Led by President Rev. William J. Murphy, S.J., Saint Ignatius' Administration and Athletic Department pay tribute to the first OHSAA state championship team in the rich sports history of Cleveland's Jesuit Preparatory School.
The 1988 Division I state champion wrestling team is honored during the Wildcats' annual Seniors/Alumni night. The 2012-13 Wildcat wrestlers complete a special night with a 51-18 victory over North Canton Hoover in Sullivan Gymnasium.
HERE IS THE WRESTLING STORY FROM SATURDAY NIGHT, FOLLOWED BY THE RECAP OF THE SAINT IGNATIUS VERSUS ST. EDWARD HOCKEY GAME, WON BY THE EAGLES, 5-2.
Ohio City - As he welcomed home a group of Wildcats who 25 years ago reached the pinnacle of Saint Ignatius athletics, President Rev. William J. Murphy, S.J. told the members of the 1988 Division I state champion wrestling team that the men they have become can serve as a great example for the current
Wildcats wrestlers and all of Saint Ignatius’ young men for others.
Fr. Murphy emphasized to the 1988 Wildcats that there is a resurgence taking place in the Saint Ignatius wrestling program and that by early June the Jesuit Preparatory School hopes to unveil its new Wrestling
Center at the corner of W. 32nd and Carroll Avenue.
That announcement drew a round of applause from all of the wrestling alumni in attendance and from an audience that braved the snow and cold temperatures in order to pay tribute to the history-making 1988 team and get another close up look at what is a young, but very promising 2012-13 Wildcats wrestling program.
The annual Seniors/Alumni Night got under way with the introduction of the current Wildcats seniors and their parents. Coach Mark Sullivan’s senior leaders consist of Jim Ferritto, Tommy Zeigler, Dan Lynch,
Isen Vajusi, Dan McGinty, Brett Bendokaitis (who was joined by his brother Michael) and Max Baughman.
Following the introduction of the current Wildcats, the 1988 state champs, of which Saint Ignatius Principal Dan Bradesca ’88 was a proud member, took the Sullivan Gymnasium floor to a roaring applause. Joining the
celebration was the man who guided the Wildcats on that historical night at legendary St. John Arena in Columbus, former head coach Mark Avcollie.
“I just kind of feel like it’s overdue and I am so glad that Saint Ignatius went to the efforts to put this together, because wrestling is just such a humbling, grueling sport," said Mike Buddie ’89, a 171-pound state champion on the 1988 team and in this corner’s humble opinion the greatest all-around athlete to ever wear the Blue and Gold (see the corner’s story from Monday Jan. 28 ). "The bonds that are formed between kids that wrestled together are so special.
“Once you go out in the world and you meet a guy when you’re 40 years old and you find out that he was a wrestler in the state of Ohio, you just have an instant respect for him,” Mike continued. “Having played those
other sports (All-Ohio wideout in football and a high school, college and major league baseball pitcher), there is just a special bond between wrestlers because you have kind of gone through hell together, physically, in as grueling a sport as you can imagine.”
Saint Ignatius had to grind it out physically in front of a near sell-out crowd that night at St. John Arena as the Collins twins, Joe (152 pounds) and Marty (160) came up with huge state-championship match victories.
Joe defeated Southview great Robert Taylor, 5-4, by keeping Taylor on the defense and Marty defeated the tough and aggressive Kraig Kasler of North Olmsted, 8-6. Buddie, despite breaking his left arm 10 seconds into the match, became the 171-pound champ by defeating Nordonia’s powerful Doug Del Rosa, 10-3. Saint
Ignatius brought home the gold with 77 ½ points, North Olmsted earned second place at 70 ½ and Southview was third with 62 points. St. Edward, winner of the 10 previous big-school state titles, was fourth with 49 points.
“To have this opportunity to come back after 25 years and see the guys who made the same type of commitment that you did is very rewarding, and I’m going to enjoy the weekend,” said Buddie, who is an Associate Athletic Director at Wake Forest University.
Mike emphasized how Wildcats Athletic Director Rory Fitzpatrick ’88 and Coach Sullivan are doing everything they can to get the Saint Ignatius wrestling program back to where it was. He emphasized that it is tough to maintain a level of excellence and that is why you can’t help but respect what St. Edward has done (27 state wrestling titles).
“In making the commitment that Saint Ignatius is making with this new wrestling facility, it’s a place the guys can call their own,” Buddie said before he talked with and met some of the current Wildcats and their parents. “Whether you like it or not, and I deal with it in the college ranks all of the time, you have to impress kids sometimes.
“My time at Saint Ignatius, I can’t imagine a better time,” Mike continued. “My four years here, from the people I came in contact with to the friendships and the coaches, they helped shape me as a person.”
