Linked Up – 2/23/18

Dan and Josh Veleas are continuing the wrestling family tradition at Berlin. Brad Horrigan – Hartford Courant.

This time of year I wasn’t sure there would be a tough of Linked Up-worthy feature stories to include in a new edition. There are so many things going on with seasons concluding and league tournaments in full swing, it seemed feature stories might take a back seat. Shame on me, because this edition has some remarkable stories from across Connecticut. Get ready for a big high school sports weekend with lots of wonderful stories.

• From WFSB: People like Matt Gingras at Plainville High School are a wonderful part of the fabric of high school sports.
• From the Hartford Courant: The Veleas brothers are excelling in the family sport of wrestling at Berlin.
• From the Norwich Bulletin: Somehow, Montville’s Noah Caskey has raised the bar on the wrestling mat every season.
• From the Meriden Record Journal: A pair of vaulting standouts for Southington share more than just a sport.
• From The Day of New London: The New London girls basketball team is succeeding in just about every way possible.
• From TheRudenReport.com: New Canaan alum Zach Allen showed his priorities with a big decision.
• From the Hartford Courant: Celebrating a truly selfless act from CREC athletic director Jonathan Winer.
• From GameTimeCT: An attitude change has helped foster an on-court turnaround for Jonathan Law boys basketball.
• From the Connecticut Post: The Harding High School gym is closing, but the memories aren’t going anywhere.
• From CTHShockey.org: A beautifully written piece from a high school hockey parent as the season winds to an end.
• From GameTimeCT: Larry Vieira has pushed the NFI hockey co-op from Division III to Division I success.
• From News Team 8: Prince Tech has some big goals for the Division III boys basketball tournament.
• From the Waterbury Republican American: A pair of well-tested teams will battle for the Berkshire League girls basketball title.
• From Shore Publishing:: Annea Thaci found her place on the track and helped Old Saybrook to a conference title.
• From CIACsports.com: A reminder during the heightened emotions of championship and tournament time: please celebrate responsibly.
• From the Stamford Advocate: With a successful regular season in the books, Notre Dame-Fairfield is eyeing postseason success.
• From the New Britain Herald: Despite a tough loss, Berlin girls basketball feels good about how its playing.