John Grupp stories, Page 15

Hampton’s Jacque DeMatteo has sought two traits in his middle linebacker during 22 seasons as a WPIAL football coach. “You have to be physical and intelligent,” DeMatteo said, “and that’s both adjectives and qualities that describe Jayden right now.” Senior middle linebacker Jayden Resch is the anchor of an improving...

Nearly 60,000 golfers participated this year in the PGA Jr. League and only 96 of them qualified for the 13-and-under national championship this month. One of them is an eighth-grader from Hampton. Rin Suyama will compete with the Westwood Golf Club team in its bid for a national title beginning...

The Hampton girls soccer team is getting healthy at the right time. After dropping their first two games this season, including the program’s most lopsided loss in a decade, the defending Section 1-3A champion Talbots went 6-0-1 during a seven-game surge heading into their Sept. 30 game against visiting Indiana....

Hampton senior Thomas Bradfield is one of the top goalkeepers in WPIAL Class 3A soccer. But he rarely gets to prove it. The Talbots are playing smothering defense this season, and Bradfield, a third-year starter, often goes long stretches without ever being tested by an opponent’s shot. “We want to...

One of the winningest coaches in the history of Hampton boys lacrosse is being replaced by one of the program’s top players of all time. Jim Vollberg, who led the Talbots to the 2015 WPIAL Class AA title and a steady run of championship-game appearances, will not return next spring...

Former girls soccer star Amy Lindsey Shane waited more than two decades to get into the Hampton Athletic Hall of Fame, so one extra year wasn’t going to matter. “It was very nice,” she said. “For me, even though I played through college, the times that I remember the most...

On the first day of Hampton girls tennis practice last month, coach Grant McKinney could hardly believe his eyes. Senior Megan Kang, one of the school’s top singles players who sat out last season because of covid concerns, was walking onto the court at Hampton Community Park, racquet in hand....

On the bus ride home from their 51-13 victory at Fox Chapel on Sept. 3, the Hampton football players couldn’t play any music during their joyful postgame celebration. “I think the speaker we brought died,” senior tackle John Morris said. But the Talbots are still making plenty of noise. Hampton...

A youthful Hampton girls cross country team is about to get even younger. And probably a lot better. The Talbots return five of their top seven runners from the WPIAL championships and welcome talented freshman Kevyn Fish into the fold. “I’m really excited,” said sophomore Lydia Bailey, who as a...

Since going undefeated as eighth graders, the seniors on the Hampton boys soccer team have held lofty expectations. They own a sparkling 35-15-3 overall record in three seasons but have zero section titles and no WPIAL championship game appearances. This is their final chance, and they plan on making the...

Junior Abi Green is hoping to put a new spin on her 2021 season with the Hampton girls tennis team. The program’s top returning singles player worked this spring and summer to tweak her forehand and backhand strokes as the Talbots look to rebound from a winless season. “I worked...

Mars senior left tackle Matt Detisch spent this offseason doing bear crawls on a big hill at his home. “I would take a 100-pound sandbag and I’d walk it up and down a bunch of times until I’m tired,” he said, “almost puking.” The 6-foot-7, 290-pound Detisch and the Mars...

Hampton all-conference wide receiver Benny Haselrig played last season with the letters “IWNBD CH” written on his wrist tape. The cryptic message stood for “I Will Not Be Denied — Carlton Haselrig,” a tribute to Benny’s cousin, the former NCAA wrestling champion and Pittsburgh Steeler who died in July 2020...

North Hills is talented and experienced on defense this season, and a little bit Green at quarterback. But that’s just fine. Speedy junior John Green will take over under center, giving the Indians a dynamic dual-threat quarterback as they try to return to the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs following a...

Distance runner Elaina Balouris Tabb was about four steps into the biggest race of her life when everything went wrong. Balouris’ heel was clipped by another runner just after the opening gun in the 10,000-meter race at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials on June 26 in Eugene, Ore., and...

Standing 5-foot-2 with pony-tailed blonde hair and a cherubic smile, Kendall Hoolahan has a difficult time convincing anyone she’s a competitive weightlifter. Sometimes she just has to flex her muscles. Hoolahan, 14, of Hampton placed seventh in the clean and jerk in her division at the 2021 USA Weightlifting National...

When Chris Hart told his Hampton wrestlers at their season-ending banquet last month that he was stepping down as head coach, their next coach was standing only a couple of feet away. Talbots assistant coach Nick Endres is expected to be promoted to the top job, and Hart will return...

Hampton graduate Ben Huber this spring was part of the best golf team in Carnegie Mellon history and struggled to an 80th-place finish at an event in Columbus, Ohio. He will remember both just as fondly. Three weeks after helping CMU to a program-best fourth-place finish at the 2021 NCAA...

The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 22 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park. Robert Dickerson’s idea of a summer vacation is maybe taking a couple sips of...

High school basketball season is still five months away, but the Hampton boys are getting a running start. Hampton competed in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club’s 28th annual summer league, which attracted roughly 40 schools from around the WPIAL for a month-long return to the court. The teams played two 20-minute...

Success is becoming contagious for the Hampton football team. Coming off their first WPIAL playoff season in five years, the Talbots have attracted an increased number of players during spring and summer workouts. “It was awesome,” coach Jacque DeMatteo said. “Our numbers are up, and we are getting some more...

Jake Seymour’s tributes to his departed teammate came naturally. The 2016 Hampton graduate wrote Tre Cunningham’s name on his cleats and on his baseball cap. He ensured Cunningham’s No. 22 La Roche jersey was at every game, a testimonial to the memory of his close friend. “That was kind of...

Emi Suyama knows life can throw a lot at you. When the covid pandemic ruined her junior girls lacrosse season at Hampton, she was comforted by visions of her senior season. But then a fluky skiing accident Dec. 17 at Hidden Valley left her with a torn ACL in her...

Hampton graduate Jason Goodman, the 2021 PSAC decathlon champion, already competes in the most physically demanding endeavor in track and field. Next year he will be even busier. Goodman, who earned his undergraduate degree last month, will return for his final year of eligibility at Slippery Rock while pursuing his...

Calen Cummins brought modest expectations to Westminster when he arrived at the middling NCAA Division III golf program. The 2019 Hampton graduate had shot “in the 100s” as a ninth-grader and never advanced past WPIAL sectionals during his four years as a Talbot. Westminster was without a conference title since...