Greg Macafee stories, Page 32
Plum wrestler Vince Citrano a man on a mission in Class AAA postseason
Plum sophomore Vince Citrano has been a man on a mission all season long. After coming up just short in the section tournament as a freshman last year with a second-place finish and then not placing in the WPIAL tournament, Citrano was motivated to come back even stronger this season....
A-K Valley wrestling notebook: Seven wrestlers earn top seeds for sectionals tournament
WPIAL Class AAA wrestlers will compete in their section tournaments Saturday, and seven from the Alle-Kiski Valley were seeded first in their respective weight class. Kiski Area leads the way with five No. 1 seeds: Sammy Starr (152 pounds), Jack Blumer (160), Nick Delp (170), Jared Curcio (182) and Brayden...
Trib HSSN Wrestler of the Week: Burrell’s AJ Corrado
Burrell’s AJ Corrado has turned in a dominant junior wrestling season, and he earned his first WPIAL title in the same fashion this weekend. He won the 152-pound weight class with two pins and a 2-1 decision over Quaker Valley’s Conner Redinger, who was going for his third WPIAL championship....
Trib HSSN Wrestling Team of the Week: Burrell
Burrell’s wrestling team turned in quite the weekend at Canon-McMillan on Friday and Saturday. First, the Bucs competed in the Section 3-AA individual tournament Friday. They had four wrestlers win section championships, five were runners-up and two finished in third. Burrell followed up that performance Saturday with a strong effort...
Brownsville’s Tessa Dellarose set to compete in UEFA development tournament in England
Brownsville’s Tessa Dellarose continues to stack up invites to prestigious camps and games all over the country. Now, Dellarose has been selected to the U.S. U-16 Girls National Team for a UEFA Development Tournament from Feb. 19-24 in Loughborough, England. The U.S. team will take on teams from England, Spain...
No. 9 Geibel Catholic boys use an electric fourth quarter to earn first round victory over Leechburg
For the past three years, the Geibel boys basketball team qualified for the playoffs. But each time, the Gators lost in the first round. Facing No. 8 Leechburg on Saturday at Thomas Jefferson, the ninth-seeded Gators (15-8) changed their fortune. They used a 29-point fourth quarter to earn a 65-58...
No. 1 Lincoln Park boys shake off sluggish start, cruise past Deer Lakes
WPIAL Class 3A No. 1 seed Lincoln Park is the defending PIAA champion for a reason, and Friday night in the first round of the district playoffs, the Leopards showed why. The Leopards (19-4) came out slowly, and No. 16 seed Deer Lakes took advantage in the first quarter. By...
UPJ’s Pat Pecora, college wrestling’s winningest coach, keeps climbing
Last Friday at Pitt-Johnstown, Pat Pecora did something he never thought would’ve been possible when he started coaching wrestling 44 years ago. With several alumni in attendance, Pecora’s No. 4-ranked Mountain Cats defeated No. 11-ranked Mercyhurst, 22-12, and the longtime UPJ coach earned his 617th career win, making him college...
Fox Chapel’s Chip Ganassi celebrates race team’s 30th anniversary
When Chip Ganassi was a young kid, he always found himself on something with an engine. Whether it was a go-kart, a dirt bike, a snowmobile or a car, Ganassi loved to just go. “I sort of had a fossil-fuel-fired youth,” Ganassi said. “I was always racing one thing or...
A-K Valley basketball playoff capsules: Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020
Boys Class 2A First round No. 4 Springdale (19-3) vs. No. 13 Sewickley Academy (7-12) 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Shaler Winner plays: No. 5 Laurel (14-8) vs. No. 12 Winchester Thurston (10-10) Friday in the quarterfinals Coaches: Aaron Epps, Springdale; Win Palmer, Sewickley Academy Points scored/allowed: Springdale, 64.3/53.8; Sewickley Academy,...
A-K Valley boys basketball notebook: Highlands, Knoch, Fox Chapel plan to stay sharp during bye week
Earlier this week, Highlands, Knoch and Fox Chapel were named among the top two seeds in each of their brackets for the WPIAL basketball playoffs. Highlands (19-3) and Knoch (19-3) were given the first and second seeds, respectively, in the Class 4A tournament and the Foxes (21-1) nabbed the No....
Apollo-Ridge boys snap five-year playoff drought
Just last year, the Apollo-Ridge boys basketball team was on the verge of breaking a four-year playoff drought, but when it came down to the waning moments of the regular season, the Vikings barely missed. They finished the season with the same Section 1-2A record as Springdale, but the Dynamos...