****In what was a fitting closing to a special night, Coach Sullivan’s Wildcats came away with
an impressive 51-18 triumph over the Vikings from North Canton Hoover.
Among the top performances were a major 8-0 decision victory by Jim Ferritto at 113 pounds; a pin by Ryan Bush at 120 in 2:25; a pin by captain Tommy Zeigler at 126 in 2:39; a 4-1 decision by Kyle Vilsack at 138; a major 13-5 decision by Dan Lynch at 152; a pin by Nate Keirn at 160 in 2:35, and a major decison 13-5 victory by the hard-nosed Isen Vajusi at 195. Anthony McLaughlin (170 pounds), Max Baughman (220) and Dan Cartolin (heavyweight) won by forfeit.
“My conditioning might be a little down because I was out for a couple of weeks,” said Zeigler, a two-time state placer. “I’ve been working really hard to get my strength back. My body healed a lot faster than people expected.”
Tommy revealed that his bout with mononucleosis infected his spleen and liver and that he was hospitalized for two days.
“I like that they are all staying in there in matches and not losing their composure,” Tommy said of the Wildcats’ many underclassmen. “They fight hard and try to win every second they’re out there. When you have kids like that, you know they are going to win matches in the future.”
Coach Sullivan concurred with his captain and pointed out what pleased the coaching staff during the victory over a solid Hoover program.
"This is the time of the year when states are around the corner and I want them to be more aggressive,” Coach Sullivan said. “And tonight they were more aggressive and they wrestled a little smarter. We were doing some things that we worked on in the room, which tells me that they’re learning. I think our team wrestled really well.
“Even though (Joe) Conway lost at 182 (6-4 decision), he wrestled a kid that is probably going to state (Clay Haverfield),” Coach Sullivan continued. “It was good to see Joe go out there and battle a quality opponent right to the end. And it was nice to see the seniors step up and wrestle well.”
Coach Sullivan emphasized, that the most exciting things for him on Saturday night were the continuous support of his wife, Janet, the support of “the great state championship team from 1988” and to have his 85-year-old father, Edward, in attendance.
“My wife makes this all happen,” Coach Sullivan said. “She lets me come home at 8:30 every night during wrestling season and she drives my dad around.”
IN OUR PRAYERS FOR A SPEEDY RECOVERY: Our thoughts and well wishes go out to Wildcat wrestler Dan McGinty, who was injured during his match on Saturday night. Dan was immediately attended to by Saint Ignatius' outstanding Faculty Trainer Hank Gaughan, A.T. C., and then taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital for further treatment.
"He was moving his hands, arms, legs, everything was moving," Coach Sullivan said of Dan.
SATURDAY'S HOCKEY RECAP
ICE CATS ARE DEFEATED BY ST. EDWARD, 5-2, IN THE REGULAR SEASON FINALE.
In area high school hockey, you are remembered for what you do in mid-February and March - the Baron Cup and the OHSAA State Tournament.
So Saint Ignatius' fans can rest a little easier today.
Sure, a season sweep of your rival is a nice addition to the bragging rights department. But then we all found out last season how much it really means when March rolls around.
St. Edward might have earned a section in that bragging rights area by defeating the Ice Cats, 5-2, on Saturday evening at the John M. Coyne Recreation Center in scenic and snow-covered Brooklyn, Ohio.
And it will be up to the 'Cats to erase the confidence the Eagles brought home with them on Saturday if the storied rivals cross paths again this winter - in either the Baron Cup or the OHSAA Districts, or both. The Ice Cats begin Baron Cup play on Wednesday at the Coyne Recreation Center as the top Baron Cup I seed. They will face Rocky River, the eighth seed, at 6:30 p.m.
As for Saturday's encounter, Saint Ignatius took a 1-0 lead on a goal by junior defender Kevin Spellacy, but the Eagles answered with two quick scores by captain Gabe Lampron.
Widcats junior forward Beck Schultz knotted the score at 2 off a power play in the second period.
St. Edward regained the lead on a goal by junior forward Jake Wendell off a picture-perfect assist from junior forward Tyler Harkins and the Eagles took control on a goal by senior forward Hal Lane with 4 minutes and 42 seconds remaining to be played.
Saint Ignatius pulled senior goalie Bernie Cook and St. Edward closed the scoring on an empty netter at 2:02.
The Ice Cats, who had their 14-game winning streak snapped, are now 24-5-3. They are 2-1 versus St. Edward this season.
****Congratulations go out to Coach Drew Vilinsky and his junior varsity Wildcats hockey team on their 4-3 victory over University School on Saturday.
The victory sends Coach Drew's 'Cats into Sunday's junior varsity tournament City Championship game against St. Edward's jayvees. The puck is scheduled to drop in the Gilmour Academy Ice Arena at 11:30 a.m.