High School category, Page 1174
Waynesburg’s Welsh, Seneca Valley’s Herrera-Rondon earn All-American honors at Fargo
The Pennsylvania Freestyle wrestling team captured the Cadet National Championship at Fargo, N.D. over the weekend. Waynesburg freshman Rocco Welsh and Seneca Valley junior Alejandro Herrera-Rondon earned medals for the Keystone squad. Welsh defeated Garrett Grice of Nebraska, 12-2, to capture the fifth-place medal at 120 pounds. Herrera-Rondon, a two-time...
WPIAL declares two-sport Belle Vernon transfer Devin Whitlock eligible
Belle Vernon sophomore Devin Whitlock, a two-sport standout who transferred from Monessen, is eligible to play football and basketball this upcoming school year. Whitlock had a hearing Monday before the WPIAL board, which declared him eligible with a split vote, said WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley. The WPIAL originally declared...
Speedy Luke Meckler has high expectations for 2-time defending champion Pine-Richland
The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 23 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park. Luke Meckler will be doing something this season that is rare at Pine-Richland —...
Springdale QB Ausk gets head start on sophomore season
Legend Ausk enters his sophomore football season at Springdale in the running to take over the varsity starting quarterback job left vacant from the graduation of multi-year starter Josh Jones. A scout team signal-caller last fall, Ausk knew his future with the Dynamos held the potential to take over the...
Buddy Valinsky aims to make Norwin boys basketball ‘a proven program’
Buddy Valinsky bought a new hybrid SUV to abate his trek from Squirrel Hill to North Huntingdon. The new Norwin boys basketball coach has been driving back and forth quite a bit this summer and will continue to do so in the coming months. His motor is running like new,...
WPIAL leading scorer Keandre Bowles commits to junior college in Kansas
The WPIAL’s leading scorer is headed to the Great Plains. Recent Woodland Hills graduate Keandre Bowles, a 28.9-point scorer, announced Sunday his commitment to Barton College in Great Bend, Kan. The team competes in Division I of the National Junior College Athletic Association. The 6-foot-3 guard was a Trib 10...
Bishop Canevin’s Diajha Allen commits to St. Francis (Pa.)
Bishop Canevin’s Diajha Allen, a rising senior, announced her commitment to St. Francis (Pa.) basketball Sunday. The 5-foot-5 guard averaged 13.2 points for the Crusaders, who went 22-4 last season, reaching the WPIAL semifinals and the PIAA second round. The 2020 graduate revealed her commitment on Twitter. St. Francis hired...
Trib HSSN rewind: A look back at the 2019 softball season
Late-round WPIAL playoff losses can do plenty to motivate teams for the state playoffs. Finality has its place, but it can wait. Penn-Trafford (Class 5A) and Frazier (2A) showed just how valuable a second chance can be as both rebounded to win PIAA championships to highlight the 2019 softball season....
Bethel Park’s Olivia Westphal adds 4 more basketball offers
Bethel Park’s Olivia Westphal added several more names to her scholarship list Sunday. The 5-foot-9 rising junior received offers from Charlotte, Miami (Ohio), Toledo and Wichita State, her AAU team announced on Twitter. Westphal, a 2021 recruit, was a 16-point scorer last season for Bethel Park. The Black Hawks went...
Chartiers Valley’s Aislin Malcolm adds WVU basketball offer
Chartiers Valley basketball standout Aislin Malcolm, one of the WPIAL’s top rising sophomores, received an offer Sunday from West Virginia. Her AAU team, the Western Pa. Bruins, announced her offer on Twitter. The 5-foot-10 guard already held offers from Pitt and Kent State. Malcolm was a key contributor this past...
North Allegheny senior lineman Lugg forges his own path
North Allegheny’s Jake Lugg plays left tackle for the Tigers like older brother, Josh, did a few years earlier. With two Division I linemen in the same family, it’s inevitable they’re compared often — maybe too often. “I love being compared to him sometimes,” Lugg said, “and sometimes I feel...
WPIAL soccer referees will switch to diagonal system, if PIAA approves
The WPIAL could change the way soccer games are officiated next season, if the PIAA approves. The PIAA board must decide Wednesday whether to let the WPIAL organize a pilot program that transitions its officials to the “diagonal system of control” used by soccer organizations around the world rather than...
