With Super Bowl LIX (... that's 59 for all of us that don't know Roman numerals very well) taking place in The Big Easy today, I wanted to bring in a Super Bowl CHAMPION for some inspiring words. Hall of Fame running back & former Dallas Cowboy Emmitt Smith ... still the NFL's All-Time Leading Rusher with 18,355 yards dispersed over 15 seasons ... knew a thing or two about competition. I really like his take on it:

“I may win and I may lose, but I will never be defeated.”

Emmitt played a pivotal role in 3 Super Bowl Champion teams with Dallas in the 1990s, so he knew a thing or two about winning as well. Still, his quote on COMPETITION should resonate with the Brickies. Our student athletes were ALL IN this past week with the IHSAA Wrestling Regional, the IHSAA Girls Swimming & Diving Sectional (both taking place at HHS) and the IHSAA Girls Basketball Sectional. What can we say other than it was FEBRUARY MADNESS!! In the MADNESS, there were WINS and there were LOSSES, but with the EFFORT our Brickies put forth and the PRIDE they battled with, WE were not defeated :).

How 'bout them Brickies!!!! ... it's time for BricksCenter!

Boys

On Saturday, Hobart High School once again hosted the IHSAA Wrestling Regional for the 8th consecutive year ... and it was AWESOME!

The Brickies brought competitors in 13 out of 14 weight classes ... each one of them competing for a shot at advancing to next weekend's semi-state hosted by East Chicago Central High School. In order to advance, a wrestler must finish in the top 4 places. There was a lot on the line for our boys Saturday. Not only were they individually trying to advance to next weekend, but also collectively compete for a team title ... a race that came down to 3 teams ... Portage, Merrillville, and our Brickies. Here we go!

Brackets for each weight class included 8 competitors - the top 4 place winners from last weekend's sectional competitions at East Chicago and Portage. A win in the 1st round would guarantee a trip to the semi-state! On Saturday, 9 Brickies WON their 1st round match and advanced to next weekend!! In the semifinals, Hobart had 7 WINNERS advance to the championship round!!

Under the spotlight on the center mat, the Brickies saw 3 competitors get their hand raised by the official as a REGIONAL CHAMPION!! Senior Daniel McGill took an early lead @ 144-lbs and WON BY FALL midway through the 2nd period!! Junior Aiden Granger DOMINATED his opponent @ 190-lbs and earned a tech fall with a 17-1 VICTORY!! In the final match of the afternoon, senior Luke Juris secured a THRILLING 5-3 WIN in the heavyweight division!! SIMPLY OUTSTANDING!!

It was a GREAT DAY to be a BRICKIE ... SO EXCITING ... WHAT A PERFORMANCE by our boys!!

9 Semi-state qualifiers ... 3 REGIONAL CHAMPIONS! Portage actually crowned the most individual champions on the day with 5 in a balanced field of competitors ... and will send 10 on to next week's semistate ... to earn their 1st team championship since 2018 and 20th in school history with 187 points. The Brickies finished 2nd overall with 152 points ahead of 3rd place Merrillville (143.5 points). WHAT A DAY!

Here are your Brickie SEMI-STATE QUALIFIERS:

113 - sophomore Blake Doeing - 3rd place

120 - senior Daniel Mata - Regional RUNNER-UP

126 - senior Seth Aubin - Regional RUNNER-UP

144 - senior Daniel McGill - REGIONAL CHAMPION

157 - senior Dominic Rivera - 4th place

175 - junior Hayden Mancilla - Regional RUNNER-UP

190 - junior Aiden Granger - REGIONAL CHAMPION

215 - senior Deacon Caesar - Regional RUNNER-UP

285 - senior Luke Juris - REGIONAL CHAMPION

The next stop in the IHSAA Tournament Series is the East Chicago SEMI-STATE!

To quote former White Sox announcer Ken 'Hawk' Harrelson, "DON'T STOP NOW BOYS!!!"

