Congratulations to our Irish Grapplers as they earned their 22nd Metro Championship! The young men blew away the competition defeating second place Roosevelt by 120 points! The Irish had 8 wrestlers in the finals and 5 Champions! Dominic Gjurasic, Skylar Kloth, Jack Markowitz, Dustyn Camacho, and Chris Manning all took home the Gold while Nate Balinbin, Alan Badley and Marcutio Hamaker came away with 2nd place finishes. Overall, the Irish advance 22 wrestlers to the Regional Tournament, this Saturday, February 11th at 10AM at Chief Sealth High School.

In individual accolades, Jack Markowitz won the Outstanding Wrestler award for the Metro League in the upper weights, O’Dea alum Derek Lopez won the Metro Coach of the Year award for his work at Rainier Beach HS, and O’Dea alum Coach Balinbin was awarded the Metro Assistant Coach of the Year. Great job to all the wrestlers, parents, fans, and coaches! Go Irish and Go Grapplers!

Congratulations to the Fighting Irish Freshman Basketball team on winning the O’Dea Freshman Tournament yet again!  The young hoopers finished their season with an impressive 19-1 record.  The future is looking bright!  Go Irish!

The 2017 March for Life saw a delegation of O’Dea students representing our school’s commitment to life! The all day field trip to our State Capitol brought us in contact with so many O’Dea Alumni and fellow Catholic schools. Our boys got to see and be part of the thousands of people who attended the March, and listen to their Legislators and Senators speak on the importance of this issue.

On senior night, the O’Dea wrestlers put on a display against the Ballard Beavers winning 69-9. All the senior wrestlers (Crisanto deGuzman, Nick Holbrook, Dominic Gjurasic and Marcutio Hamaker) pinned their opponents while senior Chris Manning picked up a forfeit. Joining them was Freshman Kila Robinson who kicked off the match, pinning his opponent in the first round and Jack Markowitz who pinned his opponent in the 195lb weight class. Nate Balinbin shut out his opponent in a Technical Fall (Mercy Rule) 15-0 and Alan Badley posted a major decision with a 14-0 victory. Seniors, we are proud of you. Go Irish!

The Irish Swim Team took an exciting team training trip over the Christmas break to Whitman College in Walla Walla. Twenty-six team members participated in tough practice sessions and an Invitational meet at Whitman. It turned out to be a terrific opportunity for the boys. In addition to elevating team fitness, they did some fun team bonding activities planned by Coach Schutte. During the trip, the Fighting Irish won first place at the Winter Invitational meet against several 4A schools. At the meet, the Irish earned two new 3A State qualifying cuts in the Medley Relay and the 200 Individual Medley! Also, freshman Nathan Hayes had an exceptional individual performance, winning the 200 IM with a 2:01.27. He was the first leg of the 200 Medley Relay that qualified for State and his backstroke split was a quick 25.45. Congratulations to Irish for a very successful trip!