All-State First recognition in both field hockey and lacrosse. She was also named the top girls’ lacrosse player in the SCC by the New Haven Register, in addition to making the Lower New England Regional team and competing in the U.S. Lacrosse National Tournament.
Along with earning all the same accolades that she did as a sophomore, Bushnell was selected as Hand’s Offensive Player of the Year in her junior season. Then as a senior captain, Bushnell collected those same honors again, although two additional distinctions really set her apart as Bushnell was named the Register’s Most Valuable Player and was a First Team All-American. She was also one of six players from Connecticut to be invited to try out for the United States U-19 team, becoming the only Hand lacrosse player ever to receive that invitation.
Bushnell moved to defense at the University of California, where she continued to excel on and off the field. Bushnell was a two-year captain, leading the Bears to the conference semifinals in her senior year, while earning Academic All-Conference honors all four years.
Since graduating from college, Bushnell has remained involved in lacrosse, having spent time with Gamebreaker Lacrosse, Bearlax Club Lacrosse, and, most recently, a local startup youth program. She currently resides in Boston, where she works as an executive assistant at Silversmith Capital Partners.
Greg Curtin
A 1979 graduate of Hand, Greg Curtin was the first Hand lacrosse player selected as a national high school All-American, All-State, and the Most Valuable Player in Connecticut. Curtin held the state records for assists, goals, and scoring in his senior year. He started as a freshman on Hand’s first lacrosse team in 1976 and was part of the Tigers’ first state title in 1978.
A skilled running back for the Hand football team, Curtin also was an All-Conference running back in 1978 and played for state championship teams in 1976 and 1977. Curtin also placed fifth in the state in wrestling as a freshman before an injury prevented him from further participation in the sport. After graduating from Hand, he attended Brown University to play lacrosse and football. Curtin transferred to UCLA after completing his sophomore year at to be near his family in Coronado, California. UCLA lacrosse was only in the club phase at the time, but Greg led the nation in scoring at the club level. He went on to coach the UCLA club team for two seasons, along with forming a men’s club team. Curtin started the West Los Angeles Youth Lacrosse League as the commissioner and coach in 2008. His initiatives led to the development of other leagues in the area and the country. Curtin was inducted into the West LA Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Curtin began his career as a teacher and coach in the LA inner city. After completing his master’s degree in American politics, a law degree, and a PhD in international law and public policy, he worked as an attorney for the County of LA and taught political science at the University of California Santa Barbara and at the University of Southern California. Curtin started his own consulting firm, Civic Resource Group, which works with governments around the globe to utilize digital technologies, including work with the United Nations to establish the Global E-Governance Readiness Program. He is a charter member of the World Economic Forum’s Future of Government and the Future of Urban Development.
Curtin has been married to his wife Terry for 25 years. The two have three children: Joseph Laurence, Nadine Therese, and Charles Gregory.
Caitlin Eichler
A four-year starter for Hand softball and volleyball, Caitlin Eichler was a captain of both teams in her senior year. Eichler led the Tigers’ softball team to a 23-1 season in 2001 and was the winning pitcher when Hand claimed the only state championship in the history of its storied program. A four-year starting pitcher, Eichler finished with a record of 70-21, an earned-run average 0.76, and also batted .350. She was an All-SCC Hammonasset Division player all four years, adding two years of All-State and New Haven Register All-Area honors. Eichler was also a starter on the Hand volleyball team for four years.
Additionally, Eichler was an integral part of the Shoreline Sting Gold 16-U softball team in the summer of 1999. The team had a record of 40-6, won four tournaments, and placed ninth in the PONY Nationals. Eicher went 16-0 against Connecticut opponents, while compiling a 19-3 record with an ERA of 0.71.
Eichler went to the University of Hartford on full scholarship and earned Academic All-American honors. She is currently teaching and coaching softball at Westbrook High School, where she was named Teacher of the Year for the 2014-’15 school year.
Ray Ezell
Ray Ezell finished with an overall record of 299-127 in his 18 years as the head coach of the Hand softball team. Ezell never had a losing season and the Tigers qualified for the State Tournament in every year of his tenure. Ezell won four league titles with two in the Shoreline Conference and two in the SCC, along with the 2001 Class L state championship. His teams played in three state finals, five semifinals, and made six state quarterfinals. Ezell was the state’s Softball Coach of the Year in 2001 and was named the Federation of Softball Umpires of Greater New Haven Coach of the Year in 2007. Ezell started the Shoreline Sting travel program in the summer of 1992. The Sting program started with just two teams and now features multiple teams at several levels.
