Michael Love stories, Page 23
On cusp of reaching UFC, Plum grad Justin Patton to fight at Brawl in the Burgh 23
Justin Patton is on a roll in his professional mixed martial arts career. The 2012 Plum graduate has won six of his last seven fights and is on the doorstep of making it to the Ultimate Fighting Championships. He faces the No. 3-ranked featherweight in Pennsylvania, Ryan Cafaro, at 247...
Gateway’s Kairell McCoy eyes strong finish to high school cross country career
Kairell McCoy ran competitive cross country meets for the first time while in middle school and has taken steps up the ladder ever since. Now the Gateway senior is hoping his final varsity season is his best yet. As a veteran on a young Gators team, McCoy wants to make...
Freeport takes control early, tops Quaker Valley in continued game
It took an extra day, but Freeport was able to take care of its business against Quaker Valley at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. The teams returned to the field Saturday morning after lightning forced officials to postpone the game after only six minutes Friday evening. The Yellowjackets rolled from the...
Freeport-Quaker Valley football game postponed to Saturday
Mother Nature didn’t allow the Freeport and Quaker Valley football teams to play much of their nonconference game Friday night at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. The teams were 5 minutes, 48 seconds into the contest when lightning first was spotted by game officials. The teams were ushered off the field...
Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League begins 2024 season
The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League kicked off its 2024 season Sunday afternoon with four doubleheaders. Mt. Lebanon swept its way past Baldwin by a combined 34-5. North Allegheny and Bethel Park, Seneca Valley and Shaler, and Hempfield and Plum all split their opening two-game sets. Montour and West Allegheny...
Freeport girls soccer earning respect early in season
The members of the Freeport girls soccer team took part in a light workout Thursday afternoon, less than 12 hours after producing a convincing 3-0 victory over Shady Side Academy in an early-season Section 2-2A clash at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. “We had some calf cramp issues at the end...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 2
player of the week Colt Sprankle Knoch, jr., QB/DB The Knights didn’t get the results they were hoping for in a Week Zero loss to Kiski Area, but their fortunes turned around last Friday when they returned to the field. Sprankle was a main cog in the engine that produced...
Familiar foes Freeport, Quaker Valley hope to gain momentum after early-season losses
The Freeport and Quaker Valley football teams are no strangers to one other. Friday’s 7 p.m. kickoff at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium will mark the third time in as many seasons the Quakers and Yellowjackets will meet in nonconference play. Freeport hopes to continue its dominance in the recent series...
Kiski Sports Hall of Fame’s newest class spans decades
When Brent Kennedy found out he would be enshrined as a member of the Kiski Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024, thoughts immediately turned back to when he made his mark on the Cavaliers cross country, track and field and soccer teams. His successes, he said, were made all...
Kiski Area wins 3rd straight Pack the Park girls volleyball match
Last year’s Pack the Park girls volleyball event and match between Norwin and Kiski Area at the Ellen Toy Grass Court in Vandergrift’s Kennedy Park didn’t face any adverse weather conditions such as what chased both teams inside Kiski Area High School one year earlier. The outdoor crowd who watched...
Gateway grad Maddy Neundorfer off to strong start in final season at Duquesne
Maddy Neundorfer said her collegiate career has flown by, and the Gateway graduate and starting goalkeeper for the Division I Duquesne women’s soccer team hopes she is on course to make her final season with the Dukes her best yet. “I am super excited for this last season,” Neundorfer said....
Coliseum Combat Zone hosting MMA competition in Monroeville
The All-American Field House in Monroeville will play host to an evening of mixed martial arts competition on Sept. 14, and Allen Levine, the founder of Pittsburgh-based Coliseum Combat Zone, is excited to host what he feels will be a full evening of intense fight action. “I love promoting people...
Behind experienced lineup, Riverview boys soccer eyes improvement
The Riverview boys soccer team has made strides each season since the fall of 2021, when the program came back after a one-year hiatus because of low numbers. The Raiders, with several seasoned seniors and other underclassmen with experience in varsity matches, are ready to challenge for a WPIAL playoff...