#WORKWORKWORK

Girls

Well folks ... this was SECTIONAL WEEK for the Lady Brickies! The Hobart High School Aquatics Center was the site for the 51st Annual IHSAA Girls Sectional prelims and finals ... and all I can say is THESE GIRLS WERE ON FIRE!!!! (Thank you Alicia Keys)

The IHSAA organizes it's sectional competition into 2 sessions ... preliminary swimming heats are held on Thursday night to determine consolation and final races, which take place on Saturday afternoon. The diving competition occurs entirely on Saturday with each girl diving 8 times in the morning ... and then three more that afternoon to reach a total of 11 dives for their score. There are no "regionals" or "semi-state" in swimming, competitors that either place 1st in their event or achieve a qualifying time advance directly to the STATE FINALS held next weekend in Indianapolis. For diving, the top 4 scorers advance to a mid-week regional ... hosted by Valparaiso High School ... and the top 8 from regionals move on to STATE.

Ok, now that we've got the basics ... how did the Lady Brickies do? AMAZING!!!

Out of 14 teams in attendance, Hobart placed 6th OVERALL with a team total of 139 points!

Chesterton won 7 of the 12 events to claim the title ... barely outdistancing rival Valparaiso, which won the other 5 events, 547-517. WOW!

Some highlights from the swimming portion of the 2-day competition include sophomore Cassie Owens dropping nearly 10 seconds off her previous lifetime best performances when combining her two individual events (200 IM & 100 Back) and earning a podium finish (6th in 100 Back) ... the Lady Brickie 200 Medley Relay composed of Owens, senior Brogan McDonald, junior Cassie Cohen & freshman Jurnee Woods finishing on the podium in 7th ... the 200 Free Relay finishing 6th behind strong performances by McDonald, Cohen, Owens & sophomore Marisa Salamanca ... and the Hobart 400 Free Relay team earning an 8th place finish with Salamanca, Woods and sophomores Kylie Bulatovich & Trinity Garcia dropping a whopping 20 seconds for a season best time!! In fact, out of 24 opportunities spread out over 11 swimming events at Thursday's prelims, our girls hit a LIFETIME BEST in 17! ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!!

On the diving board, junior Ellie Crespo earned a spot on the podium with a lifetime best score of 314.90 to earn 6th place overall! In just her 2nd year diving, her score this year was nearly 100 points higher than a year ago when she finished 12th ... UNBELIEVABLE!! Junior Kacey Fleming & freshman Abigail Rinas were also fantastic and finished 9th and 10th!

What a PHENOMENAL performance by the Lady Brickies! Legendary basketball coach John Wooden used to say, "Be at your best when your best is needed." MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

GREAT JOB GIRLS! YOU MAKE US VERY PROUD!!

Here are results from the IHSAA Sectional Finals on Saturday:

200 yd Medley Relay - 7th place = McDonald, Cohen, Owens & Woods

200 yd Free - 10th place = Owens,14th place = McDonald

200 yd IM - 15th place = Garcia

1 M Diving - 6th = Crespo, 9th = Fleming, 10th = Rinas

100 yd Fly - 14th = Cohen

500 yd Free - 12th = McDonald

200 yd Free Relay - 6th = McDonald, Cohen, Owens & Salamanca

100 yd Back - 6th = Owens

100 yd Breast - 12th = Cohen

400 yd Free Relay - 8th = Bulatovich, Garcia, Woods & Salamanca

#GIRLSJUSTWANNAHAVEFUN

Boys

The boys had zero meets this past week due to the girls competing in the sectional ...so they served as official timers on Thursday & Saturday! They will DIVE into their own IHSAA Sectional competition in about 10 days over at Valparaiso High School. GOOD LUCK BOYS!!

#LETSHEARITFORTHEBOYS

Girls

The 50th Annual IHSAA Girls State Tournament tipped off on Tuesday night over at Chesterton High School. A week ago when the ping-pong balls were pulled at the IHSAA headquarters in Indianapolis, the Brickies got a tough draw playing the sectional favorite Valparaiso Vikings ...a team that entered the post-season with a record of 15-7 and a 3-0 mark against sectional teams with an average win margin of 31.67 points per game. Wow. Unfortunately for our girls, the Vikings were as good as advertised, jumped out to a 32-5 1st quarter lead and didn't look back. Needless to say, it was a tough night for the Brickies, but I'd like to look back at what 3-time Super Bowl Champion Emmitt Smith said in the intro ... "I may win and I may lose, but I will never be defeated". Our girls lost the game, but they were never defeated. To their credit, they gave it everything they had ...particularly in the 2nd half when the game was no longer in doubt. In fact, Hobart WON the 2nd half over Valparaiso 21-18. The final score of 64-33 was not what we were hoping for, but our girls played HARD until the final buzzer sounded, leaving it all on the floor ... again, we may have lost, but we weren't defeated. Junior Cali Bliss scored a team-high 8 points for the Brickies ... seniors Kyla Butler & Audrey Wendel each added 6 ...and junior Aalliah Otero recorded 5 steals in the loss.

