High School category, Page 214

Owen Long loves wrestling and appreciates any opportunity he can to share his passion with others. So, when Pine-Richland coach Ian Abplanalp approached the team about spending the day teaching the sport to visually impaired kids at the Envision Blind Sports Camp in Erie, he immediately volunteered to help. Long...

The Plum boys basketball team had five or six open-gym workouts in May with new coach Dave Pucka before jumping right into the Pittsburgh Basketball Club summer league at Central Catholic and Gateway high schools. “We only had one offensive set in and, I think, two out-of-bounds plays. That was...

A pair of former Norwin baseball players from the class of 2022 are changing college programs. Both tested the waters of the NCAA transfer portal. Ty Stecko, who began his college career at Mount St. Mary’s, recently announced a commitment to Eastern Michigan. The rising junior infielder leaves the Metro-Atlantic...

The North Hills varsity football team will open its season with a nonconference Week Zero matchup with Hempfield on Aug. 23, at Martorelli Stadium. It will be youth night. Nonconference games against Seneca Valley in the Hall of Fame game and at Mars will follow in Weeks 1 and 2....

Hampton’s Isabella McNutt is becoming a little bit McNasty. After graduating this year as the most decorated girls wrestler in school history, McNutt has added a new level of aggressiveness to her approach on the mat. “I realized that I had a lot more success when I was more aggressive,”...

Fox Chapel softball coach Chris Olbrich doesn’t anticipate being among the first teams to use the one-way communication devices given the go-ahead nationally. The National Federation of State High School Associations approved a rule change in early July that would allow high school softball coaches to use one-way communication devices...

The postseason accolades have been pouring in for Bethel Park superstar athlete Ryan Petras. As a junior shortstop in 2024, Petras recently was named the Trib HSSN Class 5A Baseball Player of the Year. Petras overcame a wrist injury to hit .452 (33 for 73) this spring with one home...

Two local football players were named most valuable players at the 2Tenths Speed & Agility Top 150 Camp last weekend at Shady Side Academy. The event featured some of the top returning players in the WPIAL, several of them from Westmoreland County. Southmoreland freshman quarterback Anthony Smith was the top...

Alex Tatsch essentially has more stars in his recruiting rating (four) than he does years of high school football. The Latrobe stud linebacker didn’t play much as a freshman and didn’t catch the eye of major college coaches until he was a junior. “He was 5-10 when he was in...

The injunction keeping Aliquippa in Class 4A football remains in place after a Commonwealth Court judge denied a PIAA request for a stay. Appellate Judge Patricia McCullough issued her decision Thursday, upholding a lower court’s decision and blocking the PIAA from using its competitive-balance rule to move Aliquippa into a...

The championship plaque and the balance of power at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Larry Sellitto Memorial 7-on-7 football passing tournament are back in the hands of Penn-Trafford. The Warriors, a perennial contender in the event, reached the final for the 10th time in 13 years and claimed their sixth...

Aliquippa cornerback Larry Moon III’s stock continues to rise through the offseason. Moon is coming off a strong freshman season at Central Catholic that turned many heads across the WPIAL. His last game at Central Catholic was a loss in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game to North Allegheny. Moon...

The WPIAL released basketball schedules for the upcoming season Thursday and revealed an updated section alignment for girls that moved Greensburg Central Catholic to Class 3A. Greensburg Central Catholic was moved up a classification by the PIAA competitive-balance rule, which wasn’t reflected in the alignment released last month by the...

The PIAA board overturned a WPIAL decision and granted postseason eligibility to Knoch junior Colt Sprankle, a football-playing transfer from Armstrong. Sprankle, his parents Ryan and Brandi, and Knoch administrators attended an appeal hearing Wednesday in State College where they testified that the family’s move into the district was a...

STATE COLLEGE — The PIAA wants to increase girls volleyball to six classifications, but a request to expand track and field to three was rejected by the board. Girls volleyball has four classifications currently, but the board voted Wednesday to tentatively add two more. The proposal must pass two more...

Even before Raevaan Mottley arrived at Apollo-Ridge as the new varsity girls basketball head coach in late May, his players were taking part in open gyms. A pair of games in the St. Joseph spring/summer league also were scheduled. “Apollo-Ridge, they were doing things right,” said Mottley, a Greensburg Salem...

STATE COLLEGE — The PIAA board wants to remove some much-maligned words from its competitive-balance rule: those that have prohibited health and safety as grounds for an appeal. The Competition Formula currently says: “… a change in classification would not be cause for a health and safety concern. A claim...

A four-star linebacker committed to Penn State, Dayshaun Burnett is one of the premier recruits in the WPIAL entering the 2024 season. The Imani Christian Academy star’s first priority, though, is helping his team advance farther than it did last season. The Saints routed Waynesburg in the first round of...

A Commonwealth Court judge must decide whether there was a proper basis for a lower court’s ruling that kept the Aliquippa football team in Class 4A. Appellate Judge Patricia McCullough heard opposing arguments Tuesday from attorneys representing Aliquippa School District and the PIAA, which wants the preliminary injunction put on...

A breakout season might be in the making for Jance Henry Jr. in 2024. It has been a nearly nonstop grind this offseason for the sophomore Central Valley running back. Going from workout to workout, he has been a workhorse. “Summer training (has) been going well,” Henry said. “Just been...

Former Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau was the guest speaker at the annual gathering of current and former WPIAL football coaches Monday at Grandview Golf Course in North Braddock. LeBeau, who recently released his book “Legendary,” where he talks about his six decades in the NFL, addressed the 15 coaches...

The start of high school football practices throughout the state begin in less than a month, and Thomas Jefferson two-way lineman Shep Turk has a singular focus when it comes to being ready to start his senior season. Conditioning and agility training, weight room work, and play study are what...

Hempfield graduate Phil Fox can’t remember a time when he didn’t want to pitch in professional baseball. “From the day I was, like, born, I knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life,” he said. The Chicago White Sox made no promises that he will have...

Mike Warfield says football fans will see him at Aliquippa’s stadium this fall, but adds with a laugh that his new job on Friday nights might be selling 50/50 tickets. Surprisingly, the three-time state champion coach won’t be coaching the Quips. Warfield went 74-6 in six years as head coach...

The WPIAL doesn’t favor a potential PIAA rule that forces two-time defending state champions into a higher classification. The proposed change to the competitive-balance rule was discussed and disliked by the WPIAL board Monday because it could unjustly punish successful programs that didn’t use transfers to reload, said WPIAL president...