
Andrew Mazzella
Indians return to defend title
PERU | The Peru varsity boys basketball team will look to grow throughout the season as they seek to defend their Section VII/Class B title.
“Our expectations for this year are to get better every day and be competitive within the league,” said coach Joe Mazzella.
“We have eight seniors who are high character kids and hard workers, and we are going to rely on them to take our program under their wing. We are taking it one day at a time, and concentrating on how we approach each day. If we approach each day with a positive, high energy and working mentality, we will be in the run at the end of the year.”
Mazzella said the team is working hard to reach their goals.
“They have bought in this preseason to making sure that they are accountable with positive attitudes and a quality work ethic every day,” he said.
“This group is a group of grinders and know how to compete, they have challenged each other every day to get better so we can be where we want to be at the end of the year.”
Lady Indians look to build
PERU | The plan for the Peru Indians varsity girls basketball team heading into the new season is to grow together as a unit.
“We look forward to a successful season where the team learns to enjoy the game and their teammates and they will learn to rise as one and play hard for themselves, for their teammates and for their school,” said coach Eric Dubay. “We are working hard on playing defense, pushing the pace and using our size and depth.”
Members of the Lady Indians roster include seniors Ally Post, Mackenzie Carpenter, Dakota Mousseau, Emily Rock, Allie Beattie and Abby Marshall; juniors Kelly Sarbou, Olivia Garvey and Alexus Welch; sophomores Emily Beattie and Kayleigh Jackson; and freshman Kortney McCarthy.
Indians seek return to top of section
PERU | While the Peru varsity wrestling team did compete in the first NYSPHSAA (New York State Public High School Athletic Association) duals last season, they hope to return to the top of the Section VII podium at the end of the year as the team prepares to reach that goal.
“I think we are going to have a pretty competitive team but could be short on numbers. We are going to try and have a better season and work to reach their goals,” said coach Mike Hogan. “We have four kids back that won two matches in states and two kids who placed.”
“We want to be better than we did last year and have a healthy team,” said coach Gary Edwards, “We always want to finish near the top and we hope to represent the section in the New York Cup duals.”
Members of the Indians roster include Brady Bushey, Kadin Johnson, Logan Dubuque, Connor Witkiewicz, Chris Mitchell, Mathew Magaldi III, Alijah Seymour, Zach Swyers, Kellen Blake, Dustin Goddeau, Derek Fagan, Aiden Schneider, Mason Maulding, Parker Liberty, Tyler Bell, Dalton Criss, Ashton Seymour, Dylan Brown, Nick Hagar, Jack Hansen, Dylan Powers and Jack Hayes.