The sectional loss closes the book on the girls season, but we'd like to thank our seniors - Hallie Pendleton, Ladan Weinman, Kyla Butler, Taylor Pope & Audrey Wendel for everything they did on the court these last 4 years and for playing with PRIDE each time out there! We love you girls!!

#SHEGOTGAME

Boys

Thursday night, the Kougars from Kankakee Valley rolled into town for a HUGE Northwest Crossroads Conference SHOWDOWN! In the early going, the Bricks were clicking on ALL CYLINDERS as our boys jumped out to a 13-3 lead!! A timeout by the visitors to regroup worked well as KV closed the gap to just 13-10 by the end of the first period. Over the next 16 minutes of play spanning 2 quarters, the Kougars moved in front 42-37. In the 4th period, Hobart BATTLED and tried desperately to claw back into it ... going toe-to-toe with the conference rival, but ultimately couldn't get over the hump and lost a tough one 64-58. Senior Aidan Leonard recorded another double-double with 19 pts & 10 rebs. Junior Ryan Basham scored 14 and sophomore Paxson Hicko added 10 in the NCC loss.

The Brickies are currently 7-11 overall and 1-3 in conference play. Hobart will host Valparaiso on Tuesday and Andrean on Thursday. GO GET 'EM BOYS!!

#BALLISLIFE

On Thursday, the Lady Brickies hit the road for LaPorte County to join 3 other teams at LaPorte High School for competition! Although Hobart did not factor into the team scoring, the individuals there representing H-town MADE US PROUD!! Sophomores Avrie Robb & Kaya Goodpaster SHINED BRIGHT placing 3rd & 5th overall in the All-Around competition! Avrie finished 3rd on vault, 4th on bars, 5th on beam and 5th on floor! Kaya was 2nd on beam, 6th on vault & floor and 8th on bars! Senior Elizabeth Crespo joined Avrie & Kaya in the Slicer Fieldhouse and tied for 3rd overall on the vault!! GREAT JOB!!

Next up for our tumblers is SENIOR NIGHT on Monday for their only competition of the week! GOOD LUCK LADIES!!

#STICKIT

On average, only about 7% high school athletes get the chance to compete at the next level. Whether it is the NCAA (I, II & III), NAIA or the Junior College level, it's SPECIAL! So, when our Brickies get that opportunity, we CELEBRATE!!

Wednesday evening, Brickie senior Zander Lankford signed his letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic career at Valparaiso University! Zander, a standout performer for our football team, will kick & punt for the Beacons next year! Valparaiso is a member of the NCAA Division 1 Football Championship Subdivision and competes in the PFL (Pioneer Football League).

Zander is a 4-time letterwinner and in 2024 was named 1st Team ALL-NCC, IFCA Class 4A All-State, Region 1 All-Star & Academic All-State! He was also recognized as an All-Area punter in both the NWI Times and Post Tribune!! WOW!

CONGRATULATIONS ZANDER!! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU AND EXTREMELY EXCITED TO SEE WHAT YOU DO AT THE NEXT LEVEL!!

#COLLEGE

Congratulations to our December and January Brickie Athletes of the Month! THANK YOU to our coaching staff for submitting so many nominations!

December:

Aiden Bailey - Boys Diving

Gaby Robles - Girls Wrestling

January:

Kyla Butler - Girls Basketball

Joanna Cantu - Girls Wrestling

Durgon Click - Boys Swimming

Dominic Rivera - Boys Wrestling

Keep up the great WORK, WORK, WORK!

#EXCELLENTONPURPOSE

Gymnastics vs. Portage/Lowell (SENIOR NIGHT)

9th Boys Basketball VS. Illiana Christian

Tuesday

Boys Basketball vs. Valparaiso

Girls Diving Regional (Hosted by Valparaiso High School)

Wednesday

9th Boys Basketball @ LaPorte

Thursday

Boys Basketball vs. Andrean *

Friday

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Saturday

Boys Wrestling @ IHSAA SEMISTATE (Hosted by East Chicago Central High School)

* = NCC Opponent