Winter Teams and Athletes Recognized with Sports Awards

In Chapel on March 6, Athletic Director George Tahan presented the 2023 awards for the following sports: Alpine Skiing, Basketball, Hockey, Nordic Skiing, Squash, and Wrestling.  

Trophy Winners

ALPINE SKIING 

The Alpine Ski Coaches Trophy recognizes that individual who in the judgment of his coaches has displayed the greatest improvement.

• Vincent Mezzanotte
• Griffin Vail

The Toni Matt award is presented to that boy who has made the greatest contribution to the Belmont Hill alpine ski team.

• Charles Crowley

BASKETBALL 

The Ex-Captains Basketball Trophy is presented to that boy who in the judgment of his coach made the greatest contribution to the season.

• Jamari Robinson

The Carl H. Amon Jr. Basketball Trophy is presented in honor of the former President of the Belmont Hill Board of Trustees from 1964-1987, an enthusiastic supporter of Belmont Hill Basketball and father of three former varsity basketball players. This award is given to that member of the varsity team whose unselfishness, sportsmanship and concern for team play have best exemplified the ideals of Belmont Hill athletics.

• Will Kelly

HOCKEY 

Wyman S. Smart Jr. Hockey Trophy is awarded to that player who in the judgment of his coaches has made the greatest improvement this year.

• Henry Schmidek

Kenneth M. Martin Jr. Hockey Trophy, given by Mrs. Virginia Martin in memory of her husband. Mr. Martin was a member of the first graduating class at Belmont Hill in 1927. At Belmont Hill he earned eleven varsity letters and he captained the varsity hockey team three of his four years on the team. This trophy is given to the player who in the judgment of his coaches is the most valuable player on the varsity team.

• Brock Cummings
• Ronan O’Donnell 

NORDIC SKIING 

The most improved award in Nordic skiing is awarded to that skier who in the judgment of his coaches has made the greatest improvement this year.

• Jack Kastner

The Nordic Ski Coaches’ Trophy honors that young man who has contributed the most to the Belmont Hill Nordic Ski team.

• William Walton

SQUASH 

The most improved squash player trophy is given to the boy who has exhibited the greatest progress on and off the squash court.

• Griffin Calhoun

The Squash Coaches’ Trophy is awarded to that player who has made the greatest contribution to the sport of squash this year.

• Leighton Calhoun

WRESTLING  

The William “Bingo” Emerson wrestling trophy honors a 1960 Belmont Hill second generation graduate who was killed in Vietnam. While at Belmont Hill, he captained the wrestling team and won awards in both football and wrestling in his senior year. This award is presented to the boy who in the opinion of his coaches has exhibited the greatest improvement in wrestling.

• Joshua Houston-Davis
• Calogero (Dave) LoGrasso

The Gilbert S. Jordan Athletic Achievement Award in Wrestling

This bowl was donated by alumni to honor “Gibby” Jordan, a longtime wrestling coach and director of maintenance who retired in 1986. It is presented to that boy who has made the greatest contribution to the Belmont Hill Wrestling program.

• Alex Gavronsky
• Frederick Pimental
• Turner Rayment

---

Henry B. Sawyer Sportsmanship Awards

The Henry B. Sawyer Awards were suggested by the school senate and approved by the athletic committee in 1987. These sportsmanship awards recognize Mr. Sawyer’s 52 years of service to the school. These awards are presented seasonally by sport to “ the ideal sportsman whose emotions are controlled by a genuine love and respect for his fellow man as well as the game.

• ALPINE SKIING – Luke Guleserian, Luca Mezzanotte
• BASKETBALL – John Milewski
• HOCKEY – Matthew Biotti
• NORDIC SKIING – Brian Lee, Lev Tolkoff
• SQUASH – Aaron Green
• WRESTLING – Cord Vallis, Alex White

---

Individual Honors

The following boys were named  2023 I.S.L. ALL LEAGUE, All League Honorable Mention & All New England. 

