Chris Harlan stories, Page 22
City League mourns death of longtime Allderdice football coach Jerry Haslett
Longtime City League coach Jerry Haslett, who hailed from a football family, died Wednesday. He was 59. A hall of fame athlete at Clarion, Haslett was football coach at Allderdice since 2009. He won three City League titles with the Dragons and had them in the finals nine times in...
Mt. Lebanon pitcher David Shields signs with Kansas City Royals, forgoes college baseball
Mt. Lebanon’s David Shields is turning pro. The left-handed pitcher has signed with the Kansas City Royals, who drafted him in the second round of the MLB Draft, forgoing a scholarship to play baseball at Miami (Fla.). Shields posted a photo on social media showing him signing his contract with...
2024 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Upper St. Clair’s Nate Stohl
As an all-conference lineman committed to an Ivy League school, Nate Stohl’s coaches could talk at length about the senior’s football skills. Yet, Upper St. Clair coach Mike Junko’s favorite story about the 6-foot-3, 270-pounder comes from a school assembly a couple of years ago, where Stohl serenaded his classmates....
Appellate judge denies PIAA request, keeping Aliquippa in Class 4A football
The injunction keeping Aliquippa in Class 4A football remains in place after a Commonwealth Court judge denied a PIAA request for a stay. Appellate Judge Patricia McCullough issued her decision Thursday, upholding a lower court’s decision and blocking the PIAA from using its competitive-balance rule to move Aliquippa into a...
WPIAL releases 2024-25 basketball schedules, updates section alignment for girls teams
The WPIAL released basketball schedules for the upcoming season Thursday and revealed an updated section alignment for girls that moved Greensburg Central Catholic to Class 3A. Greensburg Central Catholic was moved up a classification by the PIAA competitive-balance rule, which wasn’t reflected in the alignment released last month by the...
Knoch transfer Colt Sprankle earns postseason eligibility after PIAA board overturns WPIAL
The PIAA board overturned a WPIAL decision and granted postseason eligibility to Knoch junior Colt Sprankle, a football-playing transfer from Armstrong. Sprankle, his parents Ryan and Brandi, and Knoch administrators attended an appeal hearing Wednesday in State College where they testified that the family’s move into the district was a...
PIAA board favors 6 classes for girls volleyball, rejects plan to expand track to 3
STATE COLLEGE — The PIAA wants to increase girls volleyball to six classifications, but a request to expand track and field to three was rejected by the board. Girls volleyball has four classifications currently, but the board voted Wednesday to tentatively add two more. The proposal must pass two more...
PIAA endorses potential changes to competitive-balance rule, could allow appeals on health and safety grounds
STATE COLLEGE — The PIAA board wants to remove some much-maligned words from its competitive-balance rule: those that have prohibited health and safety as grounds for an appeal. The Competition Formula currently says: “… a change in classification would not be cause for a health and safety concern. A claim...
PIAA asks appellate court to lift injunction that keeps Aliquippa in 4A football
A Commonwealth Court judge must decide whether there was a proper basis for a lower court’s ruling that kept the Aliquippa football team in Class 4A. Appellate Judge Patricia McCullough heard opposing arguments Tuesday from attorneys representing Aliquippa School District and the PIAA, which wants the preliminary injunction put on...
Aliquippa’s Mike Warfield taking ‘leave of absence’ as Quips’ football coach
Mike Warfield says football fans will see him at Aliquippa’s stadium this fall, but adds with a laugh that his new job on Friday nights might be selling 50/50 tickets. Surprisingly, the three-time state champion coach won’t be coaching the Quips. Warfield went 74-6 in six years as head coach...
PIAA proposal to force 2-time state champions into higher class lacks support from WPIAL board
The WPIAL doesn’t favor a potential PIAA rule that forces two-time defending state champions into a higher classification. The proposed change to the competitive-balance rule was discussed and disliked by the WPIAL board Monday because it could unjustly punish successful programs that didn’t use transfers to reload, said WPIAL president...
Mt. Lebanon’s David Shields picked by Royals in 2nd round of MLB Draft
Kansas City Royals scouts came to Mt. Lebanon in April to watch David Shields pitch and stayed around to talk after he struck out 13 batters in a complete-game win. Their visit that day convinced Blue Devils coach Patt McCloskey that the Royals were thinking seriously about drafting Shields. “It...
The Southern Columbia rule? Teams winning consecutive state titles would be moved into higher class under PIAA proposal
Some might call it the Southern Columbia rule. Any PIAA team that wins two consecutive state championships would be forced into a higher classification regardless of whether it added any transfers under a proposed change to the competitive-balance rule that the PIAA board will consider next week. The suggested change...
