John Grupp stories

This offseason, the Knoch boys basketball team unexpectedly lost its coach, its best player and the only 7-footer in program history. But the Knights, last year’s WPIAL Class 4A preseason No. 1, believe they might be even better. “We’ve overcome so much adversity in the past years,” said 6-foot senior...

The Knoch girls basketball team is facing another season of trying to win without much offense. Forty-two WPIAL teams averaged fewer than 36 points a game last season, and Knoch was the only one with a winning record. “We are going to struggle to score,” coach Shane McGraw said. “Defense...

Freeport coach Rich Macura is ready to release a swarm of Yellowjackets. One season after having one of the most porous defenses in WPIAL Class 4A boys basketball, Freeport is poised to turn up the pressure on opposing teams. “The fact that we can go a little deeper than in...

Experience means everything for the Freeport girls basketball team. Second-year coach Jason Kerr says whatever his youthful team went through during last year’s 6-17 season — good and bad — will be valuable moving forward. “Everything that happened last year, regardless of score and record, was important,” Kerr said. “They...

The North Allegheny hockey team got off to one of its best starts in 20 years, but Justin Glock is staying grounded. “They are well aware that I think we can play a lot better,” the first-year coach said. “It’s still a work in progress.” So far, it’s working. The...

The North Allegheny girls soccer team saved its best for last. After entering the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs as a third-place section finisher and a fifth-seeded underdog, the Tigers used a remarkable run to put together arguably the most memorable postseason in program history. “We were kind of overlooked because...

The Hampton girls didn’t repeat at the 2025 WPIAL Class 2A cross country championships, but they did rejoice. Junior Rebekah Hall, who last season helped the Talbots to their first-ever team title, became the first Hampton runner in 27 years to bring home a WPIAL individual cross country championship. One...

The North Allegheny boys soccer team ended this season with 10 wins, six losses, three ties and zero regrets. In the wake of a 1-0 loss at top-seeded Peters Township in the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals on Oct. 25, the No. 8 Tigers recalled a “tricky season” with many more...

North Allegheny coach Art Walker is getting better at byes. For the fourth consecutive season, the Tigers — and the rest of the WPIAL Class 6A bracket — will have a bye week to prepare for their playoff opener, and Walker has grown more comfortable with the atypical schedule. “When...

There were no troubles at doubles this season for the North Allegheny girls tennis team. The Tigers’ doubles teams went a combined 42-2 while leading North Allegheny to its fifth consecutive Section 2-3A title and a spot in the PIAA Class 3A playoffs. The No. 1 doubles team of senior...

North Allegheny’s Michelle Weniger has witnessed a lot in her two decades as girls tennis coach, but nothing like this. The NA Hall of Fame coach was still looking for answers one day after a 3-2 loss to Hollidaysburg on Tuesday in the PIAA Class 3A team tournament in which...

The North Allegheny girls cross country team finds itself in an unusual position heading into the WPIAL Class 3A championships. The seven-time defending champion Tigers are underdogs — and in a big way. “I think it’s pretty refreshing, to be honest,” North Allegheny coach John Neff said. “Sometimes we go...

North Allegheny senior Kayli Dings entered the final round of the WPIAL golf championships feeling like she had nothing to lose. And not much to gain. After a disappointing first round gave her a slim chance to qualify the PIAA championships, Dings lowered her hopes heading into the WPIAL individual...

Hampton’s top cross country runner is swapping a walking boot for racing spikes for the WPIAL Class 2A championships. Junior Josh Wukitch, who missed last year’s finals with a broken foot, is back to full strength and motivated for his return to the WPIAL meet Oct. 23 at White Oak...

Hampton first-year girls soccer coach Chris Garraffa wants his players to focus on possibility, not perfection. Garraffa has instilled an attacking mindset in his debut season with the WPIAL Class 3A playoff-bound Talbots, emphasizing increased scoring chances above pinpoint passes. “We are willing to go to the goal immediately compared...

Former North Allegheny star Lucia Wells is more focused on her place on a soccer field than her location on one. Wells, NA’s all-time leading goal scorer, has transitioned into a versatile two-way player with multiple starts at forward and defender for Pitt this season. “Honestly, I’m good playing anywhere,”...

This past summer, North Allegheny’s Keely McMahon-Regan worked at the NA girls volleyball camp for grade-schoolers. This fall, she is putting on a clinic. Tasked with delivering pinpoint passes to a frontline led by a pair of all-state hitters, the senior setter is the lead playmaker for the eight-time defending...

The North Allegheny boys soccer team is using balance to replace brilliance. After graduating their top five scorers, including an all-state forward, the Tigers are spreading around the goals on their path to the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. “The way we play, it is so focused on possession and keeping...

Jeff Alexander was always the smallest guy in a North Allegheny wrestling room packed with state champions and bad intentions. The 1990 graduate, who arrived on varsity as a 4-foot-10, 98-pound freshman, became a key part of one of the most dominating wrestling dynasties in WPIAL history. “I got nervous...

North Allegheny’s defense had nearly as many shutouts in the first half of the season as it had returning starters. The Tigers’ new-look defensive unit answered a bunch of offseason questions by allowing a Class 6A-low average of 11.2 points through five weeks while blanking Gateway and Penn Hills in...

Life can sometimes feel like a hard kick to the shins for North Allegheny’s Mwende Abai. The junior forward for the Tigers’ No. 3-ranked girls soccer team already has endured more heartache and tragedy than many will ever experience. “I can have a bad day, and it’s really not that...

North Allegheny standout distance runner Andrew Peigh was bloodied, but he isn’t beaten. Peigh, last year’s WPIAL Class 3A cross country runner-up, is fighting back from a scary biking accident that cost him some early-season training as the senior leader of a young but promising Tigers squad. “I’m building back,”...

North Allegheny field hockey coach Michelle Kessler was scanning her roster, searching for something that maybe didn’t even exist. “We needed to find a fourth goalkeeper,” she said. “When I was looking at the roster, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. Who am I going to ask to be the...

Hampton swimmer Jack Zierenberg won two WPIAL gold medals as a freshman two decades ago and then did something even more unusual. He quit the team. “I was pursuing individual goals,” he said. “I did USA Swimming and club swimming. But I really missed high school sports. I definitely wanted...

The top-ranked Hampton Talbots are starting to show they can score goals just as well as they prevent them. After managing one goal in its first three games, Hampton is finding an offense to match its defensive prowess. “The season is still early, and we’re still figuring some things out...