Michael Love stories, Page 34
A-K Valley high school notebook: Springdale alumnae Kropelak-Brownback going into UPJ Hall of Fame
Michelle Kropelak-Brownback, a standout track star at Springdale in the mid to late 1990s, is one of seven athletic greats who make up the 15th Athletics Hall of Fame class at Pitt-Johnstown. The six-time WPIAL champion and four-time PIAA place-winner showed her versatility at Pitt-Johnstown by competing in as many...
Keystone Oaks girls take down Burrell, get rematch with No. 1 Avonworth
Keystone Oaks will get another shot at No. 1 The Eagles, runners-up to Avonworth in Section 2-3A, got a game-best 15 points from junior Alayna Wagner and 12 more from senior Bailey Rieg in a 49-34 WPIAL first-round victory over Burrell on Saturday at South Park. Keystone Oaks, which improved...
Kiski Area wrestler Gray eager for postseason after being sidelined by shoulder injury
Kiski Area’s Mark Gray made his season debut last Saturday at the Pine-Richland Duals. The junior wrestled just one out of a planned schedule of three matches in his return from a torn labrum in his left shoulder suffered in a match at the Tussle Duals in West Virginia in...
A-K Valley high school basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 17, 2024
WPIAL basketball playoffs Girls Class 3A First round 9-Burrell (16-4) vs. 8-Keystone Oaks (15-6) Noon Saturday, South Park High School Winner plays: Winner of 16-Apollo-Ridge (8-13)/1-Avonworth (19-1) Wednesday in quarterfinals (time, site TBD) Section finish: Burrell 2nd, Section 3; Keystone Oaks, T-2nd, Section 2 Players to watch: Julianna Fisher, Burrell;...
A-K Valley girls wrestlers ready for shot at WPIAL gold, spots in regionals
Ava Golding is undefeated against WPIAL opponents this season. The Kiski Area sophomore, 21-4 overall, has earned the No. 1 seed at 136-pounds for the inaugural WPIAL girls wrestling championships set for Saturday at North Allegheny High School. “You never know what to expect until you see your name there,”...
Top A-K Valley athletes gather for TSTCA indoor track championships
There are only 18 days until the start of preseason practices for the outdoor track and field season. But many of those athletes throughout Western Pennsylvania have their sights set on indoor gold and other top finishes at one of the top meets of the indoor season. The Tri-State Track...
Deer Lakes boys lead A-K Valley basketball teams as No. 1 seed in WPIAL Class 3A
The Deer Lakes boys basketball team now knows its path to a defense of its WPIAL Class 3A championship. The Lancers and 167 other boys and girls teams found out their postseason fates Monday afternoon as the 12 playoff brackets were revealed on TribLive HSSN. The champion of Section 3-3A,...
Robert Morris women’s basketball coach Charlie Buscaglia resigns
Robert Morris women’s basketball coach Charlie Buscaglia resigned Monday, said Chris King, RMU vice president and director of athletics. “We thank Charlie for his efforts on behalf of RMU women’s basketball,” King said. “We wish him well personally and professionally moving forward.” In eight seasons, Buscaglia leaves RMU with an...
Preparations underway for 30th annual Freeport International Baseball Invitational
Pitchers and catchers report to the Pittsburgh Pirates training facility in Florida on Feb. 14, and opening day is March 28 in Miami. College baseball teams, both locally and throughout the country, begin their seasons next week. High school baseball preseason practices start March 4 with season openers three weeks...
Gateway grad Sarah Corrie chasing PSAC indoor shot put title
Sarah Corrie is on a mission to bring home another Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference shot put title this winter, and the Gateway graduate is on her way to again challenging for gold. The Slippery Rock standout kicked off the indoor season Dec. 2 with a runner-up finish at the Youngstown...
Gateway senior student-athletes celebrate signing letters of intent
Ahmad Harris’ confidence level is off the charts for his football future at Division II Wheeling in West Virginia. “They had a couple of injuries in the linebacker room, and the coaches said I have a good opportunity to go up there and compete right away to get on the...
Plum senior student-athletes set college plans
It was another day to celebrate for Plum seniors set to continue their athletic pursuits at the collegiate level. Last Wednesday marked the first day of the regular signing period for Division I and II football players to make their decisions final, and Mustangs quarterback and punter Sean Franzi put...
