John Grupp stories

The North Allegheny girls golf team has aced its early-season tests. Off to their best start in seven years, the Tigers (6-0, 7-0-1) have rolled to an undefeated mark in Section 3-3A and won the NA Invitational, highlighted by senior Kayli Dings’ first hole-in-one. “We’ve got to get through the...

North Allegheny is learning that playing golf is trickier when you have a target on your back. The Tigers, coming off the program’s first WPIAL title since 1971 and its first state championship, have embraced the challenge of being the hunted. “Everyone is trying to beat us and playing their...

The North Allegheny girls soccer team plans on making its own luck this season. One year after some unfortunate bounces and achingly close calls denied them a spot in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game, the Tigers hope to leave little to chance this time around. “I think we got...

Graduation did a number on the North Allegheny boys soccer team. The Tigers lost their top five goal scorers and return only a couple of starters from last year’s 16-4-1 WPIAL Class 4A semifinalist. “We had some really, really big losses,” coach Manuel Montero said. “But we just reload. …...

Butler is ineligible for the playoffs again this season, but the Golden Tornado still have a lot at stake. Returning eight starters on each side of the ball, Butler is hoping to build on an encouraging 2024 season and aims to post the program’s first winning season since 1997. “Everyone...

The Hampton girls tennis team has a place to call home again, but the names and faces are a little different. Coming off the best two-year stretch in program history, the Talbots enter the 2025 season with a new-look lineup and some early question marks. Four of the top seven...

Something is in the air at North Catholic. Returning the WPIAL’s leading passer and receiver from a late-surging playoff team, the Trojans are poised to take another step forward. “We kind of expect to pick up where we left off,” coach Chris Rizzo said, “just with probably a little bit...

Hampton coach Steve Sciullo had no problem putting his finger on what went wrong during last year’s 3-7 season. “We didn’t tackle well, and we didn’t block well,” Sciullo said. “Those two things take courage. We’re hoping that we have a little bit more courage this year to go and...

North Allegheny wrestlers Evan Schomburg and Joey Synan traveled 1,100 miles to North Dakota last month, and there was one stop sign in front of them. The Tigers tandem placed in the top eight of their respective divisions at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals on July 10-19 in Fargo,...

Sprinting down a track never did much for North Allegheny’s Lindsay Breneman. She preferred the idea of soaring. “When I was little, I watched the Olympics and I always thought pole vault was really cool because they fling themselves in the air,” she said. “I was like, ‘I want to...

Former Hampton lacrosse star Emi DiLiberto figured she had nothing to lose when she reached out to the Argentina women’s national team in spring 2024. Then things got loco. “It’s a crazy story,” DiLiberto said. “My father found a contact form online. We filled it out and laughed it off....

New Hampton boys cross country coach Kim Masarik knows all about running fast and clearing obstacles. Masarik, the most decorated female hurdler in North Allegheny history and a two-time NCAA Division I championship qualifier, was hired last month to replace longtime coach Dean Longwell, who stepped down following the 2024...

A season-ending knee injury proved to be just what the doctor ordered for North Allegheny’s Liam Flaherty. The Tigers’ two-way standout was unsure of his desire to play football in college, but a torn ACL suffered midway through the 2024 season reinforced his passion for the game. “I didn’t know...

After three decades as a boys basketball coach, Dave DeGregorio knew saying goodbye would never be easy. “It was a difficult decision from the perspective of working with this group of kids,” he said. “I really like this group of kids. But like my wife said, ‘That will be every...

Whether he was defending passes in football or soaring through the air in track, Nick Humphries left his mark at North Allegheny. Now he’s ready to make the leap all the way to Des Moines, Iowa. The 2025 NA graduate departed in late June for Drake, where he will begin...

North Allegheny’s Kayli Dings remembers when she had a hard time hitting a golf ball more than 50 yards. “It was very frustrating,” she said. “But, honestly, that’s what made it so fun. It was so competitive. It motivated me to get better.” Dings, who will be a senior at...

North Allegheny all-state defensive lineman Lincoln Hoke made two commitments this summer. One to Pitt, and one to his NA teammates. “I’m not the kind of guy where I’m committed (to college) and I’m going to take a backseat,” he said. “I want to be a lot better than I...

The sting of its state championship loss had eased by the time the North Allegheny boys volleyball team gathered two days later for its season-ending banquet. “It was bittersweet,” coach Dan Long said. “But more sweet than bitter.” A memorable 2025 season that included a WPIAL Class 3A championship came...

Cole Young isn’t the only North Allegheny graduate having a spring to remember. Former high school All-American Sarah Schupansky is enjoying a whirlwind spring that included her debut in the National Women’s Soccer League, her first professional goal, trips to California and Germany with the U-23 U.S. National team and...

Mike Komara’s trip with Team USA to the 2025 World Fly Fishing Championships last month in the Czech Republic featured a medal and some metal. “We had an extra day in Prague, and we went to an Iron Maiden concert,” Komara said. “It was great. It was actually my first...

The Hampton softball players were silent, but coach Katie Hedderman got the message loud and clear. After a 16-3 loss to North Hills dropped the Talbots to 1-3 on the season, Hedderman gathered the team for some self-reflection. “Nobody had anything to say,” the second-year coach said. “As coaches, we...

This season looked a lot like last season for the Hampton boys lacrosse team. The Talbots finished second in the section with a 9-1 record, lost to Mars in the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals, rebounded to make the state playoffs, and then lost a close match at District 3 champion...

Hampton’s Chris Belch accomplished something unmatched in the WPIAL this year. The senior placed in the top two at the district championships in three different sports, winning an individual gold in swimming along with runner-up finishes in cross country and track. “It was a pretty busy year,” Belch said, “but...

Trailing District 3 champion Manheim Township by six goals in the fourth quarter of its PIAA Class 3A boys lacrosse playoff opener, North Allegheny could have taken its lumps and called it a season. But the Tigers had some bite left. North Allegheny scored five unanswered goals to cut the...

Summer started too early this year for the North Allegheny baseball team. An opening-round playoff exit left the defending WPIAL Class 6A champion Tigers looking ahead to a long offseason with early June travel ball practices replacing meaningful postseason games. “It was a rough finish to our season,” sophomore first...