Michael Love stories, Page 77
Burrell wrestling teams moves 1 step closer to 16th consecutive WPIAL Class 2A title
No. 1 remains alive for No. 16. The Burrell wrestling team, the top seed in the WPIAL Class 2A tournament, took care of business Wednesday with a 57-18 triumph over No. 9 Montour. The victory sends the Bucs to the WPIAL semifinals Saturday at Chartiers-Houston and puts them a step...
High stakes as Knoch, Highlands girls set for showdown Saturday
The Knoch girls basketball team stands on the cusp of securing the Section 1-4A championship. That hasn’t happened in Saxonburg since 1972, when the Knights, as well as all other girls teams in the region, played in the Western Pennsylvania Girls Athletic League before joining the WPIAL for the 1973-74...
Freeport International Baseball Invitational looks to bring in overseas teams for 2022 event
Despite recent temperatures in the single digits and snow on the ground, officials and others connected to the Freeport International Baseball Invitational are thinking of warm and sunny weather as plans move forward with this summer’s 28th annual event. FIBI president Chuck Sarver said Monday that a team from Israel...
Fox Chapel swim teams speeding toward section titles
Payton O’Toole made a splash two years ago as a freshman at Burrell with a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle at the WPIAL Class 2A championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. She also was sixth in the 500 free. A trip to states in the 200 free was dashed as...
A-K Valley senior spotlight: Plum’s Vince Citrano
Whether it’s been by decision, major decision, fall or technical fall, Plum senior Vince Citrano has been on point with his goals for his final high school wrestling season. Led by his second Allegheny County tournament championship — he also won as a sophomore in 2020 — Citrano is 18-0...
Gateway grad Olivia Miller helping to lead Pitt gymnastics in final year of competition
Olivia Miller knew Pitt was it during her sophomore year at Gateway High School. The standout gymnast made her mark at the club level for Gymkhana in Plum before joining the Panthers program for her freshman season in 2019. Now in her fourth and final year of competition with Pitt,...
Gateway freshman Raymer hunting gold at WPIAL championship meet
There were high expectations for Hunter Raymer as he entered his freshman swim season at Gateway a couple of months ago. A distance specialist who has shown his versatility in events up and down the lineup, Raymer is meeting those expectations, and he also is hoping to exceed them with...
Plum’s Kvortek ready to score high at WPIAL gymnastics championships
Sarah Kvortek realized the fulfillment of a goal last season as she stood at the top of the podium at the WPIAL individual gymnastics championships at Moon High School. The Plum junior celebrated her second varsity season with a gold medal on bars in the Intermediate I (Gold) division. With...
Kiski Area boys make late run to get past Gateway in Section 3-5A
With four minutes left in Friday’s Section 3-5A boys basketball matchup between Gateway and Kiski Area, the visiting Gators held a one-point advantage and hoped to make a run to put the game on ice. But the Cavaliers wanted none of that. Kiski Area outscored Gateway, 15-6, down the stretch...
Kiski Area swimmers Hansen, Sterlitz have sights set on top spots at WCCA meet
As freshmen in 2020, Levi Hansen and Parker Sterlitz made a run at the boys 500-yard freestyle title at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association championships at Derry High School. Hansen took third, and Sterlitz was fourth behind then-junior Austin Prokopec from Penn-Trafford and then-senior Ryan McFaden from Franklin Regional. Fast...
Kiski Area wrestlers top Franklin Regional, repeat as section champs
For the 26th time in program history, the Kiski Area wrestling team is section champion. The Cavaliers won twice Wednesday at Franklin Regional and capped the evening with a 40-29 victory over the host Panthers to bring home the Section 1-3A title for the second year in a row. “It’s...
St. Joseph girls basketball team develops chemistry
The St. Joseph girls basketball team entered the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s nonsection game against Class 3A Shady Side Academy trailing by three points. But clutch scoring and a defensive effort that held the Bulldogs to four points over the final eight minutes helped the Spartans rally for a 37-33...
