Michael Love stories, Page 27
Kiski Area Sports Hall of Fame set to induct Class of 2024
Shane Kuhn left it all out on the field and on the mat for the Kiski Area football and wrestling teams. The 2014 graduate earned eight varsity letters across both sports while garnering numerous accolades for his performances. Kuhn was a two-time all-conference tight end and was all-state as a...
Valley turns to prominent basketball alumni to help restore luster to boys, girls programs
Brice Flenory and Tonya (Pryor) Norman wowed fans of the Valley basketball teams during their time on the high school hardcourt. Norman graduated from Valley in 1989 and went on to a collegiate hoops career at Duquesne. Flenory graduated in 1998 after a playing career that included back-to-back Valley News...
After 35 years, coach Joe Hohman continues to make an impact at Divine Mercy Academy
Joe Hohman may not be the biggest name in area basketball coaching circles, but the long-tenured varsity boys coach at St. Bernadette’s school in Monroeville, now Divine Mercy Academy, has built a successful winning resume for 35 years while also serving as a trusted mentor to hundreds of players who...
Freeport’s Sydney Selker selected Valley News Dispatch Softball Player of Year
Player of the Year Sydney Selker Freeport, Senior, Pitcher When Sydney Selker was forced to miss the last half of her junior softball season because of injury, thoughts turned forward to this past spring and how she would rebound and be a driving force in getting Freeport back to the...
Riverview’s Lola Abraham selected Gatorade Pennsylvania Girls Soccer Player of the Year
Lola Abraham enjoyed one of the most prolific high school careers in WPIAL girls soccer history, and that included a 2023 senior season when she scored 77 goals and added 20 assists to help lead the Riverview girls soccer team to the WPIAL and PIAA title games. A bevy of...
Josh Shields hopes to stay close to Burrell wrestling program despite departure as coach
When Josh Shields stepped down as Burrell head wrestling coach a couple of weeks ago, he wanted to convey to the returning underclassmen that while he won’t have the same title, he wants to be present to help them reach their goals. “Hopefully, I will be able to volunteer at...
Senior softball players enjoy relaxed atmosphere of inaugural all-star game
Temperatures hovered in the mid 80s under a setting sun as Team Gold and Team Black gathered Tuesday evening for a celebration of the 2024 WPIAL softball season. Many of the region’s best senior players tested their skill in the inaugural Western PA Softball All-Star Game, a relaxed and fun...
Freeport grad Jarrett Heilman, Plum grad Evan Azzara find new homes via transfer portal
Last month, Jarrett Heilman entered the transfer portal after three successful seasons with the Mercyhurst baseball team and a fourth that never materialized because of an elbow injury and subsequent surgery. The Freeport graduate, the 2023 PSAC West Pitcher of the Year, now has a new home for his final...
Plum set to host inaugural senior all-star softball game
Many of the top senior softball players in the WPIAL will gather Tuesday evening for an all-star game at Plum High School. The inaugural Western PA Softball All-Star Game between Team Gold and Team Black is set for 8 p.m., a change from the original 6 p.m. start time. Players...
Gateway bowlers cap season with successful trip to national tournament
The Gateway boys bowling team finished fourth overall at the Pennsylvania State Championships in March at Leisure Lanes in Lancaster. But it wasn’t the final event of the season for the team, which returned to Leisure Lanes on June 8-10 for the U.S. High School Bowling Foundation’s National Championships. “We...
Monroeville Junior Legion team working toward strong finish to season
The Monroeville Junior Legion baseball team concluded the 2023 season in the Pennsylvania state playoffs, capping a successful summer that saw them win 19 of 30 games. Post 820 started the run by surviving a rugged regular season and playoff tournament in the Westmoreland County League. Monroeville coach Mark Rawls...
Junior Legion players show Plum pride during busy summer of baseball
Members of the Plum Junior League baseball team are playing a lot this month between their community team and travel baseball. It is keeping them on their toes, and second-year coach Markus Cestra hopes that by the end of the month, his team, with players mostly from seventh through 10th...
