Ohio City - Coach Sean O'Toole's varsity basketball team wraps up a record-setting regular season with a 67-58 victory over Benedictine on Senior Night, Coach Pat O'Rourke's Ice Cats advance to the district semifinals, Coach Mark Sullivan guides wrestlers Tommy Zeigler, Anthony McLaughlin and Jim Ferritto to the state tournament, and Coach Jeff Ridler's gifted swimmers again leave their mark at Saturday's State Meet in Canton.
****For a complete look at the hockey team's quarterfinal victory over Elyria Catholic, see the corner's story that was posted this afternoon.
Here is a look at what the wrestling and swimming teams accomplished on Saturday and the varsity basketball game story and JV recap follow the wrestling and swimming reports.
TOMMY ZEIGLER, ANTHONY MCLAUGHLIN AND JIM FERRITTO ARE BOUND FOR NEXT WEEKEND’S 76thANNUAL INDIVIDUAL WRESTLING STATE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIPS AT VALUE CITY ARENA IN COLUMBUS, AND THE WILDCATS’ SWIMMERS FINISHED THIRD AT SATURDAY’S STATE MEET IN CANTON.
Tommy Zeigler will be making his third state appearance after finishing in second place at 126 pounds during Saturday’s finals of the Mentor Division I District. Tommy was defeated by Ivan McClay of Massillon, 8-3, in the championship match.
Wildcats standout junior Anthony McLaughlin is also Columbus bound after finishing second at 170 pounds. Anthony lost a tense championship bout to Richard Robertson of Maple Heights, 3-1 in overtime.
Completing Coach Mark Sullivan’s state qualifying threesome is senior Jim Ferritto, who after losing in the semifinals battled back and won his third-place match at 113 pounds, 4-1 over Colin Kramer of Mentor.
Congratulations go out to Coach Jeff Ridler’s Wildcats swimming team, which finished third at Saturday’s annual Division I state meet in Canton’s C.T. Branin Natatorium. Saint Ignatius totaled 186 points.
St. Xavier won its fifth consecutive state championship and 34th overall with 270 points. Upper Arlington edged the Wildcats for the runner-up position by totaling 187.5 points and Toledo St. Francis De
Sales was fourth with 115 points.
Saint Ignatius won both the opening 200 yard medley relay and the finishing 400 relay, which was anchored by senior All-American Derek Hren. Derek finished third in the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke.
Joining Derek on those winning relay efforts were juniors Peter Simcox and Nathan Christian and senior Charlie Pophal.
Christian and Pophal were fourth and seventh, respectively, in the 50 yard freestyle, Simcox was fourth in the 100 yard butterfly and the team of Christian, Simcox, Rayon Artis and Pophal placed third in the 200 yard freestyle relay.
VARSITY BASKETBALL
A night for family, a night to say Thank You!
The Wildcats achieve their 22-game goal and now it is back to work on Monday for the “second season” and what would be the ultimate accomplishment.
By Eddie Dwyer, Copyright February 2013
Ohio City – With 7.2 seconds remaining in Saturday night’s 67-58 victory over Benedictine in Sullivan Gymnasium, Francisco Santiago’s work was completed.
However, before Santiago joined his teammates on the bench for a celebration and congratulations, Saint Ignatius’ gifted senior guard ran over to the Wildcats’ emblem at mid court, knelt down and kissed the emblem that is painted on the floor.
For “Cisco,” as Santiago is known to his teammates and others associated with Coach Sean O’Toole’s varsity basketball program, Saturday night represented the last game he and his senior teammates will play
on the legendary court at West 30th and Lorain Avenue.
In what is a final home game tradition at Saint Ignatius, Wildcats seniors Santiago, Alec Papesch, Austin Sterpka, Derek Sloan and Bryan Fisher, along with seniors John Fanta and Greg Ziton from the Student
Broadcasting Network and devoted senior team manager Patrick Gibbons, were accompanied by their parents as they were introduced to a large and enthusiastic crowd before the opening tipoff. Fanta was overcome by tears as the realization that this was his last home broadcast of Wildcats basketball struck him while he and his family were being introduced.
Joining in the special “Senior Night” were members of Saint Ignatius’ 1997-98 state runner-up team and the entire coaching staff from that season led by head coach Brian Becker ’77. The current Wildcats formed two
lines for the players and coaches from 1997-98 to walk through as they were being introduced.
Saturday night, however, belonged to Coach O’Toole and his 2012-13 Wildcats.
Although Coach Albert Wilson’s Benedictine Bengals were about to complete a regular season that is well under .500, it was evident by their demeanor before the game and their effort once the action started that
they made the trip from Martin Luther King Jr. Drive with one purpose in mind – to spoil the Wildcats’ special night.
