Jerin Steele stories

After a two-year hiatus, Burrell wrestling returned to the top of the WPIAL Class 2A mountain by winning its 18th district championship last season. In the offseason, there was a shuffling of the coaching staff with longtime assistant Steve Ansani becoming head coach and Josh Shields stepping down to an...

Fox Chapel wrestling coach Michael Frank watched his group strive to master the art of the dual last season. As a team, the Foxes worked together to win their first section title since 1971, and with 10 wrestlers who won at least 15 matches returning, expectations are high again. “For...

After a historic season where the Shady Side Academy girls basketball team won the first WPIAL title in program history, there will be some change, but a solid core returns. The Bulldogs lost a pair of starters, Maggie Spell, who transferred to Thomas Jefferson, and Sydney Birchard, who graduated, but...

Wrestling often is viewed as an individual sport, and understandably so, because it’s one on one on the mat every match. But Fox Chapel coach Michael Frank has watched his group work to master the art of the dual. As a team, the Foxes worked together last season to win...

In the last seven years, the Knoch girls basketball program has built itself into a consistent contender. The Knights have been in the playoffs every season during that span, made a WPIAL Class 4A championship appearance in 2022 and have qualified for the state playoffs three consecutive seasons. With three...

At times last season, a young Knoch boys basketball team showed how dangerous it could be. The Knights also went through some of the growing pains that come with being sophomore-heavy. In the end, they missed out on making the PIAA playoffs by one game, losing to Montour in the...

Bill Cherpak has never been one to tout his own stats or accolades and that remained the case after becoming the first WPIAL coach to reach double-digit championships in football on Saturday. His Thomas Jefferson players did the talking for him. “He’s the G.O.A.T. Period,” Jaguars running back Tyler Eber...

Led by stellar performances from juniors Mac Miller and Lawrence “Jay” Timmons, the Pine-Richland football team secured a 42-0 win over Franklin Regional in the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals Nov. 8. The Rams looked to earn a third consecutive trip to the 5A championship game when they faced Bethel Park...

Nick McCullough knew he needed to make amends. He had a ball hit off him that led to an interception late in the second quarter and subsequently a field goal for Upper St. Clair. Well, he made up for it in a huge way a few seconds after that kick...

Several ill-timed injuries over the last two seasons have hindered the Fox Chapel girls basketball team in their pursuit of making the playoffs. The Foxes have been narrowly on the outside looking in, missing by one game in 2022-23 and two games in 2023-24, but the hope is they possess...

Last year, Fox Chapel put several different combinations on the court. That has led to six players returning with starting experience this year. Mixing and matching worked for the Foxes as they made the state playoffs and pulled a first-round upset over District 10 champion Cathedral Prep. With a few...

Dana Petruska feels back at home for a couple of reasons. Being in a high school gym working with high school basketball players is a natural environment for Petruska, who’s amassed more than 500 wins in her 35-year career, and she’s doing so in a familiar spot. After taking some...

Winning consecutive WPIAL championships not only adds to the trophy case at the high school, but it also creates the potential for a self-sustaining foundation. Deer Lakes boys basketball coach Albie Fletcher has seen that come to fruition after the Lancers won WPIAL titles each of the last two years,...

Before the season started, Mars libero Alaina Graham said coach Tamara Caraway told the team they were going to play for the state championship. It may have seemed like a lofty goal at the time, because no Fightin’ Planets team had been there before, but on Tuesday, the preseason prediction...

Antelopes became Wildcats and then became dominant. Using a Wildcat formation with brothers Nico and Luca Neal, No. 5 Avonworth scored on its first five possessions on its way to a 42-21 victory over No. 4 Beaver in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals Friday at Gypsy Glen Stadium. Nico rushed...

Given how many times Freeport and Central Valley have made the WPIAL playoffs in the past decade, it’s fairly surprising that the two teams have never met. That will change when the seventh-seeded Yellowjackets travel to play No. 2 Central Valley in the Class 3A quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Friday....

With near record temperatures for early November on Tuesday, the Fox Chapel boys soccer team decided to add its own heat to the equation. The Foxes put Mechanicsburg under pressure from the opening kickoff, forced a bevy of turnovers and feasted off them. Sean Regan and Rocco Poli scored within...

About a month ago, Mars traveled to Beaver for a nonsection match and lost in straight sets, but coach Tamara Caraway said her players left with valuable lessons about their opponent and maybe more importantly themselves. The Fightin’ Planets applied what they learned on Saturday and won the program’s first...

Listed at 5-foot-4, Will Waskiewicz is the smallest player on North Catholic’s roster, but he made the biggest play of the night. With less than 15 seconds remaining, Waskiewicz leaped high in the air to intercept a pass in the end zone and preserve a 21-14 upset victory for No....

Plum and Fox Chapel have a similar story entering the WPIAL boys soccer championship game. Both have seen their share of heartache in the postseason, but that came to an end Tuesday with wins in the semifinals. Now, the Alle-Kiski Valley schools separated by 10 miles will meet in the...

Before the beginning of the fifth set, the Mars girls volleyball players looked into a packed grandstands and started waving their arms up and down to pump up the crowd. Then they gave their fans plenty to cheer about. Lily Javor had five kills, and Cecilia Christy had two in...

After four consecutive years of semifinal heartbreak, the Fox Chapel boys soccer team finally exorcised the demon. Aidan Stein scored the game-winning goal in the 69th minute as No. 3 Fox Chapel earned a 1-0 win over No. 2 Peters Township on Tuesday night at Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium. “It means...

For years, Plum boys soccer coach Raf Kolankowski has talked about how the soccer gods haven’t shined on his group in the postseason. Well, on Tuesday, the Mustangs went to an “Alter,” and their prayers were answered. Christian Alter scored three minutes into the second half for what proved to...

On Monday afternoon, Danny Battista was named the WPIAL Class 2A boys soccer player of the year, and a few hours later, he helped make sure South Park would defend its title. Battista scored twice, and the top-seeded Eagles ended No. 13 Burrell’s improbable run in the WPIAL playoffs with...

With nine games remaining in the regular season, Pittsburgh Riverhounds coach Bob Lilley forecasted that 48 points was needed to get into the playoffs. Talk about foreshadowing. The Hounds achieved exactly that number and got the final three needed to clinch a playoff berth in a 2-0 victory over El...