Michael Love stories, Page 24
Undersized defensive end Gamble ready to push Leechburg back into WPIAL playoffs
Lucas Gamble isn’t the biggest defensive end in the WPIAL, but Leechburg coach Randy Walters said the Blue Devils senior makes up for it with dogged determination to get the quarterback and cause havoc in the backfield for opposing offenses. “All the things he does off the field contributes to...
WPIAL Class 4A preview: Teams again chasing defending champion AliquippaVideo
No team in the WPIAL or throughout the state could come up with a game plan to stop Aliquippa from claiming all the gold last season. The WPIAL top-seeded Quips defeated No. 2 McKeesport, 35-21, at Acrisure Stadium, then marched to Cumberland Valley where they overwhelmed District 2 champion Dallas,...
A-K Valley football teams work to find formula that brings consistent success
Deer Lakes football has qualified for the WPIAL playoffs four times in its history. Two of those trips have come in the past two seasons with the team hosting a playoff game for the first time last fall and scoring the program’s first postseason victory with a 30-point rout of...
Increased roster adds to expectations for Gateway girls soccer team
Caleb Kyper understood how lower-than-usual roster numbers coupled with youthful inexperience throughout the lineup conspired to limit the Gateway girls soccer team’s efforts toward qualifying for the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs last year. Only two seniors and one starter graduated from the 2023 squad which went 3-8-1 in Section 3-3A...
Kucic, Kiski Area football ready to prove doubters wrong
Landon Kucic acquired a unique nickname early in his tackle football career. “I was playing on the (Kiski Valley Lancers) youth football (team), and my first year, I was on kickoff and I blew a kid up,” he said. “Ever since then, the coaches that helped build me up from...
Apollo-Ridge aims to rebound in new-look Allegheny Conference
Senior Ryan Lydon said he and his Apollo-Ridge teammates have a chip on their shoulder to get back on track this season and challenge for a spot in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs. The Vikings were 3-7 overall last year and 2-5 in the rugged Allegheny Conference. “We’re ready to...
New crop of starters motivated to keep Plum boys soccer among WPIAL elite
The Plum boys soccer team enjoyed another strong regular season last fall in what has become a string of such successes the past half decade. The Mustangs went 14-0 in their Class 3A section, lost just once in nonsection play and earned the top seed for the WPIAL playoff tournament....
Deer Lakes turns the page after historic 2023 season
Deer Lakes made program history last year with its first playoff victory. And what a dominant win it was in the WPIAL Class 3A first round. The Lancers rolled past Southmoreland by 30 points in what was their second postseason game at home. Deer Lakes fell to eventual WPIAL and...
Running back Zier Williams ready to carry bigger load for Deer Lakes
Zier Williams was the workhorse of the Deer Lakes running game last year and helped the Lancers make playoff history. He collected 1,147 yards and 13 touchdowns on 188 carries as Deer Lakes secured its first WPIAL playoff home game and also made a statement with a 30-point rout of...
‘Everyone is optimistic’ as high school football camps open around the A-K Valley
A small but enthusiastic group of 21 Springdale football players greeted first-year Dynamos coach Chad Walsh on Monday afternoon for the first day of official preseason camp in the shadow of Springdale High School. “We had a core of about 16 showing up throughout the summer,” Walsh said. “We had...
New coach hopes to help Gateway girls volleyball build on success
The first time new Gateway girls volleyball coach Erica Bosh expected see her players on the court was Aug. 12 at the first preseason practice at Gateway’s Furrie Sports Complex. The Keystone Oaks and Pitt-Greensburg graduate and volleyball product officially came on board at the beginning of August as the...
Position switch has Apollo-Ridge’s Mackintosh eager for new season
Corey Mackintosh was a stalwart at inside linebacker last year for Apollo-Ridge. The 5-foot-11, 210-pounder also worked in at defensive end. But a switch in position to outside linebacker in the offseason has the Vikings senior excited to see how he can contribute to what he and his teammates hope...
Springdale girls soccer sets big goal: ‘We want gold this year’
Hailey Marchlewski remembers how she and her Springdale girls soccer teammates felt after a pair of tough postseason setbacks, first by one goal to Freedom in the WPIAL Class A semifinals and then to rival Riverview, 3-1, in the PIAA quarterfinals. “We’re excited to get back out there because we...
