Hockey, Crew, Swimming and Golf state championships highlight early accomplishments
By Erik T. Masingill ’12 & Michael Moroney ’13
THE ROUNDUP
Football
This year’s Brophy football team finished the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record and an overall record of 11-1.
The last team to have an undefeated regular season was the 1978 team.
The Broncos won their first playoff game over Mountain Pointe 28-3 Friday, Nov. 4, but lost to Basha 32-29 in the quarterfinals the following week Nov. 10.
For three consecutive years, the Broncos have reached the quarterfinals in the playoffs.
However, head coach Mr. Scooter Molander said the season concluded at the wrong time.
“It was a very good year that ended too quickly,” Mr. Molander said. “I was really proud of our guys’ efforts in the offseason. We had a perfect season going, and we got upset in the quarterfinals 32-29. But I’ll always remember that season as a very special one, one in which I believe the guys really bonded well together and got back to playing Brophy football.”
Mr. Molander said the team also stood out from his other previous coached teams.
“I believe the explosiveness of the offense and the defense for that matter,” he said. “I think anytime your starters are not playing the second half because you’re blowing teams out, I mean that says we’re pretty good so I’ll remember those two things.”
Golf
The Brophy golf team brought home a second fall state championship by winning the 2011 state golf championship.
The team ended the tournament with a score of 561, in front of Desert Vista and Hamilton.
Tyler Kertson ’13 finished first for the Brophy squad by scoring a 66 on the first day and a 69 on the second. He finished fifth overall in the tournament and was named to the All-Arizona team.
“Leading the team was a great experience,” Kertson said. “We had a great team and we were consistent so I think we really deserved it.”
Swimming
In late November, the swim team won its 24th consecutive state title after Chris Webb ’12 won the gold medal in the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle and Mike Nelson ’12 won the 100 breaststroke for the second consecutive year.
“We have such a strong team. Our strength is that we brought 19 kids to state and most other schools score only three kids for state,” said head coach Mr. Pat O’Neill.
The Broncos won each of their dual meets through the 2011 season. Webb was also named the Arizona Boys High School Swimmer of the Year.
Crew
After capturing the second consecutive crew state championship with the Broncos, rower Matt Nelson ’12 said chances of success in the next few years are bright.
“We’ve been doing well,” he said. “We had a lot of sophomores and good juniors, and we have two or three seniors, so it’s going to be good in the next couple of years.”
Nelson said the recent success of the crew team has brought a new shed of light for the rowers.
“It’s definitely been a change of pace,” he said. “Normally, we’ve been rowing under a club team, and then to go to Brophy and then win the state championship, it’s been cool.”
Wrestling
After six Broncos qualified for the competition, Brophy’s wrestling squad finished 14th overall in the Division I state wrestling meet.
Marshall Varner ’13 finished second overall in the 152-pound weight class while Austin Schmidt ’12 finished sixth in the 145-pound class.
Also of note, head coach Mr. Brad Frank got his 200th dual meet victory this season on Jan. 18 with a win over South Mountain, Caesar Chavez and North.
Basketball
Similar to the football team, the basketball team reached the quarterfinals in the playoffs before elimination.
The team finished with an overall record of 23-8. The Broncos entered the playoffs as a No. 9 seed, defeating No. 24 Cienega 62-34 and No. 8 Westview 73-64 before losing to the eventual state champion, No. 1 Corona 69-54.
Head coach Mr. Tony Fuller said the season’s results went beyond expectations.
“Great season; never a problem with anybody attitude-wise,” he said. “The guys played hard, they played together, they tried and won 23 games which no one thought we would do.”
“This was supposed to be a rebuilding year everybody thought, but we went 23-8, came in second place in our Thanksgiving tournament, we won our Christmas tournament and we made it to the elite 8 of Division I,” he said. “You can play a lot of seasons and not win 23 games, so I take my hat off to the group. I hate to lose these seniors because they did a magnificent job.”
Mr. Fuller said the seniors brought attention to the Brophy basketball program.
“I think Brophy has been known as a football school,” he said. “Football, swimming, tennis and not really known for being a basketball school. Now I go around different places in the Valley, and people talk about Brophy basketball, so that’s a credit to them. They kind have turned that tide a little bit.”
Soccer
The Brophy soccer team began the 2011-2012 season with a No. 2 national ranking, according to ESPN, a year after winning the state championship.
The Broncos finished the season with a record of 20-2-1, their only loss coming at the hands of the Hamilton Huskies in the state championship. Brophy lost in double overtime 2-1.
