The end of the school year has come, and now it’s time to recap everything that happened during the course of the year in Wilkes sports. In the fall, there were some great games throughout, including some big wins over cross-town rival King’s College.
With the end of the 2025-26 school year, also comes the season recap for each of Wilkes’ sports programs. The beginning of our three part series takes us to last fall, starting off with cross country.
Men’s and Women’s Cross Country – Topher DellaBella
Kicking off in the fall season, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams quickly established themselves through endurance, perseverance, and steady movement. Their first great performance started on Sept. 13 at the Cougar Classic that was held at Misericordia University where the women placed fifth and the men placed fourth.
The teams ended their season competing at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Meet on Nov. 15, 2025. Standouts for the men’s team included Jack Thompson and Caleb Edwards while the women’s squad had standouts like Ava Bailor, Regan Metz, Emily Satnowski and Courtney Negra. The Colonels were coached by Joseph Turnau and Jordan Uhing.
Field Hockey – Jake Mills
Wilkes field hockey finished with a 10-11 record and a Landmark Conference semifinals appearance after defeating Drew in the first round of the tournament. They eventually fell to the No. 1 seeded Scranton Lady Royals, 3-2. Freshman Maddie Karp was the team leader in goals finishing the season with 21 goals. Goalkeeper Chloe Gilroy finished the season with a 0.841 SV% and 1.54 Goals Allowed Average in 21 games played.
Football – Jake Mills
The team finished 7-4 this season, finishing third in the Landmark Conference. Under Head Coach David Biever’s second season at the helm, the Colonels made their third straight Chesapeake Challenge bowl game.
The Colonels won the Cape Henry Bowl over Shenandoah 37-35 with a Nick Volpone-walkoff field goal right as time expired in the fourth quarter. Volpone led the team in points this past season keeping them in many games throughout the 2025 campaign, inlcuding their first game of the season against King’s in the Mayor’s Cup, a game in which Volpone won it with a field goal.
Senior quarterback Cooper King finished with 1996 yards passing and 10 touchdowns. His leading target was Fifth Year Senior Justin Moore, who finished with 523 yards receiving and two touchdowns.
Men’s Soccer – Brendan Williams
For the men’s soccer team, they ended the season with just a solitary 3-1 win against Mitchell College with goals scored by Landon Kelly, Kendall Heck and Elijah Emedoh-Kaba. Perhaps the highlight of the season was the dramatic game played against rivals King’s College. An 88th minute rebounded penalty scored by Grant Gerstner led the team to a 1-1 draw in the most theatrical way possible.
Another massive highlight came against Lycoming College. Goalkeeper Matthew Conti scored a last-second equalizer to clinch a 2-2 draw against the Warriors on Oct. 7, 2025.
Women’s Soccer – Brendan Williams
Wilkes women’s soccer finished their season with a 6-7-5 record. The women were dominant away from home, only losing twice and picking up a total of 15 points in nine games when not playing at Bruggeworth Field. The women also finished their season with a positive goal differential and statistically outshot their opponents throughout the campaign. With a few first-year forwards coming through the ranks, the team looks to continue their goal scoring later in Fall 2026.
Women’s Volleyball – Brendan Williams
The Women’s Volleyball team finished 15-16 this year with three players (Kendra Kalp, Ava Wahlers, and Annalyse Santowasso) named to the Academic All-District Team by the College Sports Communicators (GSC). It was the last season that the team wasn’t in the Landmark Conference. Since then, head coach Joe Czopek retired from his post, with the search for a new skipper to begin soon.
Stay tuned for the next edition of ‘This Past Year in Wilkes Sports,’ when it’ll be a trip back to winter, as we re-visit the action from hockey, basketball, skimming and wrestling.
