Michael Love stories, Page 4

Lily King will swim at N.C. State in the ACC starting next year. She has a good start at filling up collegiate record boards. The Mt. Pleasant senior already had the Pitt pool record in the 100-yard freestyle set at last year’s WPIAL Class 2A championships. On Thursday afternoon, King...

Sarah Pasquella was the hunted in the final heat of the girls 200-yard freestyle Thursday morning at the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. The Fox Chapel senior and Michigan commit wasn’t about to let anyone prevent her from defending her title. Pasquella lowered her school record...

For three years, Freeport’s Kira Schrecongost had a goal of breaking 55 seconds in the WPIAL Class 2A girls 100-yard butterfly. She did just that Thursday afternoon with a school-record swim of 54.85. That time also brought her a third WPIAL title in the event out of four attempts. She...

Sarah Pasquella won’t have to wait long for the chance to defend her WPIAL Class 3A title in the 200-yard freestyle. It is the second event Thursday morning at Pitt’s Trees Pool, and the Fox Chapel senior and Michigan commit, a four-year qualifier to the WPIAL championships, is ready for...

The Armstrong Sports Hall of Fame will celebrate its Class of 2025 on April 27. A distinguished collection of the county’s athletic greats — Ted Faber, W. David Hoff, Tye Desiderio, Gary Montebell, Terra Schall, Joe Diani, Paul Noonan, Denny Wolfe, Jackie Huth, J. Gary DeComo and Al King —...

Wilkinsburg native Joe Fusco, a 2001 College Football Hall of Fame coaching inductee and one of the most successful coaches in the history of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, died Saturday. He was 87. Fusco served as Westminster’s head coach from 1972-99 and led the Titans to four NAIA...

A movie is in the works that will profile Kurt Angle’s life story. The film will chronicle the Mt. Lebanon native’s journey from his youth and his start in amateur wrestling, his accomplishments in the sport in high school and college at Clarion to international success, including his Olympic gold-medal...

With the WPIBL team and singles championship tournaments in the rearview mirror, the Gateway boys bowling team has its sights set on big things at Western Regionals this weekend. The senior-laden Gators will have five compete Friday in the singles event at Bowlero Pittsburgh, formerly Noble Manor Lanes, in Carnegie,...

The Gateway boys basketball team hoped to get out fast at Moon in a WPIAL Class 5A first round game Feb. 18. The No. 12 Gators came into the game with a high degree of momentum after closing the regular season with three straight wins, including an overtime triumph against...

The Riverview boys basketball team finished with a 4-3 record in games played on its home court at Riverview High School. The Raiders played there just three times through Jan. 17. The final home game, a senior-night contest against Section 1-2A foe California on Feb. 7, marked the final opportunity...

Alaina Claassen knew Valley’s Arianna Bernard well by the time they met for the 190-pound championship at the WPIAL girls wrestling championships Feb. 15 at North Allegheny High School. Claasen, a Plum junior and last year’s WPIAL champion in the 235-pound weight class, beat Bernard twice during the regular season,...

When the Mars and Penn-Trafford boys basketball teams met Friday in a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal at Fox Chapel, a double-digit seed was guaranteed to punch its ticket to the final four. That double-digit seed ended up being the No. 10 Planets, who got a game-best 19 points from senior...

Jackson Hagler dove at WPIALs as a freshman, placed sixth overall and qualified for the PIAA championships at Bucknell University. The Fox Chapel senior and Bucknell commit followed that first WPIAL experience three years ago with a fourth as a sophomore and a silver medal last year while adding two...

It’s often said it’s a challenge to beat the same team three times in a season. The North Catholic boys basketball team bucked that belief Wednesday in a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal against section rival Deer Lakes on its home court at the Graham Events Center. Three players scored in...

The Rochester girls basketball team trailed Riverview by 15 points with 4 minutes, 6 seconds left in the third quarter of Tuesday’s WPIAL Class 2A first-round playoff game at Kiski Area High School. But the 10th-seeded Rams roared back. They controlled the boards, forced turnovers and made shots in the...

WPIAL basketball playoffs Tuesday’s local games Boys Class 5A First round 9-Latobe (18-4) at 8-Kiski Area (15-6) 7 p.m. Tuesday Winner plays: Winner of 16-Franklin Regional (11-11)/1-Montour (21-1) Friday (time, site TBD) in quarterfinals Players to watch: Max Butler, Latrobe; Colin Keller, Kiski Area Layup lines: Latrobe is back in...

Rashid Hassan has trained top-level junior tennis players through his tennis academy for more than two decades. Without a place to call his own, he often would be at the mercy of another facility to rent space and time. Despite that, he said, he always was grateful for the opportunities...

Gateway swimming and diving coach Glenn Raymer took a step back last Wednesday at the start of his team’s afternoon practice and marveled at how fast the season has gone from the start of preseason workouts in late November. Now that all the regular season meets and invitationals have concluded,...

Once the Plum boys bowling team hit its stride, nothing was getting in its way. After losing their first game of the semifinals, the Mustangs reeled off wins in the next four games of the bracket playoffs to claim the WPIBL boys team championship Feb. 12, at AMF Mt. Lebanon....

With experience returning to the lineup and new faces giving his team a shot of adrenaline, first-year Plum boys basketball coach Dave Pucka said the pieces were in place for a run to the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. He said he saw his team compete hard and battle in many...

The Knoch boys basketball team entered the WPIAL playoffs with the third-best scoring defense in Class 4A at 46.1 points allowed a game. The Knights were on their defensive game, and then some, in a first-round contest against West Mifflin on Friday at Knoch High School. The No. 12 Titans...

WPIAL basketball playoffs Girls Class 4A Preliminary round 17-Highlands (6-15) at 16-Yough (11-11) 7 p.m. Thursday Winner plays: At No. 1 Blackhawk (20-2), 7 p.m. on Monday in first round Players to watch: Tyarah Woody, Highlands; Hailey Bock, Yough Layup lines: Highlands made the playoffs despite starting the season 0-8....

LOWER BURRELL — Bella Stewart is seeded fifth at 124 pounds for Saturday’s WPIAL girls wrestling individual championships at North Allegheny High School. Burrell’s lone senior and team captain has fared well to the tune of a 24-9 record. She hopes to make waves in her WPIAL tournament debut. “I...

The Kansas City Chiefs went after a Super Bowl championship three-peat Sunday in New Orleans. But the Philadelphia Eagles put a wrench in those plans with a dominating performance. The Deer Lakes boys are about to begin their own three-peat quest as they prepare for the WPIAL Class 4A basketball...

Amari Gans had a breakout senior season for the Gateway football team this past fall. Now, the newly signed commit to Division II Wheeling hopes to make a similar impact at his new home. Gans was celebrated last Wednesday as he finalized his decision on the first day of the...