Wilson, Rick

A newspaper colleague of Rick Wilson’s, Steve Barlow of the Waterbury Republican-American, referred to Wilson recently as a “local legend.” Wilson carved that iconic status for himself by not only contributing to the community in one career, but two, serving as a high school history teacher for 35 years and a sportswriter for 44, including stints at the Thomaston Express, Torrington Register Citizen, Litchfield County Times, the Republican-American and currently for Litchfield County Sports.

“The skill sets such as the necessity of establishing personal relationships, research, writing with accuracy, coherence, storytelling, effective questioning techniques, planning, collaboration, etc., are essentials of both endeavors,” Wilson said of balancing the two professions.

“When he writes, he tries to get deeper than just the surface,” Lakeview High School (formerly Wamogo) boys’ basketball coach Gregg Hunt told the Republican-American. “He really gets to know the people. He makes the people he writes about feel important.”

A 1975 graduate of Thomaston High School who earned his undergraduate degree from Eastern Connecticut State University and his master’s in history from Southern Connecticut State University, Wilson began writing in 1981 for the Thomaston Express with a weekly roundup of recreation softball. When he began teaching at Thomaston High in 1994, he kept writing.

He has covered more than 25 state championship girls’ basketball games and has written about every Berkshire League and Naugatuck Valley League postseason tournament since the inception of the conferences, playing a role in introducing full-time coverage of girls’ sports in the state’s northwest corner. He recalls particularly poignant stories about Thomaston High’s Amy Matthews, who led her girls’ basketball team to the Class S state championship game despite being diagnosed with a malfunctioning valve in her esophagus which prevented her from eating solid food at the time, and of Abby Hurlbert’s 3-for-3 from the free throw line with .2 seconds remaining in overtime to help lift Thomaston to the 2014 title. Wilson has also chronicled the UConn women’s basketball team, including a trip to the 2015 Final Four in Tampa.

During his career, Wilson has been honored with the Bo Kolinsky News Media Award, the Paul Bordeau Western Connecticut Soccer Officials’ Award and has earned recognition from the Associated Press, Society for Professional Journalists, New England Press Association and was inducted into the Tri-State Baseball League Hall of Fame. He has been honored by the Naugatuck Valley League and received a CIAC Merit Award for boys’ and girls’ basketball in 2024.

Wilson’s presenter for his Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame honor will be his wife Caroline, who also has a connection to the Berkshire League, earning all-conference honors a total of six times in three sports. Wilson thanks his wife for putting up with the crazy hours of a sportswriter and her skills as a proofreader, as well as expressing gratitude to the players and coaches who have made his writing career into an “incredible ride.”