Bill Beckner stories, Page 194
Westmoreland high school notebook: Hempfield’s Graham gets 3 more Division I offers
Hempfield senior football player Cole Graham added three Division I college opportunities to his suddenly growing list. He announced scholarship offers last week from FCS programs Lehigh, Duquesne and Monmouth. Graham, a 6-foot-6, 270-pound two-way lineman, also has a FBS offer from Connecticut. Graham helped Hempfield rush for 2,039 yards,...
Logan Danielson of Thomas Jefferson wins inaugural Bill Fralic AwardVideo
After a pancake breakfast that paid homage to the man of the hour — the hulking yet gentle man who invented the “pancake block” — the first recipient of the Bill Fralic Memorial Award was announced Saturday morning at Oakmont Country Club. Thomas Jefferson senior Logan Danielson was selected as...
Whitlock’s big second half leads Belle Vernon boys over JeannetteVideo
With Thomas Hepple visible in the corner of his eye, Devin Whitlock caught ball on the break under the basket and saw the play of the game develop seconds before it happened. Whitlock, the sophomore guard from Belle Vernon, playing his first game since transferring from Monessen, nonchalantly underhanded an...
Latrobe’s Lane Ruffner signs with Wichita of North American Hockey League
Latrobe senior Lane Ruffner is ready to take the next step in his hockey career. Ruffner signed a contract with the Wichita Warriors of the North American Hockey League. The defenseman is in his second season with the U18 Esmark Stars AAA Hockey Club. “I’ve been waiting for the opportunity...
Former Latrobe golfer Brady Pevarnik leaving Penn State
Brady Pevarnik has changed clubs before to combat a stiff wind or to negotiate a tight pin placement. But now the former Latrobe star golfer is changing colleges. Pevarnik is leaving Penn State and will transfer to the College of Charleston (S.C.) for the spring semester. “It just wasn’t the...
Penn-Trafford boys embark on ‘total reload’
Total reload. Those are the words Penn-Trafford boys basketball coach Jim Rocco paired together to describe his team heading into a new season that begins Friday night with the Warriors taking on North Allegheny at the Hempfield tip-off tournament. The Warriors bid farewell to five quality seniors, including double-digit scorer...
Starting 5: A guide to the Westmoreland County girls high school basketball season
STORYLINES 1. Great expectations Norwin and Southmoreland could be the last local teams standing come the postseason. Both have experienced teams that went a couple of rounds in the WPIAL and PIAA postseason but will need deep benches to sustain prolonged runs. 2. Gene pull A veteran coach returns to...
Starting 5: A guide to the Westmoreland County boys high school basketball season
STORYLINES 1. Youth movement Christian Hyland is the new coach at Greensburg Central Catholic and he is barely older than his players. At 24, he is one of the youngest head coaches in the WPIAL. Can he take the experience he honed as an assistant and turn it into wins?...
Fralic Award winner to be announced Saturday morning
Pancakes. How appropriate. Late Penn Hills, Pitt and NFL great Bill Fralic made the pancake block famous and organizers of an award in his honor will announce the first recipient Saturday morning during a pancake breakfast. The first Bill Fralic Memorial Award, which will recognize the top lineman in the...
Dutch Harvey returning to coach Yough softball team
Yough was in Dutch, so it brought “Dutch” back. Art “Dutch” Harvey has returned to lead the Cougars softball program, which he had run until June when he resigned. He had been the coach for six seasons but decided to go in a different direction. That direction became a U-turn...
Hempfield lineman Cole Graham adds another D-1 offer
Hempfield senior football player Cole Graham added his second Division I college opportunity Wednesday, announcing a scholarship offer from Lehigh, a FCS program. Graham, a 6-foot-6, 270-pound two-way lineman, has a FBS offer from Connecticut. Graham this season helped Hempfield rush for 2,039 yards — led by senior running back...
Slippery Rock QB Roland Rivers III finalist for Harlon Hill Award
The Harlon Hill Award often is called the Heisman Trophy of NCAA Division II football. Could this year’s hardware end up in the hands of a player from … Slippery Rock? Could happen. Slippery Rock senior quarterback Roland Rivers III is one of the eight finalists for the Hill Award,...
