The St. Ignatius losing streak is over, but will it be enough to salvage the playoff streak? The Wildcats beat Erie (Pa.) Cathedral Prep, 48-19, in a high school football game Saturday at Byers Field. St. Ignatius (3-4) had lost three in a row, and scored just 20 points in those games.
The St. Ignatius losing streak is over, but will it be enough to salvage the playoff streak?
The Wildcats beat Erie (Pa.) Cathedral Prep, 48-19, in a high school football game Saturday at Byers Field. St. Ignatius (3-4) had lost three in a row, and scored just 20 points in those games.
St. Ignatius has reached the playoffs 22 straight seasons but entered the weekend 17th in Division I, Region 1, where the top eight teams qualify. Five of eight teams ahead of the Wildcats lost this weekend.
Their remaining opponents are St. Francis (N.Y.), which entered the weekend 1-4, Cincinnati St. Xavier (4-3) and rival St. Edward (7-0).
St. Ignatius defensive back Tyler Ketty scored on a 35-yard interception return and a 37-yard punt return. Running back Dan Grace had eight carries for 110 yards and one touchdown, and Bobby Grebenc rushed for 79 yards, including three short TD runs.
Euclid 20, Shaker Heights 14: Quarterback Chuck Bradford's 2-yard quarterback sneak in overtime ended the Panthers' five-game losing skid. It was his third touchdown run of the game.
Euclid (2-5) had the ball first in overtime. Shaker Heights (1-6) committed an offensive pass interference penalty on its first overtime play and was unable to recover.
"We needed a victory, obviously," Euclid coach Tom Gibbons said. "The kids have hung in there and battled adversity in recent weeks."
Girls tennis
Division I sectional at Brush: The Mayfield doubles team of senior Joy Warner and sophomore Mitsuki Fukamachi is one step closer to a return trip to the state tournament. They won a sectional title, 6-1, 6-0, against Normandy's Anastaysia Koval and Melissa Powell. Both teams are headed to this week's district tournament at Oberlin. Warner and Fukamachi were state qualifiers last year. Mayfield also advanced its No. 2 doubles team, Ashton Fox and Stephanie Schmitt, who placed fourth. Padua sophomore Rachel Yurchison won the singles final in straight sets.
Division I sectional at Oberlin: It was a big day for the Demons. Westlake's Lauren Golick won the singles title, and teammates Michelle Djohan and Kelsey Wanhainen were doubles champs. Westlake also advanced its No. 2 doubles team, Julia Dunbar and Bhargavi Maheswher, who placed fourth. Magnificat advanced two singles players, Noelle Kaufmann and Maddy Lugli, as well as the doubles team of Annie Foliano and Molly Doyle.
Division II sectional at Brush: Orange senior Lydia Colvin persevered to beat Chagrin Falls junior Emily Mazzola, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, in the singles final. In a championship battle of doubles teams that both reached the state tournament last year, Hawken's Taylor Johnson and Surya Khadlikar beat Chagrin Falls' Erica Leone and Anna Benson, 6-2, 6-3.
Division II sectional at Canton: St. Vincent-St. Mary's Taylor Wedlake beat Tallmadge's Kelsey Blatt in the singles final, 6-3, 6-0.
Division II sectional at Rocky River: Hathaway Brown freshman singles player Ariana Iranpour and Walsh doubles players senior Christin Reed and sophomore Katelyn Hissong were champions.
Cross country
Medina Festival: Call it a pack, or call it a swarm. The Medina Bees are winning by sticking together this season, and the strategy paid off with a victory over St. Ignatius, 49-64, to capture the Division I boys title at Medina High School.
Medina's top five were bunched between seventh and 12th -- Kevin Paradise, Brad Palocko, Brent Gaither, David Knack and Tommy Menyes. St. Ignatius' John Sweeney (15:52) won, and Mitch Baum was fifth, but the Wildcats' next three placed 16th, 20th and 22nd. Sweeney beat Riverside's Zack McBride by 10 seconds.
Medina's Anna Boyert (19:01) won the Division I girls race, eight seconds ahead of Magnificat's Katherine Stultz. Girls champ Magnificat dominated, putting its top five in the top 10 and scoring 31 points.
Legends Meet: St. Vincent-St. Mary senior Maria Arnone won the Division II girls race in 18:56 at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds, and she led the Irish (31 points) to the team title as well as an impressive 19:40 average team time. SVSM's boys put three in the top 10 and won as Patrick O'Brien (16:55) placed third. Avon's Tyler Kvach (16:36) was the individual champ.
Mentor was the Division I boys and girls champs. The Cardinals girls edged Brunswick, 57-62. Brunswick's Selena Pasadyn won (19:18), and Alexis Uber was third. Jessie Iafelice placed fifth for Mentor, and the difference was the Cardinals' fifth runner, Carley Berman, placing 19th while the Blue Devils' fifth runner was 32nd.
Paced by fourth-place finisher Brian Palmer, Mentor's first six boys finished among the top 14. Lakewood's Nick Jackosky won the Division I boys title (16:41).
The fastest boy was Division III winner Matt Pelletier of Berkshire (16:25).
Marion Harding Invitational: Elyria Catholic's boys were second to Hilliard Davidson, 34-86, and Panthers' Brian Koziel placed fourth (16:50).
Jake Wilhelm Classic: Midview's Zach Siefker (17:53), Conrad Doehne and Mike Taylor claimed the top three spots and led Midview to first place at Lorain County Community College.
Boys soccer
Bay 0, Aurora 0: In a battle of state-ranked teams, Bay sophomore keeper Koray Sayir and Aurora sophomore Alex Depompei each stopped six shots. No. 1-ranked Bay remained undefeated at 11-0-3, and No. 10 Aurora is 9-1-3.
North Olmsted 3, Shaker Heights 1: Center midfielder Nick Stone-Weiss scored twice in the first six minutes for the Eagles (8-4-3).
Solon 1, Westlake 0: Senior Terry Tvisitse scored midway through the first half from 30 yards out. Comets goalie Scott Levy had seven saves.
University 1, WRA 0: Sophomore Jude Gingo scored off a free kick with about 13 minutes remaining in the match. US (9-4-2) had just four shots on goal. Preppers goalie Alex Spectorsky had six saves for the shutout.
Kenston 2, Fairview 1: Nick Astalos scored on a breakaway in the first half, and Mark Lunstrum's second-half penalty kick from 25 yards out was the game-winner as the Bombers improved to 8-5-1.
Walsh Jesuit 4, Hoban 1: Striker Nick Parianos scored three goals for the Warriors (12-2), who limited Hoban to four shots.
Girls soccer
Solon 0, Medina 0: Senior goalie Taylor Burke made eight saves for Medina (10-1-3), while senior Briana Kottler stopped six shots for the Comets (7-3-5).
Hudson 3, Brunswick 1: The Explorers (10-3-1) scored all three goals in the first half.
Volleyball
Gilmour 3, West Geauga 2: Senior Brittany Link had 16 kills and 17 assists, pacing the Lancers (16-2) to a 25-16, 25-21, 20-25, 25-13 victory.