Lion Sports Update 01/31

Wrestling
The varsity wrestling team competed in the 2nd Annual Bowie Invitational hosted by Arlington Bowie High School on January 26-27. There were 27 teams comprised of SPC, TAPPs, and UIL DIV VI wrestling teams from the State of Texas. St. Mark’s placed 11th as a team. This was a significant feat, as the Lions only wrestled six weight classes to include: sophomore J.P. Noonan (132lbs), senior Tucker Ribman (138lbs), freshman Cooper Ribman (145lbs), freshman Jackson Fair (152lbs), junior Chad Kim (160lbs), and junior Gabe Bankston (220lbs). Senior captain Tucker Ribman (138lbs), continued his undefeated run in Texas and won the championship bout 11 to 3 against Jose Ruiz from Grand Prairie High School. Freshman co-captain Cooper Ribman was the only other St. Mark’s Wrestler to place in the varsity tournament. He lost a close match 5 to 3 against a Senior from Houston Westside High School, Trey Graham. First year wrestlers, Trevor Crosnoeand Rajan Joshi, took third and fourth places, respectively, at the 106lbs weight class in the Junior Varsity tournament at Bowie HS. The Lions will compete at Episcopal High School (Houston) in the Prep State Tournament on Saturday, February 3. 
 
Basketball
The varsity basketball team competed in a pair of conference counter games last week. On Tuesday, the Lions traveled to Trinity Valley. Sophomore Andrew Laczkowski exploded for 19 first half points to give the Lions an 18-point advantage at the break. However, Trinity Valley pieced together a second-half run that cut the lead to single digits in the fourth quarter. Thankfully, though, savvy veteran leadership from seniors Jimmy Rodriguez and Sam Sussman, along with a handful of clutch free throws, ultimately enabled the Marksmen to come away victorious. On Friday, St. Mark's traveled to Oklahoma City where they faced Casady. The game and was nearly even at half time, but freshman Harrison Ingram, senior Reece Rabin, and junior Dylan Osimetha combined for nearly 40 points and fueled a 78-55 victory. Andrew Laczkowski finished the week as an honorable mention for Dallas Morning News' "Player of the Week" honors, scoring 54 points and securing 13 rebounds. The team now sits at 4-1 in SPC play and hosts two games this week – a critical counter game against Oakridge at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday and a non-conference 7:30 p.m. contest against HSAA on Friday.
 
Soccer
The varsity soccer team began a challenging week of counter play by traveling to Trinity Valley. Needing a victory, the Lions were quick to capitalize on a slow start by the Trojans as freshman Henry McElhaney’s free kick found the back of the net in the sixth minute. Senior Cal Rushton scored his first goal of the season a mere three minutes later when he emphatically struck a ball from close range in a scramble for McElhaney’s free kick. Midway through the first half, freshman Eric Yooconverted sophomore William Holtby’s service into the third St. Mark’s goal of the half. Junior Seth Weprin scored midway through the second half on a long throw in by senior Owen Berger that was also assisted by freshman Kit Colson. A late goal by Trinity Valley closed the scoring with four minutes left to play. The Lions then traveled to Oklahoma City to play Casady on Friday, who had beaten the Lions earlier in the season by a score of 1-4. Playing into a persistent wind, the Lions played defensively and found themselves down 0-1 at halftime. Unfortunately, defensive play did not improve and the Lions found themselves down 0-3 with less than twenty minutes remaining. In the sixty-fifth minute, McElhaney’s free kick found its way into the Casady goal box, where senior Owen Berger redirected his strike to an opportunistic Holtby and the Lions had their first goal of the match. From a seemingly innocuous moment, St. Mark’s quickly struck again when a moment of individual brilliance from junior Seth Weprin resulted in a perfectly struck cross to the far post where junior Mateo Guevara created separation from his defender to convincingly head the ball into the upper right corner of the Casady goal. Arguably, it was the most beautiful goal the Lions have scored all season. Finally, with less than a handful of minutes left in the match, Berger’s long throw-in was improperly cleared, leading to a Cyclone own goal and a coveted equalizer for the Lions. The draw meant that St. Mark’s was the first north zone team to qualify for the SPC tournament. The Lions host Oakridge on Tuesday night, needing a win to entertain the possibility of a bye at the SPC tournament.
 
Swimming
The varsity swimming team hosted Cistercian in a meet last Thursday. The Lions had many strong swims and won the meet 129-38. The Lions will host Ft. Worth Country Day and All Saints for Senior Night next Thursday, February 8.
 
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St. Mark’s School of Texas

10600 Preston Road
Dallas, Texas 75230
214-346-8000

About Us

St. Mark’s School of Texas is a private, nonsectarian college-preparatory boys’ day school for students in grades 1 through 12, located in Dallas, Texas. St. Mark’s aims to prepare young men to assume leadership and responsibility in a competitive and changing world.

St. Mark’s does not discriminate in the administration of its admission and education policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.