Rye Country Day Boys? Winter Previews
By Mitch Silver
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Boys? Basketball
Head Coach: Brendan Barile
Last Year?s Record: 12-11
Returning Players: Co-captains Allan Houston and Billy O?Meara, Ben Pearce, Shane Regan, Justin Mandell, Jason Schnall, Brett Robinson, Cullen Coleman, Conrad Crakes
Sizing up the Season: ?The team will rely a strong core of returning players and play an exciting, up-tempo brand of basketball. Billy O?Meara?leads the way with his range; his teammates feed off of his constant motor. Seniors Brett Robinson, Jason Schnall,?and?Justin Mandell offer complementing skill sets.
?Junior?Shane Regan?and?sophomore Ben Pearce?will run the show in the backcourt. Both players possess the vision, shooting, and attacking prowess to be difference makers this season.?Juniors Cullen Coleman and Noah Rosenthal,?and?sophomore Cade Dalton have proven their ability and will be needed to contribute on this deep team.
?With a commitment to rebounding and defending, we have all the ingredients for a special team, especially when injured?seniors Conrad Crakes and Allan Houston?return after the winter break to infuse toughness into the squad. We?ll be fun to watch.?
Opening Game: Rye Country Day topped L?man Manhattan Prep 76-72 in the Fieldston School Tournament, November 30, and beat Fieldston 78-57 in the finals. They travel to Dalton December 7.
Boys? Ice Hockey
Head Coach: Brett Farson
Last Year?s Record: 16-5, FAA champs
Returning Players: Although the team lost starting goaltender Eddie Abrams and two regulars on the back line ? Harrison Kadish and all-star Will Dodge, among others, to graduation ? they still have an amazing attack: co-captains Jack Kissell and Josh Cohen return along with sophomore sensation Charlie Keating. Kissell has been named to the Journal News? pre-season Super 6, writing, ?He doesn?t need a lot of touches in order to remain productive. Kissell has a knack for hustling to the right places at the right time and making good things happen. He had 24 goals and 18 assists last season.?
Sizing up the Season: The Wildcats should be scary good with the puck, looking to ice their third FAA title in a row. Can they keep the puck out of their own net? So far, so good: They defeated Clarkstown North on the road 8-1 and trounced Iona Prep 6-1 to open the season.
Next Game: December 12 at Hamden Hall; December 14 at home against St. Luke?s
Head Coach Alex Langerhorst, at left, and Assistant Coach Lopez bookend the 2018-19 Wildcat squash team.
Boys? Squash
Head Coach: Alex Langerhorst
Last Year?s Record: 14-6
Returning Players: Captains Liam Pope and Will McPhail and Andrew Felton, Raif Shah, Miles Chun, Henry Burdick, Jack Featherston, Oscar Mindich, Jake Hirschberg, Henry Featherston, Mitchell Katz, and Jeffrey Tian will see court time.
Sizing up the Season: ?We lost seven key players, so our old JV team is now the entire Varsity. Great group of guys.?
Opening Matches:?Losses to Hotchkiss and Hackley,?7-0; 4-3 loss to Canterbury
Wrestling
Head Coach: Rich Knazik, 16th year
?Last Year?s Record: 11-5
?Returning Athletes: Captains are Will Shabecoff (132-138 pounds, All-FAA) and Charlie Moysak (Heavyweight, NYSAIS Champ); Cam Coleman (220 pounds, NYSAIS Runner-Up), Robbie Fox, Mateo Gomez, Alex Hackett, RJ Thalheimer, Ahmed Suliman, and Brooks Sleeper. ?Cam is an outstanding football player, with lots of athleticism, and has been one of our top varsity wrestlers since 8th grade,? said Coach Knazik, now in his 16th year.
Sizing up the Season: ?Most of the teams that we face have low numbers, resulting in forfeits at various weights. Still, there are many quality returning starters back around the area.?
Opening Match: December 7 vs. Horace Mann. ?They are loaded with lightweights and we are loaded with upper weights. Should be an interesting match.?
