Josh Rizzo stories, Page 22
Dedication pays off with trip to WPIAL tournament for Penn Hills wrestler
Penn Hills wrestling coach Jeremy Packer couldn’t help but admire Julian Lavender’s desire to make his senior year a special one. One day, Packer, who lives in West Deer and works in Pittsburgh, wasn’t planning on coming in to open up the wrestling room. Lavender, a 127-pound senior wrestler, called...
Penn Hills track team builds toward spring at state indoor meet
Mackenzie McIntyre has been slowly building toward bigger accomplishments. The Penn Hills junior has been making strong contributions to the track team since her freshman year. McIntyre was one of two members of the Penn Hills indoor track team to reach the PTFCA indoor state championship Feb. 25 at Penn...
South Fayette beats Armstrong to complete 3-peat in WPIAL Class 5AVideo
Experience matters for the South Fayette girls basketball team. The sixth-seeded Lions weren’t expected to return to the Petersen Events Center for the WPIAL Class 5A girls basketball title game this season. But once South Fayette got there, what the Lions had witnessed in previous years helped them win their...
Fox Chapel wrestlers battle through adversity to send 10 to WPIAL meet
The Fox Chapel wrestling team battled some sickness during the section tournament, but that didn’t slow the Foxes from sending a large contingent of wrestlers to the WPIAL Class 3A championships. Fox Chapel had 10 wrestlers move on. While the Foxes didn’t produce a champion, Landon Funk (114 pounds), Alexander...
Fox Chapel track standouts pick up medals at indoor state meet
Fox Chapel track coach Tom Moul felt it was fitting for the Foxes to wrap up the indoor season by having three athletes medal at the PTFCA Indoor State Championship at Penn State. The Foxes have spent all season piling up accolades. Fox Chapel set seven school records during the...
St. Joseph surges past Aquinas Academy to get over semifinal hump
Measuring the St. Joseph offense Monday night was easily accomplished by looking at the Gia Richter scale. The Spartans’ 5-foot-4 junior guard was limited late in the first half by foul trouble. When Richter returned after halftime, her contributions shook the foundation of St. Joseph’s 65-56 win over Aquinas Academy...
Penn Hills girls show resolve in close loss to top seed
Penn Hills girls basketball coach Robert Cash thought his team deserved better than being seeded 17th in the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. But the Indians were forced into a preliminary round game against Thomas Jefferson, which they won, 59-43. In the first round of the playoffs, Penn Hills lost 55-48...
Penn Hills boys get glimpse of bright future in playoff loss
Penn Hills senior guard Robby Thomas wanted to find the right mental space for playing against rival Gateway in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A postseason. The defending WPIAL champion Indians came into this postseason as a younger team that had something to prove. “Honestly, we just needed...
Shaler notebook: Junior sets school record at indoor track meet
Hannah Sahr made Shaler indoor track and field history at the TSTCA championships Feb. 17. The junior set a Titans indoor record by finishing the 400 in 1 minute, 1.06 seconds. The previous record stood since 2007. Sahr placed eighth in the race. Of the 17 Shaler athletes who qualified...
Experience helps Shaler boys navigate WPIAL playoff bracket
Whether teams are playing man defense or zone defense doesn’t matter to Shaler senior forward Brandon London. Nor does it matter if the other team wants to play fast or slow. The Titans, who have their top eight rotation players back from last season, have enough experience that they’ve seen...
Senior shot putter leads Fox Chapel indoor track state qualifiers
Mason Miles wanted more input on how to become a better thrower. The Fox Chapel senior does his best to work with throw coach Jayne Beatty a few times a week. Beatty, who was a three-time All-American at Slippery Rock, was able to help Miles refine his technique and make...
1st-round jitters can’t stop Fox Chapel in wild win over North Hills
Zach Skrinjar has a theory about the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. Despite there being some mismatches on paper in terms of high seeds against lower seeds, the veteran Fox Chapel boys basketball coach believes the first round is the most difficult. “Everyone has nerves. You know...
