On the Prowl

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend was a highly successful one for Jesuit High School’s winter sports teams, as all three continued their outstanding seasons.

Jesuit wrestling was a dominant force Saturday (Jan. 16) at the Mustang Duals at Lakewood Ranch High School. The Tigers won all five duals handily, defeating Rockledge (54-9), Boca Ciega (72-12), Sebring (63-9), Sarasota Booker (74-0), and Lakewood Ranch in the final (54-22) to earn the championship.

Seven Tigers were a perfect 5-0 on the day: Luke Surak ’18 (106 pounds), William McGill ’19 (113), Matt Daner ’17 (120), Adam Lewis ’16 (145), Julian Ramirez ’19 (152), Brian Buser ’16 (182), and Thomas Mooney ’16 (195). Also, Grayson Fisher ’18 (132) and Angel Dominguez ’18 (138) were 4-1.

For Lewis (pictured on the homepage at practice last week), Buser, and Ramirez, it continues their string of outstanding results at big competitions this season. Ramirez won two major tournaments over the Christmas break, the Kissimmee Knockout Christmas Classic and the Prep Slam in Atlanta. Buser placed second at both events, and Lewis finished third at Kissimmee and second in Atlanta.

This weekend, wrestling hosts the Jesuit 6-Way Duals vs. Tallahasee Lincoln, Manatee, Sarasota, Sebring, and Bishop Moore. Wrestling begins Saturday (Jan. 23) in the Tiger Palace at 10:30am.

Jesuit soccer (18-4-1), playing in an elite national tournament at Montverde Academy over the weekend, rebounded from a last-minute, 1-0 defeat in its opening game vs. Cathedral High of Los Angeles with back-to-back wins to claim 5th place. The Tigers downed Chandler (Ariz.) 2-1 with Royce Pope ’17 scoring both goals, and they defeated Sam Houston from Arlington, Texas, 3-2 to win the consolation bracket, rallying with two late goals vs. Sam Houston by Connar Lufkin ’16 and Jake Collins ’17. Pope and Lufkin were named to the all-tournament team.

Jesuit soccer is the top seed in the District Tournament this week at Spoto, earning a bye into the semifinal on Friday (Jan. 22) at 6:00pm.

Jesuit basketball continued its winning ways with three wins in three nights on Thursday-Friday-Saturday (Jan. 14-16) to improve to 18-2 this season. Coming off the 63-51 win Jan. 8 at Tampa Catholic, the Tigers routed IMG Academy 71-40 and defeated District rival Middleton 48-37, and on Saturday traveled to the Seminole Shootout in Pinellas County, where Jesuit prevailed over Largo 62-56. The Tigers are now ranked No. 1 in the area by Bright House Sports Network.

The Tigers play their final two District games of the season this week, Wednesday vs. Spoto and Friday vs. Robinson, both at 7:00pm in the Tiger Palace. Stevie Darst ’17 leads Jesuit in scoring average (15.0), Ryan Fleming ’16 leads in rebounding (6.2), D.J. Snyder ’16 leads in assists (4.8) and steals (3.2), and Lee Green ’16 leads in FG% (53.5) and blocks (1.1).