The Manchester Wolves were a professional

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ar ...

team, based at the

Verizon Wireless Arena The SNHU Arena (Southern New Hampshire University Arena) is an indoor events arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, and seats 9,852 for ice hockey, 11,140 for basketball and up to 11,770 for concerts. The facility was originally known during cons ...

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusett ...

, which folded at the end of the 2009 season along with the rest of the league. They played in the East Division of the American Conference of the AF2 league, which was the minor league of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

Team history

Inception

On July 19, 2001,

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ...

was awarded an AF2 expansion team. On December 12, 2001,

Mohegan Sun Mohegan Sun is an American casino, owned and operated by the Mohegan Tribe on of their reservation, along the banks of the Thames River in Uncasville, Connecticut. It has of gambling space. It is in the foothills of southeastern Connecticut, ...

and Dr. Eric Margenau, President/Chief Executive Officer of United Sports Ventures, announced that the new expansion AF2 franchise would be named the Mohegan Wolves. Margenau introduced Gary Porter, as the head coach for the team that would first take the field April 5, 2002 at the

Mohegan Sun Arena The Mohegan Sun Arena is a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, located inside the Mohegan Sun casino resort. The arena facility features of configurable exhibition space and a clear span. It was built by the Perini Buil ...

against the Albany Conquest. Gary Porter, previously led the expansion Peoria Pirates to a 7-9 record in 2001. The team name was selected through a "Name the Team" contest sponsored by

WCTY WCTY (97.7 FM) is a radio station with studios in Norwich, Connecticut. Its transmitter is located on Cook Drive in Montville, Connecticut. WCTY broadcasts a country music format, and is owned by Bonnie Rowbotham, through licensee Hall Communica ...

, Mohegan Sun and X-Tra Mart. A

Jewett City, Connecticut Jewett City is a borough in New London County, Connecticut, in the town of Griswold. The population was 3,487 at the 2010 census. The borough was named for Eliezer Jewett, who founded a settlement there in 1771. Geography According to the Unit ...

resident, came up with the winning name. The winner won four season tickets for the 2002 Mohegan Wolves season, dinner for four on the night of the team's first home game, and a team merchandise package.

New owners

On February 6, 2003, the AF2 league office announced that Big Win Ventures LLC would now be the operator of the Mohegan Wolves. Dr. Margenau, the former principal operator of the Mohegan Wolves, assumed the role of President of Big Win and remained a substantial shareholder. Big Win, which is privately held, also announced the same day that it has assumed operations of the Albany Conquest AF2 franchise. For the 2003 season, AFL veteran head coach

Mark Stoute Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

led the Wolves and dramatically improved their record. The team finished with a 10-6 regular season record (which included a 7-1 home record) and won their first postseason game on August 2, 2003 against the Atlantic Division Champion

Cape Fear Wildcats A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. T ...

50-47. The season ended the next week on August 8, 2003 with a 47-30 loss to the Tennessee Valley Vipers.

Relocation

On October 29, 2003, the league office approved the relocation of the Mohegan Wolves team to Manchester, New Hampshire. The Wolves’ move to Manchester was made possible through the efforts of a group of local businessmen and Dr. Margenau. The team of local investors was led by longtime area resident Steve Schubert, a former player for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

. During the first season in Manchester, New Hampshire, the new head coach, Rik Richards, was first fired midway through the season and replaced by his coordinator Ron Hill. And assistant coaches Mark Page and Ryan Ray. The Wolves finished out the season with a 5-11 record.

New coach/Turnaround

Things turned around in 2005 with new head coach, Ben Bennett. Bennett, a veteran coach and player with Arena Football and AF2 transformed the Manchester team to a 12-4 regular season record and won the East Division. The regular season included a 10-game win streak. The season ended with a first round playoff loss at home on August 12, 2005 against the Louisville Fire 56-69.

Quarterback problems

In 2006, the Wolves had loftier expectations because of many key players and Head Coach Ben Bennett returning. The team had issues at Quarterback however as D. Bryant and Kyle Rowley were ineffective while trying to fill the big shoes left by 2004-05 starter David Lamont. Lamont led the league in touchdowns and yards the previous season. Lamont out indefinitely due a severe back injury and reoccurring shoulder issues. With four games remaining in the season and the team sitting at 5-7, Coach Bennett turned to former Ohio State Quarterback Steve Bellisari. A failed defensive back in the NFL, Bellisari added a running dimension that Lamont did not possess. He lacked the big arm capability of Lamont but provided a mobility dimension. He took over the Wolves offense and led them to four straight victories which took the Wolves from the bottom of the division to making the playoffs and hosting a first-round game. Bellisari found his favorite target Steve Gonzalez and the Wolves had a defense with the tandem of William Haith and Allistair Sebastien as the Wolves got a 55-47 win against the

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers were a minor league arena football team that played in the AF2. The team was part of the East Division in the American conference. The Pioneers were an expansion team for the league's 2002 season, and were th ...

in front of 3,732 fans at Verizon Wireless Arena. The Wolves season would end one week later in Florida however as Steve Bellisari was driving the Wolves down the field late in the fourth quarter when he threw his last pass as a Wolf, a game-sealing interception to the

Florida Firecats The Florida Firecats were a professional arena football team based in Estero, Florida. They played in the AF2, the Arena Football League's developmental league, from 2001 to 2009. They did not join the AFL following the leagues' reorganization ...

. The final score was Florida 40, Manchester 39.

Season-by-season

, - , colspan="6" align="center" , Mohegan Wolves , - , 2002 , , 3 , , 13 , , 0 , , 5th AC Northeast , , -- , - , 2003 , , 10 , , 6 , , 0 , , 2nd AC Northeast , , Won AC Round 1 ( Cape Fear 50-47)
Lost AC Semifinal (

Tennessee Valley The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to north Alabama and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North C ...

47-30) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Manchester Wolves , - , 2004 , , 5 , , 11 , , 0 , , 4th AC Northeast , , -- , - , 2005 , , 12 , , 4 , , 0 , , 1st AC East , , Lost AC Semifinal (

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

69-56) , - , 2006 , , 9 , , 7 , , 0 , , 2nd AC East , , Won AC Round 1 ( Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 55-47)
Lost AC Semifinal (

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

40-39) , - , 2007 , , 10 , , 6 , , 0 , , 2nd AC East , , Lost AC Round 1 ( Central Valley 42-41) , - , 2008 , , 9 , , 7 , , 0 , , 2nd AC East , , Won AC Round 1 (

South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east ...

46-42)
Won AC Semifinal ( Green Bay 55-54)
Lost AC Championship (

45-35) , - , 2009 , , 7 , , 9 , , 0 , , 2nd AC East , , Lost AC Round 1 (

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

70-53) , - !Totals , , 65 , , 61 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

Notable players

* Steve Bellisari – QB/S *

David Lamont Colin David Lamont (born 24 August 1953) is an Australian politician and was a member of the second Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, elected to the multi-member single constituency Assembly for the Labor Party in 1992. Lamont ...

– QB * Steve Gonzalez – WR * Mike Potts – QB *

Rich Ranglin Richard Ranglin (born September 27, 1984) is a former American football offensive lineman. He was signed out of the Arena Football League in May 2012 by the Kansas City Chiefs. College career Ranglin was a four-year letterman at Central Connecti ...

– OL * Kyle Rowley – QB William Roc Haith - DB

References

External links

Official website
(Offline due to team disbanding in 2009)
Official fan club
(Offline)
Mohegan Wolves at ArenaFan
{{Af2 Defunct 2004 establishments in New Hampshire 2009 disestablishments in New Hampshire