WPIAL releases latest swimming and diving performance lists
Fox Chapel junior Sophie Shao, the defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A champion in the 100-yard butterfly, looks at her time in the event on the swimming performance list on the WPIAL website and sees who also is recording top times and making a charge up the rankings. Shao is...
Frontier League announces tiebreaker changes for 2022 season
The Frontier League will return to the base paths to break ties in the 2022 season. The league announced Monday that it will do away with its Home Run Derby tiebreaker it used last season and implement a sudden-death inning. The sudden-death option would come into play after one extra...
Riverhounds sign veteran midfielder Angelo Kelly-Rosales
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds announced Monday they have signed veteran midfielder Angelo Kelly-Rosales to a one-year deal, pending the approval of both the United Soccer League and the U.S. Soccer Federation. The contract also includes a team option for 2023. Kelly-Rosales, 28, spent the past four seasons with the Charleston Battery....
Deer Lakes’ Hasley hits 1,000 points on game-winning shot vs. Freeport
Reese Hasley’s 1,000th career point Monday night against rival Freeport was quite dramatic. The Deer Lakes senior guard delivered a jumper from about the foul line with 6 seconds to go, and the bucket broke a tie and sent the Lancers to a key 39-37 home victory over the Yellowjackets....
Captains McKenna, Heningcamp help spark growth for Gateway wrestling
Floyd McKenna entered his junior season hoping to make his mark on the mat for the Gateway wrestling team. The junior 172-pounder won 15 matches combined the past two seasons. This year, McKenna owned 16 victories against just seven losses through a Section 1 dual match with Plum on Jan....
After year absence, Gateway alumni reunite for annual Black/White hockey game
Stefan Biancaniello surveyed the landscape at Palmer Imaging Ice Arena in Delmont on Dec. 26, and his heart was warmed. After covid canceled Gateway hockey’s 2020 alumni gathering, Biancaniello hoped things would return to the way they were. With more than 40 alumni in attendance for a kickoff event to...
After strong finish at Allegheny County tournament, Plum looks forward to postseason
Few teams at the Allegheny County tournament Jan. 14 and 15 at Fox Chapel High School had the overall performance the Plum wrestling team produced. Led by senior Vinny Citrano, who placed first at 132 pounds, and sophomore Rylen Campbell, runner-up at 106, the Mustangs took third overall. It was...
Plum, Riverview fall sports teams look forward to new, current rivalries
Whether they’re joined in the same conference or separated in the same or a different classification, the Plum and Franklin Regional football teams usually find themselves on the same field each season. This fall, the Mustangs and Panthers will be together again in one of three Class 5A conferences as...
Deer Lakes boys rebound for victory against Knoch
The Deer Lakes boys basketball team was looking for a bounce back from Tuesday’s loss to Section 1-4A leader North Catholic as it hosted section rival Knoch on Friday. Mission accomplished. Led by 21 points from both Bryce Robson and Armend Karpuzi, the Lancers turned back the charge of the...
Apollo-Ridge girls team playing beyond its years
With no seniors on its roster, the youthful Apollo-Ridge girls basketball team took a wait-and-see attitude into the season with hopes of making an impact in and out of Section 4-2A. So far, the veteran presence for the Vikings has meshed well with newer varsity talent to produce a 10-2...
Knoch girls top Freeport, stay unbeaten in section
The Knoch girls basketball team keeps rolling along in Section 1-4A. Last week, the Knights took care of business, beating Highlands by 17 points in a battle of section unbeatens with first place on the line. On Tuesday at home, Knoch produced another fast start, this time against rival Freeport....
Burrell wrestling program mourns loss of Shawn, Edward DesLauriers
Dakota DesLauriers was on hand Friday at Burrell High School to watch the current crop of Bucs wrestlers take on Kiski Area in the annual nonsection matchup of neighboring rivals. As he watched the match unfold, he paused several times to think about his own contributions to those series of...
Gateway girls return from covid shutdown, earn 1st victory
The Gateway girls basketball team tasted victory for the first time this season Jan. 11 with a 49-39 victory over Section 4-5A rival Penn Hills in the friendly confines of Gateway’s Furrie Sports Complex. It was a win long sought after following five losses to open the season and also...
