by Christopher Rini ’15
When Saint Ignatius students talk sports, it’s commonplace for standout athletes to come up in the conversation and then hear, “Oh, his brother was so good when he was here,” or “Yeah, he was good but his little brother is going to be way better.” Sometimes, though, there are pairs of brothers here at school competing together in the same sport at the same high level.
Jack and Matt Wiegandt are both vital parts of Coach O’Rourke’s varsity hockey team, Jack being a four-year letterman and two-year captain and Matt a standout sophomore who is playing his second year on varsity. Both are integral parts of a strong squad that’s coming off of a state champion performance last year.
We cannot forget the other sets of brothers that compete together, like the Avdeys, the Whitneys, and the Adlers. When asked what makes them the best duo out of all of these, Matt and Jack both agree that “it has to be the hair.” No doubt that it’s hard to compete with the Wiegandts’ signature red hair. The only other duo of brothers in Saint Ignatius sports that can rival the strength of these two is the infamous Benji-Connor player-announcer Rechin combo, especially when Connor has his mustache out.
As for what it’s like to be a part of the team with their brother, Matt and Jack agree that it’s different from any other teammate to be able to take their relationship at the rink home with them, but also they just function as normal teammates and friends in the same way they would anyone else on the team.
As a team captain, Jack has the duty to act as a mentor–a big brother, even–to all his teammates, but Jack also has a role as an actual big brother to Matt. Matt said that “Jack has definitely taught me a lot about how to conduct myself during the games and off the ice and what it’s to like to be on the team. But I taught him how to score.” As for how his role has been affecting his year, Jack explained that, “I’ve been a leader this year more than any other year, and things have been going my way for scoring this year, so I’ve been a bit more of a part of that this year than last year. So I’ve just been trying to keep things going calm and fun.”
These two standout players share a special bond as biological brothers, but they are more crucially together as two parts of the entire tight-knit band of brothers that is the hockey team.
