Paul Schofield stories, Page 58

Can anyone knock the Waynesburg and Burrell wrestling teams off their perch? Six teams would love that opportunity Saturday as the WPIAL team championships reach their conclusion with semifinal- and final-round action. It’s put up or shut up time for Latrobe, Canon-McMillan and Connellsville in Class 3A and Burgettstown, Quaker...

When Dave Keefer resigned as Southmoreland’s football coach last month, he recommended assistant coach Ron Frederick for the job. Keefer talked to Frederick before Frederick’s interview Tuesday with school officials. Frederick, a 1999 Southmoreland graduate, left the meeting knowing the job — his dream job — was his. Frederick, 40,...

Latrobe wrestling coach Mark Mears said he has a simple formula for winning matches. “Win seven bouts and get four pins,” Mears said. “We’re tough to beat when we do that.” That formula worked Wednesday night in a 39-26 quarterfinal-round win against a tough Butler squad in the WPIAL Class...

Mt. Pleasant wrestling coach Zach Snyder’s message to his team after losses to Beth-Center and Burrell was simple: We need a better effort. The Vikings get that chance Wednesday as the WPIAL team championships gets underway for Class 3A and 2A. Mt. Pleasant, seeded fifth, will face Jefferson-Morgan at Beth-Center...

Over the next few weeks, the WPIAL wrestling committee will be realigning the sections for the next two seasons. And because seven Class 3A teams are dropping to 2A, the landscape will look a lot different. There will be 37 teams in 3A and 44 teams in 2A. Dropping down...

Class 3A 106: 1. Luke Willochell (Latrobe) 27-3; 2. Nico Fanella (Indiana) 23-0; 3. Ty Kapusta (Franklin Regional) 17-5; 4. Casey Walker (North Allegheny) 22-8; 5. Rylen Campbell (Plum) 23-5. 113: 1. Ty Chappell (Seneca Valley) 22-3; 2. Leo Joseph (Latrobe) 21-7; 3. Brandon Dami (Canon-McMillan) 13-4; 4. Evan Petrovich...

Class 3A Rank Team Last week 1. Waynesburg (12-0) 1 2. Latrobe (9-0) 2 3. Connellsville (15-1) 3 4. North Allegheny (6-0) 4 5. Canon-McMillan (9-3) 5 6. Kiski Area (13-3) 6 7. Butler (15-3) 10 8. Franklin Regional (6-1) 7 9. Norwin (9-3) NR 10. Penn-Trafford (5-5) 9 Others...

Ochendowski commits to Cornell Penn-Trafford senior Declan Ochendowski took a trip to Ithaca, N.Y., this weekend to visit Cornell, and he found a new home for the next four years. Ochendowski received an offer to play football in the Ivy League and plans to attend, but he mist be accepted...

Things didn’t look good for the Penn-Trafford girls bowling team after two games at the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association’s first championship Jan. 24. But led by junior Alyssa Balest, the Warriors rallied to win the team title, edging Kiski Area at Lincoln Lanes in Latrobe. The Warriors finished with a...

Franklin Regional had its four-game winning streak snapped Jan. 25 with a 5-1 loss to West Division leader Thomas Jefferson. The Panthers (12-2-1) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second period on a goal by Luke Lavrich, but Thomas Jefferson responded with the next five tallies. Nick Stock had a...

Latrobe’s girls basketball team played its third consecutive game without leading scorer Anna Rafferty on Friday, and the Wildcats didn’t miss a beat. Junior Emma Blair scored a game-high 18 points and had 15 rebounds to lead first-place Latrobe (13-2, 8-0) to a 47-20 victory against Greensburg Salem in Section...

Southmoreland is looking for a new football coach after Dave Keefer resigned. The Southmoreland School District’s board accepted his resignation at a meeting Jan. 20. Keefer had coached four seasons at Southmoreland and led them reach the WPIAL playoffs twice. The 2021 team played in its first home playoff game,...

