Josh Rizzo stories, Page 37
Mt. Pleasant’s Dayton Pitzer dominates en route to title at Class 2A Southwest Regionals
Complacency never is a problem for Mt. Pleasant senior wrestler Dayton Pitzer. “I don’t think I’m at a point where I’ve been bored with wrestling,” Pitzer said. “I think there’s always room for improvement. I think working hard in the practice room with teammates and stuff and learning new moves...
Burrell’s Hornack navigates tough road at PIAA Class 2A Southwest Regional
Quaker Valley’s Logan Richey shot was quick, and Burrell’s Cooper Hornack found himself defending furiously in the first period of a 120-pound bout Saturday at Peters Township High School. The PIAA Class 2A Southwest Regional match between the two served as a reminder for Hornack how much more difficult things...
Penn Hills swim team looking to improve with more time in pool
Entering this season, Penn Hills swimming coach Nick Page wanted to see the Indians make solid progress throughout the year. With the makeup of the preseason roster, Penn Hills wasn’t going to be a team that won many meets or qualified a ton of swimmers for the WPIAL Class 3A...
Penn Hills notebook: Shot putter’s strong indoor season continues
Having already qualified for the state indoor track championship didn’t mean Angelo Allen was done stacking up strong results. The Penn Hills senior thrower’s distance of 57 feet, 5 inches won him the Tri-State Track Coaches Association title Feb. 19 at Edinboro University. Allen, who has the top throw in...
Vegas trip a rewarding experience for Pittsburgh Elite youth flag football teams
Changing venues for the NFL Flag Bowl didn’t sour the experience for members of the Pittsburgh Elite flag football program. Instead, having the event moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas provided some good opportunities for the four teams that qualified. The Pittsburgh Elite team, which featured 9U, 11U, 12U...
Shaler swimmer finds success in pool, open water
Circumstance didn’t keep Noah Long out of the water. Opportunities to swim inside were limited by the pandemic, so the Shaler junior decided to try an open water event. Moraine State Park holds monthly races during the summer, and Long signed up in 2020 to give it a go. Long...
Shaler hockey team overcomes slow start to get back in playoff race
Shaler’s push for the hockey playoffs was one that seemed distant at the start of the year. The Titans lost seven of their first nine games, including four losses by four goals or more. But Shaler shook that off and found its footing, running off five consecutive wins to get...
Allderdice boys look to fend off upset-minded Brashear in City League championship game
Devin Crummie, a Central Catholic graduate, never played for a City League championship, but is well aware of the importance. Crummie, now in his third year as Allderdice head coach, yearns to help his kids earn the feeling he heard so much about growing up in the city. “There’s a...
In City League title game, Obama Academy girls look for 3rd win of season over Allderdice
Ellen (Hall) Guillard pulled herself out of retirement to help toughen up the Allderdice girls basketball team. Lacking size — the Dragon’s tallest player is 5-foot-7 — Guillard would routinely get on the blocks in practice to help her team practice rebounding. Guillard, in her day, was a 6-foot forward...
Penn Hills shot putter keeps pushing limits
Lee Zelkowitz already watched Angelo Allen break his own school record for the Penn Hills indoor track team in the shot put several times before his final throw Feb. 5 at Youngstown State. He thinks Allen’s best throw of 58 feet, 7 inches could have been surpassed by another throw...
Penn Hills’ Jaden Dugger finds Division I fit at Georgetown
Developing into a leader as a senior wide receiver at Penn Hills didn’t mean Jaden Dugger had to be a rah-rah guy. All Dugger ever wanted to be was himself. Encouraged by Indians coach Jon LeDonne, Dugger became a leader on his terms. “It was about being more confident,” Dugger...
Penn Hills boys basketball looking for another gear in season’s final days
Penn Hills 6-foot-4 guard Daemar Kelly believes the Indians have more to give. Entering a Section 3-5A game against Gateway on Feb. 4, Kelly believed Penn Hills had yet to play its best game. How to identify what that game will look like, Kelly said, will be obvious to anyone...
