Staples Lacrosse Hall of Fame
The Staples Lacrosse Hall of Fame was started in 2019 with an inaugural class of five men important to the history of Staples Lacrosse. Each year the Staples Lacrosse Hall of Fame will grow as we add more of the men who have built our program into what it is today. Please enjoy reading about the members of our Hall of Fame below.
Paul McNulty – Class of 1964, Head Coach 2009 - 2018 - Inducted 2022
Coach Paul McNulty graduated from Staples High School in 1964 where he was a football and track athlete. He then started his coaching career at Wilton High School in 1978 where he was a football assistant for twenty nine years, indoor track head coach for six years, and a long time assistant to CT Hall of Fame Coach Guy Whitten on the lacrosse field. In 1996 Coach Mac became Wilton’s Head Coach and spent 13 years in that role where he won three state championships and two FCIAC titles as Head Coach. His record at Wilton HS was 191 – 82. After leaving Wilton HS, Coach McNulty returned home to Staples where he served as the Head Coach for ten years. Through those ten seasons the program went 134 – 59 and recorded ten straight winning seasons. In the previous twenty eight years, the Wreckers recorded only four seasons with a winning record. Coach Mac truly pushed the program to new heights, advancing to the State Championship twice and winning the FCIAC Western division championship three times. Coach McNulty coached 25 All-Americans and 39 First Team All-State Players. He amassed a record of 325-141 as Head Coach and is in the FCIAC and US Lacrosse CT Chapter Hall of Fames.
Will Mraz – Class of 1968 - Inaugural Inductee - Inducted 2019
Coach Mraz is the founder of the Staples Boy’s Lacrosse program with our very first season taking place in 1975 as a club program. Will grew the program to 30 players following his final season as Head Coach. As a player, Will attended Fairfield University and was a captain, leading scorer, and Team MVP. After starting the program at Staples and coaching for seven seasons, he went on to coach at Fairfield Prep, Fairfield University, the Wakeman’s Boys and Girls Club, the Czech Republic Men’s National Team, the University of Bridgeport Women’s Team, Fairfield University’s Women’s Club team, Maine Maritime Academy Women’s Team, William & Mary’s Women’s Division I team, and is currently both the Czech Republic Women’s National Team Head Coach and the Girl’s Lacrosse Head Coach at Daniel Hand HS. Coach Mraz is already in the Fairfield University Lacrosse Hall of Fame and the Fairfield University Athletic Hall of Fame. He currently lives in Southport with his wife Shane, also a Staples graduate, and has two daughters Hanna and Tess.
Ned Batlin – Class of 1985 - Inaugural Inductee - Inducted 2019
Ned is a man who has given to Westport and Staples Lacrosse his entire life. While at Staples, Ned was a three sport varsity athlete playing football, wrestling, and lacrosse. He went on to play two years of football at American International College. After transferring to Sacred Heart University he captained the Pioneer’s lacrosse team in both his Junior and Senior years. Following college, Ned returned to Staples where he was a football and lacrosse coach. In 1994 he resurrected the girls lacrosse program and was their first head coach. Eventually he became the boy’s lacrosse head coach in 1995. Ned would coach the team for seven seasons, leading the team to a 16-7 record in 1999 and the programs first ever State Championship appearance. That year Ned was named the Connecticut HS Lacrosse Coach’s Association’s Coach of the Year. Ned returned to the Staples Lacrosse sidelines as an assistant coach for the 2009 through 2015 seasons. Ned has continued to work with the youth of Westport as a Police Officer in town for the past seventeen years and as the President of the PAL Organization for the past three years. Ned and his wife Anne live in Fairfield and have two wonderful boys, Teddy and William.
Bill Rexford – Class of 1986 - Inducted 2022
Bill Rexford has represented the Block S all across the United States. At Staples Bill was a two time captain in 1985 and 1986, leading the 1986 team to a 10-5 record, one of Staples’ best seasons ever. Bill went on to play at Dartmouth University where he was a standout defenseman. Following his college career Bill became a High School coach, starting the first ever high school team in Oregon at Glencoe High School. He went on to coach Glencoe to a State Championship, became Head Coach at Rye Country Day School where he was named Fairchester Coach of the Year, and then continued to spread his love of the game by coaching at The Thacher School in California. In 2004 he returned to Oregon where he started another program as Head Coach at Sisters High School where he won over 100 games. In 2014 he was named US Lacrosse Oregon Man of the Year for his positive impact on the sport of Lacrosse and countless athletes across the State. He was inducted into the US Lacrosse Oregon Hall of Fame. Bill currently serves as the Head Coach at the Wooster School in Danbury, where he led the program to a Western New England Division III Championship in 2016.
