John Grupp stories

North Allegheny senior linebackers Dylan and Kyle Langdon came into the world at the same time. The identical twins share the exact same DNA, but that’s not all they have in common. “They mean a lot to everything,” NA coach Art Walker said. “They are very good leaders. They work...

The North Allegheny golf team doesn’t spend much time in the high school gym, but the Tigers plan on making some renovations anyway. Coming off one of the best regular seasons in program history, the Tigers are looking to snap a 53-year WPIAL team title drought and update a black...

Hampton senior Grace Stitt was hurting after losing the first set of the WPIAL Class 2A singles semifinals Sept. 18 at Bethel Park. “I was feeling pretty defeated,” she said. “I felt awful.” A little while later, she was crying. But they were tears of joy. No. 2 seeded Stitt...

Hampton coach Steve Sciullo was content to settle for overtime after Chartiers Valley scored a game-tying touchdown with under 40 seconds to play Sept. 20. Hampton running back Evan McAneny had other plans. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound junior broke loose for an 83-yard touchdown run on the next play, giving the...

Like everyone else, Hampton junior Marissa Bigante has good days and bad days. But lately, there are so many more good ones. Roughly one year since being diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic and suffering a torn ACL in a one-month span, Bigante is blossoming as a first-year cross country...

Hampton graduate Dawson Dietz is already among the most decorated Washington & Jefferson football players in the past 25 years. This season, he can join an elite list on the national level. After earning first-team All-American honors by D3Football.com each of the past two seasons, the senior defensive tackle is...

Angie Raimondi admits her high school career lacked enough to earn a spot in the Hampton Athletic Hall of Fame. Turns out she was just getting started. The former Hampton swimmer and rower developed into an accomplished triathlete with three Ironman competitions and a 321.6-mile Ultraman to her credit. “I...

One of the first things new Aquinas Academy field hockey coach Albert Casas told his players is that “winning is a consequence, not a goal.” But after losing in the WPIAL Class A finals three years in a row, the Crusaders’ goal definitely involves winning. “I know all of them...

When Hampton hosts Upper St. Clair on Sept. 13, the highlights will include much more than a typical WPIAL nonconference football game. “It’s going to be a special night for me, for sure,” Hampton senior wide receiver/linebacker Ray Kirsopp said. “It’s a lot for me to process.” Hampton will hold...

The Aquinas Academy girls volleyball team is a first-year WPIAL program, but the Crusaders plan to grow up quickly. After two seasons as a club sport, the players at the tiny Hampton Catholic school have their sights on a WPIAL Class A playoff berth. “We just put up some new...

The Hampton boys and girls cross country teams are trying to run into the record books this season. But they would take different paths. The boys are looking to become only the second program in 61 years to win four consecutive WPIAL Class 2A cross country titles, while the girls...

Second-team all-WPIAL setter Lilly Muczinski has a message for anyone doubting the Hampton girls volleyball team this season. “We can take anyone, any day,” she said. “We’re scrappy. We are everywhere. We can pick up balls. We can block. We can do everything.” Next up, they get to try to...

The Hampton girls soccer team returns a loaded roster — and one bitter memory — for a 2024 season filled with expectations. “It’s going to be a fun one,” said senior midfielder Gigi Rudy, one of 10 returning starters from a 15-4 team. “Right after the loss, we said ‘We’re...

Rebuilding is a dirty word for Hampton’s Matt McAwley. The 10th-year boys soccer coach doesn’t want inexperience or youth to be used as an excuse at a program that has reached the WPIAL Class 3A finals twice in the past three seasons. “There are a lot of shoes to fill...

Pennsylvania will be a swing state in November, but Butler this fall is strictly independent. After four seasons as an “associate member” in District 10, the Golden Tornado will play an independent schedule this season and are ineligible for the D-10 playoffs. “Every game becomes a playoff game for us,”...

Coming off the best season in program history, the Hampton girls tennis team has suddenly found itself homeless. Continued delays to a renovation project at the tennis courts at Hampton Community Park have forced the Talbots to plan for a promising 2024 season in which every match and practice will...

The drop to Class 3A could have prompted North Catholic to conclude winning will come easier this season. But it has done exactly the opposite. “Our mindset is that it’s going to be harder,” Penn State-bound senior tight end Brady O’Hara said. “We’ve got to push ourselves even more to...

Avonworth knows well the path to Acrisure Stadium. But after back-to-back lopsided losses in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game, the Antelopes are determined to complete the journey. “For us to be there and be 0-2 (in the WPIAL finals), it’s going to be big-time and a lot more motivation,”...

The Hampton Talbots return their starting quarterback from last season, but you might not recognize him. Second-team all-conference QB Porter Kelly hit an offseason growth spurt that transformed the senior, lifting the Talbots’ hopes along with it. “He was a little guy,” Hampton coach Steve Sciullo said. “He looks like...

A national championship girls soccer team this summer had a lot of Hampton flavor to it. Northern Steel, coached by two former Hampton soccer stars and led by three Talbot middle schoolers, won the 2024 National Cup XXIII Premier Division U13 finals July 21-25, in Denver. A never-in-doubt 5-1 victory...

Hampton first-year golf coach Terry Hales has much in common with his golfers this season. Almost all of them are new to the Talbots. Hales, who replaced longtime coach Bruce Steckel, inherits a roster that returns only one golfer from a 5-11 team. “I’m just really excited and looking forward...

The inaugural Talbot Shuffle fundraiser hopes to hit the ground running. The Aug. 10 event, which benefits the Hampton cross country program, is the first of its kind in the school district. “We were talking, the boosters and the coaches, and we wanted to do something to fundraise for Hampton...

Hampton’s Isabella McNutt is becoming a little bit McNasty. After graduating this year as the most decorated girls wrestler in school history, McNutt has added a new level of aggressiveness to her approach on the mat. “I realized that I had a lot more success when I was more aggressive,”...

Hampton teen Ella Lattimore enjoyed gymnastics long before she became any good at it. “It definitely took some time,” she said. “I really liked to do it, but I wasn’t very good. I just kind of showed up at the competitions, I did OK, and I left.” Now she leaves...

Hampton’s Braeden Ballintine was about 10 years old when his dad challenged him to try something with a football. Throw a spiral between your legs while looking upside down. “Before I even started playing football,” Ballintine said, “he was trying to mess around and show me how to snap a...