Paul Schofield stories, Page 11
Franklin Regional baseball hopes to make title run
Franklin Regional has won three WPIAL baseball titles, the last coming in 2021 when it defeated Bethel Park, 2-1, in the championship game. Is this the year the Panthers add a fourth title? Veteran coach Bob Saddler said he’s excited about this year’s squad, which returns five starters from a...
Wrestling notebook: PIAA individual championships staying in Hershey for now
There was a rumor amongst some wrestling coaches that this was the last year the PIAA individual wrestling championships would be held at Giant Center in Hershey. That rumor is false. While there is a rift between the PIAA and Hershey Entertainment, mainly because the PIAA moved the football and...
Westmoreland H.S. baseball preview: New-look Penn-Trafford eyes another title run
Can the Penn-Trafford baseball team repeat as WPIAL Class 5A champions? History will say no, but that’s OK with third-year Warriors coach Lou Cortazzo. “We were not ranked in last year’s preseason poll, and we won,” Cortazzo said. “And we are not ranked this year. That is OK, I like...
Jeannette pulls away to defeat Northern Cambria
JOHNSTOWN — Jeannette coach Adrian Batts felt his basketball team did not put out great effort in its first two PIAA playoff games. If the Jayhawks have hopes of winning their second PIAA title, things must change. It took Jeannette (25-2) more than a quarter to find a groove Wednesday...
Thomas Jefferson’s Maddox Shaw headlines Pennsylvania team for Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic
Thomas Jefferson senior Maddox Shaw is the only wrestler selected to represent the WPIAL on the Pennsylvania squad in the 51st Pittsburgh Wresting Classic on March 29 at the AHN Arena at Peters Township High School. The Pennsylvania squad will face a powerful United States squad at p.m. Before the...
Fox Chapel gets past Penn-Trafford, heads to final in search of school’s 1st Penguins Cup
Sometimes all you need is a bounce. Fox Chapel got that midway through the third period Tuesday to earn a trip to the PIHL Class 2A Penguins Cup final. Hayden Ferra happened to be at the right spot at the right time. After teammate Lian Wiseman dumped the puck behind...
Mt. Pleasant grad Dayton Pitzer named Most Outstanding Wrestler as Pitt places 2nd at ACC Tournament
It was quite a weekend for the Pitt wrestling team. The Panthers finished second at the ACC Tournament at Duke, had three champions and qualified seven wrestlers for the NCAA Championships set for March 20-22, in Philadelphia. The winning trio were graduate student Reece Heller (184 pounds), Mt. Lebanon grad...
Penn-Trafford notebook: Hockey team rallies for quarterfinal win
The Penn-Trafford hockey team sure surprised a lot of teams during the PIHL playoffs in 2024. The Warriors entered the Penguins Cup tournament in Class 2A and proceeded to defeat No. 1 Thomas Jefferson and No. 4 Norwin. This year, the Warriors were seeded fourth in the tournament, and they...
Penn-Trafford pair earns trip to PIAA wrestling championships
HERSHEY — Penn-Trafford sophomore Luke DeSantis and junior Dylan Barrett earned their way to the biggest stage in high school wrestling this season — the PIAA Class 3A tournament in Hershey. It was a split decision for the Penn-Trafford pair on Day 1 of the tournament March 6 at the...
Central Valley’s Boni takes 2nd in down year for WPIAL Class 2A
HERSHEY — Class 2A wrestlers from the WPIAL did not have a good weekend at the PIAA wrestling championships, which concluded Saturday. Only 10 wrestlers, no champion, earned medals at the Giant Center on Saturday. The WPIAL had one finalist, Central Valley junior Antonio Boni, who lost to Faith Christian...
Belle Vernon’s Elijah Brown beats Kiski Area’s Cooper Roscosky for school’s 1st state title
HERSHEY — Belle Vernon’s wrestling program finally has a state champion. On the school’s sixth try, junior Elijah Brown achieved what five others previously had attempted. Brown defeated Westmoreland County rival Cooper Roscosky of Kiski Area, 4-3, in the Class 3A 215-pound final Saturday at Giant Center. Roscosky scored a...
Wrestlers return from scary scene; Central Valley’s Boni only WPIAL 2A wrestler to reach finals
HERSHEY — It is never a good sight to see an athlete taken from an event on a stretcher. That’s what happened Friday during the early sessions of the PIAA Class 2A boys and PIAA girls wrestling tournaments when two athletes, Derry sophomore Brady Brown and Northeast Bradford junior Anaiah...