Ryan Kubie – Class of 1996 - Inducted 2022
Ryan was a four year varsity starter, led the Staples Boy’s Lacrosse team in scoring each year, and served as captain as a Junior and Senior. In his senior year, Ryan’s 36 goals and 20 assists made him the all-time scoring leader with 167 points (99 goals). That year, he was Staples’ sole All-Area selection and he was also selected for Connecticut’s Southern Division Senior All-Stars Game. Ryan also received the Oxford Humancare Award recognizing him for sportsmanship, academic achievement, and commitment to community service. Ryan went on to be a four year starter at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. After graduating from Lafayette, Ryan joined the asset management firm, Lord Abbett & Co, and currently leads their digital transformation efforts. Ryan lives in Chatham, NJ with his wife, Liz, and coaches youth lacrosse for their three children, Madeline (9), Brooke (7), and Ryan (5).
Chris Aitkin – Class of 1998 - Inaugural Inductee - Inducted 2019
Chris still holds the second highest total for goals in a season with 54 as a junior in 1997. Chris was a four year member of the Staples Varsity team earning All-FCIAC and First Team All-State his Junior and Senior Years. As a sophomore, Chris was coming off of a leg injury so he jumped in goal and became the starting goalie for the Varsity team. As a goalie he still managed to score six goals that season! Chris followed his amazing junior year with a fantastic senior season scoring 47 goals, which ranks as the eight highest total in a season in program history. His 136 career points puts him 15th in program history and he would have surely been higher if he hadn’t played goalie his sophomore season. Chris went on to be a four year starter at Butler University where he would be selected as a captain his senior year. At Butler he played for Division One National Coach of the Year Jon Hind. Chris currently lives in Westport with his wife Susan and two beautiful children Chris Junior and Kasha. He works for Barclays Bank in New York City as a Vice President in the Debt Capital Markets Division.
Scott Krauss – Class of 2000 - Inaugural Inductee - Inducted 2019
Scott’s 119 career goals stood as the program’s career goal record for many years and still stands as the fourth highest total in program history as well as the third highest in total points. He was a four year varsity player at Staples High School where he was three time All-State selection and earned Second Team All-FCIAC honors in 1999. He is one of only five players in Staples Lacrosse History to score 25 or more goals in at least three seasons, doing so in 1998, 1999, and 2000. Scott went on to play lacrosse at Loyola College under coaches Dave Cottle & Charlie Toomey. He currently lives in New York City and works at ActionIQ where he sells Enterprise Software. Scott has two children Ryan (9) and Parker (6).
Jack Ambrose – Class of 2010 - Inaugural Inductee - Inducted 2019
Jack is Staples Lacrosse’s first ever All-American, receiving that honor in 2010. At Staples, Jack was a four year starter at Defense and Long Stick Midfield, three time all FCIAC, and First Team All-State as a senior. As a senior Jack had 67 groundballs, 5 goals, 9 assists, and was named the Norwalk Hour’s All-Area MVP. He was also named to the CT Post All Star Boy’s Lacrosse Team. Jack went on to play lacrosse at Yale University where he played in 50 games for the Eli’s. Over his career he picked up 34 groundballs and caused 17 turnovers. After graduating from Yale Jack spent two years living in Austin Texas where he worked for a real estate investment firm and coached high school lacrosse at Bowie High School. Jack currently lives in New York City and was the first outside hire to start the real estate investment platform at WeWork.
The Undefeated Regular Season 2010 Varsity Team - Inducted 2022
This team managed to win all sixteen of their regular season games and featured our program’s first All American, Jack Ambrose. In addition to Jack, key players from the 2010 Team included Austin and Brandon Waiter, Nate Greenberg, Kyle Mendelson, Charlie Ross, Jeff Kelly, Keith Gelman, Matt Yeager, and Kip Orban – the 10 Wreckers that would go on to play college lacrosse from that team. Coach Paul McNulty earned FCIAC, State, & US Lacrosse CT Coach of the year that season and was assisted by coaches Matt Johnson, Micah Lawrence, Chip Murray, and Kempton Coady at the Varsity Level. Staples Lacrosse Hall of Famer Ned Batlin was the JV Head Coach, and current JV Head Coach Eamon Griffin, served as a Freshman Assistant Coach that season.
