Chris Harlan stories, Page 43

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. New Castle, 15-2, 1 2. Central Catholic, 9-7, 2 3. Mt. Lebanon, 12-5, 3 4. Butler, 13-4, 4 5. Upper St. Clair, 10-8, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Penn Hills, 12-2, 1 2. Peters Township, 14-3, 4 3....

North Allegheny’s wrestling team celebrated two individual champions at the Allegheny County Tournament at Fox Chapel, where senior Jayson Flener and junior Aidan Buggey each won their weight class Jan. 20-21. Flener claimed the 145-pound title, Buggey won at 215, and the Tigers finished third overall in the team standings....

“Organized mayhem” is the way Lincoln Park’s boys basketball team describes its offense. Sure, there are only a few set plays used, and the shooters might put up some surprising shots, but they say that’s all by design. Besides, who can argue with the results? Leopards stars Brandin Cummings and...

Six WPIAL coaches have earned regional honors from the National Federation of State High School Associations for their work in the 2021-22 school year. Seneca Valley’s Brian Blackwell (boys swimming), Neshannock’s Luann Grybowski (girls basketball), Mars’ Bob Marcoux (boys lacrosse), Hempfield’s Suzannah Meyer (competitive spirit), Montour’s Rob Naylor (girls cross...

Westinghouse quarterback Keyshawn Morsillo, who led the Bulldogs on a historic run to the state football finals, was announced Tuesday as one of five finalists for the Willie Thrower Award. Morsillo is the first City League player selected as a finalist in the three-year history of the award, which recognizes...

Central Catholic’s new football coach wasn’t chosen from the school’s alumni list, but that doesn’t mean Ryan Lehmeier isn’t already familiar with the team’s tradition. Eleven times in the past eight years, Lehmeier coached a team on the opposite sideline from Central Catholic, so he can appreciate the success of...

Bethel Park promoted offensive coordinator Phil Peckich to head coach Tuesday night, giving the Black Hawks football program some continuity under a coach who’s among the youngest in the WPIAL. The 31-year-old is a first-time head coach but brings eight years of experience to the job. Peckich spent five seasons...

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. New Castle, 13-2, 3 2. Central Catholic, 8-7, 1 3. Mt. Lebanon, 10-5, 2 4. Butler, 12-3, 4 5. Upper St. Clair, 9-7, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Penn Hills, 10-2, 1 2. North Hills, 12-3, 2 3....

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Norwin, 14-1, 1 2. Upper St. Clair, 11-2, 2 3. Mt. Lebanon, 12-4, 3 4. North Allegheny, 10-4, 4 5. Chartiers Valley, 7-6, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. South Fayette, 14-2, 2 2. Oakland Catholic, 11-2, 3 3....

A tree in the middle of a grassy field in Sheraden served as the first press box for a 7- or 8-year-old Don Rebel, who climbed the branches and offered play-by-play for his older brother’s Wiffle ball games. He called it as he saw it. “They got a big kick...

Ray Brinzer writes software and manages databases as a computer programmer, which seems a world away from a wrestling mat for one of the WPIAL’s all-time greats, but the former North Allegheny star can see similarities. “The common thing for me is complexity,” said Brinzer, a 1990 graduate who’ll be...

Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi was sitting among the home fans in Aliquippa’s gym Wednesday night, there with dozens of others to watch a group of football players throw around a basketball. Sometimes there’s a linebacker, a safety, a running back, a tight end and maybe a lineman on the...

Tom Pipkins jokes that he might already be retired from working if high school athletes could’ve signed endorsement deals back in his day. That’s how much interest there was around the former Valley basketball star when he broke the WPIAL career scoring record 30 years ago this month. As part...

Peters Township broke a tie on the scoreboard to create a tie in the standings. Locked at 66 with 70 seconds left, Peters Township used its defense, some clutch free throws and a disputed technical foul to clinch a 75-67 victory over host Bethel Park, a win that created a...

Central Catholic linebacker Anthony Speca, one of the state’s top college football recruits, committed Tuesday to Penn State. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior announced his decision on Twitter. He chose the Nittany Lions from a list of scholarship offers that included national semifinalists Michigan and Ohio State, along with Pitt, West...

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Norwin, 12-1, 1 2. Upper St. Clair, 10-2, 2 3. Mt. Lebanon, 9-4, 3 4. North Allegheny, 7-3, 4 5. Chartiers Valley, 7-4, NR Out: Peters Township (8-6, 5) Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. McKeesport, 12-1, 1 2. South Fayette, 12-2,...

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Central Catholic, 6-5, NR 2. Mt. Lebanon, 9-4, 2 3. New Castle, 11-1, 1 4. Butler, 10-3, 3 5. Upper St. Clair, 8-6, 4 Out: Norwin (7-5, 5) Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Penn Hills, 8-2, 2 2. North Hills, 10-2,...

North Allegheny has a high school sports team that’s undefeated this winter, a motivated roster that’s trying to avenge a second-place finish from last year. Yet, most folks probably know little about the program, said inline hockey coach Dom Manz, who hopes the team’s success might spark renewed interest in...

After a week of big tests in the classroom, the Mars boys basketball team passed another on the court Friday night. Mars senior Tasso Sfanos scored a game-high 31 points and the Planets used their size advantage to rout No. 1 Chartiers Valley, 71-34, in a one-sided section win that...

North Allegheny senior Mia Tuman was recognized as the state’s top girls volleyball player for the second year in a row Friday when she was named Gatorade Pennsylvania Volleyball Player of the Year. This is the fifth time in nine years that a North Allegheny athlete has won the award,...

Pine-Richland football coach Jon LeDonne, who led the Rams to a state title this season, was one of 32 coaches nationwide nominated for the Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year award. The NFL announced the full list Thursday. Each NFL franchise nominated one high school coach from...

Two dozen 3-pointers made the score higher than a typical Mt. Lebanon-Upper St. Clair grind, but the dramatic finish still fit this gritty rivalry’s history. The teams answered shot after shot from beyond the arc Tuesday night, until Mt. Lebanon’s Nate Girod made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 90 seconds left...

Sixteen years ago, as Brian Sakowski remembers, he worked his first varsity football game, a WPIAL rivalry between Trinity and Canon-McMillan. That game almost was his last, he says now, with a laugh. “There was a blocked punt, and I called this absolutely horrible holding call when the ball was...

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Norwin, 10-1, 1 2. Upper St. Clair, 8-2, 2 3. Mt. Lebanon, 7-4, 5 4. North Allegheny, 5-3, 3 5. Peters Township, 8-4, 4 Out: none Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. McKeesport, 10-1, 1 2. South Fayette, 10-2, 2 3. Penn-Trafford,...

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. New Castle, 10-0, 1 2. Mt. Lebanon, 7-4, 4 3. Butler, 9-2, 2 4. Upper St. Clair, 7-5, NR 5. Norwin, 7-3, 5 Out: Central Catholic (4-5, 3) Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Chartiers Valley, 12-0, 1 2. Penn Hills, 6-2,...