Paul Schofield stories, Page 62
Ringgold’s Pajak, South Fayette’s Schumaker have big days at TSTCA meet
It was a big day for Ringgold sophomore Ryan Pajak and South Fayette senior Melana Schumaker at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association Invitational on Thursday at West Mifflin. Pajak shined in the distance races, winning the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races, while Schumaker was part of three first-place finishes. She won...
South Fayette’s Patterson, North Catholic’s Scheller repeat as WPIAL tennis champs
It was repeat Wednesday at the WPIAL singles tennis championships at the Pure Athletex Sportsplex in Wexford. South Fayette senior Jake Patterson retained the Class 3A title and North Catholic senior Nicolas Scheller the Class 2A crown, breezing to their second titles. They were the 18th and 19th players to...
Candidates for Westmoreland County Scholar-Athletes awards announced
It’s a rite of passage. Once a year in May, some of the top student-athletes from Westmoreland County are honored. The 66th annual Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete banquet will honor 36 candidates, two each from the 18 high schools in the county, on May 3 at Ferrante’s Lakeview. Athletic directors and...
Track and field notebook: Riverview athletes excel at Bedford meet
Riverview’s Parker Steele won the 800-meter run at Bedford Giant Eagle Classic Invitational on April 9. Amberson Bauer finished second in the 1,600-meter run, and teammate Christopher Barnes placed third in the 3,200. Ty Laughlin finished fourth in the 1,600, and Holden Deasy placed sixth in the 3,200. Lily Bauer...
Latrobe hurdler Campbell has eye on state meet after quick start to season
For Latrobe senior Brennan Campbell, it’s time to shine. That’s what he did April 8 at the annual Lady Spartan/Wildcat Invitational at Latrobe Memorial Stadium. Campbell breezed to wins in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, a good start to his final season. He repeated his titles at the invitational and...
Junior sprinter, senior distance runner lead Penn-Trafford track team
It may not result in a WPIAL track and field title in 2022, but Penn-Trafford coach Eric Reger is excited about the future of his program. That’s because he has a talented group of underclassmen who are on the squad and winning events. The Warriors are 1-1 overall, defeating Greensburg...
Penn-Trafford notebook: Boys lacrosse team off to program-best start
The Penn-Trafford boys’ lacrosse team is off to the best start in program history. The Warriors were 4-1 following a 14-4 win against Norwin. Penn-Trafford also owns wins against Indiana, 16-6, Canon-McMillan, 13-5, and Plum, 16-3. The loss came against Pine-Richland, 13-11. The Warriors play host to Upper St. Clair...
Trio from Ultimate Gymnastics compete in regionals
Three girls from Ultimate Gymnastics in Delmont were scheduled to compete in the USA Gymnastics Region 7 championship at Virginia Beach on April 8-10. All three were set to compete in the USAG Level 8 all-around competition. They qualified by scoring 35 points at the Pennsylvania Championship at State College....
Allen brothers help Franklin Regional tennis reload
Franklin Regional’s boys tennis team reached the WPIAL Class 3A finals in 2021, falling to Shady Side Academy. And with the graduation of seven players, you would think this would be a rebuilding year. Nope. With the addition of the Allen brothers, the Panthers (8-0, 4-0) just reloaded. Andrew Allen,...
Greensburg Salem sprinter Cody Rubrecht looking to build off win
Greensburg Salem junior Cody Rubrecht hadn’t competed in track before this season. Covid-19 prevented him from running his freshman season, and an ankle injury from football during his sophomore season sidelined him last year. But Rubrecht, a standout wide receiver on the Golden Lions football team, is making up for...
Strong showing for Kiski Area at Lady Spartan/Wildcat Invitational
The Kiski Area track and field team didn’t have any first-place finishers Friday at the annual Lady Spartan/Wildcat Invitational, but the Cavaliers did have numerous athletes earn medals. The Kiski Area girls 3,200-meter relay team of Julia Snider, Lily Murphy, Ellie Hecker and Eliza Miller placed second to Hempfield with...
New proposal would give WPIAL wrestling 5 state qualifiers in Class 3A
When the PIAA meets May 18, a major change in wrestling will need to be approved. The PIAA wrestling steering committee reconvened Tuesday and, after hours of discussions, approved a format that will decide which area gets more qualifiers for the PIAA individual championships. Regions will receive additional qualifiers based...
