Paul Schofield stories, Page 86
Quartet of WPIAL wrestlers reach PIAA Class AA finals in upper weight classes
HERSHEY — Burrell senior A.J. Corrado became the third wrestler from his school to reach the finals at the 2021 PIAA Class AA wrestling championship Friday at the Giant Center. This is the first time in school history Burrell has had three wrestlers reach the finals. Corrado (160 pounds) joins...
Burrell’s Hornack, Oswalt reach PIAA Class AA wrestling finals
HERSHEY — Burrell’s Cooper Hornack achieved something he’s never accomplished on Friday. The freshman wrestler reached the finals in a state event. Hornack and senior teammate Ian Oswalt advanced to the finals at the PIAA Class AA wrestling championships Friday at the Giant Center. They will wrestle during the 5...
Believing key for WPIAL Class AAA wrestlers at PIAA championshipsVideo
Wrestlers who want to win a PIAA championship just can’t rely on their skills. They better believe. That belief starts with hard work in practice — those grueling sessions when you give your best and then some. It carries over into tight matches. Self-belief and executing what you’ve been taught...
OLSH rolls Jeannette, shows no signs of slowing down heading into WPIAL finals
Jeannette found out quickly it faced a difficult challenge in the WPIAL Class 2A boys basketball semifinals Wednesday night at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. When the Chargers had four offensive rebounds on their first possession, Jeannette coach Adrian Batts knew winning would take a supreme effort. No. 1...
Wrestling notebook: WPIAL teams navigated unusual season
Friday and Saturday will mark the end of a strange high school wrestling season for many area wrestlers. Thank the coronavirus pandemic for that. It was a year ago when Gov. Tom Wolf closed down the state because of the pandemic, and subsequently high school sports across the commonwealth were...
Mt. Pleasant pinning machine Dayton Pitzer eyes 2nd PIAA title
Mt. Pleasant junior Dayton Pitzer’s nickname isn’t “Pinzer,” but it should be. Even though he really doesn’t have a nickname, when he is on the wrestling mat, Pitzer is looking to do one thing: pin his opponent, and he has done that a lot during his two-year career. Pitzer (39-2)...
Norwin wrestler John Altieri feeling better, cleared to compete in Hershey
Norwin senior John Altieri won the PIAA West Super Region 145-pound title Saturday at Altoona Area High School Field House, but it wasn’t the way he preferred. Altieri was the victim of a slam from Waynesburg senior Wyatt Henson in the first period, and when it was deemed by medical...
Penn-Trafford notebook: Warriors fall in girls basketball playoffs
Offensive woes late in the season ended the Penn-Trafford girls basketball team’s promising season. The Warriors dropped their WPIAL Class 6A first-round playoff game, 46-43, to Baldwin. Baldwin senior Meghan Dryburgh scored 18 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to lead the ninth-seeded Highlanders The Highlanders (9-7) paired Dryburgh’s play with...
Defense carries Penn-Trafford boys to 1st playoff win in 20 years
When Doug Kelly was hired as the boys basketball coach at Penn-Trafford, one thing he and his staff focused on was team defense. It was a big reason why the team won its first playoff game in 20 years. The Warriors defeated North Hills, 63-50, in a WPIAL Class 6A...
Franklin Regional notebook: Dibert, Solomon have state title aspirations
Franklin Regional senior Carter Dibert captured his second Class AAA WPIAL/PIAA Southwest Regional title on Feb. 27, but the Arizona State recruit wants another PIAA title. Junior Finn Solomon was denied his WPIAL title, but he too wants the bigger prize. Dibert used an escape, takedown and a three-point near...
WPIAL wrestlers acquit themselves well at Class AAA Super Regional
ALTOONA — Franklin Regional junior Finn Solomon and Hempfield senior heavyweight Isaiah Vance made statements Saturday at the PIAA West Super Regional at Altoona High School Field House. Solomon had a dominating 12-1 victory against Waynesburg junior Cole Homet in the 138-pound final. Vance was equally impressive with a 7-2...
Wrestlers have one last hurdle en route to PIAA championships
To become a PIAA wrestling champion in 2021, wrestlers had to face new challenges, or in this case, another qualifying tournament. Wrestlers from Class AA and Class AAA have one more hurdle, the Super Region, to clear before earning a trip to Hershey for the PIAA championships March 12 and...
North Catholic’s pressure too much for Mt. Pleasant in Class 4A quarterfinals
Mt. Pleasant must have felt like North Catholic’s pressure defense met them at the front door. At times, the Vikings probably felt there were more than five defenders on the floor. No. 5 North Catholic overcame a slow start, turned up its pressure defense and defeated No. 12 Mt. Pleasant,...
