Greg Macafee stories, Page 30

When Vincentian Academy and Cornell square off at the Petersen Events Center on Thursday night, it will be the 11th time the teams have met in the last four years. None of those contests has meant more than this one. No. 1 Vincentian Academy (20-4) is looking for its fourth...

Two weeks ago, WPIAL Class AA wrestlers converged on Canon-McMillan for their individual sectional and WPIAL tournaments. Now, the Class AAA wrestlers get their chance this Friday and Saturday at the same site. The WPIAL released the brackets earlier this week after sectional tournaments last Saturday. Jack Blumer was the...

Kiski Area’s Jack Blumer has won back-to-back WPIAL titles and on Friday, he begins his quest for No. 3. “I feel like I need to back it up since I’ve won the last two years,” Blumer said. “I feel like I need to win this year, but the main goal...

The 160-pound senior dominated at the PIAA Class AA Southwest Regional this past weekend at IUP’s Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex. He captured his second regional title without giving up a point and recorded a perfect 4-0 record. He won three of his matches by fall and one by technical...

Throughout the course of this year’s WPIAL playoffs, No. 2 Sto Rox has developed a flair for the dramatic. On Friday, the Vikings had to erase an 11-point halftime deficit to overcome Brentwood in their quarterfinal matchup. They found themselves in a familiar position Tuesday at Woodland Hills. They trailed...

No. 1 Highlands and No. 5 Blackhawk have played through different types of seasons on their way to the WPIAL Class 4A boys basketball semifinals. The Golden Rams (20-3) have only suffered a few hiccups — an early season loss to Penn Hills in their fourth game of the season,...

The Cornell Raiders have been working towards a goal for the past three years. Centered around a trio of seniors - Kaden DiVito, Isaiah Langston and Zaier Harrison - the Raiders wanted to make a trip to the Petersen Events Center and compete for a WPIAL championship. On Monday, after...

For the third time in just as many years, the Highlands Golden Rams are heading to the semifinals of the WPIAL playoffs. This stage hasn’t been kind to the Golden Rams since their trip to the WPIAL championship in 2016-17. Two years ago, as the No. 2 seed in the...

When Apollo-Ridge grad Jake Nulph was hired as the coach of the Edinboro football team in January, he knew there was one area of Western Pennsylvania he wanted to focus on when it came to recruiting “Whether it’s Apollo, Kiski, Leechburg, Burrell, Valley, I mean you name it, Freeport, Knoch,”...

When the playoffs roll around, New Castle instantly becomes a tough team to beat and Knoch learned that the hard way Saturday afternoon at North Allegheny. At one point in the second half, the No. 7 Red Hurricanes (17-7) had built an 11-point lead on the second-seeded Knights (19-4). With...

Boys Class 6A Quarterfinals No. 2 Fox Chapel (21-1) vs. No. 7 Central Catholic (12-10) 1 p.m. Saturday at Plum Winner plays: Winner of No. 3 Mt. Lebanon (16-6)/No. 6 Bethel Park (14-8) on Wednesday in the semifinals Coaches: Zach Skrinjar, Fox Chapel; Brian Urso, Central Catholic Points scored/allowed: Fox...

The Knoch boys basketball team is starting to get restless. Since last Tuesday, when the WPIAL announced pairings for this season’s playoffs, the Knights haven’t had the opportunity to play a meaningful game. Sure, they have been able to scrimmage a few teams and get practice, but that’s not the...

Three more A-K Valley boys basketball teams had their seasons end this past weekend as Deer Lakes, Apollo-Ridge and Leechburg lost their first-round matchups. In a WPIAL Class 3A first round matchup with No. 1 Lincoln Park, the No. 16 Lancers put up a fight. Thanks to intense defensive pressure,...

The No. 4-seeded Springdale Dynamos escaped from Shaler last Saturday night with a big WPIAL Class 2A first-round victory over No. 13 Sewickley Academy. How big? Well, considering that the Dynamos (20-3) walked away with an eight-point victory, and star junior Demitri Fritch only scored six points and exited the...

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....

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...

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....

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...