WILBRAHAM/WESTFIELD – Karsten Nyarady, a Westfield resident and current senior at Wilbraham Monson Academy (WMA), participated in the Under Armour All-American lacrosse games in Indiana back in August and is set to compete in the semifinals in October.

In the five-game tournament, Nyarady posted 12 goals to go along with seven assists.

He said that he has been playing lacrosse for his whole life.

“I’ve been playing ever since Kindergarten. I used to play tee ball and he met a parent in the stands and they both decided to put their sons in lacrosse instead. Ever since then I fell into it, I played youth growing up until now and I fell in love with it,” Nyarady said.

As a result of COVID, the tournament had to follow a different structure this year.

“Usually what they do every year is each of the 12 teams usually plays in one spot, usually in Baltimore. What they did this year is kind of a regional set up so on the Midwest team we played the West and Southwest teams. Now we’re moving into the top four and we’re going to play Philadelphia in October,” Nyarady said.

With the first round of the tournament out of the way, Nyarady said he is looking forward to seeing how his team stacks up against Philadelphia’s team in October.

“I’m looking forward to the competition and seeing how I stack up against some of the top kids in the country that are going on to the best Division 1 teams in the country. We have a good core group of kids with a lot of talent so it’s going to be fun to see how we stack up,” he said.

Nyarady said that he enjoyed playing with other players from across the country.

“It was pretty phenomenal; everyone down there was super friendly. There were kids from all over with all different talent levels, it was pretty amazing. We played against the number one goalie in the 2021 class,” he said.

Along with playing in the All-American Lacrosse games, Nyarady said his normal lacrosse schedule has seen all kinds of delays as a result of COVID–19.

“COVID affected the timing for everything. They kept cancelling for my club team this summer, we had to move a lot of our games from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. Some things got cancelled really quick, so it was hectic,” he said.

While the virus has changed the way he can practice at school, Nyarady said he has tried to keep his training regiment as normal as possible.

“For school we were able to start up on Wednesdays and Saturdays doing offensive walkthroughs and defensive drills without a lot of contact. I know a lot of kids can’t play their fall sports so I’m thankful that I get to play my fall and spring sport,” he said.

In addition to the schedule changes, he said players are also required to wear face shields over their helmets.

Nyarady’s coach at WMA, Mike MacDonald, said he was proud of what he has accomplished in the tournament so far.

“I’m super proud and excited for him. Having him represent Wilbraham-Monson Academy was awesome and his play at the tournament really represented us well,” he said.

Going into the tournament, MacDonald said Nyarady was one of the few players who were not committed to a college yet.

“During the tournament he played with a lot of high-level Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3 players. It was a great opportunity for him to be scouted and as one of the only uncommitted players and he excelled at that,” he said.

In addition to his play on the field, MacDonald said Nyarady’s work in the classroom will help him find a good college.

Nyarady added that he was taking things slow at this point when it comes to college.

"I’m taking it pretty slow. It’s between Division 1 and Division 3, I don’t know exactly what I want to study yet so that’s going to be a big factor in where I go,” he said.