Paul Schofield stories, Page 7

When the late Bill Fralic played football at Penn Hills, Pitt and in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions, he was a dominating blocker. Many times, he overpowered his opponent and would “pancake” him to the ground. For the past six years, the top interior two-way lineman...

Franklin Regional boys basketball coach Jesse Reed’s heart may not take many more games like the two in the Rettger Memorial basketball tournament. His Panthers rallied in the fourth quarter to claim the tournament title with wins against Seneca Valley, 43-37, and Quaker Valley, 49-48 overtime, last week. The lone...

You never know which bout in a wrestling match could be the turning point. In Wednesday’s nonsection match between No. 4 Norwin and No. 10 Canon-McMillan it happened to be the first one. Knights senior Gage Mamie rallied from a 6-2 deficit to defeat Mason Calgaro, 9-6, in overtime. The...

Two girls teams looking to go places at the end of the season squared off Tuesday in a nonsection game, and they put on a show. Penn-Trafford (3-0) used 3-pointers by Lauren Marton, Torrie DeStefano and Isabella Klobucar midway through the fourth quarter to build a nine-point lead and held...

It should be an exciting season for wrestling fans from Westmoreland County. All the Class 3A teams have state-quality wrestlers. The top returnee is Norwin sophomore Landon Sidun, who was the county’s lone PIAA champion last season. There are six other PIAA placewinners. They are Latrobe’s Luke Willochell, Leo Joseph...

Connor Crossey is the lone starter returning from the 2023-24 Franklin Regional boys basketball team that had a memorable season. The Panthers were PIAA and WPIAL Class 5A runners-up. Franklin Regional opened the 2024-25 season Monday in the annual Mike Rettger Memorial Basketball Tournament, and Crossey played a key role...

Travis McKillop is back as the head wrestling coach at Penn-Trafford. He really didn’t leave the program. A new job last year had him hand over the daily duties to his assistant coach Larry Hohman. This allowed McKillop to settle into his new job. Now the roles have switched back....

It took the Avonworth offense a little time to find its groove Friday at snowy Norwin, but once it did, it took control of the game. The Neal brothers – junior Luca and senior Nico – combined to rush for 300 yards, and the Antelopes defense limited high-scoring Penn Cambria...

A look at the 2024-25 WPIAL Class 2A wrestling season: The Favorite Burrell has a new head coach, Steve Ansani, but the goals haven’t changed. The Bucs are out to win a section title and WPIAL Class 2A title and finish top four in the state. Ansani was hired to...

Derry wrestling coach Troy Dolan Jr. was having a tough time keeping the excitement about the future from showing. “It’s going to be fun around here the next several years,” Dolan said. “We’ve got some good wrestlers (in seventh and eighth grade) coming up. We should be much improved this...

A look at the 2024-25 WPIAL Class 3A wrestling season: The Favorite Reigning Class 3A champion Connellsville lost one starter, Nick Rohal at 172 pounds, to graduation. The Falcons have a huge roster (40) that could field three teams. Heading the returnees are four PIAA qualifiers: sophomore Nolan Rice (38-10)...

Franklin Regional wrestling coach Matt Lebe knew how good his team was last season. Few believed him. The Panthers ended up third in the WPIAL Class 3A team tournament, losing to WPIAL champion Connellsville in the semifinals and edging Bethel Park in the consolation match, qualifying for the PIAA team...

Fort Cherry captured its second consecutive WPIAL Class A title by using a little trickery and luck to stun Clairton, 21-20, Saturday at Acrisure Stadium. The top-seeded Rangers (14-0), who struggled against Clairton’s defense in the second half, put together a 13-play, 82-yard game-winning drive utilizing two trick plays on...

Murrysville native Palmer Jackson spent two weeks earlier this month competing in the DP World Tour (PGA European Tour) Q-school qualifier. And while he fell short of earning full exemption to the tour by two shots, he did return home with a job. He earned exemption to the Challenger Tour,...

A quick survey of several girls basketball coaches about Section 2-5A in the coming season indicates Penn-Trafford should be considered the favorite. The Warriors finished 14-9 overall in 2023-24 and return four starters from a team that lost to Lincoln Park, 43-42, in the opening round of the WPIAL Class...

Injuries derailed the Penn-Trafford boys basketball season in 2023-24. The Warriors played their WPIAL Class 5A playoff game against Thomas Jefferson without leading scorer Tyler Freas and point guard Jason Sabol. Despite the injuries, which also sidelined Derek Carr and Carmen Metcalfe, the Warriors finished 11-12 overall and 5-5 in...

It’s been quite a month for Greensburg Central Catholic seniors Erin Grace and Maura Oslosky. For the past few weeks, the duo helped the Centurions to WPIAL and PIAA Class A volleyball titles. On Tuesday, they represented the Centurions in the annual Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association Volleyball All-Star game at...

Tickets for the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club are now on sale, the United States Golf Association announced. The tournament will be held from June 9-15, 2025. It will be Oakmont’s record 10th U.S. Open. Gallery tickets start at $60 for Monday’s practice round and top out at...

It was an unusual season in 2023-24 for the Latrobe boys basketball team. Not only did the Wildcats miss the WPIAL playoffs, but they also had an injury-plagued season and finished with a rare losing record. The Wildcats were 8-13 overall and 3-7 in the section, dropping their last five...

As Mackenzie Livingston begins her second season as girls basketball coach at Latrobe, she said she feels like she’s already ahead of the game. “Last year it took me awhile to learn the players’ names,” Livingston said. “This year I do.” Latrobe returns one starter from last season’s squad that...

Penn-Trafford’s hockey team recorded another victory and their fourth shutout of the season Nov. 7. The Warriors (6-0) went to Johnstown for the second time this season and came back with their second shutout victory against Bishop McCort, winning 5-0. They won 6-0 on Oct. 21. This time, it was...

Too many turnovers and a talented Peters Township team were the biggest reasons the Penn-Trafford’s football season came to an end Nov. 8. The returning Class 5A champs scored on their first two possessions, did a good job stuffing Penn-Trafford’s running game and rolled to a 42-13 quarterfinal round victory....

Jeannette’s football season was on life support six weeks ago. The Jayhawks were in the midst of a three-game losing streak following consecutive losses to Leechburg, Clairton and Greensburg Central Catholic, and a berth in the WPIAL playoffs was not a certainty. But a remarkable come-from-behind 42-41 victory Oct. 11...

Fort Cherry junior quarterback Matt Sieg put on quite a show Friday against Jeannette in the WPIAL Class A semifinals at Canon-McMillan’s AHN Field. The Penn State commit scored six touchdowns and rushed for 232 yards to lead Fort Cherry to a 49-14 victory. The win puts the top-seeded and...

It is somewhat surprising that Thomas Jefferson and McKeesport, despite their proximity to one other, have only met five times on the football field. The schools, located in the South Hills’ Mon Valley area, are separated by just 11 miles. They didn’t start playing one another until 2020; McKeesport owns...