Ezell also coached the Brown and Polson middle school boys’ basketball teams for 18 years, the Hand varsity boys’ basketball team for a year, and served as Hand’s interim athletic director for the 1997-’98 school year. Ezell runs softball, basketball, and baseball clinics for the Madison Recreation Department. He also was a volunteer clinician for both players and coaches with Madison Little League softball. Ezell is still coaching high school and summer softball in the Panama City Beach, Florida area before heading back to the Connecticut to run his Shoreline Sting fall league.
Ezell received his bachelor’s of science degree at Georgia College, his masters of education from the University of Georgia, and his six-year certificate from Southern Connecticut State University. He retired after 19 years of teaching at Brown and Polson and a year at Hand.
Ezell and his wife Georgette have a daughter, Wendy, and two grandchildren.
Charlie Gebauer
Charlie Gebauer served as president, league commissioner, a team manager, and All-Star coach for Madison Little League baseball and was co-founder of the town’s softball program, spending more than 20 years between the two organizations. He was also the president, a head coach, and handled a variety of other responsibilities in the Madison Quarterback Club for many years. Gebauer organized Sunday flag football at Exchange Field and established the groundwork that helped many enthusiastic youth football players who would aspire to become champion football players for Hand Head Coach Larry Ciotti. He has also served as the head of the Hand football chain crew for 40 years.
Gebauer lives with wife MaryEllen and has a son, Paul, and a daughter, Karin.
Sean William Krygier
Krygier is a 2004 Hand graduate who was a captain in football, hockey, and lacrosse. Krygier led the Hand boys’ ice hockey team to its first state title in 2003, while earning All-State honors. He led the lacrosse team to a berth in the State Tournament that same year and was chosen to represent Hand on both the All-Conference and All-State teams. Krygier was then a three-year starter on defense for the University of Massachusetts.
Krygier currently lives in Manhattan and works in digital advertising sales as an account executive at Microsoft.
Peter Sakalowsky
Peter Sakalowsky was the leader of a Hand boys’ cross country team that went 11-1, and he was also the top runner in the Shoreline Conference. Sakalowsky was a member of the Hand track team for four years and graduated in 1989 as the school record holder in the 1,600, 3,200, and 5,000. He first set the 5,000-meter record as a freshman, broke his own record in both his junior and senior years, and still holds the school record.
As a senior, Sakalowsky went undefeated in the 1,600 during the regular season. He was also undefeated in the 3,200 and 5,000 as a sophomore and junior. Sakalowsky set Shoreline Conference meet records in the 1,600 in 1987 and 1989, as well as the 3,200 from 1987-’89. He was selected to the All-Shoreline Team three times in track and won the Class M state title in the 3,200 as a junior. Sakalowsky was also second in the State Open and won the 3,200 at the Hartford Invitational that year.
Sakalowsky claimed the Class L state championship in the 5,000 as a senior and placed third in the 5,000 at the State Open. He was undefeated and won the Shoreline Conference cross country championship as a junior and senior, in addition to the Class MM cross country state championship in his senior season. Sakalowsky is the only Hand runner to win a state cross country crown.
A three-time All-Shoreline Conference pick, Sakalowsky set course records for Hand’s course, Guilford Lakes, and at Old Lyme. He was one of 25 athletes selected to run at the New England Championship, which he posed Hand’s all-time best finish by placing 10th. Sakalowsky ran for Boston College, and his college highlights included a top-10 finish in the 10K with a time of 31:59 at the Greater Boston Championships.
Sakalowsky has had a successful career in sales management for several publishing and management consultancy firms in New York and Los Angeles, including Runner’s World Magazine. He is the director of sales at C Space, a consumer consultancy agency. He lives in Encino, California with his wife Meirav and their three children: Isabella, Massimo, and Peter.
Brett Scholnick
Brett Scholnick won his first SCC championship as a sophomore and went on to win the conference championship in his junior and senior years, as well. Scholnick ruled the 171-pound weight class for two years, going undefeated against Connecticut competition during his junior and senior seasons. He was the Class M state champion and the Connecticut State Open champion as a junior and then repeated those feats in his senior year. Scholnick was runner-up at the New England Championship in his senior year and then competed in Nationals, earning All-American honors by placing seventh in the country.
After graduating in 2002, Scholnick attended Boston University, although his career was cut short due to multiple serious knee injuries. Scholnick began volunteering at wrestling rooms in Massachusetts and was a volunteer coach at Hand.
Scholnick currently lives in Ridgefield with his wife Natasha and their two children, Colton Lucas and Nikalina. He is a vice president in the New York Office at Cantor Fitzgerald.
Photos courtesy of Chris Lena