Don Rebel stories, Page 4

There is a mix of old and new at Seneca Valley, where the hope is that experienced players and a new coaching staff will put the Raiders in perfect harmony for a return to the WPIAL 6A football playoffs. Ron Butschle stepped down as coach after last season, ending his...

The first year for Greg Perry as head coach at Mt. Lebanon turned into a tale of two seasons. Through the first five weeks, the Blue Devils lost their first five games, including their first two games of Class 6A conference play. They were shutout once and averaged only 10...

In only his second season as head coach at Central Catholic, Ryan Lehmeier etched his name in the record books next to John Fischetti, Art Walker and Terry Totten — Vikings football coaches who have won WPIAL or PIAA championships. Central Catholic ended a three-year golden drought by knocking off...

One of the big WPIAL football stories this offseason involved the coaching situation at Canon-McMillan. Ten-year veteran Big Macs coach Mike Evans is battling cancer for a second time. While he remains optimistic for his long term health following surgery to remove his tumor in July, he realized he would...

Editor’s note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Aug. 22. North Allegheny was trying to make history last year and become only the second team to win three straight outright WPIAL championship games in the highest...

Patrick Smith registered more than 2,700 yards from scrimmage and was part of 27 touchdowns as a junior quarterback last season. However, he didn’t get the kind of recognition a player with those kinds of numbers for a Class 6A would usually get because the 2024 campaign was a bit...

The one constant in more than three decades of excellence for Thomas Jefferson football is having stud players on the line, where longtime coach Bill Cherpak shined in his playing days at Steel Valley and Pitt, and a bell cow running back to carry the load of the running game....

Last year, Indiana was close but ended the year with no cigar, finishing second in district and state baseball as well as the Class 4A Trib Cup. This year, the Little Indians turned silver into gold on the baseball diamond and in the chase for cup glory. Indiana rallied with...

Heading into the 2025 spring sports season, the close battle for the Class 2A Trib Cup title came down to a two-school chase. Then another perfect season on the softball diamond turned the nail biter into a runaway victory. Neshannock captured a fourth straight Class 2A Trib Cup on the...

After winning a Sports Cup in the competition’s very first school year in 2003-2004, it took 20 years for Peters Township to capture its second crown in 2023-2024. Now it took the Indians only 12 months to capture a third. “This is a great honor and a testament to the...

The more things change in high school sports, the more they stay the same, especially when it comes to the chase for the Trib Cup in Class 6A. North Allegheny wins again. The Tigers are 9 for 9 in Class 6A Trib Cups and remain perfect with 22 Sports Cup...

Editor’s note: Each day through Aug. 3, Trib HSSN will profile one member of the 2025 Trib 25 preseason high school football all-star team. Fort Cherry quarterback and safety Matt Sieg has rushed for 6,176 yards and passed for 4,177 yards in his career and, last fall, joined former Jeannette...

Quaker Valley started the school year strong in the fall of 2024 and ended it with a double golden bang in the spring of 2025 to not only repeat as Class 3A Trib Cup champions, but crush the competition in winning its fifth title in the last six years. The...

Midway through the 2020s, Greensburg Central Catholic is closing in on clinching school-of-the-decade honors in Class A after claiming a second consecutive Class A Trib Cup, its fifth in the last six years. The Centurions remain alone in third place overall after winning the schools 11th Sports Cup, trailing only...

Over the course of the last two-plus decades, 24 WPIAL schools have won at least one Sports Cup, which recognizes the best sports programs in each WPIAL class over the entire school year. The first Sports Cup was handed out after the 2003-2004 school year to North Allegheny in 4A,...

There is no I in team, but there is an I in the word impressive. These district athletes rose above all others to claim gold in their respective high school sports in the 2024-2025 school year. This salute to champion’s parade includes these folks who marched alone to what turned...

What better way to honor the top teams from the 2024-2025 school year than to march the WPIAL champions in a victory parade stretching from Lawrence County down to Washington County. Everybody enjoys a nice parade in the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer as we wrap up another District...

This spring, those sitting at head of the softball class had a clear view of so many individual and team standout performances. The season included the end of some incredible high school softball careers, a return to the front of the class for several prized students and another record breaking...

This spring, pitching seemed to be a notch above offenses around WPIAL baseball. Come postseason time, there were a lot of shutouts, plenty of low scoring games and extra inning marathons dominated by pitching. In fact, in the championship round, there was not one, but two no-hitters thrown, one of...

This was a golden spring for our Trib HSSN coaches of the year. Three of them enjoyed district championship runs; one led his team to a state title while a pair of coaches from Lawrence County had their brooms in hand as they swept both WPIAL and PIAA softball gold....

Five WPIAL teams made it through the first three rounds of the PIAA playoffs to finish the Path to Penn State and play in the state championship games in their respective classifications. Only two of the five district teams returned home with gold, but that was two more than the...

Trib HSSN baseball player of the week – Tim Birch School – Indiana Class – Senior Position – Outfielder #Earned – Indiana leaned heavily on its pitching depth on the road to sweeping both district and state gold this season. Senior Greg Minnick was the Trib HSSN Player of the...

It turned out to be a banner state softball postseason for WPIAL teams. Six PIAA champions were crowned, and half of them returned to District 7 with gold. Penn-Trafford in 5A, Neshannock in 2A and Union in Class A are celebrating state championships. The others were spread out among three...

The baseball diamond crown will be shared in 2025 as two districts were able to boast of double state champions. The WPIAL sent five teams to Penn State, but only two came home with gold — Indiana in 4A and Riverside again in 3A. District 1 in suburban Philadelphia also...