John Grupp stories, Page 8

Moments after Hampton’s Grace Stitt lost in her section singles semifinal match Sept. 14, coach Sara Longo reminded her of what was at stake the following day. “I was like, ‘Well, tomorrow is a must-win,’ ” Longo said. “She goes, ‘Oh, I’m getting to WPIALs. Don’t worry. I’m getting there.’...

The Hampton football team has gone airborne this season. One year after mashing opponents with a pair of 1,000-yard rushers, the Talbots have unveiled a potent passing attack under first-year coach Steve Sciullo. “We came into the season with the goal to pass more,” said senior quarterback Joey Mayer, who...

The smallest school in WPIAL girls soccer is starting to think big. “This year, I’d really like to see us make it to the second round of playoffs,” Aquinas Academy senior midfielder Isabella Hite said, “and, hopefully, go all the way.” The Crusaders, in only their third season as a...

Aquinas Academy left the field following last season’s WPIAL Class A boys soccer playoff loss to Sewickley Academy with bright hopes for 2022. But little has gone right since then. Expected to return 10 starters from the second-winningest team in program history, Aquinas Academy has instead dealt with one setback...

The Hampton boys cross country team is learning how to run with a target on its back. The Talbots return four of their top five runners from the school’s first WPIAL Class 2A cross country championship and are looking to become the first Class 2A boys team to repeat since...

The most successful season in program history was just the start for the Hampton girls volleyball team. Silver was nice, but they want gold. “(Last year) was such a great year and I think that placing silver twice adds fire to a lot of us,” all-state junior outside hitter Emmy...

Two years ago, the Hampton girls soccer team won its first section title since 2008. That’s almost certainly not happening again this season. The WPIAL offseason realignment moved three-time undefeated PIAA champion Mars into the Talbots’ section, leaving the rest of Section 1-3A likely fighting for second place. Mars went...

The reigning WPIAL and PIAA champion Hampton boys soccer team faces a massive rebuild this season. But maybe not as much as anyone might expect. “It’s not a total melt-the-walls-down-and-rebuild-the-castle kind of thing,” coach Matt McAwley said. “It’s a younger group, but it’s all very talented players who are looking...

The tennis courts at Hampton Community Park haven’t changed since last year. They are still 78 feet long by 36 feet wide. But they should seem a little more level this season. After decades of playing in Class 3A against some of the WPIAL’s biggest schools, the Talbots girls tennis...

Hampton lost its top golfer to a prep school in New England but gained a No. 1 golfer from a private school in Fox Chapel. Junior Peter Kramer, a Shady Side Academy transfer, has helped ease the sting of losing 2021 WPIAL Class 3A qualifier Dan Venture, who left Hampton...

Hampton senior left-hander Ryan Apaliski needed only two innings to help secure a home for the next four years. Apaliski caught the eye of the James Madison coaching staff at a baseball camp in late June at the Harrisonburg, Va., school and showed enough during a brief two-inning audition in...

No one needs to tell Hampton first-year coach Steve Sciullo about the importance of an offensive line. The former NFL lineman knows the front five is the anchor of any offense. “It’s super important,” Sciullo said, “for those guys to jell.” Hampton enters the 2022 season with the challenge of...

North Catholic enters the 2022 season in a new classification with a different home field, a new offensive coordinator, a new quarterback and many new starters. But the Trojans bring back one familiar, time-tested objective — winning football. “I think ultimately (rebuilding) is a realistic word,” coach Patrick O’Shea said....

During his first two seasons as Hampton’s starting second baseman, Anthony Bucci was known as a flashy fielder without much pop in his bat. He has gone hardcore to change that. Bucci, who is entering his senior year, turned himself into a more formidable presence at the plate this summer...

Hampton’s Isabella McNutt only started wrestling a year ago, but that didn’t stop her from reaching the nation’s biggest event this summer. McNutt, who will be a junior at Hampton in the fall, qualified for the 2022 USA Wrestling 16U and junior nationals July 16-22 at the FargoDome in Fargo,...

Former Hampton golfer Justin Griffith is getting two more swings at his first state title. Griffith, 23, qualified for the 109th Pennsylvania Amateur Championship, scheduled for July 25-27 at Llanerch Country Club outside Philadelphia, and the 106th Pennsylvania Open Championship, set for Aug. 8-10 at Longue Vue Club in Penn...

Summer basketball leagues are built around staying in shape and building team chemistry. But bringing home a championship doesn’t hurt. Hampton used a late basket by Andrew Butler to defeat North Catholic, 38-37, on June 30 at Montour to win Pittsburgh Basketball Club summer league freshman championship. “Even though it’s...

Former Hampton cross country coach Tom Tobin knows all about Halls of Fame. He was a member of the first North Hills Athletic Hall of Fame class in 1995, and three years ago joined the WPIAL Hall of Fame as a part of North Hills’ dominant 1979 WPIAL and PIAA...

Hampton didn’t have to look far to find its new girls volleyball coach. And they don’t have to look far to see where their old coach ended up. Dainen Holler, the district’s middle school coach, was promoted to the Talbots’ top spot after Annie Bozzo departed following two seasons at...

The Hampton boys basketball team will get some excitement this upcoming season when coach Joe Lafko collects his 500th career coaching victory. The Talbots this summer received some other exciting news. Peter Kramer, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard who last March helped Shady Side Academy to its first WPIAL boys basketball...

If Hampton left-hander Ryan Apaliski improves this summer as much as he did last summer, Talbots coach Kellen Wheeler may start running out of superlatives. Apaliski, who recently completed his junior year, used a strong summer of 2021 as a springboard to a first-team All-Section 2-5A performance this past season....

Hampton brought back one state medal, one personal-best time and a vanload of memories from the PIAA Class 3A track and field championships May 27-28 at Shippensburg. Senior Matt DeMatteo placed eighth in the 300-meter hurdles to win his first PIAA track medal, and junior Ava Vitiello ran the fastest...

The Hampton girls lacrosse team entered the 2022 season with tepid expectations after graduation losses decimated last year’s WPIAL Class 2A semifinalist. “Honestly,” senior captain Hannah Acquafondata said, “I kind of came into this season with my head down.” The Talbots ended the spring with their heads held high. Hampton...

Hampton boys lacrosse coach Andy DeMichiei and his wife, Kristen, welcomed their first child, Owen, on May 10. The former high school All-American also watched his Talbots program make some baby steps during his first season as coach at his alma mater. “I think they showed positive signs and movement...

Hampton baseball coach Kellen Wheeler said he “couldn’t even sleep that night” after the Talbots’ controversial WPIAL playoff loss to Penn-Trafford. Senior left-hander Cam Marshalwitz called it “a terrible way to go out” and “the worst way” to end a game. A questionable seventh-inning call brought the Talbots’ 2022 season...