Our Old Boys

Jackson Barr (‘16) graduated with honors in philosophy from Texas State University and has been working with underprivileged kids in the Upward Bound program there.

Three Old Boys who graduated the same year, 2020, accompanied their parents at a 25th anniversary celebration at the Co-Cathedral with Archbishop Vasquez recently.

Jacob Dodson ('18), a fourth year student, now serves as Chief of Staff of the Aggie Corps of Cadets. Jacob is eldest of three brothers, John (‘21) freshman at A&M and Joseph (6th grade)

Catching up with a few quick shots of some graduates and their visits to campus and other fun exploits

Weddings this season, some excellent young men from the first year’s of Western, including Elliot Bing’s engagement from 2012, and the first of the four Glueck brothers!

Zig Sanchez (‘14) was a founding student in 6th grade at Western back in 2010. In those founding years, Heights teachers, Mr. Austin Hatch and Mr. Patrick Miggins were his teachers in Houston. Now, Zig has come full circle, teaching at The Heights himself!

Drake Leder (‘25) just graduated from Western last year, He appreciated his days at school and wonderfully speaks about them.

After graduating from Nebraska and with an MBA from Rice U, Brant Banks (‘15) played with the Green Bay Packers this fall.

Gabe Espinosa (‘21) graduated from Strake Jesuit last year and chose to attend the University of Houston to be able to help coach at Western this year. His story is wonderful!

Carlos Cerda (‘14), here on a visit with Mr. Creech and Mr. Power, is spending his years after graduating from Benedictine College at the University of Minnesota, helping launch a bold initiative aimed at restoring authentic masculinity and faith-driven leadership on campus.

Recently, we’ve had several wedding engagements among our Old Boys and a special baby for the Gosselin family

Western’s Class of 2025 was the fourteenth graduating class so far. Mr. Hebert commented, “I’m going to miss this class, and I think that’s because they are friends. They are mutually after good, in an authentic way.”

Jacob Gutierrez (‘15) completed his MS in Finance at the University of Houston, and along with it, the Outstanding Student Award in his class. Jacob is the second of four outstanding Gutierrez boys to attend Western.

A great group of Western 2021 grads were honored by St. Thomas High School at this year’s graduation. The awards included academic and sports honors. Congrats, boys!

Three 2021 Western grads were honored at Strake Jesuit this year. Henry Omanga was the Valedictorian speaker, Luke Webber received the senior Crusader Award, and Luke and John Dodson were finalists in the Maddox Scholarship.

A large group of 2021 grads attended the Founding Roots Dinner on May 3. Pablo Caranti gave a great talk advising them to “remember your roots,” with examples of learning about faith, family and friends. The boys are moving on to colleges and other excellent career paths.

The Ullrich brothers. Michael (‘15), Christopher (‘16) and Peter (‘18), got a lot from their days at Western. The two older brothers are now in the seminary and Peter is doing great as an HVAC technician in Houston.

Tripp Mediamolle (‘22) learned to play the trumpet at Western and how to lead musical groups. Now, he is one of the drum majors at Stratford High School. He plays trumpet in the top ensemble in concert season and runs a successful small pool business.

Matthew Manis (‘22) is ranked the #2 left-handed pitcher in Texas and #12 nationally. The Memorial High School Mustang’s season has just begun and the team is ranked the #2 6A team Texas. Congrats, Matthew and good luck moving forward!

Honorary Old Boy, Roman Ochoa (‘17) is in his final year at West Point, studying Mechanical Engineering. He is among a small group of a dozen Western boys deserving of this title. He had a visit from his coaches and wrestlers from high school at West Point in February.

Marco Nino (’16) popped in for a visit recently, after finishing his degree from Yale University in December. While at Western, Marco was one of the best in the Poetry competition ever, winning all three Festival Day competitions in his 8th grade year. We also dug up some of Marco’s fun comments he made in 2016.

The Pigskin Classic this year was, one of the best ever. Eight teams including a Faculty Team, a Dads' Team and five Class teams played it off this year. The Class of 2021 came out on top against the "College & Beyond Consortium" (Classes 2012-19), to capture the win.

Frederick Ruppert (‘22) organized other fellow Scouts to accomplish what turned out to be a Herculean task - to clean out the Bayou at Woodland Park.

We welcome two babies born to “old boys” from our first two graduating classes. Congrats to the O’Bar and Heffernan families and their wonderful parents!

John Hebert (‘22) has an amazing season at Running Back this year, ending the regular season as the #1 high school yard-rusher in Texas, and #7 in the nation.

Strake Jesuit awards three Old Boys of the Class of 2021 with academic honors for the year. They are Henry Omanga, Matthew Parker and Mateu Orendain.

Matthew Parmenter ('21) has qualified as a National Merit semi-finalist this year, as a senior at St. John XXIII College Prep.

Ian Riches ('21) obtained an internship this summer at the City of Houston’s Urban Planning Department, the only high school student to intern there this year.

On June 27, Brant Banks (‘15) married Madi Kubik. Both are college athletes, Brant playing his final year at Rice U this year, after playing at U of Nebraska. Madi is a professional volleyball player.

For a week in August, Rowan Bishop (‘21) visited a mountainous area in Guatemala. While there, he was “blessed to witness the devotion the people have to Christ and to His Church.”