Wilton senior Paul Donohue went "On The Record" with the Wilton Villager this week, with some very impressive answers. (Photo by John Nash/Wilton Villager)

When I first brought the idea of the “On the Record” interviews to the Wilton Villager and its family of newspapers, I knew readers would get a kick out of it.

It gives us insight — not to mention a few chuckles from time to time — as student-athletes respond to questions about their school, about their sports, and about all sorts of other things about their lives.

One of the most recently added questions to the ever-changing queries we throw out there is this:

If you could spend 24 hours in anybody else’s shoes, who would it be and why?

The answers have run the gamut. John Hoag said being a member of the 1980 Olympic ice hockey team would be cool. John Craig said Ghenghas Khan because of the adventure. Skier Jolie Poirier, expectedly, said US Skier Lindsay Vonn. Track runner Mac Keers, a music lover, said Paul McCartney. Basketball player Maddy Fulton said Kobe Bryant.

Predictable, no?

Well today I asked that same question to Wilton senior Paul Donohue and, I must admit, his answer blew me and a few of my newsroom cohorts away.

“I think I’d have to be someone who experienced the Haitian earthquake, somebody less fortunate than me. It would be great to be a movie star or something, but I think being somebody less fortunate than me would help me not take a lot of things for granted around Wilton.”

Wow.

You know what? That deserves a second one, too.

Wow.

I had never really spoken with Paul before today, but I have to admit I came away more than impressed. And, believe it or not, I even learned a thing or two today from my conversation with him, as well.

He’s quite the perspicacious young man, that’s for sure. And I’m sure if he reads this, he’s going to be impressed that I used the word I learned from him.

Click here to read Donohue’s entire “On the Record” interview with the Wilton Villager.

Wilton's Nick Sinsigalli, left, fires a shot past the North Branford goaltender on Tuesday in the opening round of the State Division 2 tournament. (Photo by John Nash/Wilton Villager)

OK, here’s the deal.

The eighth-seeded Wilton ice hockey team will face No. 1 Amity at 7:30 p.m., on Friday, at the Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport.

The 14-8 Warriors, who overwhelmed ninth-seeded North Branford by a 10-2 count on Tuesday, will play the Spartans, who bested St. Bernard-Bacon by a 5-2 score on Wednesday.

In addition to being a CIAC state tournament quarterfinal, this is also a statement game for the Warriors.

Amity has been to three straight Division 2 final four appearances and won the state championship in 2008. In the past four seasons, they have posted wins of 14, 17, 18 and 18, respectively (not including conference tournament games).

This is a chance for Wilton to beat one of the state’s best teams.

The most disappointing part of this Wilton season, at least from where I sit, is the 0-6 mark against Division 1 teams.

Yes, there is a huge chasm between the two divisions, but anybody who knows hockey would admit that at least the Warriors could skate with most Division 1 squads better than they did against Ridgefield, Darien and Greenwich.

Just ask FCIAC champion New Canaan, which had its hands full with the Warriors in both games.

The Warriors and the Spartans have three common opponents in North Branford, Milford Co-op and St. Joseph.

Wilton beat all three teams by scores of 10-2, 2-1 and 8-4, respectively.

Amity defeated North Branford, 5-2, and Milford, 4-1, and split two games against the Cadets, both 6-5 scores with each team winning at its opponent rinks.

The hot story this week is about the literally coldest team — boys ice hockey.

The Warriors Bondo’d the Thunderbirds of North Branford by a 10-2 score in the opening round of the CIAC Division 2 state tournament at Winter Garden Ice Arena.

The Villager was there to bring you the complete game story, plus don’t forget you can find a “notebook” post about the game further down this very blog.

Plus, keeping with our hockey theme, Wilton’s injured senior Paul Donohue is our “On the Record’ interview this week, as well.

It was also “big meet” time for some other WHS sports, including the boys swim team (FCIAC championship meet), the indoor track team (two girls relay teams went to New Englands), ski teams (State Open championships) and gymnastics (Chelsea LeVander went to the State Opens and shined bright, as always) and the Villager has stories on all three efforts.

Plus, a trio of Wilton Basketball Association youth squads — the 7th grade girls, the 8th grade girls and the 5th grade boys — have advanced to the the finals of their respective FCBL tournaments, which are going to be held on Saturday.

Plus, there are plenty of other youth basketball information, some youth swimming as the Wahoos are at it again and some youth hockey players have fared well lately, as well.

If you can’t wait for our print edition, you can always check us out online, just by clicking.

Also, enjoy our new slightly bigger format this week as we try to bring you even more Wilton news.

