High School

John Carroll lacrosse star Mason Bezold commits to St. Vincent (PA)

An attackman, Bezold elected to continue his athletic career at a Catholic college

Al Franyo

John Carroll lacrosse player Mason Bezold has committed to play his college ball at St. Vincent University in Western Pennsylvania.
John Carroll lacrosse player Mason Bezold has committed to play his college ball at St. Vincent University in Western Pennsylvania. / Mason Bezold

High school student-athletes from Catholic high schools have a long history continuing their athletic careers at Catholic colleges and universities and such is the case of 2025 John Carroll lacrosse attackman Mason Bezold.

Bezold recently announced he has committed his talents to Western Pennsylvania where he has committed to the St. Vincent Bearcats, who are members of Division III’s Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) and led by fifth-year coach Zach Wilfong. While Bezold will continue to sport gold in his lacrosse uniforms, he will swap black for green.

Bezold also is going to compete for a program that has been a regular conference contender under their coach. The Bearcats have appeared in the four-team PAC Lacrosse Tournament each of the past three seasons (no tournament in 2021), and they made the title game in both 2022 and 2023. As of right now, St. Vincent’s hopes of continuing that streak this year are in pretty good shape.

In addition to being a Catholic institution, several factors contributed to Bezold choosing St. Vincent.

First of all, he really admires the direction and coaching style of Coach Wilfong and assistant coach Sam Stevenson. Secondly, while there are several other college lacrosse programs Bezold probably could go to and start right away, he chose one with a larger roster in which he would have to go through competition to earn a starting position, or at least a fair amount of playing time. As for the academic part, St. Vincent offers an excellent Pre-law program in Criminology, Law, and Society, which aligns well with the field of study he is interested in pursuing.

Many congratulations and best of luck to Mason Bezold! One more note is that the next step for Coach Wilfong is to win the PAC Tournament for the first time. Of course, that would also lead to a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Might we see both happen, and maybe more, while Bezold is enjoying his days in Latrobe, Pennsylvania?

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Al Franyo
AL FRANYO

Al Franyo has been a die-hard fan and follower of lacrosse, especially at the high school and college levels, since the late-80s. He absolutely loves watching games, as well as talking and writing about the sport. On Facebook, he founded the College Lacrosse Discussion Page, which has well over 15,000 members, and helped found and runs the MIAA Lacrosse Discussion Page, which has nearly 5,000 members. The MIAA A Conference is one of the strongest, most competitive and exciting high school conferences in America. Three of his favorite topics include recruiting news about players making college commitments, programs taking the next steps under their respective head coaches, and programs that are so-called "sleepers" when it comes to being very good to great. Even with lacrosse growing at such a rapid pace, Franyo loves how it is still such a small, tight, and fun world. And, in many ways, it is its own culture. He began writing about his favorite sport for High School On SI in 2024. Twitter: @alfranyo

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