Defending WPIAL champions Waynesburg (Class 3A) and Burrell (2A) were seeded No. 1 by the WPIAL wrestling committee Thursday for the upcoming district team tournament, which begins next Wednesday. Burrell, which has won 15 consecutive Class 2A titles, is followed by No. 2 Burgettstown, No. 3 Quaker Valley, No. 4...

And the beat goes on for the Burrell wrestling team. Just when some teams think they can take the Bucs down, Burrell finds another gear. Burrell captured its 19th consecutive section title Wednesday by defeating Mt. Pleasant, 43-25, in the Section 3-2A finals at Mt. Pleasant. The Bucs defeated Southmoreland,...

WPIAL wrestling committee chairman Frank Vulcano Jr. said he has a good idea who the top teams are this season. But will Wednesday’s section tournaments change his mind? A lot of possible key section matches in both classifications could change things. In Class AA, No. 2 Beth-Center and No. 3...

Greensburg Salem senior heavyweight Bill McChesney breezed to the title at the Burgettstown tournament on Saturday. McChesney had three pins under 32 seconds, the fastest coming in 16 seconds. He then defeated Washington senior Cam Carter-Green, 7-2, in the finals in a battle of the top heavyweights in the Trib...

Class 3A 106: 1. Luke Willochell (Latrobe) 25-3; 2. Nico Fanella (Indiana) 16-0; 3. Ty Kapusta (Franklin Regional) 15-5; 4. Casey Walker (North Allegheny) 20-8; 5. Rylen Campbell (Plum) 19-4. 113: 1. Ty Chappell (Seneca Valley) 21-3; 2. Leo Joseph (Latrobe) 19-7; 3. Brandon Dami (Canon-McMillan) 11-4; 4. Evan Petrovich...

Trib HSSN team wrestling rankings as of Jan. 25, 2021: With ranking, team name, record and previous week’s raking Class 3A 1. Waynesburg (10-0) 1 2. Latrobe (7-0) 2 3. Connellsville (14-0) 3 4. North Allegheny (4-0) NR 5. Canon-McMillan (8-2) 5 6. Kiski Area (11-3) 6 7. Franklin Regional...

The Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association held its first bowling championship Monday, and it was met with joy. The WCCA recently put together the championship, which was held at Lincoln Lanes in Latrobe. Penn-Trafford junior Alyssa Balest took home the girls individual honor, and Latrobe senior James Gatto grabbed the boys...

Penn-Trafford sophomores Patton Graziano and Conner Alexander are having good seasons for the swimming team. Both have qualified for the WPIAL in various events. Graziano had qualified in every event except the 100 breaststroke. He’s qualified in 50-, 100-, 200- and 500-meter freestyle, the 100 IM, the 100 butterfly and...

The Penn-Trafford hockey team was flying high after it avenged an early season loss to rival Franklin Regional on Dec. 6. The 7-1 victory put the Warriors in a first-place tie with the Panthers in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Class 2A East Division. A 3-2 win three days later...

When wrestling season began back in December, Franklin Regional coach Matt Lebe wasn’t sure how things would work out for his team after two potential starters decided to pursue other avenues. But through hard work and belief in the coaches, the Panthers (5-0, 5-0) found themselves atop the Class 3A,...

Latrobe hasn’t had much to celebrate in boys basketball this season. But the Wildcats got to celebrate Friday night when they stunned first-place Woodland Hills, 77-66, in a WPIAL Section 3-5A contest at home. The Wildcats (4-9, 2-5) are in an unfamiliar position in the section, in last place. But...

The WPIAL announced pairings Thursday for wrestling section tournaments as part of the team championship. The section tournaments will be held Wednesday at the sites of the first-place team in the B subsections. There was a three-way tie for second place in Section 1-A. Fort Cherry was awarded the spot...

Franklin Regional found itself trailing Penn-Trafford with six bouts remaining Wednesday, but a couple of moves by coach Matt Lebe proved to be the difference. Consecutive pins by Nate Stone, Ben Pekarcik and Finn Solomon helped Franklin Regional rally to defeat Penn-Trafford, 43-29, in a WPIAL Class AAA Section 1-B...