Saint Ignatius entered its regular-season finale riding a nine-game winning streak and ranked No. 1 in The Plain Dealer’s Top 25 seven-county poll. A victory over the Bengals would send the Wildcats into this
coming week’s demanding Solon Division I sectional/district with a 19-3 record, the 19 wins being the most in any regular season in Saint Ignatius basketball history. The Jesuit Preparatory School’s record for most victories in the regular season and postseason combined is 25 by Coach Becker’s 2000-01 state championship team.
On a night when Saint Ignatius’ game was off at both ends of the floor, the Wildcats, as they have done throughout this winter of resilience, found a way to win. And one of those players who helped make it
happen on Senior Night was a junior who admires Coach O’Toole’s seniors and what they have taught him.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Wildcats’ 6-foot-6 junior post Eric Black, whose 14 points and relentless work inside against Benedictine’s tall and talented front line enabled the Wildcats to survive several runs by
the hungry Bengals. “The seniors lead us, they spark us and give us energy.”
Black and his twin brother, 6-5 junior post/forward David Black, along with junior guards Danny Bova and Kyle Berger, played significant roles in helping seniors Santiago, Sloan, Sterpka and Fisher make Saturday
night one they will look back on decades from now and smile.
A 3-pointer by Sterpka and four points each by Eric Black and Sloan enabled Saint Ignatius to cling to a 15-10 lead after the first eight minutes.
On the strength of a two-handed slam by Sloan off a perfect alley-oop pass from Santiago, a three-point play by Sloan, a put back by David Black and a 3-pointer by Santiago, the Wildcats stretched their advantage to 11 points late in the second quarter.
Benedictine, whose big-time regular season schedule could pay dividends in the Division II postseason tournament, closed to seven points by halftime. Sloan scored 13 of his game-high 23 points in the first 16
minutes.
The Bengals, with their dynamic 5-5 junior guard T.J. Steele and 6-2 freshman guard Justin Layne giving 6-7 senior Westley Parr and the rest of Coach Wilson’s big men plenty of support, Benedictine cut an eight-point
deficit in half late in the third quarter.
Saint Ignatius, which finished seventh in the final Associated Press big-school state poll, answered with a basket down low by David Black and another 3-pointer by Santiago and led by nine points entering the
final eight minutes. Santiago finished with 14 points and Sterpka and David Black combined for 13 points, seven by Sterpka.
A pull-up jumper by Santiago had Coach O’ Toole’s team in front by 11 points with just over six minutes remaining, but the Bengals had plenty of roar left as they put together another charge and closed to three
points on a 3-pointer by Layne.
Keeping its composure, Saint Ignatius responded with a free throw by Santiago, an Eric Black layup off a perfect assist lob from Berger, a three-point play by Eric Black that resulted from his second- and third-effort down low, a steal and a layup by Berger, a Sloan basket off another Berger assist and two free throws by Santiago.
Steele led the Bengals with 15 points, Parr tossed in 11 and Layne finished with nine points.
In what was another of the many emotional moments on Saturday night, Papesch, the Wildcats’ standout senior post, was in uniform after suffering a broken wrist on January 19. Although “Pappy” is still in a soft
cast and probably won’t return to the lineup until late next week or the following week, he took part in the opening tipoff as a back defender away from the center jump.
After the tip, Coach O’Toole immediately called a timeout and Eric Black replaced “Pappy” in the lineup.
Although Coach O’Toole said after the game that there will probably be an asterisk by the 19 victories because his team played 22 games this winter and Saint Ignatius teams of the past were only permitted 20 regular season games, he also emphasized that the 19 wins are all about “these kids.”
And when the Saint Ignatius faithful talk about these Wildcats years from now, the only thing they will remember is the will to win and win together that the 2012-13 ‘Cats possess.
Simply put, you can’t put an asterisk by the words the Wildcats yell as they huddle around Santiago after every practice and game – “Hard work, family!”
Note: Saint Ignatius will begin postseason play on Friday night in a Division I sectional final against the winner of Tuesday night’s semifinal between Cleveland John F. Kennedy and Lincoln-West. The tip off from Solon on Friday will be 6 p.m. The Wildcats are the No. I seed.
JV BASKETBALL
Saint Ignatius 70, Benedictine 36: Congratulations to Coach Larry Arthur's junior varsity program, which wrapped up an impressive 18-3 season on Saturday night.
Saint Ignatius stretched a 10-point lead at halftime to 50-24 entering the final seven minutes.
The Wildcats made 21 2-point shots, three 3-pointers and were 19-of-30 from the foul line. Benedictine managed nine 2 pointers, four 3-pointers and the Bengals hit on 6 of 12 shots from the charity stripe.
Sophomore guard Dylan Nieto led Saint Ignatius' balanced attack with 9 points, freshman post Tim Kiefer and sophomore post Mikal Outcalt each scored seven points, six-point efforts were turned in by sophomore forward Dre'Mont Jones, sophomore guard Luke Russell and freshman guard Deven Stover, and sophomore guards Andre Wolford and Zach Johnson each scored five points.