Sports
Charlie Kunze Still Receiving Post-Season Recognition
No such thing as an 'off-season' for the football captain at Darien High School.
Name: Charlie Kunze
Age: 17
School: Darien High School
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Accomplishments: Charlie played three years of varsity football – he was a starter for the past two seasons. It didn't take him long to be recognized. He was a defensive line All-FCIAC and All-State selection in each of his final two seasons in which he started. Charlie was a two-way lineman, who expects to play defensive end in college. He was named DHS Football MVP.
He was also Connecticut Post All-State First Team, New Haven Register All-State First Team and Walter Camp Elite All-State First Team.
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The 6-foot-2, 230-pound senior was a co-captain of the 2010 team that won the FCIAC title for the first time – a 17-7 win over Trumbull – since 1998.
There's not much of an off-season for him. Charlie played basketball for Darien last season and is currently a member of the rugby team.
Key to Excellence: In addition to being named all-conference and all-state, #54 was recognized for achievements in the classroom as well. Earlier this week he was honored by the Ralph DeSantis Fairfield County Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame at its annual scholar-athlete dinner. The foundation honors one scholar-athlete from each school in Fairfield County and Charlie was Darien's winner.
While maintaining a 3.7 grade point average in the classroom, Charlie managed to take one AP course as a junior (U.S. History) and three as a senior (European History, Micro-Economics and Calculus).
Charlie will be attending Middlebury this fall where he'll play football for the Panthers. The nickname might be different but the school colors will be familiar – blue and white.
Charlie has a younger brother – Nick, (15), who played on the DHS freshman team last fall. "He's bigger than I am – 6'3, 240 pounds – and according to Charlie, "still growing."
Charlie, the son of Sue and Ken Kunze, also finds time to coach kids in the Darien Junior Football League (DJFL) and also coaches youngsters at summer camps.
