Chris Harlan stories, Page 22
Gateway to follow veteran offensive linemen to success in Class 5A
No matter which quarterback Gateway starts behind center or which running back carries the ball, the Gators know their success is on the line. As in, the offensive line. The Gators have some new faces in the backfield, but all five blockers are returning starters. That experience should be a...
Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins commits to Miami (Ohio)
Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins, a 6-foot-10 forward who won a WPIAL basketball title last winter, committed Tuesday to Miami (Ohio). The rising senior announced his college decision on social media. Robbins also listed offers from Duquesne, Robert Morris, Harvard, Northeastern, Kent State, Pepperdine, Manhattan, St. Francis (Pa.), Loyola (Md.)...
Sad day at Allderdice as football team takes practice field without late coach Jerry Haslett
Mark Matson’s morning started with a scavenger hunt of sorts as the Allderdice assistant coach searched through boxes for the football team’s practice jerseys. “’Has’ liked to say, ‘Every day is an adventure,’” Matson said. “Today’s adventure was finding the practice jerseys.” There were many moments Monday when thoughts turned...
North Allegheny grad Ayden Owens-Delerme finishes 9th in decathlon at Olympics
Former WPIAL track star Ayden Owens-Delerme, who entered Saturday in contention for a medal, finished ninth in the decathlon while making his Olympic debut in Paris. The North Allegheny graduate accumulated 8,437 points in the 10-event competition held over two days at the 80,000-seat Stade de France. A former college...
McKeesport sophomore Kemon Spell gives Penn State 1st commitment from 2027 class
McKeesport sophomore Kemon Spell can’t sign with for two more years, but the highly recruited running back and defensive back has already picked his college. Spell committed Friday to Penn State, making him the school’s first commitment in the 2027 class. The 5-foot-9, 195-pounder had a growing list of Division...
PIAA drops appeals court fight vs. Aliquippa football; school’s lawsuit continues
The PIAA has ended its appeals-court efforts to move Aliquippa football into a higher classification this fall. The PIAA on Friday notified Commonwealth Court that it no longer wanted to appeal the injunction issued by a Beaver County judge that kept Aliquippa in 4A for the upcoming season. The decision...
WPIAL schedules eligibility hearing for record-setting QB after transfer to Central Catholic
The WPIAL will require an eligibility hearing for record-setting quarterback Jaivin Peel. The sophomore set a WPIAL freshman passing record last season at Western Beaver and transferred this summer to Central Catholic. He was a student at Lincoln Park and played football at Western Beaver through a co-op. The WPIAL...
WPIAL grants eligibility to 4 transfers, denies Central Catholic football freshman
Greensburg Central Catholic transfer Anthony “A.J.” Tarpley is fully eligible to play basketball for the Centurions this winter. The sophomore guard who transferred from Greensburg Salem had an eligibility hearing Monday at the WPIAL office in Scott. His transfer paperwork hadn’t received a sign off from Greensburg Salem administrators, but...
2024 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Elizabeth Forward’s Christopher Climes
Christopher Climes works out with a professional soccer trainer, which wouldn’t seem unusual if the senior were a midfielder on Elizabeth Forward’s soccer team. But he’s not. The 6-foot-2, 305-pounder is one of the top defensive linemen in the WPIAL, yet he credits a soccer background for some of his...
WPIAL announces 2024 championship schedule for fall sports
Eight months before the world’s top golfers converge on Oakmont Country Club for the U.S. Open, some of the WPIAL’s best players will try to tame the historic course. The WPIAL will hold its Class 3A boys individual golf tournament there Oct. 1, part of a fall championship schedule announced...
City League mourns death of longtime Allderdice football coach Jerry Haslett
Longtime City League coach Jerry Haslett, who hailed from a football family, died Wednesday. He was 59. A hall of fame athlete at Clarion, Haslett was football coach at Allderdice since 2009. He won three City League titles with the Dragons and had them in the finals nine times in...
Mt. Lebanon pitcher David Shields signs with Kansas City Royals, forgoes college baseball
Mt. Lebanon’s David Shields is turning pro. The left-handed pitcher has signed with the Kansas City Royals, who drafted him in the second round of the MLB Draft, forgoing a scholarship to play baseball at Miami (Fla.). Shields posted a photo on social media showing him signing his contract with...
