Top Ohio Boys HS program St. Edward is taking a trip to North Carolina to play three teams there.

Charlotte Catholic, Union County, and the Charlotte Tigers will play host to St. Ed’s. Of those, Catholic has started the strongest, going 3-0 in single-school league play. That Catholic team is actually not their full varsity side. CC has scheduled a bunch of top opponents, including St. Edward, Wando, South Doyle, and South Greenville to augment their list of opponents, and that’s where the Charlotte Catholic 1sts will be playing.

Charlotte Catholic has already beaten the Tigers (in a shortened game) and Union County, and the team’s stated goal is to earn a Tier I berth in the Boys NIT.

“We are looking to adapt a more expansive pattern of play that breaks away from the Northern Hemisphere model common amongst American teams,” said Catholic Coach Ian Mueller. “We hope implementation of this new pattern will enable us to upset higher ranked teams.”

St. Edward, which won the Midwest but lost their state final in a close one to St. Ignatius, is on that list. Head Coach Tom Cleary has a solid group of returning forwards led by HS All American Zach Heisterkamp and also Matt Harders. the backline is a little bit more of an unknown quantity, although Owen Hundt and Jack Bradfield bring plenty of talent in that part of the field.

St. Edward has been practicing indoors, so getting outside to play is most welcome. Cleary said most of his new starters have been with the program a while, but he does have some senior crossovers who have shown well.

Tui Osborne and the other coaches from St. Bonaventure have visited the St. Ed’s team and helped out, as has 7s Eagle Rocco Mauer. Now, like Charlotte Catholic, St. Ed’s is looking for a test.

“We are going to play some better teams, and we’ll be playing Ravenwood, South Doyle, and Gonzaga, as well,” said Cleary. “This trip is all part of that.”