McMaster wins four straight meets in preparation for their upcoming playoff stretch
The McMaster University wrestling team remains undefeated after consecutive team victories at four meets to open their season. Displaying the deep depth of talent across their roster, the Marauders picked up 16 gold medals to rank nationally as the third and sixth best men and women’s teams respectively.
At the McMaster Invitational in November, their first meet of the year, the Marauders placed first overall. Combining for 13 medals and 85 points, both the men and women’s teams put forward dominant efforts to defend home territory and started the year off strong.
The team went on to top their meets at the Toronto Metropolitan University Invitational and the York Open, both of which took place in November. Of their 22 medals from both events, 10 came from members of this year’s recruitment class, who have quickly impressed thus far with their ability to compete with university talent.
First year sensation Gregor McNeil earned the title of U Sports men’s wrestling athlete of the week on Nov. 16 following a three match sweep at TMU. In the 61kg finals, McNeil earned the win 10 to zero against Brock veteran Garette Saunders, a former U Sports silver medalist in the 54kg and 57kg events.
A similar standout on the women’s side, rookie Serena Di Benedetto collected three gold medals in her matches at McMaster, TMU and York. Having gone undefeated at these invitationals, Di Bennedetto was awarded the U Sports women’s wrestling athlete of the week on Nov. 23.
In their last event of 2022, the team also competed at the Hamilton Wrestling Club for the Ontario Senior Open at Brock University. Wrestling at Canada Games Park, the Marauders were outstanding, finishing 18 points above the silver medaling London-Western WC in a dazzling collective performance.
“Although wrestling is an individual sport, there’s also a really big team aspect because you have to keep each other accountable . . . I think our team is just extremely strong this year, better than any team we’ve had previous,” said Di Bennedetto.
Gold medalists for the meet include Di Bennedetto (53kg), Olivia Lichti (59kg) and Karanveer Mahil (125kg), all of whom are newly recruited to McMaster’s flourishing wrestling program this year.
Following their showing at the Ontario Senior Open, the maroon and grey team continued their stretch of appearances inside the U Sports power rankings. The men’s team is currently placed third with 40 points behind the Alberta Golden Bears and Brock Badgers. The women’s team is ranked sixth in the country with 26 points.
“All the other athletes are very inviting. That’s the main [reason] why I chose this school over the other ones. The family that they have going on is really good . . . Just this first year’s been fun so far,” said Mahil.
Individually, Di Bennedetto, McNeil and Mahil are ranked first in the women’s 53kg and men’s 61kg and 125kg weight classes respectively. Other notable Marauders include third place ranking athletes Macy Malysiak (59kg), Similoluwa Jayeoba (72kg), Howard Moffatt (90kg) and Omogbai Asekomhe (100kg).
Up next, the team will travel to St. Catharines to compete at the Brock Invitational on Jan. 14. The Marauders will then take the mats at the Guelph Open on Jan. 22 before finishing the campaign in London for the Junior Provincials and the Western Open on Jan. 28 and 29.
Their success so far this season sets McMaster up to improve upon last year’s silver medal finish at the Ontario University Athletics playoffs on Feb. 11.
For the first time ever, the McMaster women’s basketball team have brought the Bronze Baby home.
It has been a long time coming for Burns, but so worth the wait. The head coach has been with the Marauders for the last 29 years and has yet to win it all like she did this past weekend.
Ending the regular season 21-3, the Marauders turned up the intensity and remained undefeated in the postseason. For Burns, competing and winning at this level was something the team knew they could do from before the season even started.
"We believed we could do it. It's been the mindset all year,” said Burns. “Then, as the year went on and we continued to build, we got better as it went."
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="254" gal_title="Womens Basketball National Championship"]
The U Sports women’s basketball Final 8 festivities kicked off with the annual All-Canadian gala. McMaster veteran Hilary Hanaka made Mac proud, taking home the Sylvia Sweeney Award for Student-Athlete Community Service for her outstanding contributions both on and off the court.