Seton Hill’s Viktoria Farian an all-region selection
On the eve of her volleyball team’s opening match in the NCAA Division II Tournament, Seton Hill’s Viktoria Farian received some more postseason recognition. Farian, a junior outside hitter, was named to the NCAA Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association All-Atlantic Region second team. She was a first-team selection last season....
Soccer stars Anthony DiFalco, Hannah Stuck earn All-America honors; All-region teams also announced
Anthony DiFalco was in biology class Wednesday morning when his soccer coach at Franklin Regional, Rand Hudson, entered the classroom and interrupted the session. The coach came bearing good news. Forget biology. This was more like AP soccer. DiFalco, a sophomore forward, was selected as a United Soccer Coaches Region...
Chase Rowe leaving La Roche baseball to join Detroit Tigers organization
Seven-time AMCC Baseball Coach of the Year Chase Rowe is leaving La Roche to take a minor league position with the Detroit Tigers. Rowe will be a hitting coach but the team or level at which he will coach has not been announced. The Knoch graduate announced the move on...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Seton Hill coach Katarski reaches milestone
Seven seasons into his tenure at Seton Hill, women’s basketball coach Mark Katarski has reached a milestone. Katarski’s teams often come close to scoring 100 points. In Sunday’s 85-78 win over Frostburg State, the Griffins gave him 100 career victories. Katarski, who began guiding the Griffins in 2013-14, when they...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Brandon Stone gets time for La Salle
Brandon Stone believed he could not only play Division I basketball, but that he also could make an immediate impact when he arrived at a program. The 6-foot-11 freshman forward, who played at Southmoreland before finishing his prep career at The Christ School (N.C.), is playing right away at La...
Pitt-Greensburg trio make all-region teams
A trio of Pitt-Greensburg players from the most successful women’s soccer team in program history received additional postseason accolades. Senior defender Tori Conroy and freshman forward Ashley Lucas were named to the United Soccer Coaches Association NCAA Division III All-Great Lakes Region second team, while sophomore midfielder Tiffany Michalek made...
Experienced Southmoreland girls basketball team turns to defense
It’s not that Brian Pritts undervalues offense. The girls basketball coach at Southmoreland appreciates high-percentage shots and sound ball movement. He wants his players to look to score. But Pritts’ clear focus heading into a new season is defense. He gets a gleam in his eye when he mentions that...
Yough’s Justine Appolonia chosen Tribune-Review Westmoreland Girls Soccer Player of the Year
Player of the Year Justine Appolonia Sr., MF, Yough When Yough needed a goal, it knew where the ball should go. Of course, opponents knew who was getting the ball, too. But stopping Justine Appolonia was the challenge, and very few teams managed to even contain the Cougars’ all-time leading...
GCC’s Nate Ward named Tribune-Review Westmoreland Boys Soccer Player of the Year
Player of the Year Nate Ward Sr., MF, Greensburg Central Catholic Nate Ward will, in all likelihood, be remembered as a star soccer player at Greensburg Central Catholic. Rightly so. He’s an all-timer to wear maroon and black. But think about all of the things he did over the course...
Southmoreland boys basketball hopes depth translates to wins
Depth on paper and depth on the court are different things. Southmoreland has the roster makeup of a team that will keep the substitutes moving in and out of games with rapidity. Expect to hear the buzzer a lot when the Scotties play if the depth comes to pass. Several...
Westmoreland notebook: Pitt softball feels ‘like home’ for Mt. Pleasant’s Brunson
Mt. Pleasant junior softball player Haylie Brunson announced last week she made a verbal commitment to play at Pitt. Brunson opened her recruitment during the spring after she initially committed to Louisiana-Lafayette as a freshman. Pitt offered a week ago. “I absolutely love the coaches,” Brunson said. “They really made...
Playoff losses motivate deep, talented Norwin girls teamVideo
Jayla Wehner still can see the ball going through the rim — in slow motion, to haunt her dreams even more. “I see it when I go to bed at night,” said Wehner, a senior guard at Norwin who is referring to a layup by North Allegheny’s Katerina Balouris in...
With new coach, Norwin boys plan to ramp up excitement level
When Buddy Valinsky coached at Allderdice, he became accustomed to a certain style of play, a product of many talented and athletic players who helped him win six straight City League titles. “We played above the rim,” said Valinsky, who takes over the Norwin boys program this season. “Here, they...
