Lion Sports Update (12/03)

Wrestling
The varsity wrestling team opened the season at the St. Mark’s Season Opening Duals on November 13. The teams included Highland Park, Oakridge, Episcopal School of Dallas, and St. Mark’s School of Texas.  The Lions defeated Oakridge (60-0) and ESD (48-12) before taking their first loss to HP (27-51). Rolling into the Thanksgiving break, the team wrestled in the 12th Annual Heath Invitational at Rockwall-Heath High School on November 19 & 20. The Lions took 8th out of 20 teams, a jump from their last showing at this tournament where they were 15th out of 23 teams. In this tough tournament, the Lions had four place winners: Co-captains senior Elijah Ellis and junior Hayward Metcalf both won 1st Place Gold and senior co-captain Jedidiah Kim and sophomore Quina Perkison won their consolation finals matches for 3rd Place Bronze medals. Wrestling and placing during the junior varsity side of the tournament were junior Stice Neuhoff winning 3rd Place, with sophomore Wyatt Loehr and freshman Teddy Fleiss taking 2nd Place. This Saturday, December 4, starting at 9:00 a.m., St. Mark’s wrestles in the Highland Park HS Duals hosted by Highland Park High School. This is the first year for the Lions to compete in this tournament which includes host Highland Park, Jesuit, Episcopal School of Dallas, R.L. Turner, and St. Mark’s School of Texas

Soccer
The varsity soccer team kicked off the 2021-2022 campaign in Fort Worth against Nolan Catholic. The Lions controlled significant portions of the match with strong play in midfield, but often left themselves susceptible to counterattacks. Senior goalkeeper Stefan Moreno made several clutch saves to maintain a shutout until Nolan was awarded a penalty kick in the waning seconds of the match. Meanwhile, the Lions broke the deadlock in the twenty-eighth minute when senior Will Shoup combined with senior Lars Ochs to open the scoring. Shoup would strike again in 66th minute thanks to an assist from junior Nat Fisher, which would end up being the difference-maker as the Lions won 2-1. Then on Thursday, the team traveled to Addison to play Trinity Christian Academy. The match started slowly, but the Lions started exhibiting better and were rewarded in the thirty-seventh minute with a goal from freshman Alden Reagins, courtesy of John Ma’s contributions. The second half saw the Lions gain more possession, leading to a hat trick from sophomore Alex Soliz. He was assisted by sophomore Reed Sussman, along with Lars Ochs and Nat Fisher. Outstanding on defense were Ma, Sussman, Fisher, Reagins, Moreno, and junior Murphy Paul. Lions 4 – TCA 1

Basketball
The varsity basketball team started the season strong heading into Thanksgiving. On November 13, the Lions traveled to South Oak Cliff High School for a contest against the Young Men’s Leadership Academy at the Jimmy Gales Tipoff Classic. After a back-and-forth first half, SM used a huge third quarter, spearheaded by seniors Tate Laczkowski and Corvin Oprea (both of whom recorded near triple-doubles with 22 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 assists and 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists, respectively) to win the game 70-49. On November 19, the Lions hosted Hillcrest. Senior Caleb Vanzant pieced together a gritty effort (10 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds), as the home team hung on for a narrow 59-51 victory. The following day, members across the SM basketball community traveled to Waco to watch Class of 2021 alum Harrison Ingram’s Stanford Cardinals compete at Baylor. Harrison had just been named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, and his performance enabled Stanford to keep the score close through halftime. The game got away from the Cardinal after the break, but it was a treat for SM players to see their former teammate in action at the next level. Later that afternoon, the navy and gold played at Bishop Dunne. Sophomore Lucas Blumenthal got the team off to a strong start, and the team rode his double-digit scoring effort to a 67-52 win. Heading into the break, the 3-0 Lions prepared to defend their crown as the reigning champions of the Dallas Mavericks Invitational. The first opponent was C.E. King HS, a scrappy 6A squad from Houston. Hot shooting helped St. Mark’s to a 10-0 lead, but their opponent dominated the rest of the first half and held a halftime lead that the Lions would not regain until late in the third quarter. Junior Arjun Khatti played a pivotal role in helping handle the ball against unyielding pressure, and SM showed tremendous resilience by hanging on to a slim lead throughout the fourth quarter to seal a 66-60 victory. Corvin Oprea led all scorers with 27. Later that evening, St. Mark’s took to the court again, facing Texas’s top-ranked 4A team, Faith Family Academy. Unfortunately, the Lions ran out of gas and lost their first game of the season. The next morning, St. Mark’s again suffered defeat, this time at the hands of Waxahachie. Freshman Luke Laczkowski made 3 three-point baskets to pace the Marksmen, helping the squad regroup in preparation for another tough matchup in the final game of the tournament against Lewisville later that evening. This time, the Lions put it all together. All three seniors scored in double digits (Tate Laczkowski 31, Corvin Oprea 24, and Caleb Vanzant 10), as SM dominated their 6A counterpart en route to a convincing 90-65 win. This week, the Lions host Wilmer-Hutchins Tuesday evening before competing in another tournament, the Carrollton/Farmers Branch Classic over the weekend.

Swim
The varsity swim team will have its first competition this Thursday at home against Lake Highlands at 5:45 pm.

Cross Country
Over this past weekend, Sahil Dodda ‘22 competed in the Eastbay South Regional Championships. The South Regional is composed of runners from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands, and U.S. citizens in Overseas Military Installations. This is the first time Sahil has run in this race, and the outcome couldn’t have been better. Running against some of the best runners in the nation, Sahil finished 2nd overall, the first finisher from Texas, and missed winning by 1 second. This finish qualifies Sahil to run in the prestigious Eastbay (formerly known as the Footlocker) National Championships in San Diego, California, on December 11. This meet was foreshadowed by Sahil’s big win on November 20, in the NXR (Nike XC) Regional meet in The Woodlands. In that race, Sahil beat the UIL 6A and 5A Champions by more than 10 seconds along with many other outstanding runners from five different states. The National Championship meet in San Diego will be a fitting ending to an outstanding senior season for this outstanding runner.