Burrell’s Mikey Scherer exceeds expectations in return to mat
When Burrell’s Mikey Scherer was in eighth grade, he decided he didn’t want to wrestle anymore. Looking back, he said he wasn’t having any fun in the sport. So as he stepped into the high school corridors as a freshman, he thought he never would step on the mat again....
A-K Valley wrestling notebook: Burrell nabs three top seeds for sectional tournament
WPIAL Class AA wrestlers will converge on Canon-McMillan high school this weekend for their sectional and WPIAL individual tournaments. The sectional tournaments will take place Friday, and when the seedings were announced Wednesday, a few Burrell Bucs found themselves atop the Section 3-AA brackets. Juniors Ian Oswalt (132 pounds) and...
Trib HSSN wrestler of the week: Luca Augustine, Waynesburg
In his team’s run to the state championship, the Raiders’ 160-pounder went 4-0 and picked up two pins, a technical fall and a 2-1 second tiebreaker win in the state championship match against Nazareth Area. All season long, Augustine has been a staple for Waynesburg. He’s produced an overall record...
Trib HSSN wrestling team of the week: Waynesburg
The Raiders finished as the runner-up in the PIAA Class AAA state championship this weekend in Hershey, falling just short of their ultimate goal. They took down District 3 third-place finisher Central Dauphin, 40-21, in the first round. Then, the Raiders advanced to the quarterfinals to take down Cathedral Prep,...
Highlands, Knoch take top 2 seeds for WPIAL Class 4A bracket
After jockeying back and forth this season atop the WPIAL Class 4A boys basketball rankings, Highlands and Knoch claimed the top two spots in the tournament when the WPIAL revealed the brackets Tuesday night at the annual pairings meeting in Green Tree. Fox Chapel and Springdale also earned top-four seeds....
Riverview tabs Carlynton alum Trevor George as football coach
The Riverview Raiders have found their new football coach. On Monday, the Riverview school board approved Trevor George, a former offensive coordinator for Ambridge and assistant for Blackhawk, to lead the program. “(Riverview) is a great place to be, and that’s the most attractive thing about it,” George said. “One...
Fox Chapel learns from loss to Upper St. Clair as postseason approaches
For a majority of this season, the Fox Chapel boys basketball team produced a spotless record. The Foxes have defended with an intensity that has allowed them to produce the best scoring defense in the WPIAL at 43.5 points per game, which is just over two points lower than the...
Fox Chapel’s Sammy Brown fulfills dream by committing to Duquesne
Since he was 8 years old, Fox Chapel’s Sammy Brown hoped to play college football for a hometown school. On Thursday, Brown achieved his goal when he signed a national letter of intent with Division I FCS Duquesne, where he likely will play linebacker or safety. Has Always been a...
Franklin Regional boys punch ticket to playoffs with win over Kiski AreaVideo
Sometimes, it’s not always how you start, but how you finish that matters. That statement has rung true for the Franklin Regional boys basketball team (11-11, 8-6) this season, and it rang even louder Friday night. The Panthers overcame a slow first quarter and cruised to a 72-55 victory over...
Fox Chapel’s Sammy Brown commits to Duquesne
Fox Chapel’s Sammy Brown has found his home for the next four years, and he won’t have to go very far to continue his football career. Just one day after National Signing Day, Brown officially signed his letter of intent to continue his athletic and academic career at Duquesne. He...
A-K Valley Boys Basketball Notebook: Multiple players eclipse 1,000-point plateau
It has been a special week for a few players in the A-K Valley as they eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in their careers. On Tuesday, Leechburg senior Jake Blumer and Springdale junior Demitri Fritch hit the milestone. A day later, Plum junior Connor Moss did the same. Blumer earned his...
Knoch boys basketball staying focused down stretch run
On Jan. 28, the No. 2 Knoch Knights dropped a Section 1-4A contest to No. 1 Highlands, losing just their second game of the season. It was a tough back-and-forth battle between two of the top teams in the classification and it determined that the two teams would split the...
Pitt-Johnstown’s Pat Pecora set to become winningest coach in college wrestling history
The Pitt-Johnstown wrestling team will host No. 11 Mercyhurst in a PSAC matchup Friday. If the No. 4 Mountain Cats are victorious, coach Pat Pecora will earn his 617th victory and become the all-time winningest coach in college wrestling history. Pecora tied former Oregon State coach Dale Thomas, who took...