Led by PIAA runner-up Wes Lorish, Plum golfers find early-season success
The Plum boys golf team did something Aug. 26 it hadn’t done in 36 years. The Mustangs defeated Central Catholic in a dual match. Behind a score of 32 from senior standout Wes Lorish, Plum topped the Vikings, 198-203, on their home course at Willowbrook Country Club. It was a...
A-K Valley high school football notebook: Group effort helps Fox Chapel end losing skid
Fox Chapel’s seniors were freshmen the last time they experienced a victory on the football field. It was the 2021 WPIAL Class 5A playoffs when the Foxes upset Upper St. Clair in the first round. A 20-9 setback in Week Zero extended the losing streak to 22 games. But that...
Highlands bounces back to defeat Elizabeth Forward in triple-OT thriller
The Highlands and Elizabeth Forward football teams both experienced heartbreak in Week Zero. The Golden Rams lost to Armstrong by one in overtime, and the Warriors came up short by one against West Mifflin as a conversion attempt was unsuccessful with no time left in regulation. But Friday night at...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 1
Player of the week Aven Shirley Kiski Area, jr., WR/DB Shirley delivered in all phases to complement Landon Kucic’s four rushing touchdowns in Friday’s 42-7 Week Zero rout of Knoch. He returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown which sparked Kiski to a 21-0 lead in the first...
Elizabeth Forward, Highlands look to rebound after narrow losses in Week Zero
Elizabeth Forward and Highlands will get together Friday night at Golden Rams Stadium, each seeking its first win of the season after close, heartbreaking defeats in Week Zero. It is the first matchup between the schools since 1999, and Golden Rams coach Matt Bonislawski and Elizabeth Forward coach John DeMarco...
Freeport volleyball commands respect in move up to 3A
The seniors on this year’s Freeport girls volleyball team know what it is like to face the competition in Class 3A. It was just three years ago in 2021, when the current senior group were freshman, the Yellowjackets put it all together and claimed the WPIAL Class 3A title before...
Led by LoCoco brothers, Gateway boys soccer chasing 5th straight WPIAL playoff berth
The Gateway boys soccer team is on a mission this fall to add to an already record-setting streak for the program. With a move up to Class 4A, the Gators are shooting for a fifth straight trip to the WPIAL playoffs, and with what head coach Mike Rugh feels is...
Riverview, Plum girls soccer teams look to maintain winning tradition
The Riverview and Plum girls soccer teams open their seasons this week with high expectations as experienced leadership returns for both the Raiders and the Mustangs. With a breakout season last year for Riverview, and Plum’s string of recent success in section play and beyond, the teams understand that targets...
Lancaster native Andy Hoover takes reins of Gateway baseball program
Andy Hoover owns an extensive baseball playing and coaching background at various levels, and he hopes to use his knowledge of the game to make a difference at Gateway. The Lancaster County native officially was hired as the Gators’ baseball coach at a school board meeting Aug. 19. A meeting...
A-K Valley football notebook: Deer Lakes snaps string of Week Zero losses
Deer Lakes defeated Apollo-Ridge, 35-14, in its first Week Zero game in 2016. Taking the 2020 covid year out of the equation, the Lancers hadn’t fared well in Week Zero contests since with six straight season-opening setbacks. That changed Friday as Deer Lakes took control in the first half and...
Franklin Regional continues dominance vs. Plum
Plum hoped to stop a five-game losing streak to rival Franklin Regional when the neighbors met to open the season Friday evening. But the visiting Panthers weren’t about to relinquish their recent stranglehold on the series. FR scored three times in the first quarter, led by 28 at halftime and...
Landon Kucic runs for 4 TDs as Kiski Area dominates Knoch in opener
It didn’t take Kiski Area long to jump into the 2024 football season. After making the playoffs last year in 4A, the Cavaliers moved up a classification. They traveled to Saxonburg on Friday to take on Knoch, which also moved up in classification after qualifying for the 3A playoffs in...