Division I players from A-K Valley come together for high-level summer soccer
Gabe Norris and Michael Sullivan have been friends for close to 16 years as they got to know each other on the soccer pitch at 5 or 6 years of age. No matter the travels through life on and off the field, it has been a bond that’s hard to...
Plum, Freeport bowling teams take on U.S. in tournament
The high school bowling seasons for the Plum boys and girls teams and the Freeport girls team didn’t end in March at the state championships. All three extended their runs to this past weekend and faced the best from the country at the U.S. High School Bowling Foundation’s National Championships...
In battle of unbeatens, Meadville knocks off Mars in PIAA 2A boys volleyball semifinals
The Mars and Meadville boys volleyball teams entered Tuesday’s PIAA Class 2A semifinal winners of a combined 39 matches without a loss. Something had to give as the WPIAL champion Fightin’ Planets and District 10 champion Bulldogs met at Shenango High School with a trip to Saturday’s PIAA championship match...
Softball seniors get 1 last hurrah with WPA all-star game
Brookelyn Kotch, Josey Michalski, and Bailey Snowberger were the only three seniors on a rather young Norwin softball team that upended No. 1 Hempfield in the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals before suffering a 4-3 extra-inning heartbreaker to No. 2 Seneca Valley in the title game. The Knights’ season came to...
New Lower Burrell American Legion team gets rolling
The Burrell baseball team rose from the No. 14 seed for the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs to a top-four finish while earning a PIAA tournament berth for the first time since 2010. The Bucs saw their postseason run end last Monday with a tough 7-3 first-round loss to District 10...
Gateway sports 2023-24 year in review: Boys tennis team continues to find success
The 2023-24 school year featured a number of standout moments for the Gateway School District athletic programs. With section titles, WPIAL medals and trips to states, individuals and teams produced top results and raised the level of pride for those who support the Gators in black and gold. Here is...
Neil Walker WPIAL Baseball Showcase gives athletes chance to shine
Norwin rising junior Jakob Howard toed the rubber Friday morning at No Offseason Sports in Russelton and fired 10 to 12 pitches in front of more than 40 local and regional college coaches. A right ankle injury suffered a month ago during the high school season had healed, and, he...
Laurel gets its revenge, and another shot at Neshannock, with win over Bentworth
Bentworth and Laurel met for the second time in two weeks Thursday in a PIAA Class 2A quarterfinal at Gateway. The first matchup went the way of the Bearcats in a low-scoring, one-run classic in the WPIAL semifinals. Monday’s rematch featured a few more runs — and a different result....
Plum, 29 student-athletes, 2 coaches honored with Positive Athlete Western Pa. Awards
Plum athletic director Drew Karpen was not surprised with the number of student-athlete nominations for the Positive Athlete Western Pennsylvania Awards. A total of 30 from parents, coaches, community members and school administrators were given to Positive Athlete, and that number, in addition to the positive quality of the stories...
Riverview football standout Carlo Buzzatto excited to compete on global stage
Carlo Buzzatto graduates Thursday with the Riverview Class of 2024. It closes one chapter of his life before he makes the transition to St. Francis (Pa.). But before he heads to the Loretto campus and joins the Red Flash football team, he will get the chance to represent the United...
Burrell baseball battles in PIAA 1st round loss to Fairview
The Burrell baseball team went down swinging in the seventh inning of Monday’s PIAA Class 3A first-round game against District 10 champion Fairview at Mercyhurst. Down by seven, the Bucs tallied three runs on three hits in the final inning off of Tigers reliever Aari Fox and had two runners...
Burrell returns to PIAA baseball playoffs for 1st time since 2010
Current Burrell baseball players were 4 years old or younger when the program made its most recent trip to the PIAA playoffs. The year was 2010, and the Bucs, the WPIAL Class 2A runner-up to Beaver Falls, won a first-round contest at Slippery Rock over District 10 Sharpsville. Burrell returns...
Gateway’s Dino Nadarevic caps season with PIAA shot put medal
Last year, Dino Nadarevic didn’t make the WPIAL championship meet as he was starting out throwing the shot put and discus in his first season with the Gateway track and field team. It’s been a whole new ballgame for Nadarevic this spring, and this season of firsts concluded May 24-25...
