Weekend Recap | 12/8 - 12/9

If you missed anything from the weekend, make sure to head over to https://catholiccentralsports.com/ and check out this weekend's Cougar Sports Recap. 

We are trying to showcase each team’s competition over the weekend for everyone to see. If you are a parent and have photos you want to share with us, please reach out to Assistant Athletic Director Brian Ciluffo at brianciluffo@grcatholiccentral.org. We could always use more photos of our athletes!

The Cougar Winter Athletic season has come out with bang with most sports already in the heat of the competition. This past weekend was no different as we saw our busiest sports weekend of the winter season so far. Check out the updates below for each sport from the weekend packed schedule.

🏒 The Catholic Central Hockey team traveled to Gaylord this weekend to compete in the DIII Challenge at the Otsego Sportsplex. The Cougars came into their games with a 5-0 record, having just knocked off last year's state runner up East Grand Rapids by a score to 2-0. This weekend would be a true test for the Cougars with two games on the schedule.

In the first game on Friday, the Cougars took on defending champion Flint Powers, with the Cougars prevailing with a 3-1 win. Goals were scored by Senior Braylen Outwater, Senior Nate Sova, and Sophomore Karsten Karlander.

On Saturday, the Cougars took some time to learn the sport of curling prior to their second game against last year’s state quarterfinalist in Bay Reps Hockey (a Northern MI hockey Co-Op consisting of 8 schools based out of Traverse City St. Francis). In the nightcap on Saturday the Cougars fought tough but ultimately fell to the Reps by a score of 5-0. 

The Cougars record now stands at 6-1 and will be back in action this coming weekend with two games, both at Southside Ice Arena. On Friday, the Cougars will square off against Mona Shores at 7:30PM. And on Saturday, the Cougars will play against Byron Center, that game is scheduled to start at 2:00PM.

🤼   On Saturday the Cougar Grapplers traveled to Lansing Eastern to compete in the the 69th Annual Don Johnson Memorial Tournament. Despite being down some wrestlers due to injuries, the Cougars did not back down. Catholic Central sent 5 wrestlers to Lansing Eastern, with FOUR of them coming back with a placement in their respective weight division.

Peter Vu - 2nd place 106lbs

Dale Gant - 1st place 126lbs

Matiss McNally - 3rd place 144lbs

Lee Braun - 1st place 165 lbs

The Cougars will host the Catholic Central Quad on Wednesday, December 15th in the Downtown Gym against Plainwell, Hudson, and Lowell. The competition will begin at 4:30PM.

On Friday, The Junior Varsity wrestling team traveled to Tri-County to compete in the Tri-County Quad. Unfortunately, we did not have any results on record at the time of print in the Weekend Update.

🏀  Girls Basketball Wins all three to open their season! In a unique schedule, the Catholic Central Junior Varsity team played first on Friday night against the West Catholic Falcons. In a very intense game with fast moving action the Cougars were able to come away victorious by a score of 53-49.

In the second game, the Freshman team played against Belding’s Junior Varsity team. It was a no doubter for the Freshman team from the very beginning as they opened up the scoring with a 10-0 run and continued to put the pressure on Belding all evening while coming away victorious.

In the nightcap, the Varsity team came out of the gate running. The Cougars' ferocious defense played a pivotal role in knocking off the Black Knights. The Cougars scored early and often and finished with a 71-28 win in their home opener. Leading the way for the Cougars was Sophomore Hailey Durland and Junior Emily VanTimmeren, each with 17 points. The Varsity team will be back in action next week Saturday as they travel to Belleville for the Best of Michigan Showcase. The Cougars will play Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard and will tip off 12:30.

  🏊‍♂️ In their first meet of the season the Boys Swim & Dive team traveled to City High School for the GRPS City Sprints 2023. In an action packed event the Cougars had an awesome start at the meet this weekend!

In the prelude to the Sprints, the Dive team of Senior William Schwallier and Sophomore Josh Geer, who collectively placed 5th overall. When the Sprints started the relay team Senior Charlie Lindemann, Senior Andrew Brown, Junior Aiden Kasprzak, and Senior Sebastian Deimel landed in the Top 5 for two events. They placed 5th in the 200 Free Relay, 4th in the 200 Backstroke. The relay team consisting of Senior Charlie Lindemann, Senior Andrew Brown, Sophomore Adam Padron Balderas,, and Senior Sebastian Deimel and 5th in the 200 Fly Relay.

The Boys Swim & Dive team will be back in action on Tuesday, December 12th at East Grand Rapids. The Meet is scheduled to begin at 6:00PM.

🏀 Boys Basketball competes in “The Invite” at Calvin University. In the last event of the weekend for the Cougars the Boys Basketball team played at Calvin University against the Northview Wildcats. In a great event, in an amazing atmosphere, with limited cell service for updates, the Cougars dropped a heartbreaker to Northview after tying the game at 67 with just under 3 seconds left. After a timeout, the Wildcats were able to get an open shot as Northview hit a game winning 3 pointer as time expired.

Leading the way for the Cougars was Senior Durral “Phat Phat” Brooks, who finished with a game high 31 points in the loss. Chipping in with 15 points, while hitting key baskets at important times during the game was Sophomore Izaya Larthridge.

In the earlier action, both the Junior Varsity and Freshman team fell to Northview as well.

The Boys Basketball team will be back in action on Monday, December 18th as they play Grand Rapids Christian at Cornerstone University. All three levels will be playing with the Freshman team set to tipoff at 4:00PM, the Junior Varsity team set to tipoff at 5:30PM, and the Varsity team set to tipoff at 7:00PM.