Lions Sports Update (12/17)

WRESTLING
On Friday, December 12, the Lions’ wrestling team hosted the 57th Annual Lonestar Christmas Tournament, welcoming programs from Dallas, Richardson, Coppell, as well as teams from Oklahoma and Louisiana. St. Mark’s finished 3rd out of 14 highly competitive teams and earned seven total place winners. Leading the charge were three ImageChampions (Beau Bacon ’26, Jackson Barnes ’26, and Oliver Loehr ’27), followed by silver medalist Ferris Gottlich ’28, bronze medalists Holden Fritz ’28 and Pete DeVoss ’29, and fourth-place finisher Axter Quezada ’29. A highlight of the tournament came when senior Beau Bacon secured his 100th career win with a major victory over his Lake Highlands opponent in the championship round. Senior co-captain Jackson Barnes also turned heads, winning all three of his matches by pin in a combined time of just 2 minutes and 39 seconds. This weekend, the varsity wrestlers travel to Nashville to compete against all-boys prep school Montgomery Bell Academy. The team will continue training through the holidays before heading to Atlanta for the Prep Slam tournament at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School on January 2 and 3.

SWIMMING
The varsity swim team hosted its first home meet of the season on Thursday, December 11, competing against Cistercian, Alcuin, John Paul II, and Oakridge. The Lions posted dominant results across the board. They opened with a 1–2 finish in the 200 Medley Relay, as the team of Newaskar, Martin, R. Wang, and Bowers secured first place ahead of Geheb, Sumethasorn, Daigle, and Zheng. The 200 Freestyle saw St. Mark’s sweep the top five spots, led by R. Wang, McGinnis, and Mayo. In the 200 Individual Medley, Geheb, Daigle, and Zaballa went 1–2–3 with times resembling end-of-season form. The Lions then swept places 1 through 6 in the 50 Freestyle (Newaskar, Gunawardena, Isaacs-Sodeye, R. Wang, Muller, and Sumethasorn). In the 100 Butterfly, Santana posted a personal best to take second. The momentum continued in the 100 Freestyle, where the Lions remarkably claimed the top 13 spots, led by Martin, Daigle, and Zheng. In the 500 Freestyle, Dorrill, Behnke, and Yang placed 2–3–4. St. Mark’s took another 1–2 finish in the 200 Freestyle Relay and swept the top three in the 100 Backstroke (Newaskar, Gunawardena, Sun). Geheb, Martin, Yang, and Zaballa went 2–5 in the 100 Breaststroke. In the closing 400 Freestyle Relay, the Lions finished 1–2–3, defeating fourth-place JPII by 23 seconds. Up next, St. Mark’s hosts St. Stephen’s this Thursday at 5:15 p.m.

BASKETBALL
From December 11–13, the varsity basketball team competed in a 16-team tournament at Coppell High School. In Thursday’s opening round, the Lions transitioned quickly from the school day to an intense matchup against Emerson High School. Freshman Trevez McMiller recorded his highest scoring performance of the season, while juniors Asher Collins and Dawson Battie both reached double figures. A 20-point halftime lead was cut to six in the fourth quarter, forcing the Lions to refocus defensively and use their size advantage to close out an eight-point win. Later that evening, St. Mark’s faced an 11–2 Walnut Grove team playing with confidence, but the Lions set the tone early by shutting down the opponent’s strongest scorers and attacking the rim. Balanced scoring from Pranav Danda (8), Wes Jackson (9), AJ Thomas (13), and Spencer Hopkin (10) complemented a standout performance from Collins, who finished with 26 points and 15 rebounds in the 74–65 win that advanced St. Mark’s to the semifinals.

In the final four, John Paul II rode a hot shooting night from its guards, but St. Mark’s continued to find offense from Jackson, Collins, Danda, Hopkin, and a strong second-half spark from junior Archer Wilburn. Despite the effort, transition defense proved costly and set up a third-place matchup with Coppell on Saturday. Battie, returning from illness, opened the game on fire and finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Collins added 20, while Danda and Hopkin contributed 11 and 13. The Lions took a two-point lead in the final minute, but Coppell capitalized on a late defensive breakdown and a turnover to steal the game. Though St. Mark’s dropped its second straight, the four competitive contests mark valuable growth heading into winter play. Senior Spencer Hopkin was named to the All-Tournament Team. The Lions return to action with home games Thursday (7:00 p.m. vs. HSAA) and Friday (1:00 p.m. vs. Yavneh), followed by the annual alumni game on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

SOCCER
The varsity soccer team encountered its first setbacks of the season last week. After a 4–0 start, the Lions fell 0–3 to North Central Texas Academy on Monday and tied Parish Episcopal 4–4 on Tuesday. The draw was especially tough, as St. Mark’s led 4–1 with ten minutes remaining. The Lions opened scoring when Wyatt Gair intercepted a pass and played JP Hanks through for a curling finish. After Parish’s equalizer, a Riggs Bean goal assisted by David Dickson restored the lead at halftime. Dickson scored again early in the second half, and Ian Cho added the fourth off a Joaquin Mayo setup. But two corner-kick goals and late defensive miscommunication allowed Parish to claw back. The lessons from these matches will serve the Lions well as they prepare for SPC counter play in January. This week, the team hosts Greenhill on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and Trinity Christian on Friday at 4:00 p.m., followed by the alumni game on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.