Latrobe’s Willochell back in the PIAA 3A wrestling finals after 2-year hiatus
HERSHEY — Latrobe senior Luke Willochell does not have to worry about wrestling Indiana senior Nico Fanella in the finals for a third consecutive week in the postseason. Willochell will be there, but Fanella will not. Willochell defeated Canon-McMillan junior Collier Hartman for the third time in the past two...
WPIAL sends 14 wrestlers to PIAA Class 3A semifinals, including all 4 at 215 pounds
HERSHEY – The 215-pound weight class from the WPIAL lived up to its reputation Friday afternoon as all four quarterfinalists were winners. That guarantees the WPIAL a champion Saturday at the Giant Center. The four wrestlers from the WPIAL were No. 1 through No. 4 in PaPowerWrestling rankings. Belle Vernon...
Brashear’s Tamara Humphries steps into semifinal spotlight at PIAA girls wrestling
HERSHEY – Brashear senior Tamara Humphries has been the talk of the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship. A day after defeating the No. 2 ranked wrestler in the state, she pinned her next opponent, Nanticoke freshman Emily Kivler, to reach Friday night’s semifinals at the Giant Center. She’ll face Canon-McMillan sophomore...
Four WPIAL wrestlers advance to Class 2A semifinals in Hershey
HERSHEY – Derry sophomore Mason Horwat placed sixth in the PIAA 2A Championships in 2024. With his win in the 152-pound quarterfinals Friday morning, Horwat is guaranteed another medal. This year, he wants to be higher on the podium. Horwat is one of only four wrestlers from the WPIAL to...
215-pound bracket packed with WPIAL stars at PIAA Class 3A wrestling
HERSHEY — Are Belle Vernon junior Elijah Brown and Kiski Area junior Cooper Roscosky on a collision course for a third consecutive week? They think so, but they are not looking that far ahead. In fact, the top four ranked WPIAL wrestlers at 215 pounds — Brown, Roscosky, Ringgold senior...
WPIAL wrestlers find tough sledding on 1st day of PIAA Class 2A tournament
HERSHEY — There is no hiding at the PIAA wrestling championships. No matter where a wrestler turns, he is going to face someone good. Three Westmoreland County wrestlers survived the first round Thursday and advanced to the quarterfinals Friday at Giant Center with solid wins. The competition for Derry senior...
U.S. Open countdown rekindles history at Oakmont Country Club
In fewer than 100 days, many of the top golfers in the world will be at historic Oakmont Country Club teeing it up for the U.S. Open. It will be a record 10th time the tournament will be held at the famous venue, and each time a different story has...
High school wrestling notebook: Norwin pair eyes success at PIAA girls tournament
A year ago, the PIAA held its first girls wrestling tournament. Norwin sophomores Karsyn Champion and Octavia Walker enjoyed the experience, but neither was able to earn a medal. Now the Norwin duo hopes getting the experience of competing on the big stage carries them to bigger things this weekend....
Willochell in loaded PIAA weight class; Kapusta looking to stay hot
Things have not gone the way Latrobe senior Luke Willochell had planned for the past two weeks. Indiana senior Nico Fanella has kept Willochell from becoming a Class 3A four-time champion in the WPIAL and PIAA Regional tournaments. But Willochell can erase that bad memory this weekend at the PIAA...
Penn-Trafford grad Carlee Valenta qualifies for NCAA rifle championship
Carlee Valenta, a 2024 Penn-Trafford graduate qualified for the NCAA Division I rifle championship, set for March 14-15, at Kentucky. The freshman at the University of Texas-El Paso set two school records. She is the first Miner since 2012 to compete in the championship. Valenta has had an outstanding season,...
Zach Feldman emerges as game changer for Penn-Trafford boys
When Penn-Trafford boys basketball coach Doug Kelly was watching junior forward Zach Feldman play in the summer, he did not realize how athletic the 6-foot-4 forward was. But Kelly knew he had a player to run his offense through. Feldman, who also is an outstanding baseball player, has continued to...
Hempfield’s Kapusta, Belle Vernon’s Brown keep rolling, 49 from WPIAL qualify for 3A states
So far, so good for Hempfield junior Nico Kapusta. Even though he missed most of the regular season with a left elbow injury he suffered during a preseason tournament, which made him doubtful to compete, Kapusta healed faster than expected. Now he has his eye on winning a PIAA Class...
No seed, no problem for Penn-Trafford’s Luke DeSantis at Class 3A regionals
Sometimes in life, it is the luck of the draw. Penn-Trafford sophomore Luke DeSantis came into the PIAA Class 3A West Region on Friday unseeded. But he made a name for himself by advancing to Saturday’s semifinals with a pair of wins. Any wrestler to reach the semifinals needs only...