St. Joseph girls get tough road win at Riverview in battle of playoff teams
The St. Joseph girls basketball team completed a clean sweep of Section 3-A on Thursday as it went into Riverview’s gym and came away with a 54-32 victory. “It felt really nice to come into their place and get the win,” said junior guard Gia Richter, who scored 18 points...
Quartet of Deer Lakes football standouts sign with PSAC schools
Derek Burk, Nick Rossi, Ryan Cochran and Wayne Love were among those at the center of a Deer Lakes football resurgence in 2023. The quartet helped lead the Lancers to a home playoff game and the program’s first postseason victory, a dominating 48-18 victory over Southmoreland. Despite a tough loss...
A-K Valley girls basketball notebook: Plum, Indiana vie for section title
The Section 1-5A title is on the line for Plum on Thursday as it clashes with Indiana to conclude section play. The stage was set for the Mustangs on Monday as they kept pace with the Indians in a 61-49 victory over Kiski Area on senior night at Plum High...
Plum girls pull away from Kiski Area to keep pace in section
The Plum girls basketball team took care of business Monday in a 61-49 Section 1-5A victory over Kiski Area on senior night at Plum High School. The Mustangs didn’t let the Cavaliers play spoiler as they kept pace with Indiana for a shot at the section title Thursday evening. Plum...
D’Angelo winding down AD tenure at Burrell, set to take over at Greensburg Salem
Drake D’Angelo soon begins service to Greensburg Salem as its next athletic director. While he is excited for the new opportunity closer to his home and where his eldest daughter, Gianna, is getting more involved in sports within the district, D’Angelo said he will miss all of the people and...
Gateway unified bocce players finding success, enjoyment in 2nd season
Alyssa Fritz joined the Gateway unified bocce team in its inaugural season last year and helped the team make the playoffs. One of the team’s special education members who competes in concert with general education students in the Three Rivers Region of the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania Unified Champion Schools...
Elizabeth Forward grad Luke Padezan takes reins as Gateway’s new baseball coach
Luke Padezan is ready to get going as Gateway’s new head baseball coach. The former standout player at both Elizabeth Forward and Penn State Greater Allegheny was hired by the district Jan. 29, ending a several-months process to find the next man at the top of the Gators program since...
Plum girls wrestlers having strong seasons ahead of postseason tournaments
Alaina Claassen waited nearly nine months to get back into wrestling competition. A knee injury suffered last year slowed her progress as a freshman. But when given the OK, she put on a knee brace and wrestled 17 matches, going 14-3 and finishing her season at the state tournament. Surgery...
Plum adds girls flag football team for this spring
Seventeen schools throughout the Pittsburgh region were part of a high school girls flag football league last spring. The success of the league, entering its third season in 2024, has spurred other schools to get involved. That energy and interest has grown at Plum for several years, and now a...
AK Valley campus clippings: Freeport grad Heilman earns preseason honors
Freeport graduate Jarrett Heilman, a senior pitcher at Mercyhurst, has been tabbed a preseason All-American for Division II by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. The righty is coming off his best season as Laker. He logged 65 innings on the mound while posting a 1.38 ERA, the third-best in...
Burrell wrestling moves step closer to getting back to top of WPIAL Class 2A
The Burrell wrestling team topped Hampton and Bentworth in the first two rounds of the WPIAL Class 2A team tournament Wednesday at Burrell High School. The victories continued the Bucs’ streak of consecutive seasons in the WPIAL semifinals that stretches back more than two decades. But, as is the standard...
St. Joseph girls basketball team wants to keep rolling
Senior Maggie Bernat understands where the veteran St. Joseph girls basketball team stands as it enters the final stretch of the regular season. Closing in on another section championship, the Spartans also hope to keep pace with the likes of Union and Aquinas Academy at the top in Class A...
Franklin Regional girls improve playoff positioning, beat Kiski Area
The Franklin Regional girls basketball team strengthened its position for a shot at a WPIAL playoff spot Monday with a 53-38 victory over Kiski Area in a Section 1-5A matchup. The Panthers won their third in a row, adding the win over the Cavaliers to a close section triumph over...