2024 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: North Allegheny’s Jack Yatchenko
Jack Yatchenko was on the sideline for the play that pretty much clinched a WPIAL title for North Allegheny. No, he didn’t start the play there, but that was how far the lineman traveled while blocking on that snap. He found an unblocked defensive back and drove him into the...
Peters Township’s Natalie Wetzel commits to play basketball at Miami (Fla).
Peters Township rising senior Natalie Wetzel, one of the WPIAL’s top girls basketball recruits, had college offers that stretched from New England to the Southwest. Ultimately, the 6-foot-3 forward has decided to head south to the Sunshine State. Wetzel committed to Miami (Fla.) on Tuesday, choosing the Hurricanes over offers...
Seneca Valley’s Lexie Hames, Neshannock’s Addy Frye top 2024 all-state softball teams
Two WPIAL softball players, Seneca Valley’s Lexie Hames and Neshannock’s Addy Frye, were named Pennsylvania’s top pitcher and player when all-state teams were announced Friday. Hames was voted the state’s overall player of the year and Frye was pitcher of the year as chosen by the Pennsylvania High School Softball...
Armstrong’s Emma Paul named 2023-24 TribLive HSSN Girls Athlete of the YearVideo
Emma Paul discusses her gold-medal year with TribLive HSSN’s Don Rebel on the Rebel Yell podcast. • • • • • About nine days was how long Emma Paul had to transition seasons from basketball to softball, but the Armstrong senior was largely responsible for that quick turnaround. She had...
Butler’s Drew Griffith named 2023-24 TribLive HSSN Boys Athlete of the YearVideo
Drew Griffith discusses his record-setting year with TribLive HSSN’s Don Rebel on the Rebel Yell podcast. • • • • • Butler senior Drew Griffith broke a national record on a track in Boston and smashed another record at the state championships in Shippensburg. Yet, neither is necessarily his favorite...
PIAA asking Commonwealth Court for emergency stay to force Aliquippa football to Class 5A
With football season only weeks away, the PIAA has asked the Commonwealth Court for an expedited hearing that could force Aliquippa into a higher classification. The PIAA wants to promote the Quips from Class 4A to 5A under its competitive-balance rule, but that move was blocked in May by a...
2024 Pa. State Baseball Coaches Association all-state team includes 44 players from WPIAL, City League
More than 40 WPIAL and City League baseball players earned all-state recognition Monday as chosen by the Pennsylvania State Baseball Coaches Association. Twenty-two of those players earned first-team honors, including three from recent WPIAL champions: Bishop Canevin’s Tyler Maddix (Class A), North Catholic’s Blake Primrose (4A) and Seton LaSalle’s Gio...
Top stories of the 2023-24 school year in WPIAL sports
Here’s a look back at the biggest high school sports stories of the 2023-24 school year. Oct. 11, 2023 Moon’s Bill Pfeiffer, in his 28th season, became the first girls soccer coach in the WPIAL to win 500 career games. Pfeiffer and the Tigers later celebrated winning a third straight...
WPIAL will tweak girls basketball sections to move Greensburg Central Catholic to 3A
The WPIAL must amend its girls basketball section alignment for next season to move Greensburg Central Catholic from Class 2A to 3A. The reigning WPIAL champs were promoted to the higher classification by the PIAA competitive-balance rule. However, that move wasn’t known by the WPIAL administration and basketball committee while...
Newly hired boys basketball coach Brandon Sensor sees Shaler as ‘right opportunity’
When Brandon Sensor resigned at Chartiers Valley four months ago, the boys basketball coach insisted that wouldn’t be the end of his coaching journey. His tenure there ended undesirably, but that didn’t mean he’d take just any job. “I wanted the right opportunity,” said Sensor, who believes he has found...
Shaler poised to hire boys basketball coach Brandon Sensor
Former Chartiers Valley boys basketball coach Brandon Sensor is close to returning to the WPIAL. Sensor is the recommended candidate to be hired at Shaler, according to the agenda for Wednesday’s school board meeting. He would replace Rob Niederberger, who resigned in April after nine seasons. Shaler is coming off...
WPIAL reveals updated section alignments for winter sports including basketball, wrestling
The big-school classification in WPIAL boys basketball is getting a little bigger this winter, but not big enough for more than two sections. The addition of Fox Chapel, North Hills, Connellsville, Woodland Hills and Imani Christian gave the WPIAL 16 boys teams in Class 6A, which the basketball committee chose...