Trib HSSN rewind: A look back at the 2018-19 baseball season
Winning PIAA championships in baseball is becoming increasingly harder for WPIAL teams. Only two teams from the district reached the championship game at Penn State, and neither Beaver nor Serra Catholic was able to capture the gold medal. For the first time since 2014, the WPIAL didn’t have a winner....
PIAA baseball committee wants games added to regular season
Pennsylvania high school baseball teams could play a few more regular-season games next season, if the PIAA baseball steering committee gets its wish. The PIAA board of directors on Wednesday will consider a recommendation from the baseball committee to increase the in-season maximum from 20 to 24 games. “This is...
Trib HSSN rewind: A look back at the 2018-19 boys basketball season
With Moon and Mars leading the way, it’s safe to say the 2018-19 WPIAL boys basketball season was out of this world. It helps that the two Class 5A rivals combined for one of the most memorable finishes in WPIAL championship history. Andrew Recchia made a game-winning 3-pointer with 2.6...
Trib HSSN rewind: A look back at the 2018-19 girls basketball season
Peters Township and Chartiers Valley championed the cause for perfection. Thirty up and 30 down. The Indians and Colts put together two of the most impressive runs by a WPIAL girls basketball team — in Class 6A and 5A, respectively — on the way to district and PIAA championships, making...
Isaly’s summer-time tour big hit with junior golfers
From chipped-ham sandwiches to sand-wedge chips, the Isaly’s Junior Golf Tour has carved its niche on the Western Pennsylvania junior golf scene by attracting top talent and playing at some of area’s most prestigious courses. “When I took the job in January 2018, I looked at the venues — and...
Shady Side Academy’s Naughton commits to Holy Cross
Shady Side Academy rising senior boys lacrosse player Jack Naughton recently committed to Holy Cross but is not taking it for granted. “I plan on getting stronger and faster in order to keep competing at the Division I level,” said Naughton, 17, who lives in Pine. Shady Side Academy coach...
Fox Chapel’s Quackenbush looks forward to tennis season
Fox Chapel junior Lexi Quackenbush has been around tennis most of her life. Her father, Allen, was a tennis instructor, and she gravitated toward the sport. “I guess I’ve been playing for around 10 years now,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed it since I first picked up a racket. It’s nice...
Deer Lakes pegs Daniel Yates as new boys soccer coach
It’s not every day you see a coach change jobs after taking his team to the brink of a state title. But that’s the position the Deer Lakes boys soccer team was in after former coach Jordan Wiegand accepted the coaching position at Pine-Richland this past spring. On Thursday, the...
WCCA Shootout showcases ‘a good day of basketball’
Teams try to get different things out of summer basketball shootouts. Winning matters, but it is far from paramount. At the third annual Westmoreland County Coaches Association Shootout on Friday, Jeannette was looking for strong participation; Norwin and Latrobe wanted some continuity; and Valley and Greensburg Salem sought out offseason...
Seneca Valley’s Kaltenberger focused on returning to WPIAL title game
The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 23 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park. Josh Kaltenberger didn’t feel the need to wait. The 6-foot-5, 285-pound rising senior at...
Hempfield’s Fintan Brose commits to Delaware
Fintan Brose didn’t waste any time making a decision about his college future. The Hempfield rising senior announced Friday he will join his brother, Braden, at Delaware. Braden is a sophomore tight end for the Blue Hens. A 6-foot-3, 285-pound offensive and defensive lineman and a TribLive HSSN Preseason Top...
PIAA schedules appeal hearing for Moon’s Donovan Johnson
Basketball star Donovan Johnson will learn next week whether he can play his senior season at Moon. The PIAA has scheduled his appeal hearing for Wednesday, said PIAA administrator Mark Byers. The PIAA board meets that day in State College. The 6-foot-7 standout is ineligible for next season under a...
After 2 years without, light towers return to Northgate’s stadium
Northgate football coach Michael Fulmore was headed home after a summer workout when something high in the Bellevue sky grabbed his attention. For the first time in two years, there were light towers above Alumni Field. “I was driving down the street and could see them from the main avenue,”...