Top track and field teams to compete at Lady Spartan/Wildcat Invite
Some of the top teams in the WPIAL will be competing in the annual Lady Spartan/Wildcat Invitational on Friday at Latrobe’s Memorial Stadium. Competition begins at 1:30 p.m. with field events. Running preliminaries start at 2:15 p.m. and running finals at 4:30. The top teams include Hempfield, Norwin, Greensburg Central...
Hempfield junior breaks school record in shot put, sets sights on 2 more
It’s fair to assume most high school athletes don’t always put in a 100% effort at practice. Most athletes aren’t like Hempfield junior Liz Tapper. There are times her coaches have to tell her to take it easy. On Monday, Tapper worked first with throwing coach Dave Murray, and after...
PIAA wrestling committee considering WPIAL proposal to change state qualifying process
Here’s a lesson everyone has heard: Don’t always believe what you read on social media. After the PIAA Wrestling Steering committee met March 30, reports surfaced that the committee was considering going to four classifications. WPIAL committee member Frank Vulcano Jr. said that wasn’t even discussed, and a lot of...
Penn-Trafford wrestler Hohman goes out on a high note
Penn-Trafford’s Troy Hohman didn’t reach his goal of being a PIAA Class 3A champion, but the senior did end his high school career on a high note. In winning the seventh-place match at the PIAA championship March 13 at Giant Center in Hershey, Hohman earned his 100th career victory. He...
2022 Valley News Dispatch Wrestling All-Stars
Calio Zanella Burrell, fr., 113 pounds 2021-22 record: 29-15 Overall record: 29-15 Helped the Bucs reach the WPIAL Class 2A team finals. He placed fifth in the WPIAL tournament and qualified for the PIAA Southwest Regional, where he went 1-2. He was one of the better freshmen in the A-K...
2022 Tribune-Review Westmoreland County Wrestling All-Stars
Ty Kapusta Franklin Regional, so., 106 pounds 2021-22 record: 32-9 Career record: 43-15 The Panthers sophomore finished third in the WPIAL and fourth in the PIAA in Class 3A. He reached the state semifinals before falling to Bethlehem Catholic’s Nathan Desmond. His biggest win in the state tournament was a...
Mt. Pleasant’s Dayton Pitzer named Tribune-Review Westmoreland County Wrestler of Year for 3rd time
Mt. Pleasant senior Dayton Pitzer finished off quite a wrestling career by becoming a three-time WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A champion. The Pitt commit did it in impressive fashion, pinning his way to the title with 12 consecutive falls. He made into the second period during the run just once...
Franklin Regional hockey suffers heartbreaking loss in Penguins Cup final
“Heartbreaking” is the best word to describe the feelings of the Franklin Regional hockey team. The Panthers were 17 minutes away from their third Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Class 2A Penguins Cup title. They were leading No. 1 seed Thomas Jefferson by four goals after playing two dominating periods. But...
Youthful Yough softball team expecting big season
A coach with a roster filled with sophomore and freshmen should be full of uncertainty. Not Yough softball coach Art “Dutch” Harvey. He is excited about the upcoming season. Harvey has only one senior and one junior on his 13-player roster. “The goal is to contend of the WPIAL (Class...
Finding pitchers will be key if Yough baseball team is to succeed
When Yough opens the baseball season Friday against Jeannette, the biggest thing Cougars coach Craig Spisak will be looking at is who will compose his pitching staff. Yough graduated its top two pitchers — Vinny Martin and Sean Royer — so Spisak is searching for who will compile the most...
Pitt recruits dominate state team for Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic
Three future Pitt wrestlers were among the 13 selected for Team Pennsylvania at the annual Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic slated for Friday at Peters Township. Four WPIAL wrestlers, three winning PIAA titles, are featured on the team that will take on Team USA at 8 p.m. Three-time WPIAL and PIAA champion...
Neshannock edges Bishop Canevin to win PIHL Division 2 title
Gio Valentine went end-to-end and scored a power play goal with 9 minutes, 23 seconds left and Neshannock defeated Bishop Canevin, 2-1, in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Division 2 championship Tuesday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry It was the second consecutive title for Neshannock (15-4-2), while...
Thomas Jefferson rallies past Franklin Regional to win Class 2A Penguins Cup title in OT
Scotty Allan picked a great time to score his first goal of the playoffs. Allan scored 46 seconds into overtime, and Thomas Jefferson rallied for the second time in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League playoffs to defeat Franklin Regional 6-5, in the Class 2A Penguins Cup championship game Tuesday at...
