Greg Macafee stories, Page 32

Following a 17th straight section championship last week, the Burrell wrestling team traveled to Bedford for the Thomas Chevrolet tournament. Burrell placed second behind Chestnut Ridge and scored 225.5 points. Three Bucs — Ian Oswalt (132 pounds), AJ Corrado (152) and Ricky Feroce (195) — earned individual titles at the...

The 2019 Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-American team was announced on Monday, and Slippery Rock quarterback Roland Rivers III and coach Shawn Lutz were among the top honorees. Rivers, who threw for 4,460 yards and 52 touchdowns this year, was named the Offensive Player of the Year, and Lutz...

The WPIAL has released its newest football alignments for the next two years. Before releasing the updated alignments, which will affect a few teams throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley, the WPIAL presented football coaches and athletic directors throughout the district with two options. One option was presented as a regionalization approach,...

The Pitt men’s basketball team faces a tough task. The Panthers (13-6, 4-4 ACC) play at Syracuse on Saturday for a matchup with the notoriously zone-heavy Orange (12-7, 5-3). In years past, Pitt has struggles for an answer for the extended 2-3 zone that has stifled so many teams. The...

Burrell football coach Shawn Liotta is known around the WPIAL for his creative offensive mind. But over the past few years, Liotta has started to gain attention at the national level. Aaron Ingram, the director of the U.S. national team, has been trying to get Liotta involved with the USA...

The Leechburg boys basketball team has been experiencing a bit of success over the past few seasons, and it could be partly attributed to the contribution from a core group of players. Seniors Jake Blumer and Connor McDermott, along with junior point guard Dylan Cook, have given the Blue Devils...

Teams began the second half of section play this past week and hope to peak at the right time. Heading into Thursday night’s games, four boys basketball teams from the Alle-Kiski Valley are on winning streaks of three games or more. Fox Chapel (16-0) has dominated all season, with all...

Every time Burrell takes the mat, the Bucs are looking to make a statement, and the defending WPIAL Class AA champions did just that on Wednesday at Elizabeth Forward. With a 61-15 win over Southmoreland in the semifinals of the Section 3-AA team tournament and another 61-15 victory over Elizabeth...

Tuesday night’s matchup between Section 3-5A rivals Plum and Kiski Area was a tale of two halves. And while the Mustangs started it, the Cavaliers finished it on their home court. Kiski Area (3-5, 5-1) had four players score in double-digits and turned a one-point halftime deficit into a nine-point...

As the WPIAL team tournaments begin next week, Kiski Area and Burrell are getting set to defend their WPIAL crowns, but first, they must defend their section superiority. On Wednesday, Kiski Area will travel to Hempfield for the Section 1-AAA tournament while Burrell will travel to Elizabeth Forward for the...

For the first time since 2011, the Highlands wrestling team has qualified for the WPIAL tournament. With an overall record of 12-2 and a section record of 4-1, Highlands earned a spot among the top four teams of Section 3-AA and will take on Elizabeth Forward on Wednesday in the...

The senior grappler from Mt. Lebanon won the 195-pound title at the Allegheny County wrestling tournament this past weekend, but this wasn’t Stout’s first trip to the top of the podium at the annual event. On Saturday, Stout became just the fifth wrestler in the history of the tournament to...

The Pine-Richland Rams took home the second Allegheny County title in program history this past weekend, and they did it by the narrowest of margins. They defeated North Allegheny, 223-222.5. After 106-pounder Anthony Ferraro earned a county title with a 14-0 major decision over Montour’s James Walzer, all the Rams...

Pine-Richland coach Caleb Kolb was on pins and needles throughout the championship rounds Saturday night at the Allegheny County wrestling tournament. The Rams were in a tight battle for the team title. After Anthony Ferraro earned a 14-0 major decision at 106 pounds over Montour’s James Walzer, the Rams needed...

The semifinals have concluded at the 2020 Allegheny County wrestling tournament held at Fox Chapel and the championship field is set. The Parade of Champions will begin at 5:45 with the first championship match set to begin at 6 p.m. Of the 14 weight classes, 12 No. 1 seeds advanced...

A balanced offensive attack is something every coach hopes for, and on Friday night, it helped the Plum Mustangs kick off the second half of their Section 3-5A schedule on the right note. Nine Mustangs found a way to score and junior Connor Moss led the way with 11 points...

For the past three years, the Allegheny County tournament has been good to Mt. Lebanon senior Luke Stout. He’s a three-time champ and after earning three pins on Friday at Fox Chapel High School, Stout is making a run at No. 4. “I’ve just wanted to keep doing the same...

Entering the second half of section play, the Deer Lakes boys basketball team is in a position it didn’t expect to be. After their state playoff run last season, the Lancers came into the 2019-20 season expecting the same results. Through 11 games, the Lancers are 6-5 with a 3-3...

Several players from the A-K Valley have been among the WPIAL’s highest scorers this season. Leading the way is Springdale’s Demitri Fritch. The 6-foot-3 junior guard is averaging 27.1 points — along with 13 rebounds, seven assists and four steals a game. He has been a big reason for the...

Throughout the 2019-20 basketball season, the Springdale boys basketball team has been carried by a high-paced offense that has averaged 65.5 points a game, which is the third-highest in WPIAL Class 2A. But on Tuesday evening at Donald G. McGhee Fieldhouse, the Dynamos (13-1, 7-0) were led by an intense...

As the postseason approaches, teams are mixing and matching weight classes in order to have their optimal starting lineups come section tournament time. This past week was a crucial one for the defending WPIAL Class AAA state champion Kiski Area Cavaliers. They went 3-0, earned big section victories over Plum...

On Friday morning, teams from around Allegheny County will travel to Fox Chapel for the annual Allegheny County wrestling tournament. Seven defending champions return, including South Park’s Joey Fischer, Elizabeth Forward’s Ryan Michaels, Thomas Jefferson’s Mike Zacur, North Hills’ Sam Hillegas and Pine Richland’s Nathan Lukez, as well as Mt....

Every kid dreams of playing in an NFL stadium, whether it’s for one game or an entire career. On Jan. 4, Burrell’s Seth Fischbach and Freeport’s Ricky Hunter had the opportunity to do that. As a part of the Blue-Grey All-American game, the two first-team Valley News Dispatch All-Star selections...

Junior Trent Schultheis went on a run last weekend at the 2020 Mid-Winter Mayhem tournament at IUP. In the 170-pound weight class, Schultheis won all five of his matches, four of them via pin. His first pin came in 1 minute, 13 seconds over North Allegheny’s Nick Caruso. Then he...