Mark Nitowski stories

When Tom Giotto learned the Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame would be inducting the 1971 Kiski Area football team, he started calling his former teammates. One of the players on that WPIAL Class AAA championship squad responded to the news with a bit of exasperation. “He said: ‘What took...

Nick Reiser credits the success he had on the football field to being a “highly competitive individual.” Reiser has a pretty good idea of where he picked up that inner drive to be the best. “I grew up as the youngest of eight kids in a competitive household,” the 1993...

Like a lot of twins, Jaime Vick and Jodie Vick McCartney were pretty inseparable while growing up. That closeness was never more evidenced than by their athletic endeavors. The 2002 Kiski Area graduates excelled in basketball and volleyball, while also competing in track and field, with the Cavaliers. Both went...

Receiving the news that he had been selected to the Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame left Larry Ondako pondering his place among local athletic legends. “It presented kind of a conundrum for me,” said the 81-year-old Ondako. “The hall is for greatness. I think I played well and was...

As a youngster in New Kensington, John Martin always was looking for ways to become a better athlete, even while delivering newspapers. “I used to do some crazy things,” said Martin, with a laugh. “In the fall, I would jog along my paper route, trying not to step on the...

Paul Sapotichne grew up honing his basketball skills on a hoop in the driveway of his family’s Cheswick home more than 50 years ago. When reminiscing about those days, Sapotichne recalls the sounds of a bouncing basketball and swishing net mixing with the voice of legendary Pirates baseball announcer Bob...

East Allegheny football is a family affair for Frank Cortazzo. When the new Wildcats coach hit the field for a recent preseason practice, he was accompanied by his father, also named Frank, and his uncle, Tim. The three Cortazzos are longtime WPIAL coaches. “I have my dad on my (coaching)...

Dan Knause took a bit of a gamble when he became Trinity head coach three years ago. “We decided to start Jonah Williamson at quarterback as a freshman, which was a tough task,” he said. “We had an intelligent kid who was physically ready. We kind of threw him to...

The West Mifflin Titans are moving up to Class 4A, and they’re bringing two of the WPIAL’s top players with them. After advancing to the 3A playoff quarterfinals last year, the Titans will compete with the likes of perennial 4A powers McKeesport and Mars in the Greater Allegheny Conference. They...

Indiana coach Brad Wright is preaching patience heading into the 2024 season. “We’re really going to have a young football team,” said Wright, who’s entering his third season with the Indians. “It will be a growth year for us. … We just ask for patience and understanding that we’re building...

Editor’s note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Aug. 23. Due to production scheduling conflicts, the McKeesport preview will appear later this month. Mars coach Eric Kasperowicz prefers a tough nonconference schedule to prepare the Fightin’...

Five decades haven’t dimmed Tim Cavitt’s memory of taking the field as Burrell’s starting pitcher in the 1974 WPIAL baseball championship game at Three Rivers Stadium. “I remember walking to the mound at Three Rivers to warm up,” Cavitt said. “It seemed like the mound was so big compared to...

The Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame has been honoring the best of the best in local athletics for more than a half century. During that period, the organization has welcomed nearly 400 individuals into its ranks. For the first time, the A-K hall will admit teams: • The 1946...

From Kiski Area to Pitt and back to the Alle-Kiski Valley, Ellen Mangus Toy picked the brain of multiple mentors on the volleyball court. After her playing days, Toy passed along that extensive knowledge to her high school players during a longtime coaching career at Plum, Leechburg and Kiski Area....

Chances are Melissa Baustert Schaeffer wouldn’t be headed to the Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame without an early nudge from then-Kiski Area track and field coach Bill Halli. Halli is credited with starting the boys and girls track programs during a long career as a Kiski Area teacher, coach...

Growing up in Vandergrift, Tony Recchia craved competition. “I just remember fighting every day, every play, competing in every sport,” said Recchia, who now lives in Valencia. “I ingrained competition into everything from Little League on. I just loved to compete.” Recchia relied on that competitive spirit to find success...

Longtime local basketball fans might remember Brice Flenory for his deadly fade-away jumper. A 1998 Valley graduate, Flenory apparently hasn’t lost his touch over the years. “My fade-away shot still is unstoppable, even at the age of 45,” said Flenory, who is a dean of students for the Pittsburgh Public...

Shane Bartha’s playing days at Apollo-Ridge featured plenty of memorable basketball victories, most notably the Vikings’ 54-51 win over Brentwood in the 1991 WPIAL Class AA girls final. But it’s the lone loss of Bartha’s senior season that still weighs on her mind. The Vikings dropped a tough 51-49 decision...

Plum is counting on the senior trio of Megan Marston, Pascale Olczak and Rayla Smith to set the tone for a successful girls basketball season. “I’m most looking forward to their positive leadership,” coach Rich Mull said. “I think that’s really something they bring to the table that’s important for...

Justin Walther focused on more than X’s and O’s in his first season as Plum’s boys basketball coach. “Last year, we tried to instill some fun in everything we were doing,” he said. “We brought some enthusiasm and tried to show the players that we really care about them.” Walther...

At first glance, Shane McGraw looks to be stepping into a tough situation as the new Knoch girls basketball coach. After Knights coach Chris Andreassi resigned in September, Knoch hired McGraw as his replacement in October, only about a month before practice kicked off for the season. However, McGraw served...

In basketball, there are big men, and then there are really big men. At 7-foot, 260 pounds, Knoch sophomore Zane Pacek certainly falls into the latter category, especially at the high school level. Knights coach Alan Bauman said Pacek reminds him, in appearance, of former Oklahoma State All-American center “Big...

Burgettstown has a new head coach, but he’s no stranger to the Blue Devils sideline. Mark Druga is back after a two-year absence. He led Burgettstown to a 38-21 record from 2015-20. “I resigned the last time when my mother passed away, and I was the executor (of her estate),”...

Beau Jackson is taking a rather philosophical approach to being the new West Greene football coach at the tender age of 26. “I think I’d be a little nervous, regardless of the age,” said Jackson, with a chuckle. Jackson replaces Brian Hanson, who left to become South Allegheny’s head coach....

The Mapletown Maples are looking to feed off the mojo from a memorable 2022 season. And who could blame them? Last year, the Maples posted their first undefeated regular season (10-0) since 1968. They recorded the school’s first football playoff victory, defeating Leechburg, 41-28, in their WPIAL Class A opener....