“We played relentlessly the whole match, they just got lucky in the end,” said head coach Mr. Marc Kelly ’87. “I was really impressed with our effort.”
Riggs Lennon ’13 was named the Arizona Big Schools’ Player of the Year after breaking the Brophy scoring record with 51 goals.
Hockey
After a 16-5-2 record season for the Broncos, the team won its first state title in school history with a 5-2 victory over the Pinnacle Pioneers.
The Broncos entered the playoffs with their first ever No. 1 seeding. The team had 27 days in between their last game of the season and the first game of the playoffs.
However, the Broncos defeated Desert Vista 6-1 in the semifinals March 10 and Pinnacle the day after to hoist their first hockey championship.
“Despite the fact that we woke up at 6 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays every week, it was great because we worked hard, and it all paid off at the end of the season,” said Ryan Beneduce ’12 of the entire season.
Beneduce said the team’s third-place finish in Nationals was a fun ride aside from the ending.
“I feel like it (nationals) ended on a sour note, but the rest of the tournament was pretty good,” he said. “We killed a couple of teams 13-0, and I think it was a good way to end the season.”
Beneduce also said he wouldn’t mind seeing the team next year win their second consecutive state championship.
“Back-to-back state champs, go for it,” he said.
Lacrosse
As of April 4, the lacrosse team is 11-0 in the regular season with one outside loss to Regis Jesuit, Colorado.
The Broncos have allowed 28 goals in those 11 regular season games while scoring 165 goals.
They currently have the No. 1 seed for the playoffs, which were set to begin April 23.
The Broncos, though, have seven season games left before April 23.
“I think we’ve been successful so far,” said Nic Latham ’12. “We’ve played a lot smarter than we’ve had years in the past. We’ve got a good group of guys that are all working hard and want to play.”
The Broncos will attempt to win their second state championship in their past three seasons.
Baseball
As of April 26, the baseball team finished the regular season with a 19-7 record and will play their first playoff game Tueday, May 1.
The Broncos also earned a first-round bye in the tournament.
Head coach Mr. Tom Succow said the season has been positive so far aside from the five losses and that the team is one of his top three all-time favorite of his coached teams.
“Love the members on the team,” he said. “I think it’s been a fun season. They’re a great group of kids to be around, and I enjoy going to practice every day.”
Mr. Succow said the team has let a couple of potential wins slip away from them as well.
“I’m a little disappointed about the 13-5 (the team’s record at the time of the interview). The first Horizon game, we had an opportunity to win. I thought we should have won the first Sandra Day O’ Connor game.
“Those are two power-point games that I thought got away from us a little bit, but overall as of this morning, we’re first in our section in power-points, and we’re in the top eight or nine in power-points overall.”
Mr. Succow also said the Broncos face more difficult opponents in these last eight games.
“But our toughest part of our schedule in coming up,” he said. “We have Hamilton next Tuesday, couple games against St. Mary’s, and they’ve won 16 games.”
Volleyball
The Brophy volleyball team had multiple starters return this season including Nick Benson ’12, Carson Westerfield ’12 and Jake Kufel ’13.
“Fortunately for us, all the guys we lost weren’t our best player or our leader, Nick Benson,” said head coach Mr. Tony Oldani. “He’s been remarkable since he’s been here.”
So far the Broncos have traveled to the Best of the West Tournament and an annual Las Vegas tournament, where they went 7-2 and placed second.
The Broncos also hosted the Brophy Invite on April 14-15 and placed third. The Gilbert Tigers won the tournament.
Tennis
A year after finishing second in the state tournament, the Brophy tennis team returns many of its top players from last year’s team.
The Broncos have Hudson Blake ’13, Alexander Curtis ’12, Max Oppedahl ’12 and Logan Hall ’14 returning.
The Broncos will be without top player Kyle Chalmers ’13, who tore his ACL in a late-March match. Despite this loss, Brophy has already beaten last year’s state champion Salpointe.
“Losing Kyle is tough but I think myself and the other guys can help us go as far as we can in the state tournament,” Blake said.
Track
A year after the Brophy track team won their first ever state championship, the team returns multiple record-breaking runners.
At the Chandler Rotary meet, both Devon Allen ’13 and Bobby Grant ’14 set new hurdles records.
Allen ran the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 13.62, good enough for an Arizona state record, and Grant ran the second best sophomore time in the U.S. for the 300-meter hurdles.
The Broncos will travel to Arcadia, Calif. for the Arcadia Invitational and then will compete in the state meet in late May.