Hanaka is well known for her leadership on the court, but off the court, her work with McMaster Athletes Care, Varsity Leadership Council, McMaster Women’s Athletic Leadership Council, Neighbourhood Hoops Program, Flamborough Fire basketball and St. Mary’s Catholic High School, all contributed in her earning the honour. The All-Canadian was also named a U Sports Second Team All-Star that night.
With the awards wrapped up, the Marauders hit the court for the first game of the tournament, a quarter-final matchup against the Concordia University Stingers. Mac superstar Sarah Gates put up a career high of 32 points and the Marauders took down the Stingers in a dominant 86-68 victory.
Next, McMaster faced the third-ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies, advancing to the final game with a 73-66 win. When Laval defeated the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 60-56 in their own semifinal game, the stage for finals was set.
🚺🏀 | @McMasterSports head coach Theresa Burns shares her thoughts on what today’s historic semifinal victory meant to her team and her program as a whole. #ChampSZN pic.twitter.com/31BW7KrE76
— U SPORTS Basketball (@USPORTS_Bball) March 9, 2019
Heading into nationals, the Rouge et Or were ranked number one due to their nearly perfect season, with only one loss to McGill University, while the Marauders ranked second. With the story of Laval’s Khaléann Caron-Goudreau’s journey airing on Sportsnet’s pregame, it was very clear who the favourite was perceived to be. Yet, quickly after the whistle blew, it was obvious that the Marauders were not ready to go home without what they came for.
The first quarter was low scoring, as not only were both the Marauders and the Rouge et Or playing strong defense, but they also struggled to hit wide-open shots. By the end of the first quarter, Mac was up 11-10, but that was the last time that they would lead the game until the third quarter.
Sarah-Jane Marois of Laval got hot in the second quarter, finding and making shots to help Laval lead at the half, contributing 13 points in the quarter. The impact of Marois’ ability to hit shots that both teams struggled with earlier made the Marauders head into the half down 27-33.
“The game plan is to always be as tough as we can be defensively, stay positive, and no matter what happens, you just keep picking each other up and good things will happen,” Burns said. “They’re just so resilient. We’re playing a good team, we’re playing No.1 in the country, so they’re going to get their runs, they’re going to score. But when we bent we didn’t break.”
The thing about bending is that there is always a snapback, and snapback they did. Coming into the third regrouped and focused, the Marauders began to play at a different level. Linnaea Harper started off the third quarter strong with a three, followed by a Gates’ layup that helped the Marauders cut the lead to 33-32 in the first minute.
Mac led again for the first time since the first in the third quarter, thanks to consistency from Gates, Harper, Hanaka and most importantly, Christina Buttenham. Buttenham, who went on to be named the player of the game, contributed both offensively and defensively for the team throughout the entire matchup. Buttenham had 13 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three blocks that left her grinning from ear to ear.
Ensuring the Marauders would not fall behind again, Buttenham not only stole the ball but scored off a rebound, helping the Marauders go into the fourth 44-44. Starting the fourth from the free-throw line, the Marauders led throughout. But it was the laugh from regularly composed head coach Burns after Harper’s off-balance shot gave Mac a 10-point lead that made the Marauders and fans watching know that they had sealed the deal.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu2n2Q1BJOE/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Not only did the women’s team make Marauder history, they finally were able to give Burns the one thing she has been chasing for 29 years.
“To be able to do this after five years, in my last year is so amazing,” said Harper, the tournament’s most valuable player. “This also means the world to [coach Burns] she’s been doing this for 25-plus years, and to finally make it to the National Championship and win, we’re so happy to do this for her.”
Harper and Gates both contributed 18 points while the eldest Hanaka brought in 12. Laval may have had the U Sports Player of the Year Marois on their side, but the Marauders beat the odds and reminded us exactly what hard work can do.
🏆CHAMPIONS🏆
Women’s Final 8️⃣: @McMasterSports ⛹️♀️ wins their first 🏆 title 🥳
Le 8️⃣ Ultime ⛹️♀️ : Premier titre national pour les Marauders de McMaster 👏
🔗 EN: https://t.co/griQQinYgH // 🔗 FR: https://t.co/NehCE8xrll#ChampSZN pic.twitter.com/jEI5IAhAX3
— U SPORTS (@USPORTSca) March 11, 2019
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
Both the men's volleyball team and women's basketball team took the weekend by storm with two victories each, while the men's basketball and women's volleyball teams won one out of their two games. Here are the stars of the weekend.