 
ALPINE SKIING
 
All League
Charlie Crowley
Luca Mezzanotte
Nate Pappas

All New England
In Slalom
Luca Mezzanotte
Vince Mezzanotte

In Giant Slalom
Nate Pappas

In Slalom & Giant Slalom
Charlie Crowley

BASKETBALL

All League Honorable Mention
Jamari Robinson

All League
Isaiah Langham

HOCKEY

All League Honorable Mention 
Dane Carter
Mason Daignault
Lenny Greenberg

All League
Matthew Biotti
Brock Cummings
Josh Doolan
Danny Markham
Ronan O’Donnell

NORDIC SKIING

All New England 
William Walton

SQUASH 

All League
Leighton Calhoun

All New England
Leighton Calhoun

WRESTLING

All League 
Haden Bottiglieri
Bennett Carroll
Jack Dragoumanos
Alexander Gavronsky
Joshua Houston-Davis
Calogero (Dave) LoGrasso
Scott Moreau 
Isaac Novod 
Andrew Pimental 
Freddy Pimental
Turner Rayment
Aaron Stanger
Will Stewart
Cord Vallis

All New England 
Haden Bottiglieri
Bennett Carroll
Jack Dragoumanos
Alexander Gavronsky
Josh Houston-Davis
Scotty Moreau 
Isaac Novod 
Andrew Pimental 
Freddy Pimental
Turner Rayment
Aaron Stanger
Will Stewart
Cord Vallis

All American  
Alexander Gavronsky
Haden Bottiglieri

---

Team and other Winter Athletic Accomplishments

Alpine Skiing

The alpine ski team finished a strong season, despite extremely challenging weather conditions, with an overall record of 19 wins and 4 losses. They finished third in the ISL. At the New England championship race at Berkshire East, the team took 2nd place, the best finish by an ISL school at the championship. Congratulations to coaches Feldman, Trautz, Creedon, Wallace and the alpine ski team. I ask the captains to come forward and present the NEPSAC 2nd place trophy.

Basketball

The 3rd basketball team finished an excellent season with a record of 18 wins and 5 losses. Congratulations to coaches Collins and Fritz and the 3rd basketball team.

The JV basketball team completed an undefeated season finishing with a record of 20 wins and no losses. Congratulations to the JV basketball team and Coaches Rosser and Cayemite.

Hockey

The 4th hockey team completed an outstanding season with a record of 17 wins, 4 losses, and 1 tie. Congratulations to coaches McCarthy and Hamilton and the 4th hockey team.

The 3rd hockey team completed a remarkable season with a record of 20 wins and 6 losses. Congratulations to Coaches O’Connell, Hargrove, and Najjar and the 3rd hockey team.

The JV hockey team finished an exceptional season with a record of 18 wins, 7 losses, and 2 ties. Congratulations to Coaches Davis, Cherpeck, and Burgess and the JV hockey team.

The varsity hockey team completed a championship season with a record of 21 wins, 7 losses and 2 ties. They won the school’s second consecutive ISL Keller Division Championship. They qualified for the NEPSAC Elite 8 Tournament for the second consecutive year. In the tournament, they beat Milton Academy in the quarterfinals before losing a hard fought semifinal game to eventual champion Avon Old Farms. 
Congratulations to the varsity hockey team and coaches Phinney, Cunningham, Pawloski, Wright, and Halverson. 

I also want to take a moment to thank the loop for doing such a great job at Avon Saturday. A number of Administrators at Avon went out of their way to find me to tell me how impressed they were with our fans. We also received a number of emails to that effect. Thank you guys for representing the School so well on Saturday. 

Nordic Skiing

The Nordic Ski Team continued to excel this season, remaining one of the best high school Nordic ski programs in New England. The team competed in the Lakes Region League in NH each Wednesday, amassing an overall record of 35 wins and 9 losses. The team finished 3rd in the Lakes Region League, with 6 skiers being ranked in the top 25, including Will Walton (3rd), Jack Kastner (11th), Lev Tolkoff (16th), Jack Luehrman (17th), Nate Voss (20th), Ezra Lee (21st), and Davis Woolbert (24th). They followed that up by finishing 4th at the NEPSAC Championship race at Holderness. At the NEPSAC championship, Will Walton finished 9th in the individual race.

