This hasn't been said at Wilbraham & Monson Academy in a while – make room in the gym for a Riflery banner.
For the first time since 1989, the Riflery program won a league title, beating archrival Suffield Academy twice late in the season en route to the championship. WMA topped the Tigers at home 959-943 Feb. 18 then 942-939 on the road Feb. 20 to finish in first place in the Quinnipiac Division at 8-0.
"Winning the Quinnipiac Division is great because it was another one of our goals from the beginning of the season," first-year Coach Bill Passy said. "Doing it without losing is even better because that means we beat Suffield twice. Suffield has been the league powerhouse for years. To beat them twice is crazy.
"I'm so excited for the kids. They compete in anonymity. Some people here at school aren't even aware of the Riflery program, or that we have a range on campus. Nobody attends the matches. But the kids on the team compete for WMA and are so proud of what they have accomplished."
Dan Wesson led the way for the Titans in both matches. Dan's dad, Eric Wesson '89, was on the 1989 championship team as well.
"We were really excited to win the league title," Dan said. "The best thing about it is it's the first time in 28 years and I'm really happy I was able to do this with a team like this."
Against Suffield in the Feb. 18 match at Cowdrey Range, with both teams sitting at 6-0 in the league, the Titans broke a school record with their score of 959 (out of 1,000). Dan matched the school record with a 198, followed by Erika Convery '19 (194), Nick Spellman '19 (192), Yitian "Janice" Zha '18 (188) and Zihan "Leo" Liu '18 (187). Nick's score was a personal best.
At Suffield Feb. 20, WMA's depth proved to the difference. Dan took first with a 196, and Nick came through for the second time in three days with a 189, followed by Meng "Maggie" Hsiao '17 (186), Ben Bicknell '18 (186) and Janice (185).
"The team, we've been working hard all year," Dan added. "And the good thing about a team like this is we're deep in scoring. If one person doesn't have a great day, another person can step up."
Suffield had won 53 of its previous 54 league matches prior to its two losses to WMA this season. WMA beat Suffield (and Avon Old Farms) Feb. 16 to win the
86th annual Prep School Gallery Match at Blue Trail Ridge in Wallingford, Conn., but that was scored using a different format and not considered a league match.