Wilton's Josh Fingeret, right, found himself on a new line, but with the team's usual D-2 success. (Photo by John Nash/Wilton Villager)

Brett Amero took one look at the North Branford High School hockey roster and knew the Thunderbirds secret.

He wasn’t about to tell his team, however.

Instead, the eighth-seeded Warriors realized it themselves early on, thereby picking up their game another level and rolling to a 10-2 victory over ninth-seeded North Branford at the Winter Garden Ice Arena on Tuesday night.

When North Brandford submitted their roster, Amero immediately realized the Thunderbirds starting goaltender was not listed. And when he saw undersized freshman Kyle Saroka, playing in his first varsity game, he suspected North Branford could be in trouble.

“I knew when I saw the roster, but I didn’t tell them,” Amero said. “They realized early that something they wanted to do was get it on net a lot and they were able to find the back of the net from there.”

Nick Sinsigalli, whose rebound goal off a Pat Holland wrister, gave Wilton a 2-0 lead with 9:31 to play in the first period said the inexperienced goaltender gave himself away.

When asked when the Warriors figured it out, Sinsigalli said, “After about the first two shots when he gave up huge rebounds and he was way out of position. We just realized we had to take advantage of that and throw the puck on the net.”

By the time the first period came to a close, Wilton held a 5-1 lead. They added two goals in the second and three more in the third as all four lines were getting regular ice time.

The Warriors had a ton of balance, too. While Sinsigalli and Chris Kachadoorian had two goals each, six other Wilton players scored single goals, including Austin Gambee, Holland (2 assists), Bobby Cullinan (1 assist), Andrew Onderdonk, Cole Tracy and Jake Kane. John Hoag had two assists while Kamil Gisiewski and Rob Marino also added single assists.

Junior goaltender Kevin O’Connell made 25 saves to back-stop the victory, moving Wilton to 14-8 on the season as it heads to Friday’s quarterfinal match-up against top-seeded Amity (if Amity beats its 16th-ranked opponent on Wednesday .. I’m assuming here.).

Wilton joins the hit parade

North Branford came out as though they had the old Olivia Newton-John tune, “Let’s Get Physical” as their own personal anthem.

Surprisingly enough, the Warriors played along.

After getting pushed around physically by the FCIAC’s Division 1 teams, Wilton didn’t take the Thunderbirds physical play laying down on the ice. In fact, the Warriors got right up and hit back.

“I think the other team set the tone for that,” said Sinsigalli, one of the few Warriors who does go out of his way to create contact on defense. “They just came out and played physical and we just decided to play physical on our own.”

Kachadoorian, one of Wilton’s captains, said the team responded to Holland getting knocked down and then getting right back and hitting the first Thunderbird he saw.

Wilton's Rob Marino, left, lays a hit into North Branford's Colt Lewin (25) during Tuesday's Division 2 state tournament game at Winter Garden Ice Arena. (Photo by John Nash/Wilton Villager)

“Holland got dinged early, which you don’t see a lot,” Kachadoorian said. “But he responded and we responded as a team as a whole. We had to have a physical presence out there and we had to put the puck in the net and that’s what we did.”

Nobody had ever called Wilton a physical team during the regular season, but Amero said he was pleased to see his team up its game a bit.

“It was nice to see,” Amero said of his scrappy squad. “(North Branford) is a hard hitting team, no doubt about that. They were a really physical team, but we hit back.”

At first, I couldn’t put my Fingeret on it

It was a slightly new-look Wilton team that took to the ice against North Branford.

Due to an injury to Paul Donohue (see next notebook item, below), Amero decided to mix and match his lines a little bit.

He moved Josh Fingeret up to his top line, along side Matt Kobyra and Sinsigalli. That put John Hoag onto a line with Tim Maher and Rob Marino. Bobby Cullinan joined forces with Owen Willbee and Andrew Onderdonk.

“It wasn’t really radical,” Amero said. “It was just trying to formulate the best three lines with the personnel you have.”

Injured player’s replacement gets injured

Hey Rob Marino … Paul Donohue feels your pain.

Marino, a Wilton High sophomore forward, took the place of Donohue, a senior, after the latter was injured (broken wrist) during the FCIAC quarterfinals against New Canaan.

Against North Branford, Marino was forced to leave the game in the third period, after getting up-ended by a sliding a T-bird player and landing on his shoulder.

Marino stayed on the ice, unable to get up until he was checked on by Wilton trainer Courtney Tyzska. He skated off under his own power, holding his left arm as he went to the locker room. He was last seen leaving the building, arm in a sling, with his family, presumably for a trip to the hospital.

