The Highlander hockey, basketball, and wrestling teams have been busy this winter but as the winter starts to melt away, athletes of the Harwood teams start to thaw out into finals and playoff season, so here is what’s left when the snow melts.
Wrestling
On February 27th, the Vermont wrestling states came to a wrap with Harwood’s Nicky Service coming out on top becoming the first state champion for Harwood since 2013. The senior acquired the state title in the 157 pound weight class, and not far behind were senior Dunkin Klink, who finished 4th and junior Nate Sackett who finished 5th place helping Harwood secure a spot in the top 10 placing 9th overall in the school standings. This year, Spaulding took home the championship trophy with 236 overall points.
Hockey
On February 11th the boys hockey team had one of their biggest games yet during a Rice home game
This season the Highlanders have been racking wins teams in the barn and the team had a winning streak during the start of the season until it was broken by U-32. On the bright side the only other loss was against Essex on Saturday February 14th.
The Highlanders are currently first in the D2 rankings in the state with an 18-2 score and an eight game win streak, U32 Is ranked just behind in second who Harwood lost to earlier this season. However, the Highlanders have already beaten multiple D1 teams including the Champlain Valley Union, South Burlington, Rutland, Burr and Burton and Rice who are currently the state’s D1 leaders.
The teams first play off game went well with Harwood beating Woodstock 3-1.
This season junior Griffin Nelson just reached 100 total career assists over 150 points which is a large milestone for many hockey players. Senior Eli Harrington added his name to the 200 career point club who is the second person to reach the benchmark in Harwood history.
He is on track to get 50 more points by the end of the season and break the previous record and is shooting for a spot in the Harwood Hall of Fame; only time will tell.
After beating Middlebury in the semi finals 5-0, the fans are engaged and the boys are locked in headed off to Gutterson Fieldhouse at UVM to compete in the D2 championship against U32 this Sunday just after the D1 game wraps up.
As far as the D1 championship goes, even though we beat Burr and Burton twice (7-2 and 4-1) they are the 7 seed right now and will be playing Rice in the D1 championship, who we also beat 6-1 mid season.
Basketball
Unfortunately the team’s season came to an abrupt end when the team lost 64-36 to Fair Haven during their first playoff game. It was a sad day for the Harwood community.
The boys Basketball team had a close game against Spaulding on the 17th winning 45-43 just after another victory against Randolph.
Just before the Spaulding game, we spoke with key player Alec Sands about the season to get a better understanding of where the team’s mindset is headed into the back half of the season.
“The season is going alright but unfortunately injuries have affected our games heavily with key players experiencing setbacks including myself Caleb Brookens and Steele Nelson,” said Sands.
The team had good expectations, looking to win out all the games leading up to playoffs in hope of acquiring a 6 seed which the team had achieved up till their fading point.
Conclusion
As the winter season comes to a close, Harwood athletes have shown their dedication across wrestling, basketball, and hockey. We saw a major achievement from Nicky Service followed by a good season from the basketball team even though their playoff run ended earlier than anticipated, a highlight definitely being the 50-35 Milton game with the whole hockey team showing up in a white out.
The biggest high point of the season came from the hockey team who capped off an electric year by winning the division II state championship for the second year in a row. In an even bigger and louder whiteout, it felt like the whole school had packed the stands to support. In the final, Eli Harrington had one goal, Griffin Nelson scored two and Milo Lavit netted the game winning goal in double overtime.
As the snow melts the winter sports come to an end the highlanders leave behind a memorable season along with saying goodbye to our senior athletes.
