Paul Schofield stories, Page 37
WPIAL Class 2A preseason Top 10 for 2023-24 wrestling season
Preseason Top 10 Class 2A Team (Last year’s record), Last year’s ranking 1. Burgettstown (17-2), 1 2. Burrell (12-6), 2 3. Quaker Valley (15-6), 3 4. Frazier (12-9), 4 5. McGuffey (11-3), 8 6. Highlands (9-2), 6 7. Mt. Pleasant (11-6), 5 8. Freedom (10-11), NR 9. Jefferson-Morgan (8-3), NR...
Hempfield wrestler Eli Carr looking for more during senior season
Hempfield wrestler Eli Carr had quite a junior season. He wouldn’t mind a repeat and an even better performance as a senior. Not only did Carr play a key role in helping the Spartans finish third in the WPIAL team tournament and qualify for the PIAA tournament with stunning wins...
WPIAL Class 3A section breakdowns for 2023-24 season
Section 1 Last year’s section champion, Plum (15-3), returns 10 starters who won 21 or more matches during the season. Heading the list was the 172-pound section champion senior Antonio Walker (22-3). … It was a rare season that Kiski Area (8-9) didn’t win the section crown. The Cavaliers will...
WPIAL Class 3A preseason Top 10 for 2023-24 wrestling season
Preseason Top 10 Class 3A Team (Last year’s record), Last year’s rankings 1. Canon-McMillan (17-4), 1 2. Trinity (11-3), 10 3. Connellsville (15-6), 4 4. Waynesburg (16-5), 1 5. Franklin Regional (7-2), NR 6. Plum (15-3), 9 7. North Allegheny (10-5), NR 8. Norwin (15-4), 5 9. Latrobe (11-3), 8...
WPIAL Class 3A wrestlers to watch for 2023-24 season
Class 3A Wrestlers to Watch Shawn Taylor West Allegheny, Sr. (95-16 career, 40-3 2022-23) • 2023 WPIAL 160-pound champion; 2023 PIAA 160 second, 2022 PIAA 160 fourth. Committed to West Virginia. Vaughn Spencer Pine-Richland, Jr., (28-2 career, 28-2 2022-23) • 2023 WPIAL 189 champion; PIAA qualifier who went 1-2. Luke...
Penn-Trafford girls hungry for more playoff success
The Penn-Trafford girls basketball team made a run in the 2023 WPIAL and PIAA postseason. That run has veteran coach John Giannikas looking forward to the season. The Warriors placed seventh in the WPIAL and advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals following an exciting first-round win at PIAA District 3 champion...
Penn-Trafford boys look to build off late-season success
A late-season surge, which included close wins against McKeesport and Latrobe, has Penn-Trafford boys basketball coach Doug Kelly excited about the upcoming season. The Warriors won four of their five Section 3-5A games to end last season and were able to qualify for the WPIAL playoffs. Penn-Trafford played well in...
Motivated Belle Vernon defense delivers shutout of Avonworth
Belle Vernon got tired of all the negative talk this season, especially from Avonworth. The No. 1-ranked Leopards wanted a shutout more than anything Friday in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game at Acrisure Stadium. The defense posted its third shutout of the season, blanking Avonworth, 26-0, for Belle Vernon’s...
Perfect 10: Beaver Falls wins WPIAL title as double-digit seed, beating Steel Valley in dramatic final
The magic playoff run continued for Beaver Falls. The 10th-seeded Tigers upset No. 1 Steel Valley, 14-12, in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game Friday at Acrisure Stadium. Senior running back Da’talian Beauford atoned for a costly fumble early in the fourth quarter by scoring on a 4-yard run with...
Latrobe boys basketball wants to restore playoff tradition
Latrobe didn’t make the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs for the second consecutive season in 2022-23. That’s unusual for a program that has been a consistent postseason participant. The Wildcats’ goal is to right the ship and get back into the playoffs. “It’s difficult to swallow,” Latrobe boys coach Brad Wetzel...
New Latrobe girls basketball coach Mackenzie Livingston stressing defense
When Mackenzie Livingston was hired as a physical education teacher at Latrobe, she was excited to learn the district was looking for a new girls basketball coach. It will be the 2013 Blairsville graduate’s first head coaching job. She played college basketball at IUP and Lock Haven. She spent the...
Penn-Trafford wrestling looking to take another step forward
There is a change at the top of the Penn-Trafford wrestling program, but it’s only temporary. Larry Hohman has taken over as head coach for the upcoming season while Travis McKillop adjusts to his new job. McKillop is expected to return to the head coaching position for the 2024-25 season....
