Josh Rizzo stories, Page 3

Rob Niederberger took last season off coaching varsity basketball. During that time, the newly-minted North Allegheny boys basketball coach did color commentary on games for the TribLive High School Sports Network and went to help a few teams work on things in practice. Niederberger’s passion for basketball is his sickness....

Tristan Davis took in plenty of information about how to lead and pass information to the next generation of the Penn Hills football program. The Indians’ 6-foot-2, 230-pound senior center has eagerly taken on the challenge to pass the baton. Davis learned from former Indians standout linemen Carter Lance and...

Dave Leasure knows starting sophomores typically means grim things for a football program. But the Fox Chapel coach didn’t have many options when it came to playing young players last season. The Foxes had 15 players go out in three weeks with injuries. Fox Chapel had to improvise, which meant...

The Shaler football program desires a steadier level of production from its offense. The Titans scored 10 or fewer points in all seven of their losses last season. Shaler coach Jim Ryan believes the work put in over the past few seasons should benefit the program. “With the consistency of...

Editor’s note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Aug. 22. Woodland Hills football coach Brian Tarrant would have been happy to hear how senior wide receiver Scoop Smith answered the question about the Wolverines’ expectations for...

Elias George enjoyed making an annual summer trip with his family to visit his mom, Eva’s native Sweden. But when he turned 10, Elias started to ask a few practical questions. The now-Fox Chapel junior wanted to make sure his baseball skills stayed sharp. He wasn’t sure Sweden had baseball...

Khama Worthy still has the desire to fight. The 38-year-old Moon Township resident feels like he owes his fans the opportunity to see him perform. Worthy will help the Pittsburgh-based combat sports promotion 247 Fighting Championships christen its new venue, Sunny Days Arena, on Saturday, Aug. 9, in North Versailles...

Catch Scoop Smith if you can. Many of the football programs that line up against Woodland Hills would rather pursue other endeavors. Smith enjoys playing on the return team but has become mostly a spectator as his career has progressed. “I don’t get them a lot,” Smith said. “A lot...

Drew Schifino wanted an opportunity to reflect on his time in basketball. He didn’t want to rehash the old stories of his time in European basketball or at West Virginia. The 43-year-old Penn Hills graduate sought an opportunity for self-reflection. Schifino decided to write a book about his time in...

Isabella DeCarlo being asked by Team Gold to throw two innings in June during the Western Pennsylvania Softball All-Star game at Plum High School meant the world to her. The Penn Hills graduate ended a difficult senior season with two solid memories. DeCarlo no-hit Woodland Hills on Senior Night to...

Harran Zureikat didn’t have to wait for a list to come out to see if he would be part of the Under Armour Next Football All-America game. Zureikat, a Fox Chapel senior, earned his spot during a Kohl’s Scholarship Camp in Gatlinburg, Tenn. Competing with several other top prospects, Zureikat...

Apollo-Ridge right tackle Connor Bogdanski was tired, but earned the feeling he was looking for July 23 at James M. Burke Athletic Facility. The Vikings had the smallest school enrollment at the Big Man Challenge, but they were able to earn a team victory over host Fox Chapel and Knoch....

The public address announcer ended his pre-game duties before the Sonny Westerman Old Timers game by sharing a sentiment likely shared by a large majority of the crowd, the players and any on-call medical personnel within shouting distance of Swartz Field in Freeport Borough Thursday night. Don’t get hurt. Despite...

Carter Bonner doesn’t think going on the recruiting trail for football is an easy process. One thing that eases the Penn Hills junior’s mind when it comes to the decision-making process is the impact it has on his dad during the road trips to visit schools. The two made a...

Adam Hoffman was floating in the pool in South Carolina when he found out that his efforts with the Shaler boys volleyball team had earned him all-state honors. Hoffman was one of many Titan athletes across all spring sports who drew recognition in the postseason. Hoffman was named an honorable...

Jack Kartsonas prefers to dominate one task at a time. On a recent Wednesday, the former West Virginia University standout and Fox Chapel native was only worried about the quality of the steak he was cooking and not about the challenge of leaping into minor league baseball. Kartsonas, who played...

The Fox Chapel hockey club will introduce a new program to spark interest in younger age groups. The Foxes will host a free skate with the varsity team July 27 at the Alpha Ice Complex. The program is available to students in Fox Chapel school district who are entering first...

Zykir “Ziggy” Moore feels a deep connection to many of the neighborhoods that make up the Woodland Hills community. That feeling gives Moore, who lives in Churchill but is originally from Rankin, a sense of pride when he pulls on the Wolverines’ football uniform. Moore, who recently committed to play...

Kate Friday spent much of the Fourth of July looking around with astonishment. But it wasn’t the fireworks that caught her eye. The 19-year-old Fox Chapel graduate and 5-foot-7 midfielder for the Pittsburgh Riveters was swept up in the community’s response to her team. Nearly 4,200 fans attended the Riveters’...

Fox Chapel senior Max Melocchi enjoys the pressure that comes with playing quarterback. However, Melocchi is happy to be preparing to play wide receiver and power back for the Foxes in the upcoming season. During a 7-on-7 workout July 9 at Fox Chapel, Melocchi was happy to haul in passes...

The Knoch football players had an acronym printed vertically on the back of their uniforms for the Fox Chapel 7-on-7 football practice Wednesday night. Reach your full potential (RYFP) has become the slogan for the Knights, led by veteran first-year coach T.J. Wiley. Wiley said the early response he has...

Woodland Hills senior wide receiver Scoop Smith wanted to make his college commitment something that stood out. He didn’t want to be behind a table picking from baseball hats. Instead, Smith hosted a football camp Sunday at the Wolvarena, announcing his commitment to Miami (Ohio) with a video on the...

Piper Coffield would have loved to have six of her teammates alongside her during the Pittsburgh Riveters USL W Central Conference semifinal playoff game Friday at Highmark Stadium. But the Mars graduate knows how things work in the summer at the pre-professional level. As the summer gets later, players have...

Marty Matvey didn’t need to work his contact list to help fill out the Fox Chapel girls basketball summer league. By the end of February, Matvey already had a full list of teams who wanted to get extra work in. The only team Matvey had to find a way to...

The Fox Chapel football team has stayed busy this summer. With all of the other typical summertime commitments — between vacations, other sports leagues and other activities — the Foxes have regularly had more than 50 players for workouts. When the practices for the season begin, coach Dave Leasure anticipates...