Kiski Area seeks return to postseason in move up to Class 5A
The Kiski Area football team made a move up to Class 5A in the offseason, but what Cavaliers veteran head coach Sam Albert hopes doesn’t change is his team’s ability to make the WPIAL playoffs. He said the battles in its revamped conference with Armstrong, Franklin Regional, Gateway, Latrobe, Penn-Trafford,...
Pack the Park in Vandergrift again will kick off girls volleyball season in A-K Valley
When Pack the Park, an early-season matchup between the Kiski Area and Norwin girls volleyball teams on the outdoor courts at Kennedy Park in Vandergrift, began in 2021, Tim Toy had a vision that it would be an annual event to celebrate the start of each fall season. Now in...
Leta Lindley storms back to win U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Fox ChapelVideo
Leta Lindley finished runner-up at the 2022 and 2023 U.S. Senior Women’s Open championships, falling by one stroke to Jill McGill two years ago at NCR Country Club in Dayton, Ohio, and by one stroke again last year to England’s Trish Johnson at Waverly Country Club in Portand, Ore. She...
Fox Chapel native Michele Thompson revels in experience at U.S. Senior Women’s Open
A high school classmate of Michele (Michanowicz) Thompson stood near the 18th green early Sunday afternoon, her eyes extended down the fairway to catch the first sight of Thompson as she was about to put the finishing touches on her fourth round at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Fox...
North Allegheny grad Ayden Owens-Delerme in 2nd place after Day 1 of Olympic decathlon
North Allegheny graduate Ayden Owens-Delerme is in contention for an Olympic medal after the first five events of the men’s decathlon contested Friday at Stade de France Track in Paris. Representing Puerto Rico, the 24-year-old Owens-Delerme earned a combined 4,608 points for the five events, putting him second overall. Germany’s...
2024 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: West Mifflin’s Jaiden Brown-Demery
Jaiden Brown-Demery is taking nothing for granted as he enters his senior season at West Mifflin. The 6-foot-4, 315-pound lineman missed his entire sophomore season after suffering an ACL injury. He didn’t return until the fourth game of last season against Ringgold, but the feeling of getting back on the...
Monroeville Junior Legion team caps season at state tournament
For the second summer in a row, the Monroeville Gators Junior Legion baseball team concluded its season in the state playoffs. It wasn’t the finish the players or coaches had hoped for — Monroeville lost both games in the tournament the weekend of July 28 in Homer City — but...
30th anniversary Freeport International Baseball Invitational put smiles on faces
Chuck Sarver woke up Sunday morning, the day after this year’s Freeport International Baseball Invitational had concluded with the annual all-star game and fireworks celebration, and couldn’t help but smile. The FIBI president was grateful the 30th anniversary week of activities, which included more than 50 youth baseball games at...
Upper St. Clair’s Josh Matheny places 7th in 200-meter breaststroke finals at Paris Olympics
Josh Matheny’s goal of winning an Olympic medal will have to wait. The former Upper St. Clair swimming standout and member of men’s team at Indiana University placed seventh overall in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke final Wednesday afternoon with a time of 2 minutes, 9.52 seconds at Paris’ La Défense...
Boyce Boxing gym hosts, dominates card at Monroeville Mall event
Boyce Boxing in Plum is gearing up for a big night as its fighters will feature prominently in a 12-bout card Saturday at Gloria’s Gym in the Monroeville Mall. “I have some guys with no fights and it will be their debut, and others who are open class with 10...
Plum graduate Thea Hail chasing pro wrestling dreams, NXT women’s title
Her friends and family in Plum know her as Madison Knisley. The wrestling world that watches World Wrestling Entertainment brand NXT live every Tuesday evening on the USA Network knows her as Thea Hail, one of the company’s fastest-rising stars. This Tuesday, the 2021 Plum graduate will challenge for the...
Old Timers game continues enjoyable tradition at Freeport International Baseball Invitational
The late Sonny Westerman, founder of the Freeport International Baseball Invitational, must have been looking down at James E. Swartz Memorial Field in Freeport Borough on Thursday evening with a smile as pleasant weather and tradition brought out a large crowd for the annual Old Timers game that bears his...