Allderdice beats Obama Academy to capture 4th City League boys basketball title
Allderdice’s fourth consecutive City League championship didn’t come easy. The Dragons didn’t shoot well, and every possession was hotly contested. But in the final minute, Allderdice guard Logan Golle drew a charge, and the Dragons forced another turnover to escape with a 44-37 win over Obama Academy on Sunday afternoon...
Allderdice girls top Obama Academy to claim City League championship
Allderdice guard Bailey White was worried things may be going south Sunday afternoon. The Dragons’ were ice cold in the first quarter of the City League girls basketball championship game against Obama Academy at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. White missed her first four shots, while Allderdice missed 14 of its first...
Penn Hills senior celebrates 1,000-point milestone, playoff return
Hannah Pugliese didn’t want to think about the chase for 1,000 points. Until about midway through this season, the Penn Hills girls basketball team senior didn’t think it was possible anyway. Pugliese, who has signed to play basketball at Slippery Rock next season, became more aware of the possibility as...
Penn Hills notebook: Fate brings Indians, Gateway together again
The Penn Hills and Gateway boys basketball programs may have been separated when the WPIAL realigned the sections, but the neighbors and rivals still found that fate couldn’t keep the pair apart. The Indians finished the regular season with a 14-7 overall record and were 6-4 in Section 2-5A play....
Fox Chapel notebook: Swim team happy to bring large contingent to WPIAL meet
Expect the Fox Chapel presence at Pitt’s Trees Pool to be a strong contingent. The Foxes have hit a number of WPIAL Class 3A individual qualifying times and will be looking to push a number of athletes through to the state swimming championships. “It’s a super exciting time coming up...
Focus on defense, taking care of basketball propels Fox Chapel boys into playoffs
Will Siegel is proud of the role he plays on defense for the Fox Chapel boys basketball team, and Siegel and his teammates want to make sure they don’t waste their effort on one end with mistakes on the other. Avoiding turning the ball over on offense is paramount for...
Allderdice boys take aim at 4th straight City League crown
Allderdice coach Devin Crummie didn’t care if only five or six players could make it. If there was an opportunity during the summer to get the Dragons some time on the court together, he was willing to enter his squad in any available tournament. Allderdice entered this season with two...
Obama Academy girls chasing 3rd straight championship against Allderdice
Obama Academy girls basketball coach Monique McCoy impresses on her players the importance of playing in the City League championship game. The Eagles shouldn’t take anything for granted. If Obama Academy beats Allderdice at noon Sunday at Duquesne’s UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, the Eagles will have won their seventh City League...
Penn Hills notebook: Wrestlers look to advance to WPIAL tournament
Jeremy Packer is eager to see how the Penn Hills wrestling team will handle the section qualifiers. The Indians didn’t have anyone make the WPIAL Class 3A tournament last season, but have several prospects who could make the leap this year. Penn Hills wrestled at the Pine-Richland duals Feb. 3,...
Penn Hills girls look to fine-tune game heading into playoffs
Making adjustments late in the season has served the Penn Hills girls basketball team well. The Indians won back-to-back games going into their section finale, putting them in the playoffs for the second straight year. Without having to scratch and claw late for a spot like last season, senior guard...
Eli Teslovich, Shady Side Academy teammates do best work at full speed
Eli Teslovich is always thinking on the break. The 6-foot-1 Shady Side Academy senior guard has the clearest mind when he’s on the move. Teslovich has an idea of his best spots to shoot from and what defenders may be collapsing to require him to kick to teammates. Teslovich and...
Fox Chapel wrestlers won’t sit back, relax once postseason starts
Michael Worsen would like to find a way to stay on the front foot. If Worsen is going to find a way out of the 121-pound bracket at the WPIAL North section qualifier, through WPIALs and to the PIAA championships, being passive won’t be the ticket. “I feel like I...
Nothing slows Serra Catholic freshman, even her school’s lack of a swim team
Emily Ruperto enjoys the satisfaction of finding a way to self-motivate while competing for Serra Catholic in swimming. The Eagles don’t have enough kids to field a full team, so Ruperto competes as an independent swimmer. In many competitions, Ruperto’s only opponent is the clock on the scoreboard. “I feel...