Super Region presents new challenge to WPIAL wrestlers on road to Hershey
Wrestlers from around the state face a new challenge Saturday: the PIAA Super Region. Because the PIAA decided to reduce the field and the number of days of the annual championships in Hershey, a new step was added. The PIAA championships will have a field of eight in each classification....
Jeannette rolls past Burgettstown after slow start
It took Jeannette a quarter to find its rhythm against Burgettstown in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs. Once they found their shooting touch, the Jayhawks rolled. Jeannette (14-4) used a big second quarter to break open a tight game en route a 69-24 victory. The fifth-seeded...
Trib HSSN WPIAL wrestling individual rankings for March 2, 2021
Here’s a look at this week’s Trib HSSN individual wrestling rankings: Class AAA 106: 1. Tyler Chappell, Seneca Valley, so. (31-2); 2. Antonino Walker, Plum, fr. (22-2); 3. Andrew Binni, Canon-McMillan, fr. (22-4); 4. Jake Layton, Connellsville, so. (13-4). 113: 1. Vinny Kilkeary, Latrobe, so. (21-1); 2. Troy Hohman, Penn-Trafford,...
High school notebook: Wrestling’s super region seeds upset some coaches
There are a few wrestling coaches wondering why the PIAA doesn’t do a better job seeding tournaments. The super region tournaments in the West have some crazy first-round matches Saturday. How about a potential state finals match in the 113-pound quarterfinals at the Class AAA tournament in Altoona between returning...
Kapcin’s block helps Penn-Trafford end 20-year playoff droughtVideo
A long playoff drought ended for the Penn-Trafford boys basketball program Tuesday. And it was a defensive play that keyed the win. The Warriors, sparked by defensive blocked shot and resulting layup by Josh Kapcin, rolled to a 63-50 victory against North Hills in the opening round of the WPIAL...
Uniontown hires Jeffries as football coach
Uniontown Area District’s school board on Monday hired Keith Jeffries as the new football coach and Harry Kaufman as the team’s first assistant. Jeffries replaces Cedric Lloyd. Jeffries and Kaufman are Uniontown grads who teach at the school. Jeffries has been coaching different sports at Uniontown for 23 years. He...
Mt. Pleasant tops Hopewell for school’s 1st boys basketball playoff win since 2014Video
It was a big night at Mt. Pleasant on Monday. The Vikings boys basketball team won its first WPIAL playoff game since 2014. Behind seven seniors, No. 12 Mt. Pleasant rolled to a 61-34 victory over No. 21 Hopewell in a Class 4A preliminary-round game. Mt. Pleasant (9-8) will face...
1-point losses stop Kiski Area trio from claiming WPIAL wrestling titles
CANONSBURG — The best way for Kiski Area seniors Sammy Starr and Brayden Roscosky to look at what happened at the Class AAA WPIAL/PIAA Southwest Regional on Saturday at Canon-McMillan? There’s always next week. For junior Enzo Morlacci, there’s always next year. The trio of Cavaliers dropped one-point decisions. For...
Seneca Valley’s Chappell, Herrera-Rondon become 3-time WPIAL wrestling championsVideo
Coaches around the state talk about how tough the WPIAL is in wrestling. That was proven again Saturday at the Class AAA WPIAL/PIAA Southwest Regional at Canon-McMillan. There were a lot of great battles, a lot of physical matches. There was only one pin in the finals, and two wrestlers...
Format change ramps up intensity for WPIAL Class AAA wrestling tournament
High school wrestling coaches always talk about the “blood round” in the sport. It’s the round in the consolation bracket where a wrestler puts his career on the line to become an All-American in college, or in high school, earn a spot at advancing to become all-state. Because the coronavirus...
Connellsville football promotes assistant Bill Maczko to head coach
Bill Maczko grew up in Fayette County. He vividly remembers the days when Connellsville was one of the top big school teams in the WPIAL under Dan Spanish. Maczko, 46, was a 1992 graduate of Uniontown. He was hired on Wednesday as Connellsville’s new football coach to replace Marko Thomas,...
Wrestling notebook: Ligonier Valley’s Harbert hoping to build off WPIAL performance
Ligonier Valley junior Ryan Harbert has had his share of struggles at the PIAA Class AA Southwest Regional wrestling tournament. He has a 1-4 record in two seasons and missed qualifying for the state tournament by one win. He hopes to change that trend this weekend. “The Southwest Regional is...
