Doug Gulasy stories, Page 8

Monday Hockey: Burrell will get a chance to avenge its lone regular-season when it faces Connellsville in a PIHL Division 2 Penguins Cup semifinal at 7:15 p.m. at Robert Morris’ Island Sports Center. Connellsville beat Burrell, 6-1, in the Bucs’ regular-season finale Feb. 12. Burrell won the first meeting, 7-2....

HERSHEY — When their Friday night didn’t go as planned, Burrell sophomores A.J. Corrado and Ian Oswalt and Valley senior Noah Hutcherson awoke Saturday with one goal: win their final wrestling match of the season. Their Saturday afternoon proved much more effective, then, as Corrado, Oswalt and Hutcherson secured fifth-place...

HERSHEY — Darren Miller brought a companion to the top of the podium Saturday night: a 5-pound Hershey’s milk chocolate bar. What it took to get there was even sweeter. In the final match of his record-setting Kiski Area wrestling career, Miller beat Franklin Regional’s Colton Camacho, 6-5, in a...

Evidence of the Burrell softball team’s motivation — and its persistent practice — lies in some beyond-battered equipment. “We’ve been hitting until our batting gloves are literally just shredded,” senior Lea Coffman said. “It’s ridiculous how much we do.” A WPIAL playoff team the past 13 seasons, Burrell knows the...

HERSHEY — Jacob Ealy was hunting history in Hershey, and he didn’t let the opportunity pass him by. Ealy became Hopewell’s first state wrestling champion, winning a 7-5 decision over Saegertown’s Kenny Kiser in the 138-pound final of the PIAA Class AA tournament Saturday afternoon at Giant Center. “I’m happy...

Success in high school baseball can become an arms race, and Burrell believes it has plenty of firepower. With three top starters returning, and plenty more in relief, the Bucs — a staple of the WPIAL playoffs over the last two decades — think they possess the talent and depth...

HERSHEY — The state wrestling finals will feature some WPIAL tournament reprisals. Three bouts featuring two WPIAL wrestlers will highlight the championship matches of the PIAA Class AAA tournament, which begin at 7 p.m. Saturday at Hershey’s Giant Center. The three all-WPIAL bouts — Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell vs. Franklin...

HERSHEY — There won’t be a golden ticket in Chocolate Town for Burrell or Valley wrestlers, but they will come home from Pennsylvania’s biggest high school wrestling tournament with a consolation prize. The four PIAA Class AA championship qualifiers from the Alle-Kiski Valley — Valley senior Noah Hutcherson and Burrell...

HERSHEY — Darren Miller didn’t make it to the Giant Center last March, the victim of an upset in the WPIAL Class AAA tournament. So the Kiski Area senior appreciates the value of even wrestling in the state wrestling championship, let alone earning a medal. Miller and teammate Cam Connor...

HERSHEY — The WPIAL is proving itself a heavyweight in the state’s lighter weights. Led by some dominant performances in the early weight classes, the WPIAL advanced 17 wrestlers to the PIAA Class AAA semifinals thanks to wins in Friday afternoon’s quarterfinal round at Giant Center. The WPIAL claimed three...

HERSHEY — Even as the fate of his state wrestling quarterfinal match hung in the balance, Joey Fischer felt confident. And eventually the South Park sophomore was proven correct. Fischer began a near-perfect Friday morning for WPIAL wrestlers at the PIAA Class AA tournament, with a 5-3 decision over Brookville’s...

Twenty years after his most recent national coach of the year award, Pitt-Johnstown’s Pat Pecora earned the honor again. The longtime Mountain Cats coach was named the 2018-19 NCAA Division II National Wrestling Coaches Association’s coach of the year Thursday night at the Division II Hall of Fame banquet in...

HERSHEY — No victory at the PIAA wrestling championships comes easily, and Cam Connor’s face bore the evidence of that Thursday. An inadvertent head butt from Waynesburg’s Luca Augustine, his first-round opponent, opened a cut underneath Connor’s eye and forced a brief medical stoppage. But despite the injury and a...

Corey Falleroni and Damon Greenwald responded differently to the pomp and circumstance of the NCAA Division II wrestling championships when they competed there for the first time in March 2018. The bright lights of the tournament affected Greenwald a bit. Falleroni said the stage didn’t bother him at all, but...

Burrell’s Ian Oswalt and Kiski Area’s Cam Connor didn’t have to look far to find their names in their respective brackets for the PIAA wrestling championships: They were right there, smack-dab at the top. Oswalt, a sophomore, was seeded first at 120 pounds for the PIAA Class AA tournament. Connor,...

HERSHEY — Noah Hutcherson needed some extra effort on his first day at the PIAA wrestling championships. Good thing he came prepared. Hutcherson, a state qualifier for the first time in his senior season at Valley, advanced to the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals at 170 pounds with a 10-8 win...

Boys basketball Class 6A First round Fox Chapel (16-8) vs. Kennedy Catholic (22-3) 7 p.m. Saturday at Farrell HS Winner plays: Wilson (22-5) or Pine-Richland (21-3) on Wednesday in the second round Coaches: Zach Skrinjar, Fox Chapel; Rick Mancino, Kennedy Catholic Players to watch: Ryan Kerr, Fox Chapel (sr., G);...

Like many people, Austin Mele looks at his phone almost immediately upon waking up in the morning. The Burrell senior checks his texts and SnapChat account before plugging it back in, making sure it’s got a full charge. Then it’s time to brush his teeth, followed by checking his weight...

With top-three finishes at the PIAA Class AAA team championships each of the past three seasons, Kiski Area knows the feeling of wrestling in Hershey’s Giant Center. But the wrestlers who will represent the Cavaliers at the state individual tournament this week know it’s a completely different animal. “It’s all...

Pat McAfee believes he knows the perfect replacement for Jason Witten in ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” announcing booth: Pat McAfee. The Plum and West Virginia graduate and former All-Pro punter for the Indianapolis Colts started a social media campaign to become the next analyst for “Monday Night Football,” the long-running...

WRESTLER OF THE WEEK: Sam Hillegas, jr., North Hills One of the most dominant wrestlers in the state, Hillegas continued his mastery of opponents by winning his third consecutive WPIAL Class AAA championship. Hillegas (39-0) rolled through the 132-pound bracket, pinning his first three opponents — one in 29 seconds,...

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Kiski Area The Cavaliers won the WPIAL Class AAA team championship, so it came as little surprise when they won the team title at the WPIAL individual tournament as well, edging Hempfield and Seneca Valley to take the trophy. Senior Cam Connor and junior Jack Blumer...

Ian Oswalt noticed the lights of the Giant Center when he stepped in to the arena as a first-time competitor at the PIAA Class AA wrestling tournament last year. “It’s just bright in there,” Oswalt said. “There’s just different lighting. It’s weird about that. Then all the matches, you have...

The Presidents’ Athletic Conference honored Jess Kelley for her pitching Monday, but she also did plenty of damage at the plate. Kelley, a senior at Thiel and Freeport graduate, was named PAC Pitcher of the Week after earning the victory in Saturday’s season-opening 11-6 win over Elizabethtown. She allowed six...