Greg Macafee stories, Page 34

In his first high school season on the mat last year, Highlands’ Jrake Burford turned in quality performance after quality performance as he was a key contributor to his team’s playoff appearance. So far this season, Burford has continued that trend. He has three losses, and this past weekend at...

No team has scored more than 50 points on Fox Chapel this season. When the Foxes hosted the defending Section 3-6A champion Latrobe on Monday, they weren’t about to allow the Wildcats to be the first. Led by a 17-point contribution from Arnold Vento, 13 points from Eli Yofan and...

In his eighth season as the coach of the Highlands boys basketball program, Tyler Stoczynski hit a milestone earlier this week. With a big 76-49 victory over Class 5A No. 3 Shaler on Wednesday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Stoczynski earned the 100th win of his young coaching career....

Having the opportunity to test your wrestlers throughout the regular season is the best way to improve for the postseason. On Friday, Kiski Area went through one of those situations as it hosted three of the top five wrestling teams in WPIAL Class AAA for the Kiski Area Quad Meet....

Four of the top five Class AAA wrestling teams in the WPIAL got together at Kiski Area on Friday evening for their second annual meeting. Trib HSSN No. 1 Hempfield and No. 2 Kiski Area both lost twice, as No. 4 Seneca Valley and No. 5 Canon-McMillan went undefeated. “It...

Each wrestling season, teams from around the WPIAL seek out opportunities to test themselves against the best competition before the postseason arrives. On Friday, four of the top five teams in the WPIAL Class AAA — No. 1 Hempfield (7-0), No. 2 Kiski Area (7-0), No. 4. Seneca Valley (2-0)...

In a time in high school basketball where most coaches are having their teams run and put up as many points as possible, Fox Chapel has gone the opposite direction and is letting its defense do the talking. Through six games, the Foxes are undefeated and the most impressive part...

The Riverview boys basketball team is in a familiar position. Just last year, the Raiders were 4-2 with wins over Trinity Christian, Aquinas Academy, Summit Academy and Propel Braddock Hills. After six games this season, Riverview holds the same record. The second half of last season’s schedule brought different results...

Elizabeth Forward’s Kaitlin Fournier is becoming a Bulldog. Last week, the Elizabeth Forward junior verbally committed to play Division I volleyball at Georgia. I am so incredibly excited to announce my verbal commitment to further my academic and volleyball career at the University of Georgia. I would like to thank...

Even though Kiski Area is the three-time defending WPIAL Class AAA wrestling team champion, the Cavaliers are still out to prove that they are the team to beat. So far through the 2019-20 season, that’s exactly what the Cavaliers have done, and this past weekend they continued to do so...

This past weekend, Burrell junior Ian Oswalt reached a milestone in his third year of high school that some wrestlers never reach in their entire scholastic career. With a 1-0 decision over Muncy’s Bryce Vollman at the King of the Mountain tournament, Oswalt earned his 100th win, something 28 other...

Canon-McMillan started the 2019-20 season on the right note. The Big Macs took third in the Cumberland Valley Kickoff tournament, then won the King of the Mountain tournament by eight points over Mifflin County last weekend. Garrit Nijenhuis (182 pounds) was the only Big Mac wrestler to win his weight...

Waynesburg’s Mac Church had a great weekend at the Walsh Jesuit (Ohio) Ironman Classic tournament. He placed second in the 106-pound weight class, which had seven other nationally ranked 106-pound wrestlers. The Waynesburg freshman was No. 12 heading into the weekend. His only loss of the tournament — which is...

At the beginning of November, Valley grad Zach Clarke traveled to Villanova University to compete in the Pennsylvania Special Olympics championships and came home with more than enough gold to go around. Clarke won the overall gold in powerlifting and also won gold in the squat and bench press with...

City League champion Westinghouse was recognized for its accomplishments Monday as nine players were selected to the All-City League team, and coach Donte Green earned coach of the year honors. The Bulldogs went 8-4 this season, despite losing their first three games of the year. But, they recovered and won...

Here’s a look at the Valley News Dispatch football all-star team: Kenny Blake Kiski Area, RB/DB, jr. Blake scored 11 touchdowns while carrying the ball 168 times for 980 yards. He also caught 14 passes for 144 yards. On defense, he tallied 26 tackles, one sack and one interception. Jake...

Valley News Dispatch Offensive Player of the Year Alex Arledge QB, Junior, 6-3, 190, Burrell Burrell football coach Shawn Liotta was looking for a quarterback, and this past season, he found one in junior Alex Arledge. The 6-foot-3 gunslinger stepped into Liotta’s complicated run-and-shoot offense and simply took over. He...

Riverview has always held a special place in Todd Massack’s life. Over the course of his 14-year coaching stint at Riverview, he coached all three of his sons — Nick, Jacob and Jared — and had the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of some of his mentors and his...

Building an undefeated record early in the season is the best a team can do, and three Alle-Kiski Valley squads entered Thursday unbeaten. Fox Chapel (3-0), Highlands (3-0) and Springdale (4-0) each stayed perfect in its own way. Led by a core of players like Dimitri Fitch, Logan Dexter and...

A year ago, the Kiski Area boys basketball team finished their 2018-19 season with just four wins in the first year of coach Will Saunders’ tenure. Now, after a 54-52 win over Connellsville this past Tuesday, the Cavaliers are already halfway to that total, and with the team that Saunders...

McGuffey wide receiver and defensive back CJ Cole is heading south for college, but not too far south. McGuffey football coach Ed Dalton said the 6-foot-3, 175-pound standout athlete accepted a preferred walk-on offer from West Virginia Thursday morning. Cole also had a preferred walk-on offer from Pitt that he...

The Kiski Area wrestling team got its first dual win of the season on Wednesday after capturing the Eastern Area tournament this past weekend. Led by back-to-back pins from seniors Jack Blumer and Nick Delp at the top of the match, the Cavaliers produced six total pins throughout and topped...

Since Highlands wrestling coach Grant Walters took over the program in 2011-12, it’s been a process to build it from the ground up. As the Golden Rams head into the 2019-20 season, the program is at a point where it can build for the future while competing in the present....

Highlands’ athlete Johnny Crise made his college decision Tuesday and accepted a preferred walk-on offer to play football at Penn State. I’m staying home!! #WeAre @TylerBowen @DannKabalaPSU @coachjfranklin pic.twitter.com/LSmydwcaNd— Johnny Crise (@Crise_20) December 10, 2019 Until this past summer, Crise planned to play basketball at the collegiate level. But after...