SportzBuzz - April 2025 | The Buzz Magazines

By Todd Freed, Staff writer | March 25, 2025

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DOMINANCE The St. John’s wrestling team put forth another sensational season while winning its 11th SPC Championship in the last 13 seasons. In addition, the Mavericks won the Prep State Championship as well as the State Duals Championship.

It was another season of total dominance for the St. John’s Mavericks wrestling team, capped off with its 11th SPC Championship in the last 13 seasons. They won the title by a decisive 102-points margin. Along the way this season, the Mavericks also brought home a seventh straight Prep State Championship as well as a fourth consecutive State Duals Championship, giving St. John’s a clean sweep of the state’s three major wrestling championships.

“We’ve had some really good teams over the years, but you could make the argument that this is our best group ever,” said Mavericks wrestling coach Alan Paul. Over the course of a sensational season, the Mavericks were victorious in all five of its tournaments in Texas while defeating many of the state’s top public and private schools. For the season, St. John’s owned a dual meet record of 23-1.

In winning the Prep State Championship by a 58-point margin over second-place St. Thomas, four Mavericks, including Alex Choo, Mason Lum, Jett Ligums, and Sebi Rodriguez, were all crowned state champions while fellow Mavericks Henry Denham, Noah Jamison, and Lukas Fjeld-Hansen were state finalists. All of the aforementioned wrestlers were also named All-SPC as were teammates Braden Lane and Thomas Wade. In addition, Choo, Denham, and Henry Haufrect all reached the round of 16 at the prestigious Prep Nationals.

“The cumulative success and body of work over the course of the entire season was impressive,” added Paul. “What these guys did was remarkable. It wasn’t just one or two superstars, but rather a culmination of everyone’s effort.”

LEADING SCORER It was tough guarding sophomore point guard Ma’Ryiah Alfred and the Kinkaid Falcons all season. Alfred led the Falcons with 16 points per game as Kinkaid went on to secure the SPC 4A Girls Basketball Championship. (Photo: David Shutts Photography)

With a trio of dominant victories at the SPC tournament, the Kinkaid Falcons captured the SPC 4A Girls Basketball Championship. The Falcons defeated Dallas Greenhill 80-62 in the tournament final to secure its seventh SPC title. The Falcons also finished the season as the state’s number one ranked team among all private schools in Texas including impressive victories over highly-ranked teams from UIL 6A basketball.

“Not only is our lineup extremely talented, but we also have kids who are very coachable, work hard both in practice and games while putting the team first in everything we do,” said Falcons head coach Stacey Marshall. “When you have talented players who play hard together, it’s tough to beat.”

The Falcons talented lineup includes a trio of super sophomores in All-SPC players Ma’Ryiah Alfred, Lauren Hull, and Marshall’s daughter Sydney Marshall. “Ma’Ryiah is a dynamic point guard who led the team in scoring and set the tone for our fast pace offensive attack,” said Coach Marshall. “Lauren is an elite defender who also hits timely shots, while Sydney is a great all-around performer who was among the team leaders in scoring, rebounding, and assists.” Marshall also had high praise for Falcons senior Alexandra Gordon who was an All-South Zone SPC player and the team’s second leading rebounder.

SPC CHAMPIONS It was a double dose of SPC 3A Swimming & Diving Championships for The Awty International School with the Rams girls and boys teams both capturing titles.

The Awty International School captured both the boys and girls SPC 3A Swimming and Diving Championships. It marked the third straight SPC title for the Awty girls and the first for the school’s boys team since joining the SPC three years ago.

“We had a great season from start to finish and it all showed at the SPC Championship,” said Awty International School swim coach Carlos McClerkin. The Awty girls were especially strong in the relay events while finishing first in the 400- and 200-yard freestyle relays. Alicja Serewa, Corinne Lo, Lena Dwyer, and Kathelijne Donkers teamed up for victory in the 200-yard freestlye, while Serewa, Dwyer, Donkers, and Riesling Liu won gold in the 400-yard freestyle relay. It was a sensational meet for Liu, who also won individual titles in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard freestyle while Donkers was a first-place finisher in the 500-yard freestyle.

On the boys’ side, Rams senior Abbas Salehpour finished first in the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard freestyle while teammate Eli Wang won the 100-yard backstroke. Salehpour and Wang also combined with Lucas Reid and John Bednarski for victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay, with the foursome of Salehpour, Reid, Achille Lorge, and Colin Xu also winning the 200-yard freestyle relay.

“Our boys team is much smaller than in year’s past, so it was really cool to see this small group of guys swim some of their personal best times to get the victory. It was a great meet,” added McClerkin.

Editor’s note: Todd Freed is the host and executive producer of H-Town High School Sports, which airs Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on CW39 and Monday-Thursday on AT&T SportsNet SW. To submit high school sports news for possible inclusion in SportzBuzz, please email [email protected].