Mardi Gras celebration at St. Bernard Prep

No need to travel to New Orleans when the St. Bernard Music Department takes the stage. It was mystical, musical, and festive at the school’s first “Fat Tuesday Celebration.” Music students met on campus dressed in their Mardi Gras mask and head gear to play jazzy tunes under the direction of music instructor, Lester Harris.

Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday”, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which starts on Ash Wednesday.

Harris said, the students enjoyed working on the performance. “The students worked hard and enjoy playing this kind of music. It was a good way to celebrate and have a little fun. “

Anna Barbee chunked strands of beads throughout the crowd and followed-up a few tunes later with moon pies.

Sissom takes state 1-4A Wrestling Championship

Congratulations to SBP Wrestling Team member, Freshman Ty Sissom, and his coach, Mr. Marcus Luna. This past Friday and Saturday Ty represented St. Bernard at the State Wrestling competition at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. After defeating his two opponents on Friday, Ty went on to wrestle his final opponent in the competition on Saturday. Ty Sissom is the State of Alabama Wrestling Champion in his weight classification in schools 1-4 A. A huge accomplishment for Ty and for St. Bernard.

Glasscock places at Baylor Nike Invitational Swim Meet

Congratulations to Bennett Glasscock on his impressive finish at the Baylor Nike USA Swim Meet. He finished 2nd in the 50 and 100 freestyle, and 3rd in the 100 Backstroke and Butterfly.

St. Bernard Middle School advances to State

St. Bernard Middle School qualified for the third year in a row to participate in the Alabama Scholastic Competition Associations State Tournament recently at Austin High School in Decatur. ASCA sponsors the Alabama Scholastic Challenge for Alabama's middle schools in which academic quiz bowl teams comprised of 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders compete for the State championship.

St. Bernard is among thirty-two teams from Alabama competing. The team travels to Hoover High School on March 6 to participate in the State Competition.

Members of the team are: Seated: Arabella Holsonback, Mackenzie Bockhold, Co-Captain; and Michayla Brown (Arab) Co-Captain. Back Row: Alex Anderson, Daniel Coccia, and Jake Sweeney (Arab).

St. Bernard Freshman to compete for State Crown

By Mike Cummings The Cullman Times
CULLMAN — Meet Ty Sissom.

Sissom is a freshman at St. Bernard Prep. He stands 5-foot-3 and might pass for 103 pounds soaking wet.

He’s also the favorite to win a state wrestling championship this weekend in Huntsville.

When the Alabama High School Athletic Association holds its annual wrestling championships Friday and Saturday at the Von Braun Center, St. Bernard will be represented by a team for the first time in decades.

That team includes freshman Andy Woods and sophomores Jade Bradford and Jake Lewis. But the breakout star of the group is Sissom, who has a 32-2 record in the 103-pound weight class this season.

He’ll take that near-perfect mark into the eight-strong 103-pound 1A-4A state championship bracket this weekend in Huntsville.

The opening rounds begin early Friday morning, with the championship scheduled for Saturday.

So with seven other wrestlers from more established programs also going for the title, what makes Sissom the favorite?

Easy — he’s already beaten everybody in the bracket this year.

Plus, he has detailed scouting reports thanks to videos recorded by his father.

“I’ve watched them over and over, so I already know what they’re (his opponents) are going to do,” said Sissom. “I’ve already planned what I’m going to do at state and everything.”

Sissom isn’t kidding.

Inside the athletic complex at St. Bernard, Sissom and Coach Marcus Luna have drawn up a detailed scouting report on the freshman’s opponents this weekend. The pair spent Wednesday’s practice going over holds and throws.

But Sissom also has another advantage. Last year as an eighth-grader at Ashville High, he finished second in the state.

He also wrestled as a seventh-grader, but that was an experience the St. Bernard freshman wants to forget.

“I was horrible as a seventh-grader,” he said. “I didn’t know anything.”

But that all changed a year later when Sissom was introduced to Luna, who works with Sissom’s father. The two started training on Sundays after Sissom finished tournaments.

Luna, a 2000 graduate of Arab High, finished fifth in the nation as a senior.

When the two started working together, the results were immediate — as evidenced by Sissom’s second-place finish a year ago at state.

“Plus as a seventh-grader, I weighed like 84 pounds,” said Sissom, who also plays football, basketball and baseball. “Then as an eighth-grader I gained about 20 pounds.”

Sissom’s first match is scheduled for around 9 a.m. Friday at the VBC arena. If he advances that far, the 1A-4A championship match is scheduled for Saturday morning around the same time.