Penn-Trafford notebook: 8 Warriors named to all-conference 1st team
The Penn-Trafford football team didn’t win the Big East Conference, but the Warriors did dominate the first team all-conference team with eight players selected by conference coaches. Selected to the first-team offense were junior center Ethan Septak, senior guard Riley McCaw, senior tight end Mark Jollie, junior running back Tasso...
Peters Township routs defending 5A champ Pine-Richland for 1st WPIAL football title
Peters Township would not be denied this time. After falling in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game to Gateway in 2019 and Pine-Richland in 2020, the top-seeded Indians put together a dominating performance Saturday and rolled over Pine-Richland, 43-17, at Norwin Knights Stadium. It was the program’s first WPIAL football...
Westinghouse’s quick-strike attack downs Central Clarion in PIAA 1st round
CLARION – Westinghouse continued its march in the PIAA Class 2A playoffs by outscoring high-scoring Central Clarion, 46-30, Friday at PennWest-Clarion. The Bulldogs (11-0) overcame a sluggish first half and numerous penalties to reach the next round against the winner of Saturday’s District 10 championship game between Farrell and Mercyhurst...
Greensburg Salem girls to test opponents with height, experience
When the Greensburg Salem girls basketball team takes the floor this season, it will present veteran coach Rick Klimchock some options. Will he send out a big lineup and try to outmuscle teams, or will he go with a smaller, quicker lineup? Whatever he selects, opponents will be spending extra...
Greensburg Salem looks to make a huge leap in coach’s second season
It’s been a while since the Greensburg Salem boys basketball team has had a winning season. But second-year coach Cam Auld sees a change on the horizon — a brighter future for a program that has floundered since the 2011-12 season. The Golden Lions finished 5-17 overall and 1-9 in...
With ‘nothing to lose,’ East Allegheny set to take its best shot at No. 1 Belle Vernon
The last time East Allegheny reached the WPIAL semifinals was in 1992, when the Wildcats were Class 2A champions. Coincidentally, the quarterback of that team was Dave Loya, who is now East Allegheny’s athletic director. Loya and some of his teammates attended last week’s 28-21 victory over South Park in...
Increased roster numbers have Derry girls coach Brisbane optimistic about season
Gene Brisbane has been on the bench for 49 seasons, and his passion for coaching high school girls and boys never has wavered. As he begins his fifth season as Derry girls basketball coach, he hopes the program has turned a corner. During his first season in 2019-20, he helped...
Derry boys looking to make noise like section foe Deer Lakes did last season
Derry boys basketball coach Tom Esposito isn’t making any brash predictions about the upcoming season, but after watching section opponent Deer Lakes make a stellar run last year, he often thinks, “Why not us?” Deer Lakes finished as co-champion with Shady Side Academy in Section 3-3A during the 2022-23 season...
With lofty expectations, Penn-Trafford football team expects more in ’24
When you have recently won the WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A football titles, expectations for future remain high. You get spoiled. Once you break through that barrier, you expect another, and the next one should be easier to obtain because you know how it’s done. For Penn-Trafford, after winning those...
After 3rd straight playoff season, Franklin Regional football wants to take next step
Franklin Regional football coach Lance Getsy spent Nov. 6 collecting equipment and doing exit interviews with his players. He would have rather been preparing his team for another game. For the third consecutive season, the Panthers were one-and-done in the WPIAL playoffs. The Panthers’ last postseason win was in 2018...
Aliquippa fends off furious upset bid from Latrobe in WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal
Aliquippa football coach Mike Warfield, his team and fans took a deep breath at the end of Friday’s WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal at Heinz Field. That’s because No. 9 Latrobe took No. 1 Aliquippa to the brink before losing 37-29. After falling behind 25-7 at halftime, the Wildcats threw everything...
Latrobe faces stiff challenge from Aliquippa in WPIAL quarterfinals
Latrobe surprised football fans with its dominating performance against West Allegheny in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs last week. And that showing by the Wildcats caught the eye of quarterfinal opponent Aliquippa and its coach, Mike Warfield, who attended the game and left impressed. “In the...
Manheim Central gets off to fast start, prevents Penn-Trafford from claiming 1st PIAA field hockey win
During Manheim Central’s three-hour ride to its PIAA Class 2A field hockey playoff game against WPIAL champion Penn-Trafford, Baron coach Morgan Briggs talked to her team about starting fast. Manheim Central, the District 3 fourth-place team from north of Lancaster, heeded the coach’s advice, pressuring Penn-Trafford from the start and...
