Basketball
The road to Columbus begins on Saturday for the Basketball Cats. The men of Brian Becker '77 will face the winner of Brecksville-Broadview Heights. The No. 6 seeded Bees are favored over No. 11 Valley Forge in Wednesday evening's matchup, as the Patriots have lost 12 in a row since January 3.
The Wildcats will look to stay hot on offense after bursting out for a season-high 91 points against Whitney Young on Saturday. The Wildcats will look to use balanced scoring and stout defense to propel them past the Sectional Final into the District Semifinal next Thursday at Strongsville against the winner of No. 2 Brunswick vs. No. 7 Medina / No. 10 Normandy.
The No. 1-seeded Eagles will face the winner of No. 8 Rhodes and No. 9 Parma on Saturday in Lakewood. No. 4 Lakewood plays No. 13 Max Hayes on Wednesday night to face the winner of No. 5 North Royalton vs. No. 12 Lincoln West.
Hockey
One game sits between the Ice Cats and Nationwide Arena.
The St. Edward Eagles are the only team standing in the way Head Coach Pat O'Rourke '90 and the Wildcats, who are looking to make their third straight appearance and fourth in five years. The Wildcats have traveled to the OHSAA Final Four on eight occasions.
The 27-9-1 Ice Cats have defeated Brooklyn, Midview, and Rocky River to this point in the OHSAA Tournament. Michael Boehm and Bain Kurtz have led the scoring threat, while a host of other Wildcats have provided defense and plenty of secondary scoring. Benny Savarino anchors the Cats in net.
The Eagles enter with a 21-13-1-2 record, buoyed by solid defense and defense, along with a stout goaltender in Andrew Stewart. The Wildcats will have to play physically and strong at the net to beat Stewart and the Eagles.
Wrestling
A second place finish at Sectionals will propel the Mat Cats into the District Tournament this weekend at Perrysburg. Led by sectional champs Najee Lockett (the student-athlete of the week) and Michael Drobnick, the squad led by Coach Mark Sullivan will look to qualify a host of grapplers to States.
DJ Huff (126) will look to make his first state appearance after working tirelessly in the offseason. Fellow captain Patrick McGraw (132) will hope to punch a ticket for Columbus after a runner-up finish at Sectionals. Also, look for Aidan Gill (220) to try to return for the second straight year to States. Johnny Novak (106), Zach Tomford (138), Zach Morgan (145), and Logan Toth (170) will all look to make it Columbus, too.
Bowling
While the Alley Cats did not qualify for Districts as a team after a sixth place finish at Sectionals, Anthony Doran did qualify as an individual. Unfortunately, Anthony Doran missed out on becoming the Wildcats' second state qualifier in program history by a mere 20 pins. (Click here for the full story.)
Swimming & Diving
A young Saint Ignatius swimming & diving squad posted a solid performance at States this year. Tyler Hong showed the brightness of the future for the Aqua Cats, placing 4th in the 200 IM and 100 back, setting school records in the process. The Claus brothers – Alex '18 and William '21 – combined to steal the show at the 1-meter diving event, taking 4th and 7th, respectively. As a team, the Wildcats took 12th. (Click here for the full story.)