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Weekend Preview 2/24-2/25: Basketball to Host Senior Night; Swimmers Canton-Bound

By Joe Ginley, 02/23/17, 3:45PM EST

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The postseason will begin for the Mat Cats, and the Ice Cats face the Green Wave.

With postseason play heating up like the weather, the Wildcats have an important weekend ahead.

Four of the five Saint Ignatius squads are in action this weekend, with three of those teams competing in the playoffs. Saint Ignatius student-athletes will be busy the next few days.

Here’s what’s in store for the blue and gold this weekend.

Swimming & Diving

Following banner performances at Sectionals and Districts, the Saint Ignatius swimming and diving team will send seven swimmers and one diver to States this weekend.

The Swim Cats’ contingent will consist of swimmers Marcus Hong, Joey Libertin, Can O’Haimhirgin, Dimitri Simcox, John Hessler, Severyn Kushmeliuk, and Nick Hong and diver Alex Claus.

Hong will compete in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke after snagging first in the 100 butterfly. Libertin will take part in the 200 and 500 free. O’Haimhirgin will swim two quick events, the 50 and 100 free. Student-Athlete of the Week Dimitri Simcox will swim the 50 free, too, after winning the event last weekend.

Three Wildcat relay teams will race at States. The 200 medley relay squad of Simcox, Marcus Hong, Nick Hong, and O’Haimhirgin won the event at Districts and will try to do the same in Canton. The relay team of Simcox, Joey Libertin, O’Haimhirgin, and Marcus Hong, winners of the event at Districts, will participate in the 400 free relay. And finally, Joey Libertin, Dimitri Simcox, John Hessler, and Severyn Kushmeliuk will swim the 200 free relay.

The swimming prelims will begin tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. Diving prelims will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday and conclude by 4 p.m. The swimming finals will take place at 4:00 p.m.

Basketball

The regular season concludes on Friday evening in a celebratory fashion at Sullivan Gym.

The Basketball Cats will host Kenston for a 7:00 p.m. matchup following Senior Night festivities honoring the five senior basketball players – Devin Jackson, Michael Spear, Colin Goodfellow, Austen Yarian, and Matt Davet – and two Saint Ignatius Broadcast Network seniors – Brendan DeVenney and Matt Harsar.

The Wildcats, ranked No. 1 in cleveland.com’s local poll and No. 9 statewide by MaxPreps, enter the contest with a 16-5 record following a hard-fought double overtime win over Benedictine on Tuesday. The Wildcats will receive a hard-earned week of rest after Friday’s contest before facing the winner of Parma / Valley Forge on Saturday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Kenston Bombers carry a 12-10 mark into the showdown. The Bombers have lost three of four, but downed Riverside on Wednesday evening, 87-51. Senior guard Josh Kain anchors the Kenston offense, as the 5’11” guard entered February averaging over 20 points per game.

The No. 4 seed in the Solon District, Kenston will host the winner of Twinsburg and Aurora next Saturday, regardless of tomorrow’s result.

The JV Cats will also conclude the regular season on Friday, playing the Kenston JV squad at 5:30 p.m. The JV Cats have an 18-2 record this year.

Hockey

The Saint Ignatius hockey squad will look to take one more step forward in the journey back to Columbus on Saturday. The Ice Cats will play Holy Name on Saturday at Brooklyn Ice Arena at 2 p.m.

The District Semifinal represents a familiar rematch, as the Wildcats have faced the Green Wave three times this season. The Ice Cats won the first contest, 6-2, on December 13, took the second regular season matchup, 6-1, and captured the third win in the Cleveland Cup Semifinals, 8-1.

The Ice Cats carry a 25-8-2 record into the game following an 11-0 win over Brecksville-Broadview Heights last Saturday and a 9-1 decision over Avon on Tuesday.

Holy Name stands at 17-15-3 heading into the matchup. The Green Wave has defeated Garfield Heights (10-0), Westlake (10-0), and Midview (4-1) en route to the District Semifinal.

The varsity gold team’s season concludes this weekend with the Ohio JV State Tournament.

Wrestling

The postseason begins on Saturday for the Mat Cats. The Saint Ignatius wrestling squad will compete in Sectionals this weekend at Brecksville-Broadview Heights.

Wrestling is set to begin at 10 a.m. as the Wildcats look to send as many wrestlers to Districts as possible. The Mat Cats have high hopes after finishing the year with a 14-2 record, tying the school record for dual meet wins in a season. Kaden Russell’s chances at 182 pounds look especially promising, considering Russell finished with a 16-0 mark in dual meets, surpassing the previous record set by Anthony McLaughlin ’14.  

Bowling

Though the Alley Cats did not qualify for Districts as a team, Nick Frank ’17 qualified as an individual.

Frank, also a member of the crew team, will bowl at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes on Sunday in Canton, Ohio at noon. Frank bowled a team-high 606 series, placing him second out of 60 bowlers from around the area. Only one kegler from Mentor, who notched a 645 series, bested Frank individually.

Best of luck to Frank and all Wildcats in competition this weekend.