Penn Hills’ A.J. Palumbo finds success on mat while balancing busy schedule
A.J. Palumbo asks the Penn Hills wrestling coaches for an intense practice. Palumbo, a 215-pound senior wrestler, only has about 40 minutes to put work in before he heads to his job at Don Kuhn Auto Body. Palumbo is working as an apprentice painting cars. The Indians, who don’t have...
Penn Hills notebook: Bowling team building for future
The Penn Hills bowling team is trying to lay a foundation for future seasons. The Indians don’t have enough bowlers to make an impact in WPIBL play. However, the bowlers they do have on the roster have an opportunity to get a lot of work in at the varsity level....
Penn Hills indoor track team hits ground running
Penn Hills indoor track coach Lee Zelkowitz was disappointed when the first meet of the season got canceled due to covid-19 precautions. The Indians coach thought his team was on pace to have a strong season and looked forward to getting started. When the season got going Jan. 14 at...
Hempfield grad eager to take reins of Penn Hills softball program
Ashley Banner couldn’t overstate the impact her high school softball program had on her. Banner, a 2001 Hempfield graduate, hopes to leave a new generation of players with the same impression Bob Kalp had on her. Kalp, who recorded a 431-111-1 with the Spartans during a tenure that stretched from...
Shaler cross country duo to run at Robert Morris
Ryan Paris didn’t feel tied down when making his college decision. The Shaler Area senior and cross country standout got what he thought was a fantastic offer, which made it an easy decision to sign with Robert Morris. The fact the Colonials were interested in his teammate, Tyler Paszkowski, only...
Former Shaler Area wrestler returns as assistant coach to help bolster program
Drew D’Agostino counts himself lucky. Building a coaching staff after two years away from the Shaler wrestling program didn’t take interviewing many random applicants. The Titans were able to get some of the band back together when Mickey Moran, a 2004 Shaler graduate, relocated back to the district from New...
Penn Hills sophomore dives into new sport with swim team
The fear factor of flipping through the air was lessened for Gabby Pernatozzi when she stepped out on the diving board. The Penn Hills sophomore started with the swim team a month into the season but had translatable skills from other sports. “I thought this would be easier than gymnastics...
Penn Hills girls basketball looking to shake off slow start
Reinforcements are on the way for the Penn Hills girls basketball team. Indians coach Robert Cash hopes getting some fresh blood will reinvigorate an undermanned unit. While Penn Hills has 10 players on the varsity roster, the Indians have mostly been playing six or seven while the less experienced players...
Penn Hills indoor track, basketball teams rolling with covid-related schedule changes
Amidst another winter of uncertainty, the Penn Hills athletic department has found itself no stranger to altering schedules due to the pandemic. Because of a surge of cases at Edinboro University, the Tri-State Track Coaches Association’s first indoor track meet, set to take place last Saturday, was canceled. The second...
Penn Hills Progress notebook: Palumbo places at Gateway tournament
Anthony Palumbo was the top performer for the Penn Hills wrestling team when it opened the season at the Eastern Area Invitational on Dec. 10 at Gateway. The 215-pound senior beat Bethel Park’s Anthony Zaborowski to finish in fifth place at 215 pounds. Palumbo went 4-2 at the tournament with...
Meets motivate Greater Pittsburgh Allegheny Swim Club members
Luka Stratimirovic was happy to be at practice Wednesday night at the Olympic Health & Swim Club in Penn Hills. Stratimirovic took a year and a half off before returning to the competition with the club team at Pitt and the Greater Pittsburgh Allegheny Swim Club. He was one of...
Latrobe boys basketball coach Wetzel sees positives despite loss to Woodland Hills
Latrobe coach Brad Wetzel didn’t believe the scoreboard reflected his team’s effort on defense Friday night at Woodland Hills High School. The Wildcats, who conceded an average of 77.7 points entering their Section 3-5A opener, allowed the Wolverines to barely reach the mark in a 77-52 defeat. Woodland Hills, which...
With smaller roster, Penn Hills bowling team focused on development
Angela Hepler never envisioned being the head coach of the Penn Hills bowling team. But when the Indians didn’t have anyone else interested in coaching the program, Hepler stepped in so her son, Nick, would have an opportunity to bowl for the high school like his sister did. Penn Hills...