2024 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Upper St. Clair’s Nate Stohl
As an all-conference lineman committed to an Ivy League school, Nate Stohl’s coaches could talk at length about the senior’s football skills. Yet, Upper St. Clair coach Mike Junko’s favorite story about the 6-foot-3, 270-pounder comes from a school assembly a couple of years ago, where Stohl serenaded his classmates....
Appellate judge denies PIAA request, keeping Aliquippa in Class 4A football
The injunction keeping Aliquippa in Class 4A football remains in place after a Commonwealth Court judge denied a PIAA request for a stay. Appellate Judge Patricia McCullough issued her decision Thursday, upholding a lower court’s decision and blocking the PIAA from using its competitive-balance rule to move Aliquippa into a...
WPIAL releases 2024-25 basketball schedules, updates section alignment for girls teams
The WPIAL released basketball schedules for the upcoming season Thursday and revealed an updated section alignment for girls that moved Greensburg Central Catholic to Class 3A. Greensburg Central Catholic was moved up a classification by the PIAA competitive-balance rule, which wasn’t reflected in the alignment released last month by the...
Knoch transfer Colt Sprankle earns postseason eligibility after PIAA board overturns WPIAL
The PIAA board overturned a WPIAL decision and granted postseason eligibility to Knoch junior Colt Sprankle, a football-playing transfer from Armstrong. Sprankle, his parents Ryan and Brandi, and Knoch administrators attended an appeal hearing Wednesday in State College where they testified that the family’s move into the district was a...
PIAA board favors 6 classes for girls volleyball, rejects plan to expand track to 3
STATE COLLEGE — The PIAA wants to increase girls volleyball to six classifications, but a request to expand track and field to three was rejected by the board. Girls volleyball has four classifications currently, but the board voted Wednesday to tentatively add two more. The proposal must pass two more...
PIAA endorses potential changes to competitive-balance rule, could allow appeals on health and safety grounds
STATE COLLEGE — The PIAA board wants to remove some much-maligned words from its competitive-balance rule: those that have prohibited health and safety as grounds for an appeal. The Competition Formula currently says: “… a change in classification would not be cause for a health and safety concern. A claim...
PIAA asks appellate court to lift injunction that keeps Aliquippa in 4A football
A Commonwealth Court judge must decide whether there was a proper basis for a lower court’s ruling that kept the Aliquippa football team in Class 4A. Appellate Judge Patricia McCullough heard opposing arguments Tuesday from attorneys representing Aliquippa School District and the PIAA, which wants the preliminary injunction put on...
Aliquippa’s Mike Warfield taking ‘leave of absence’ as Quips’ football coach
Mike Warfield says football fans will see him at Aliquippa’s stadium this fall, but adds with a laugh that his new job on Friday nights might be selling 50/50 tickets. Surprisingly, the three-time state champion coach won’t be coaching the Quips. Warfield went 74-6 in six years as head coach...
PIAA proposal to force 2-time state champions into higher class lacks support from WPIAL board
The WPIAL doesn’t favor a potential PIAA rule that forces two-time defending state champions into a higher classification. The proposed change to the competitive-balance rule was discussed and disliked by the WPIAL board Monday because it could unjustly punish successful programs that didn’t use transfers to reload, said WPIAL president...
Mt. Lebanon’s David Shields picked by Royals in 2nd round of MLB Draft
Kansas City Royals scouts came to Mt. Lebanon in April to watch David Shields pitch and stayed around to talk after he struck out 13 batters in a complete-game win. Their visit that day convinced Blue Devils coach Patt McCloskey that the Royals were thinking seriously about drafting Shields. “It...
The Southern Columbia rule? Teams winning consecutive state titles would be moved into higher class under PIAA proposal
Some might call it the Southern Columbia rule. Any PIAA team that wins two consecutive state championships would be forced into a higher classification regardless of whether it added any transfers under a proposed change to the competitive-balance rule that the PIAA board will consider next week. The suggested change...
2024 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: North Allegheny’s Jack Yatchenko
Jack Yatchenko was on the sideline for the play that pretty much clinched a WPIAL title for North Allegheny. No, he didn’t start the play there, but that was how far the lineman traveled while blocking on that snap. He found an unblocked defensive back and drove him into the...
Peters Township’s Natalie Wetzel commits to play basketball at Miami (Fla).
Peters Township rising senior Natalie Wetzel, one of the WPIAL’s top girls basketball recruits, had college offers that stretched from New England to the Southwest. Ultimately, the 6-foot-3 forward has decided to head south to the Sunshine State. Wetzel committed to Miami (Fla.) on Tuesday, choosing the Hurricanes over offers...
