Lion Sports Update (Feb. 11)

This Thursday through Saturday, February 12–14, St. Mark’s Basketball, Soccer, Swimming, and Wrestling teams will compete in the SPC Championships. St. Mark’s is proud to host the 4A Boys Basketball Tournament in Hicks Gym and the 4A and 3A Swimming Championships in the Levering Pool, both located in the Zierk Athletic Center. Varsity Soccer will compete at Greenhill and The Episcopal School of Dallas beginning Thursday, while the Wrestling team will travel to Fort Worth Country Day on Saturday, February 14. You can follow results throughout the weekend on the SPC website.

The St. Mark’s varsity wrestling team competed this past weekend at the 2026 Texas Prep State Wrestling Championship at St. John’s in Houston. The Lions finished seventh out of 30 teams, the largest field the tournament has seen in the past decade. Five Lions earned podium finishes in an impressive showing. All four co-captains delivered outstanding performances and qualified for the National Prep Tournament. Junior Zach Golle and senior Beau Bacon placed third, while senior Jackson Barnes and junior Oliver Loehr finished as silver medalists. Sophomore standout Ferris Gottlich captured his first Prep State title by defeating a rival from Bishop Lynch in a hard-fought championship match. The Lions return to action this Saturday at 8:30 a.m. at Fort Worth Country Day for the SPC Championships.

Soccer

The varsity soccer team enters the SPC Championship tournament with confidence and momentum. The Lions fell 0–2 to ESD on Tuesday and dropped a hard-fought 2–3 match to Fort Worth Country Day on Thursday before battling to a 3–3 draw against HSAA on Friday. However, the scores do not tell the full story. On Thursday, the Lions rallied from a 0–2 deficit to level the match behind goals from David Dickson, assisted by Mateen Mostafavipour, and JP Hanks on a penalty kick earned by Dickson. Though they conceded a late goal, the team demonstrated resilience and a tournament-ready mindset. On Friday, the Lions once again mounted a comeback, scoring twice in the final ten minutes to take a 3–2 lead. Hanks finished a cross from Henry McGill, senior captain Alex Dahlander converted a penalty earned by freshman Ryan Hirzel, and Hanks added his second goal after winning possession and calmly slotting home the finish. A late penalty allowed HSAA to equalize, but the Lions’ grit and composure were evident throughout. St. Mark’s will face Kinkaid in the first round of the SPC Tournament on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. at The Episcopal School of Dallas. The Lions defeated Kinkaid 1–0 earlier this season. With a win, they would face the winner of St. Stephen’s and Houston Christian on Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Greenhill, and a Friday victory would send them to the championship match on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Greenhill.

Basketball

Last week, the St. Mark’s varsity basketball team competed in three home games. On Tuesday, the Lions hosted ESD and jumped out to an energetic start, but a 2-for-19 performance from three-point range proved costly in a narrow four-point loss. On Thursday, St. Mark’s closed out SPC North Zone play with a decisive victory over Fort Worth Country Day, led by junior Dawson Battie’s 23 points in 23 minutes. The regular season concluded with a spirited Senior Night celebration honoring Sam Blumenthal, Pranav Danda, Cooper Guiler, Spencer Hopkin, Andy Li, and Whit Turner for their contributions to the navy and gold. Hopkin led the Lions in scoring, but St. Mark’s fell to Prestonwood in the season finale. This week, St. Mark’s will host the entire 4A SPC Championship Tournament in Hicks Gym at the Zierk Athletic Center. The Lions open tournament play Thursday at 3:00 p.m. against St. John’s, and with a win would advance to Friday’s semifinal at 2:00 p.m.