Congratulations to the Nordic Ski team and coaches DeCaprio, Calloway, Weiter, and Kirby. 

Squash

The 3rd squash team completed an excellent season with a record of 12 wins and 4 losses. Congratulations to coaches Steffey and Speer and the 3rd squash team

The JV squash team completed an outstanding season going undefeated in ISL play and finishing with an overall record of 11 wins and 3 losses. Congratulations to Coach Wellemeyer and the JV squash team.

The varsity squash team completed yet another championship season going undefeated in ISL play and finishing the season with an overall dual match record of 12 wins and 3 losses. This is the squash team's 13th ISL Championship in the last 14 years. Congratulations to the varsity squash team and coaches Brownell and Wellemeyer. 

Wrestling

The 3rd wrestling team finished another excellent season that included titles at the Cardigan Mountain School Tournament, The Fay School Tournament, and the New England Tournament Championship at Fessenden with 4 champions and 10 of 12 boys in the tournament finals. New England Champions were Brody Sayers, Jaiden Lee, Declan Curtain, and Peter Schwab. Brody Sayers was named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Season. Congratulations to Coaches Leonardis, Davis, Ryan, and Sullivan and the 3rd wrestling team.

The varsity wrestling team completed another championship season finishing with an overall record of 24 wins and 1 loss. During the season they took 1st Place at the Graves-Kelsey Wrestling Championship and won the ISL Dual meet championship by going a perfect 12-0 in ISL dual meets for the 7th consecutive year. The team finished 3rd at the New England Championship at Andover. They followed that up by finishing 11th out of 128 schools at the Prep Wrestling Nationals outside of Washington, D.C.

Twelve Belmont Hill Wrestlers, Isaac Novod , Scott Moreau, Andrew Pimental, Jack Dragoumanos, Cord Vallis, Freddy Pimental, Turner Rayment, Alexander Gavronsky, Will Stewart, Haden Bottiglieri, Joshua Houston-Davis, and Calogero (Dave) LoGrasso were 2023 Graves Kelsey Tournament Champions. 

Cord Vallis won the award for most pins in the least time at the Graves and 
Freddy Pimental was named ISL MVP and Globe All Scholastic. 

Scott Moreau and Alex Gavronsky were 2023 NEPSAC Champions. 

Alex Gavronsky and Haden Bottiglieri earned All-American status at the Prep Nationals. At the Prep Nationals Alex won the award for the most pins in the least time

Also in wrestling, Coach Todd Davis was named NEPSAC Assistant Coach of the Year. 

Congratulations to coaches Bradley, Leonardis, Kaplan, Davis, Sullivan, Williams, and Ryan and the varsity wrestling team. I ask the captains to come forward to present the ISL Dual Meet and Graves Kelsey Championship trophies.

Before I close, I have one more accomplishment to recognize. 

Last year on January 22, 2022 in a wrestling match vs Roxbury Latin School Coach Don Bradley captured his 500th wrestling victory as the Head Wrestling Coach at Belmont Hill. To commemorate this accomplishment this banner will now be hung in the wrestling room. It will stay there until it is time to take it down and change the 500 to 600. Congratulations to Coach Bradley for 500 wrestling wins!

 

---

Thank you to all our coaches for an outstanding winter season. Thank you to Mr. Rosser and Mr. Davis for their tireless work. Thank you Mr. Chin and Ms. Ruys for their work in the training room keeping everybody well. Thank you to Mr. Negron and Mr. McPhee for all their hard work in the equipment room. Thank you to Mr. Malloy for keeping the Jordan Center secure. Special thanks to Mr. Carey for all his work in running the rink.
Thank you to Mr. Matos, Mrs. Rudzinski, Mr. Herrera and everybody in the maintenance department.