The end of the warm season of sports means the start of even warmer gyms, as sports such as basketball, wrestling, and cheerleading come to a close. A total of 6 sports are played from the end of fall to the start of spring, and a large amount of success followed the months of preparation for each program.

Starting with the South Seven Champions, the Rams basketball team finished with a final record of 21-8 over the regular season, gaining the #1 seed and home-court advantage for a regional. Those weren’t the only accolades for the Rams, as they also picked up their 2000 all-time win in the Salem Invitational Tournament on January 20 against the Carbondale Terriers.

“Our season has been very successful and we ended the regular season as conference champions. Our goal was to win 20 games and win the conference, and we achieved both of those goals for the regular season,” stated shooting guard Colin McClure ‘23.

The Rams currently stand as regional champions, defeating the Herrin Tigers on February 24, before falling to the Triad Knights in Sectionals.

Last season, we talked about how revived the Rams football program was, but one program that doesn’t get enough attention on how much better they’ve become this season is our Regional Champion wrestling program, the first Regional Championship for the program since the 1993-94 season.

The Rams ended up sending 5 men, Rider Searcy ‘23, Mason Randall, ‘24, Maddux Randall, ‘24, Ethan Rivera, ‘23, Dillon White, ‘25, and 2 women, Faith Barrett, ‘24 and Hannah Younger, ‘25, to state this season.

Next, for the Rams bowling team, Hunter Schoenrock ‘23 averaged over 200 pins this season, Schoenrock being the player with the highest average of pins in Coach Brandon’s tenure with the team.

“I feel like as a whole, we were a very young team and had room for improvement, but after hard work and determination, they will eventually get there,” Schoenrock said.

Rockin’ Rams were awarded 1st place in the 2A Hip Hop division at the Marion Regional to qualify for the IDTA State Finals where they would place 2nd missing first by .8, while also putting on amazing performances such as the Boy/Girl dance for the game against Jerseyville and their Rescue routine, to bring awareness to the Texas shooting.

Rams Cheerleading sent their Varsity team to ICCA for the first time in three years. They also made their way to IHSA cheer sectionals, missing the advancement to state by .09, placing sixth in a top five teams advance system.

The Lady Rams basketball team is one of the most successful teams of all of our programs at MV. From winning three Regional Championships in a row, winning 26 games in one season, second in Lady Rams history, to having 27 straight conference wins, along with wins against Marion and Carbondale in the Regional Playoffs, the Lady Rams deserve the credit and attention they’ve been given and you could only expect more accomplishments to come in the future.

We at the Vernois News Sports Department are proud to have such an amazing season of sports here at MV, and we wish all these teams and coaches good luck in their future seasons. 

We would also like to congratulate and shine a spotlight on MV athletes Fischer Davis, Anthony Lash, and Clifton Gammons commitments on February 17 to become college athletes.