Michael Love stories, Page 16
Back from injury, Plum’s Saphia Davis shines at Mid-Winter Mayhem tournament
Saphia Davis wrestled just two matches in December before being forced off the mat because of injury. She made quick work of Burrell’s Cierra Molnar with a 48-second pin in Plum’s season opener and pinned Norwin’s Avalin Barry in 5:55 of their 130-pound bout during a dual match Dec. 18....
Plum trio reaches medals podium at Allegheny County tournament
Each year at the Allegheny County wrestling tournament, one can find Plum wrestlers contending for championships and podium finishes. This year was no exception, as multiple Mustangs were in contention on the second day of the two-day tournament Jan. 17 and 18 at Fox Chapel High School. When all of...
Kiski Area boys hold off Hampton in revenge game, remain tied for 1st in section
The Kiski Area boys basketball team had payback on its mind Friday night from a six-point loss to Section 2-5A rival Hampton on Dec. 20. Mission accomplished. The Cavaliers, ahead by six at halftime and nine at the end of three quarters, weathered a couple of Hampton second-half rally attempts...
Kiski Area swimmers excited for ‘measuring stick’ of WCCA championship
A trio of Kiski Area individual swimmers and one relay team have the biggest targets on their backs as top seeds for Saturday’s Westmoreland County Coaches Association championships at Derry. Sophomore Leah Kunkle has the fastest time this season among Westmoreland swimmers in the girls 200-yard individual medley. Senior Riley...
Kiski Area hires Franklin Regional grad Haugh as football coach
Colyn Haugh remembers the tough, challenging games against Kiski Area during his days as a high school football player at Franklin Regional. Now, the newly hired Cavaliers coach hopes to bring the same intensity and high-level ability and effort he saw in his one-time rival more than two decades ago....
A-K Valley girls basketball notebook: Deer Lakes surpasses win total from past 2 seasons combined
Deer Lakes girls basketball rolled past South Allegheny on Monday, winning the Section 2-3A contest 54-32 for its 11th victory of the season. The Lancers, with a mix of veteran talent and newcomers giving the program a spark, have surpassed their win total — nine — for the previous two...
Deer Lakes honors 1985 state champ girls basketball team
Forty years have passed since Deer Lakes brought home the Alle-Kiski Valley’s first and only PIAA girls basketball championship. The Lancers defeated Palmyra from District 3 for the championship in comeback fashion 45-43 on March 29, 1985. Deer Lakes rolled through an undefeated postseason to capture WPIAL and state gold....
Gateway notebook: Gators boys basketball remains in hunt in Section 1-5A
The Gateway boys basketball team fell short in its first crack at Section 1-5A leader Uniontown. The Gators were competitive in the Jan. 7 matchup with the Red Raiders, but a 22-12 margin in the second quarter ended up being the difference in the 82-73 Uniontown win. Gateway, which got...
Gateway’s Dino Nadarevic rises to top of state’s shot put rankings after 1st indoor meet
Dino Nadarevic kicked off his 2025 indoor track and field season in the shot put with a pair of meets at Hempfield Area High School. The Gateway senior recorded a top attempt of 56 feet, 11½ inches Dec. 19 and 56-5½ in his return to Hempfield on Jan. 7. He...
Plum bowlers maintain momentum after winning Saint Vincent’s Bearcat Challenge
The Plum boys and girls bowling teams swept past the competition to win last year’s Saint Vincent College Bearcat Challenge. The Mustangs were the hunted Jan. 5 in their return to the tournament at Hillview Lanes in Greensburg. But the bowlers for both Plum teams would not be denied a...
Plum’s Proskin, Layne find success during indoor track and field season
Plum track and field coach Matt Proskin said he is energized by what he is seeing from his sprinters, jumpers and throwers as the winter indoor season progresses. “We have our best numbers since we brought the (indoor) program back,” Proskin said Wednesday after conducting a top-end speed day workout...
St. Joseph girls team works together in stacking wins
In Monday’s 70-36 Section 1-A victory over Springdale, St. Joseph girls basketball players made 29 field goals. Of those 29, 21 came off assists. It continued a winning trend from the Sewickley Academy section game four days earlier where team members produced 15 assists in a 59-31 victory. “It was...