Wilton coaches are not allowed to comment on injured players by school rules while Tyzska can’t comment due to HIPAA laws.

The offensive defenseman, Take II

A lot has been said and written about when it comes to Pat Holland’s offensive prowess from the blue line. While he did notcha slap shot goal against North Branford, it was actually Kachadoorian who stepped up his game offensively, scoring a pair of goals.

I asked him after the game if he was doing his Pat Holland imitation.

“I’m not trying to copy Patrick,” Kachadoorian said with a laugh. “But I am trying to help out as much as I can, especially on the power play. I have a lot more opportunities to get open then, but first things first and that’s always to play defense.”

A long time coming

For the record, Wilton’s last victory in a state tournament game came during the 2005 Division 2 quarterfinals when the Warriors defeated South Windsor by a 6-2 score. Wilton lost to eventual state champ Farmington, 4-1, in the next round.

Where to?

There was talk about the quarterfinals — which will be held at a neutral site — would be played if Wilton and Amity are the opponents.

Wilton athletic director seemed to think either The Rinks at Shelton or Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport would likely host the game. While The Rinks at Shelton are much newer, cleaner and nicer, Wonderland would allow for more seating, Hayes pointed out.

Once we know, we’ll let you know.

A long time

Here’s what happens when the hockey team you’re covering blows out the other team by a 10-2 score: The photographer gets bored, so instead of shooting with his “action” lens, he throws on a wide angle and lets the action come to him.

I’ll be posting more on Tuesday night’s victory during the day on the Wednesday, but here’s a mini-photo essay — all wide-angle shots — to get you through the night.

Photos by John Nash/Wilton Villager

Wilton's Matt Kobyra, left, and Chris Kachadoorian are just two of the players who must step up and shine in tonight's state tournament game. (Photo by John Nash/Wilton Villager)

There are two things I’m worried about when it comes down to tonight’s first-rouund Division II State tournament game between eighth-ranked Wilton and ninth-ranked North Branford.

First is the fact the Warriors haven’t played a REAL game for 11 days, since they dropped a 5-0 decision to New Canaan in the FCIAC Quarterfinals. Yes, Wilton did play Joel Barlow in a scrimmage on Friday, but I can’t imagine that game having the intensity and pressure of either an FCIAC game or a state tournament contest.

Last year, though, the Warriors went even longer between games (19 days) before dropping a close 3-2 road contest against Lyman Hall, a team that took eventual state champ Chesire to overtime in the semifinals.

So if I don’t have to worry about that, then there is always the hot goalie issue.

I’m not sure who North Branford will have between the pipes tonight, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 25 years covering high school hockey, a hot goaltender can stifle anybody.

Bottom line: The Warriors must be ready. The top line of Nick Sinsigalli-John Hoag-Matt Kobyra need to step up and get a couple of goals, or else Wilton could be in trouble. Likewise, other players who have stepped over the course of the year — guys like Owen Willbee, Bobby Cullinan, Andrew Onderdonk, et. al — need to provided enough back support so the top line doesn’t feel like they have to do it all, thereby trying to do too much.

The defensive unit — so good against D-2 teams this year (that Staples debacle, let’s not forget, was against a D-3 opponent) — needs to be good the rest of the way out. Pat Holland and Chris Kachadoorian must supply leadership, in words and actions, for this special season to continue.

And Kevin O’Connell, the goaltender, just needs to be Kevin O’Connell.

It’s the Warriors and Thunderbirds tonight at 8 p.m.

For one of the teams, the season will end tonight.

For the other, No. 1 Amity likely awaits.

Three Wilton Basketball Association teams have advanced to the championship games of their respective Fairfield County Basketball League tournaments.

All games will be played on Saturday, March 13.

The Wilton 8th Grade Girls team will face New Canaan in the FCBL’s 8th Grade C-Bracket Final at 1 p.m., at Ridgefield High School.

Right after that game, the Wilton 7th Grade Girls team will square off aganist a New Milford 8th Grade squad in an 8th Grade B-Bracket title game. (The 7th Grade group was moved up to the eighth grade tournament after winning its regular season title). Tip-off for this game will be approximately 2:30 p.m., also at Ridgefield High.

On the boys side of the brackets, meanwhile, the Wilton Fifth Grade Boys team made the championship game and will face Greenwich YMCA at the Saxe Middle School in New Canaan at 6:30 p.m.

Last year, four teams made championiship games and this year three more have, meaning the future of Wilton basketball still looks bright.

Good work, kids!

You could say three of them re-wrote the Wilton High indoor track record book on Friday night.

You could also say another one of them can’t believe she’ll have her name up on the wall with other track and field record holders.

