Joe Mertens ’15 joined the Athletics Department in January 2021. Mertens works closely with the Athletic Department, meeting all marketing, promotional, and event coverage needs for 16 sports and the athletic program as a whole.
While at Saint Ignatius High School, Mertens was a defensive lineman for the football program and a member of the Saint Ignatius Broadcast Network, covering basketball and baseball.
Mertens graduated from the University of Mount Union in the spring of 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in integrated media and sports business. He would broadcast the Division III Football National Championship in 2015, 2017, and 2018.
Prior to returning to Saint Ignatius, Mertens served as a production assistant on Fox Sports Ohio for Bruce Drennan Live in 2020.
Mertens currently manages and updates ignatiuswildcats.com. He serves as the lead writer and editor of the athletics website, covering all 16 programs. He produces the yearly Football Media Guide, which has won back-to-back gold medals with the National High School Publications Awards. In 2023, he helped lead the SIBN to win Best Media Mind from Cleveland.com. In the summer of 2024, he would revamp the athletics website, switching the platform to SideArm Sports.
He serves as moderator of the Saint Ignatius Broadcast Network and mentors students who have a passion for sports broadcasting, journalism, photography, and graphics.
Mertens currently lives in Parma with his fiancée, Brianna, and dog Murphy.