Kiski Area working toward constructing new wrestling room named in honor of legendary coach Tursky
Chris Heater, while guiding his Kiski Area boys wrestling team through the 2024-25 season, also is counting down the days to the start of construction of the Chuck Tursky Wrestling Training Center at Kiski Area High School. Heater said the project, which will revamp a vast auxiliary athletic space near...
After starting 0-6, Gateway hockey battles back to contention
The Gateway hockey team began 2025 with a key division win over Wilmington at Palmer Imaging Arena. But it wasn’t easy. Senior captain CJ Evans tallied a hat trick as the Gators built a 5-0 lead in the second period. But Wilmington started to chip away at the deficit and...
After strong 1st season, Gateway swimmer Aliya Rassiane looks to maintain momentum
Aliya Rassiane packed a lot of positive results into her first varsity season with the Gateway swim team. The sprint freestyle and butterfly specialist had a breakout freshman year which culminated in WPIAL Class 2A medals in the 50-yard freestyle (fifth), the 100 butterfly (fifth) and the 400 free relay...
Plum grads Reed Martin, Josh George set sights on NFL Draft
Plum graduates and former Mustangs football teammates Reed Martin and Josh George hope to live out their dreams of playing in the National Football League. Both recently indicated through social media posts that they will take the steps over the next couple of months to get on the radar of...
Plum hockey team rallies after 0-4 start
The Plum hockey team is on a roll with eight wins in 10 games through an 11-0 rout of Kiski Area on Jan. 6, at Palmer Imaging Arena in Delmont. Ten Mustangs accounted for the 11 goals, and senior goaltender Landon Gribbin-Horner stopped all nine shots he faced for the...
Riverview girls don’t let roster numbers keep them down
The Riverview girls basketball team is small in numbers this season, but it is big in terms of wins. The Raiders, who have played some games this season with just the five starters seeing the floor, are 6-2 overall and 2-0 in Section 4-2A. “At the beginning, it was rough...
Deer Lakes mounts 2nd-half rally to beat Knoch in battle for 1st place
Something had to give Tuesday evening as the Knoch and Deer Lakes boys basketball teams met with a share of first place on the line in Section 1-4A. The Lancers came in having won their first four section games, while the Knights were undefeated in three section matchups. Things didn’t...
With college decision behind her, Freeport swimmer Kira Schrecongost focused on medals
Soon after a trip to the 2024 PIAA Class 2A swimming championships, where she earned a silver medal in the 100-yard butterfly final against Bedford phenom and U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier Leah Shackley, Kira Schrecongost started a connection that eventually would become her future home in swimming and academics. “(Duquesne...
A-K Valley Campus Clips: Freeport grad named volleyball All-American as freshman
Freeport graduate Josie Russo enjoyed a stellar high school volleyball career with all-state honors while leading the powerful Yellowjackets to PIAA gold. She made the transition to the college game this fall at Butler County Community College, and her production didn’t wane. Russo was one of just four freshmen from...
Alle-Kiski Valley girls basketball notes: Pair of teams kick off holiday event at PPG Paints Arena
The second annual Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Classic will be Sunday at PPG Paints Arena, and two Alle-Kiski Valley girls teams will kick off the quadrupleheader. Past section rivals Kiski Area and Fox Chapel will play at 1 p.m. “The girls are super excited,” said Foxes coach Marty Matvey, who has...
Knoch boys pull away from Burrell for 6th straight victory
In an early-season battle between two of the top boys basketball teams in Section 1-4A, Jackson Bauman led Knoch with 26 points and the visiting Knights pulled away from Burrell in the second half for a 58-37 victory Tuesday. “We knew we had to come in and match their energy,”...
WPIAL players selected to coaches’ all-state field hockey team
Madeline Mill and Georgia Rottinghaus from WPIAL Class 3A field hockey champion Pine-Richland have been selected to the Pennsylvania High School Field Hockey Coaches Association all-state team. The senior midfielders were instrumental in helping the Rams, as the No. 1 seed, defeat No. 2 Mt. Lebanon, 1-0, for the WPIAL...
Gateway grad Jordan Edwards steps into assistant coach role at Princeton
Jordan Edwards, a key member of the Gateway girls basketball team’s surge to the top, including helping the Gators win the WPIAL Class 5A title in 2018, is in her first season as an assistant coach for the Princeton women’s basketball team. She arrived on the Princeton campus after one...