Six girls competed in the 2010 New England Indoor Track Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury, Mass., and they returned with a pair of school records.

In the 4×800 relay, the Warriors — Sarah Guth, Cailey Fiesel, Brynn Hansson and Celeste Hoelzl — placed fourth with a time of 9:27.67, shattering the school record by more than six seconds.

“They were fourth last year as well, but they ran six seconds faster this year,” said Wilton head coach Jeff Gee. “That’s a really good time.”

Gee said both Fiesel and Hoelzl — the two senior members of the relay — ran exceptional legs, allowing for the big drop in time.

Later in the meet, Fiesel, Hoelzl and Hansson joined forces with senior Amy Drummond, an indoor track rookie, t0 place ninth in the 4×400 meter relay.

In that race, the Warriors time of 4:07.44 edged the school record by six-tenths of a second.

“They ran very well, too,” Gee said. “I was really happy for those girls.”

The 4×800 group has one more race in them as they will run in a New York-based national meet along with Wilton’s sprint medley relay team.

Gee said he hadn’t decided yet which runners will make up the sprint medley squad that will run next Friday.

Chelsea LeVander, seen here competing on the floor at the Class M championship meet on March 1, went to the Open championships this weekend. (Photo by John Nash/Wilton Villager)

There’s an old saying that goes, “It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind”

That’s what Wilton High sophomore gymnast Chelsea LeVander did this week and it took her to the podium at Saturday’s State Open gymnastics championship meet in New Milford.

One week ago, after the Warriors finished third at the Class M championship meet, LeVander told me she was going to skip this weekend’s Open meet because no other Warriors would be going and she had a busy Y-schedule, as well.

Between now and then, though, LeVander decided to go and she ended up placing sixth in the uneven bars, earning a medal and once again proving herself as one of the state’s best gymnasts.

The Hour’s sports editor Matt Doran, who attended the meet because he had a relative competing, called me yesterday morning and gave me the news.

He also wrote a story that appeared in Sunday’s edition of The Hour. (It will be posted to the Wilton Villager web site later today) and he spoke to LeVander about her change of heart.

“It was mostly because of my ankles. I didn’t want to deal with it,” LeVander said. “The rest of my team isn’t here, so I was the only one in the gym who had to practice and practice hard.

“I was talking to my parents and we started talking about college,” LeVander added . “I knew that if I did this it would be really good for me and if I wanted to do gymnastics in college this was the smart thing to do.”

“I’m really tired and I’m really sore, but this was definitely worth it.”

LeVander’s 9.1 on the uneven bars placed her sixth in that event and qualified her for New Englands. She’s already met the CIAC-mandated 14 meet limit, so she won’t be able to attend the New Englands event, however.

She also scored an 8.875 on floor (11th place), 8.65 on beam (15th place), and an 8.85 on vault (T-23rd).

Add it all up and it’s a 35.475 in the all-around, good for 9th place out of the 71 gymnasts who competed.

Click here to read The Hour’s story on LeVander’s day at the State Opens.

Wilton's Jolie Poirier, seen here in action from earlier this season, helped lead the Warrior girls to the State Open championship meet. (Contributed photo)

It was supposed to be a building year for the Wilton boys ski team.

A very young Wilton girls squad might have been a year away from making a state appearance.

Instead, both Warrior squads skied last week at the 2010 State Open Ski Championship meet with the boys placing fourth overall and the girls placing eighth out of nine teams.

The Wilton boys were the top-finishing Class S school on the day, though.

Mark Roberts was sixth overall and third in Class S with a two-run time of 51.07. Sam Fields was 20th (8th) in 53.32 and John Williams was 37th (14th) in 55.31. Charlie Fields was 43rd overall, Sean Roberts was 45th, Sam Fonseca was 55th, Wyatt Lillie was 74th, and Sam Lambert was 83rd, Jack Phinney and Joe Torg did not finish their second runs.

A total of 125 boys skied in the Open meet.

In the girls meet, Jolie Poirier placed 11th overall and 8th in Class S with a two-run time of 52.13 seconds. Emily Hoffman was 26th (12th Class S) in 55.38 while Frannie Logan and Lally Carmichael were 39th (17th) and 40th (18th), respectively.

Lydia Freliech was 47th, Katie Morgan was 54th, Meghan Collins was 56th, Madison Snyder was 77th and Alyssa Burnzynski was 80th.

Megan Armstrong took a nasty fall on her first run, but was unhurt and completed her second run.

A total of 90 girls took part in the race, which was won by Darien. Wilton bested Weston for the eighth-place spot.