Bill Beckner stories, Page 58

Quarterback Jack Salopek has never been a rah-rah screamer — in the huddle, at practice or otherwise. You might say he is like a vault emotionally with the way he carries himself and how he plays football. The Norwin alum has always let his game do the talking, and he...

The Allegheny Shotokan “Viola” Karate Dojo had the most qualifiers advance from the World Karate and Kickboxing Commission National Championships last month in Detroit, Mich. The North Huntingdon-based dojo had 17 competitors advance. The top four finishers in each division earned a spot on Team USA, which consists of top...

Yough’s girls soccer team will have its third coach in three years with the hiring of Robert Broadwater, a Pennsylvania state trooper and former Yough middle school coach. Broadwater also served as an assistant with Mike Veychek, who resigned after one season coaching the Cougars. Broadwater was a varsity assistant...

Lying in a hospital bed about three years ago, Payton Wehner took inventory of his world. “That was a point in life where, honestly, if I could go back, I wouldn’t change a thing,” said Wehner, Central Catholic’s senior quarterback. Not the wildcat play that resulted in a season-ending injury?...

Hempfield and Yough are looking for girls head basketball coaches. Tom Brush resigned at Hempfield, a place where he has coached since 2018. Mike Gerdich, meanwhile, stepped down at Yough following the team’s first playoff trip in 10 years. Brush said his decision is work-related. Since his schedule changed, he...

As John Wetzel walked off the field Thursday, he made it clear to his teammates he was far from tired. His arm wasn’t sore. His legs were fine. He was charged up. “I’m ready to play another one,” the Latrobe quarterback said with a smile. Transfixed on validating last year’s...

Scott Morrison has been itching to get back into coaching. After spending a season as an assistant for the women’s basketball team at Westmoreland County Community College last year, he is primed to take over the men’s program. Morrison, a former athletic director at Yough and a Norwin alum, was...

Like a penalty kick in a shootout, Kendalyn Umbel has lined up her Division I college soccer future — with two years left in her high school career. Umbel, a rising junior at Yough who does not plan to play for the high school team this season, announced a verbal...

It was a promotion Brian Pritts was proud to accept. A true “Southmoreland guy” would be. Pritts is set to take over as athletic director at Southmoreland, his alma mater and a place where he has taught and coached since 1995. The former Southmoreland girls basketball coach had been the...

An ordinary Friday turned into All Saints Day. When news began to travel last week that the Westmoreland Saints youth football program out of Greensburg was folding, former players took to social media to pay their respects to the middle school-level team. The Saints are stepping aside now that Greensburg...

Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of 25 profiles of the members of the Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team. When it came time to make his college decision, Quinton Martin operated on his own terms. No news conference. No three hats lined up on a table....

A handful of Franklin Regional boys soccer players were set to compete on a national stage. The 05 BVB International Academy Premier team, coached by former Franklin Regional coach Thomas Louisy, traveled Florida to play in the United States Youth Soccer National Championship Series. The Franklin Regional players on the...

Route-runners and defensive backs will exchange moves, and quarterbacks will sharpen their downfield throws Thursday when the 12th Westmoreland County Coaches Association Larry Sellitto Memorial 7-on-7 Passing Tournament returns to Greater Latrobe High School. Sixteen teams will compete for the title beginning at 9 a.m. on four turf fields. Rossi...

Central Catholic has more than 100 players signed up for football this season. That includes a rising group of more than 50 freshmen. Once a promising ninth grader himself, quarterback Payton Wehner has come a long way in his time with the Vikings. Suddenly, though, he is all grown up...

After Bushy Run secured the final out and collected its District 31 championship trophy, players shouted, “We won the WPIAL.” The reference is meant to draw a parallel to the high school baseball season, where teams win the WPIAL then play for a PIAA state title. It’s a progression. For...

Trafford native Dave Bucar has joined the football coaching staff at Maine. He will coach the offensive line under head coach Jordan Stevens. Bucar was an offensive analyst and assistant offensive line and tight ends coach at Boston College for the last four years. “Dave brings a wealth of experience...

With its season complete, the American Legion District 31 baseball league announced its all-district teams, based on a managers’ vote. Of the 24 first- and second-team players, league runner-up Latrobe led with six, while champion Bushy Run had five. Homer City had three, while Murrysville, Young Township, Hempfield East and...

Jason Sabol came back four games ago from a torn right hamstring, an injury that plagued him since early March. The setback, which happened during high school tryouts, cost him most of his junior baseball season at Penn-Trafford and most of this American Legion season. The Bushy Run center fielder...

When pitcher Kevin Vaupel was selected in the 16th round of the MLB Draft on Tuesday, he joined a list of Seton Hill alumni who have found their way into pro baseball. Vaupel, a South Park alum who was taken by the Miami Marlins with the 473rd pick, is the...

American Legion District 31 baseball playoffs Championship 1-Bushy Run (18-3-1) vs. 3-Latrobe (21-5) 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Penn-Trafford High School, Harrison City Coaches: Scott Peyman, Bushy Run; Jason Bush, Latrobe Players to watch: Carmen Metcalfe, Penn-Trafford; Erik Batista, Latrobe Scouting report: The district final comes down to a pair of teams...

Championship-winning coach Derek Cuthbert has returned to lead another Westmoreland County school’s soccer team. Cuthbert, who guided the Penn-Trafford girls to a WPIAL Class 3A title in 2003 when he was the district coach of the year, was named the girls coach at Greensburg Central Catholic. Cuthbert, who hails from...

The 2023 Norwin Athletic Hall of Fame class reached into the recent past to reconnect with some girls soccer greatness. The 2015, ’16, and ’17 girls soccer teams, and 2018 alum Emily Harrigan, a goal-scoring standout during that time, headline the list of inductees. Norwin won WPIAL titles in 2015...

A few years out of college but perhaps as sharp as she has ever been, Bridget (Guy) Williams continues to compete at a high level of track and field. The former Hempfield and Virginia standout is headed to a world-championship event after another strong finish in the pole vault. Williams...

Haylie Brunson has only played two years of college softball, but in a way, you could say her career has come full circle. The former Mt. Pleasant standout and Trib Westmoreland player of the year announced she is leaving Pitt to play at the school where she first committed: Penn...

Ben Suchko played soccer at Hempfield, and he remembers another local program having a reputation at that time. “Penn-Trafford was a juggernaut,” he said. “They were bruisers.” Now the first-year coach at Penn-Trafford, Suchko thinks that luster has worn off, and something needs to change to restore it. “P-T has...