MISA MARTES: LORAS BEGINS OFFERING BILINGUAL SERVICES ON CAMPUS

By BERNADETTE MERCURIO

Have you ever attended a bilingual Mass before?

Spiritual Life now offers Misa Martes which translates to Tuesday Mass. It is a Spanish and English Mass inspired by other universities and churches that offer it. Jake Heidenreich, the Coordinator of Liturgy and Faith Formation, gave a look behind the scenes at its origins.

“The February Misa Martes was the first one we’ve had,” Jake stated. He explained there used to be a Spanish Mass offered about every semester, but after brainstorming with his colleagues, they decided a more frequent Mass was a viable idea. Thus, Misa Martes was born. He elaborated on what parts of a bilingual Mass would be in Spanish: the music, first reading, and responsorial psalms. Other select parts of the Mass could be in Spanish, depending on what was prepared.

Jake also revealed the inspiration behind why Misa Martes started and said, “We’re always trying to think of ways to make our worship as the Body of Christ more inclusive and accessible and to reflect our community.”

The welcoming environment

Jake hopes to create is evident in his responses, as he also stated he desired people who grew up speaking Spanish to feel at home. He added, “We’re always looking to add more instruments, singers, and readers.”

Those interested can stop by Spiritual Life in the ACC and talk to Jake or send him an email.

As a follow-up to his request for more students serving in the Mass, he emphasized, “We do not ever want to appropriate a culture or tradition; we just want to make sure that we’re being as intentional as possible.”

For those hesitant about not understanding the readings, Jake answered that Christ The King Chapel has daily reading booklets in English. Misa Martes is held on the first Tuesday of the month at 5:15 p.m. in Christ The King Chapel. All are welcome, no matter what language you speak.

March ‘Matness’ Ensues at NCAA D1 Wrestling Nationals

By ALLEN CATOUR

The 2023 NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships took place this past weekend from March 16-18. Over three days, 330 wrestlers battled for the opportunity to become the national champion and represent their school at the top of the podium. The tournament, held at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, lived up to the hype. Filled with upsets, triumphs, heartbreaks, and action-packed matches, nobody could predict what would happen next.

At 125lbs, Iowa’s Spencer Lee entered the tournament in pursuit of his fourth national title. Many consider him to be the current most dominant pound-for-pound wrestler in college and one of the greatest college wrestlers of all time. Many fans expected Lee to walk through the bracket and etch his name into the history books. However, #4 seed Matt Ramos from Purdue had other plans.

Wrestling in the semifinals, Ramos met Lee for the second time this season. Lee pinned Ramos in their first meeting after being thrown to his back and down 8-1 early. More chaos arose in their semifinal matchup. In possibly the greatest upset in college wrestling history, Ramos threw Lee to his back and pinned him with one second remaining on the clock in the third period after being down by two points. The pin sent Ramos to the finals while handing Lee his first loss at the NCAA Championships, denying him a fourth national title and history. Lee would medically forfeit out of the tournament and finish in sixth place while Ramos lost to Princeton’s Pat Glory 4-1 for first.

In the next weight class above 133lbs, the story belonged to Vito Arujau of Cornell. Bumping up a weight class, Arujau aimed to win his first national title. In a bracket with #1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) and #2 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State), wrestling fans questioned whether or not Arujau, seeded #3, could get through both of them. Yet, that’s exactly what he did.

Against Fix in the semis, Arujau put up 11 points as he majored Fix 11-3 to prevent Fix from his fourth trip to the finals and a potential trilogy with Bravo-Young. In the finals, Arujau continued his remarkable run against the Nittany Lion star. He used his speed and athleticism to neutralize Bravo-Young from his own game. Capitalizing offensively, Arujau never looked back as he secured a 10-4 decision win, snapping BravoYoung’s 56-match win streak and rejecting him of a third national title. Arujau’s outstanding performances earned him the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler award while also propelling Cornell to a 3rd place team trophy.

It’s rare to see a wrestler going for their fourth national title, let alone two of them. However, that’s precisely what happened. Along with Spencer Lee, Cornell’s 149-pounder Yianni Diakomihalis also sought to become a four-timer. With a lot of pressure surrounding him, Diakomihalis carefully navigated his way through the tournament. After a close win in the quarters, he faced off against Penn State’s Shayne Van Ness in the semifinals. As the #12 seed, Van Ness was on a roll after upsetting the #5 seed in the quarters to set up a match with Diakomihalis. Leading 3-2 with a minute left in the match, Van Ness was moments away from preventing another possible four-timer from a shot at history. However, the clutch factor kicked in for Diakomihalis late.

He was able to get in on the legs and secure a takedown before putting Van Ness to his back for four points of near-fall and the 8-3 win. With the opportunity of a lifetime on the line, Diakomihalis wrestled his rival Sammy Sasso from Ohio State. It was a close match, but Diakomihalis got the job done with a 4-2 victory to become the fifth wrestler to ever win four NCAA national titles. Cornell now has two four-timers as Kyle Dake also won four national titles from 2010-2013 in four different weight classes.

Looking at the brackets, 165 lbs was one that a lot of fans had circled to watch. Filled with many talented wrestlers, it was one of the most stacked weight classes in the tournament. Wrestlers like #1 David Carr (Iowa State), #2 Keegan O’Toole (Missouri), #3 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin), #5 Quincy Monday (Princeton), and #9 Shane Griffith (Stanford) all realistically had a shot at winning this weight. It was expected, however, that things would come down to the trilogy against Carr and O’Toole. Having met twice during the season, Carr was 2-0 against the Tiger. They first met in a dual where Carr won 7-2. Their second meeting came in the finals at the Big 12 conference championships. This time the match was closer as the two had to go overtime. Yet, Carr locked up a cradle and got the pin over O’Toole. Luckily for wrestling fans, they met once again in the NCAA finals for all the marbles. To everyone’s surprise, O’Toole pulled off the upset. After failing to score a takedown in their previous two matchups, O’Toole scored a pair of takedowns and a set of back points as he became a 2x national champion with an 8-2 win. At the rest of the weights, the Big 10 and ACC conferences had multiple champions. Penn State had a pair of wrestlers each claim their third national titles. In a Big 10 conference final rematch, Carter Starocci pinned Mikey Labriola from Nebraska in 2:46 at 174 lbs. His teammate, Aaron Brooks, also won at 184 lbs as he beat Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen 7-2. Another Big 10 conference final matchup occurred at heavyweight as #1 Mason Parris (Michigan) took on #3 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State). Parris ended his undefeated season with a 5-1 win and his first national title. For the ACC, they claimed two champions as North Carolina’s Austin O’Connor beat Levi Haines from Penn State 6-2 at 157 lbs and Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) defeated Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) 5-3 at 197 lbs. Looking at the team aspect, Penn State earned its 10th team title in the past 14 years.

The 2024 NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships will be held next year in Kansas City, Missouri from March 21-23.