The second-year is no stranger to the Pita Pit Athlete of the Week award, most recently winning the weekend honour on Nov. 15, 2018, when she scored a career-high of 24 points. This weekend, she poured in 19 points for the Marauders in both of the team’s wins. Gates who was called to the 2018 Ontario University Athletics All-Rookie team, shot 50 per cent from the field and 40 per cent from the three, as well as collecting four rebounds in the win over Wilfrid Laurier University. Against the University of Guelph, she hit three of eight shots from three, and gave the team four steals and four rebounds.
Right side @MattColeP from @MACMVB and @macwbball guard Sarah Gates are the @PitaPitCanada Athletes of the Week. @mcmasteru #GoMacGo
READ ⬇️https://t.co/u7nAO5cvSh
— McMaster Marauders (@McMasterSports) January 14, 2019
After sitting out due to injury, Passalent hit the court for the first time of the regular season and did not miss a beat, being recognized as the Pita Pit Athlete of the Week for his efforts. Facing two U Sports top-10 opponents this weekend, the Marauders took home two victories and Passalent was a big part of both. The fourth-year had 10 kills, two aces and a block assist for 12.5 points Saturday against University of Windsor, and 15 kills and 18.5 points against Western University, which bumped them up to #4 in the national rankings.
There are 4️⃣ @mcmasteru teams ranked in this week's @usportsca Top 10s, with @MACMVB and men's wrestling both moving up two spots!
♂️🏐⬆️4️⃣
♀️🏀↔️4️⃣
🤼♂️⬆️6️⃣
🤼♀️↔️9️⃣#GoMacGo pic.twitter.com/qqPgOWV8jK— McMaster Marauders (@McMasterSports) January 15, 2019
In the Marauders’ second victory of the New Year, coming against the Guelph Gryphons, McCulloch contributed 23 points shooting 64 per cent from the field. The 97-80 road win seemed like just the fire the Marauders needed to bring it home and win again. Unfortunately, the Laurier Golden Hawks had other plans. Despite the fifth-year guard being the second highest leading scorer of the game with 15 points, the Golden Hawks came for revenge and defeated the Marauders 87-73 at home.
Narin led the Marauders offensively in both games against Windsor and Western this weekend. With 17 kills and 23 points, including five aces and a solo block, she helped Mac defeat Western on Saturday night in the fifth set. Narin, a right side, also led offensively the night before in the loss to Windsor, with 14 kills, three aces and a block assist for a team- and match-high 17.5 points.
This weekend McMaster basketball will face the Lakehead University Timberwolves in back-to-back home games this weekend, with the women playing at 6:00 p.m. and the men at 8:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Both volleyball teams will then take over Burridge on Sunday, as the women and men host the Brock University Badgers this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. respectively.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
In addition to the OUA title repeat, Mac also set a CIS record for consecutive victories with 20, a mark previously held by the 2004-2005 Laval Rouge et Or.
Defense was the story for the Maroon and Grey as they picked off Guelph’s second-year sensation, quarterback Jazz Lindsey, three times.
Receiver Michael DiCroce continued to impress, as McMaster’s leading receiver in the game. Tailback Kasean Davis made his return to the field from injury, sharing carries with Tanner Forsyth for a strong team rushing performance.
Mac will now move on to the Mitchell Bowl, where they'll play the University of Calgary Dinos, who beat Regina in Saturday's Hardy Cup game out west.
In what has been a record-breaking season for the Marauders, there is room for even more history.
The sell-out crowd of 5,427 at Ron Joyce made sure to honor their team, rushing the field as the clock wound down. A large crowd congregated at centre field after the game as fireworks were set off atop Hedden Hall.
The celebration must be short lived, as the Vanier Cup is once again within arms reach.
