The 2024-25 Herald Cup: No. 4 IC Catholic Prep
Editor’s note: Now that the 2024-25 high school sports year is over, it’s time to announce the top schools in the Herald Cup standings. We devised a points system based on team state finishes to measure which of the 80-plus high schools from the Daily Herald circulation area had the best athletic year. We’ll announce the top five small schools this week, one per day, with No. 5 on Monday through No. 1 on Friday. The top five large schools will be revealed next week.
IC Catholic Prep made a home for itself on the mat and diamond, earning a state championship in boys wrestling and a sectional title in softball.
The hardware helped the Knights secure fourth place in the 2024-25 Herald Cup small school standings with 50 points that were calculated by weighing team finishes throughout the fall, winter, and spring.
How they got there
IC Catholic turned heads in the Illinois wrestling world by winning the Chicago Catholic League Wrestling Championship in January, topping traditional powerhouses like Montini and Marmion Academy. The Knights won the Class 2A DePaul College Prep regional with 294 team points and then dominated sectionals at Crystal Lake Central, winning six titles and qualifying 12 of 13 wrestlers for the state tournament.
In the dual team quarterfinal matchup, IC Catholic topped Geneseo 47-22 and then got revenge on Montini, the school that knocked it out of the postseason last year. The Knights mustered a 29-27 victory over the Broncos after a win in the final match of the dual. The title bout against Washington was hardly as dramatic. IC Catholic won 46-17 to earn its first IHSA dual team state final.
IC Catholic’s softball team cruised to a 2A regional title with an 18-0 win, then followed up four days later with another shutout win over Lisle in the sectional semifinals. The Knights posted 10 runs in the championship for the sectional crown. In the supersectional against North Boone, IC Catholic rallied for six unanswered runs over the final two innings before falling 7-6.
Who made it happen
Freshman Jacob Alvarez won his 138-pound dual team matchup, the final match of the night, to give the Knights a crucial three points to win the state semifinal. Max Cumbee (126 pounds), Deven Casey (132 pounds) and Brody Kelly (175 pounds) each won their respective weight classes. The title was Casey’s second in a row.
Sophomore infielder Lexi Russ and junior pitcher Maddy Dinino each earned a 2A second-team all-state nod from the Illinois Softball Coaches Association. Teammates Sofia Bucaro and Kelly Cahill were featured on the third team.
In the sectional semifinals, Dinino threw a complete game, highlighted by nine strikeouts, while Cahill knocked in three runs on three hits. In the supersectional, Russ and Bucaro combined for three hits and a trio of runs scored.
Key stats
Russ, who set a freshman program record for hits last season, followed up with a 51-hit campaign and a team-high 60 runs driven in. Dinino posted a 16-10 record and a 3.46 ERA in the circle.
Bucaro led the squad with a .486 batting average, .591 on base percentage and 44 stolen bases. Cahill topped the team with 18 doubles, five triples and a .736 slugging percentage.
IC Catholic won its wrestling regional by 88.5 points. Casey finished his high school career with a 140-20 record. He will wrestle at Penn next season. Alvarez outscored his opponents 43-7 over his three matches in the dual team finals.
Key fact
The Knights’ wrestling team overcame deficits of 27-17 in the semifinal and 14-0 in the championship. In the title matchup, IC Catholic won 10 of the final 11 matches.
The softball team registered seven shutouts, including four in a row during the postseason. The Knights’ offense plated double-digit runs 10 times.
They said it
“I knew if I was tired, then he was just as tired, and there was no way after all the work I’ve put in that I was going to lose that match.” — wrestler Anthony Sebastian after a 4-1 overtime victory against an opponent from Washington.
“Every single point saved, or guys on paper who are supposed to get pinned if they fight, that’s a win in our books.” — wrestler Deven Casey.
“Anything out there she catches. She catches everything. And when she is on the basepaths, things change.” — softball coach Frank Reaber on Sofia Bucaro.