Paul Schofield stories, Page 3

Even though it’s a rivalry, the Penn-Trafford/Norwin series has no name. Does it need one? Pitt and West Virginia have the “Backyard Brawl.” Monessen and Charleroi and Monaca and Rochester had the “Battle of the Bridge.’ Derry and Ligonier Valley have the “Riot on the Ridge.” What should this game...

Steve Ansani was approved Tuesday as Burrell’s new wrestling coach by the school board. Ansani was an assistant coach under Josh Shields, who resigned after the season to spend time with his family. Ansani, a 1978 Valley graduate, coached at his alma mater. He also coached at the Mat Factory...

Penn-Trafford football coach John Ruane likes the makeup of his team, which returns several skilled players from a squad that went 5-6 in 2023. But what really excites him is what is occurring with his offensive and defensive lines. He’s not the only one excited. So are running backs Tasso...

There is an old saying that suggests “it’s tough to keep a good man down.” In the case of Jeannette, that applies to the football program. After a shocking 2021 season, a year after winning a WPIAL Class A title and losing a heartbreaker to Steelton-Highspire in the PIAA championship...

Mt. Pleasant’s Jarett Garn loves challenges. The young man can flat out fly, literally. Whether it’s on the track as one of the premier sprinters in the state, on the football and soccer fields using his quickness and kicking abilities or, yes, in the air as a pilot, the 6-foot-3...

The 2023 football season didn’t go well for Ligonier Valley. The Rams went 2-8 and finished the season on a six-game losing streak. Things will be a lot different in 2024 if senior lineman Wade Lamont and senior running back/linebacker Aidan Mulheren having anything to say about it. See, a...

Hempfield is in the process of interviewing for a new wrestling coach. Steve Santia resigned at the end of the school year for personal reasons, leaving athletic director Brandon Rapp with the job of finding a replacement. “I have two kids now under 3. It has been a lot, and...

A 2-8 season didn’t sit well with the Ligonier Valley football team and coach Roger Beitel in 2023. Injuries and a youthful squad that lacked experience were big reasons for the rare losing season. The Rams had only one senior on the team (Noah Gluck), and he got injured in...

Mt. Pleasant got off to a great start in 2023. The Vikings were 5-1 heading into first-place battles with Elizabeth Forward and eventual Class 3A WPIAL and PIAA champion Belle Vernon. Things didn’t go well, and the Vikings finished losing four of their final five games to end up 6-5....

It was a huge leap for the Derry football team in 2023. The Trojans ended a 20-game losing streak, won five games and qualified for the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs. Even though the Trojans (5-6 overall, 4-3 Allegheny Conference) fell to McGuffey, 25-13, in the postseason, the program made major...

It’s not hard to pinpoint the emotional leader of the Jeannette football team. Look no further than senior Nick Stuchell. The 6-foot, 220-pound two-way tackle said he loves the physical attack of the game. He has started every game since his freshman season. “I like to hit people,” Stuchell said....

Things haven’t started as planned for the Penn-Trafford girls golf team. Their first two matches of the season – against Greensburg Central Catholic and Connellsville – were canceled to the dismay of coach Ed Herbst. “We’re a young team and I want to see how they perform in a match,”...

When Franklin Regional needed to make a big play in the passing game the past two seasons, Ayden Hudock delivered. Hudock caught 42 passes for 957 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2022 and had 48 catches for 803 yards and 11 scores in 2023. But Hudock has graduated, and senior...

Spencer Lee’s dream of becoming an Olympic champion fell just short Friday afternoon in the men’s freestyle 57 kg final. Japan’s Rei Higuchi, the top seed, used a takedown early in the second period to defeat Lee, 4-2. Higuchi got a second takedown late in the match when Lee tried...

Every once in a while, Derry senior Collin Barkley will raise his hand to tell coach Mike Arone he needs a break. It doesn’t happen often. “It’s very rare he comes off the field,” Arone said. “Typically that’s one play and he’s back in the game. He’s a true ironman...

Spencer Lee is one victory away from achieving his ultimate goal — being an Olympic gold medalist. The Franklin Regional and Iowa graduate rolled into the men’s freestyle 57 kg finals with a dominating 14-4 technical fall victory Thursday against Uzbekistan’s Gulomjon Abdullaev in the semifinals. It was his third...

When a team wins WPIAL and PIAA titles, expectations within the football program are set high. With that said, the past two seasons at Penn-Trafford didn’t reach the expectations set in 2021. Injuries, inexperience, little mistakes and not playing up to their abilities saw the Warriors go 11-11, ousted from...

Lance Getsy doesn’t seem to mind that people are overlooking his Franklin Regional football team. The clamor surrounding the WPIAL Class 5A Big East Conference this preseason has mostly been about Latrobe, Penn-Trafford and Woodland Hills. But anyone who forgets about Franklin Regional might be making a big mistake. The...

Wrestling fans who want to watch Spencer Lee in his Olympic debut on Peacock will have to set an early morning alarm. The men’s freestyle competition in the 57 kg and 86 kg weight classes will begin at 5 a.m. today with the Round of 16 and quarterfinals. The semifinals...

Things are changing for the good in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. The conference will grow to 12 teams beginning in 2025-26 when Hiram returns as a full-time member. Conference President Joe Onderko discussed Tuesday at the PAC Media Day at Saint Vincent College the conference’s plan next year to divide...

The only things missing from the Bushy Run American Legion and Trafford Junior Legion baseball teams’ season in 2024 were state titles. Both teams advanced to their respective state tournaments, a first time for Bushy Run and the fourth consecutive season for Trafford, but injuries and being shorthanded end their...

Kaori Yamamoto didn’t play in the 2023 U.S. Senior Women’s Open. Instead, she carried the bag for her dear friend Eika Otake. “I was dreaming of attending this tournament, and then last year I was caddying for my best friend, and then I was thinking, ‘I’m going to make it...

William Jerry has played golf four times in his life, twice in Africa. But the Pittsburgh native and 1996 graduate of Oliver High School is working at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Fox Chapel Golf Club this week as a data collector of the greens for the maintenance crew....

Carole Semple Thompson enjoyed everything about the first round of the sixth U.S. Senor Women’s Open except her game. The 75-year-old Sewickley native had a small crowd following her for all 18 holes. She shot an 88 and survived the blistering heat. “I survived, but my golf game was pretty...