Westmoreland County campus clippings: Franklin Regional grads earn AMCC honors

Penn State Behrend senior defender Justin LeDonne (Franklin Regional) was selected as the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference co-defensive soccer player of the year, sharing the honor with Jack Leahy of Alfred State.

LeDonne, a glue player on the Lions’ back line, also earned All-AMCC first team honors as he helped Behrend to a team-record 10 shutouts during the regular season.

The team only gave up three goals on 35 shots against conference teams.

LeDonne did much more than defend for extended periods of time: He added three goals and an assist.

His teammate, junior midfielder Blake Cooper (Franklin Regional), also made the first team. Cooper had a team-best 28 points, with 10 goals and eight assists.

LeDonne and Cooper also made the first team last year.

Men’s soccer

Cal (Pa.): Freshman midfielder Jake Gretz (Greensburg Central Catholic) capped a strong debut season with an All-PSAC second team nod.

Gretz finished second on the team with four goals and three assists for 11 points. Three of his goals came in conference play.

Pitt-Greensburg: Freshman Matt Armenio was named the AMCC Newcomer of the Year after notching 11 goals and three assists for the Bobcats.

UPG had four players make the All-AMCC teams — sophomore midfielder Zander Plizga (first team), junior defender Adam Yoder (second team), Armenio (second team) and junior midfielder Ross Hartley (third team).

Plizga had 10 goals and six assists.

UPG (10-6-2) was selected to play in the ECAC Tournament.

Saint Vincent: Junior midfielder Eduardo Richa was named to the All-PAC second team.

Seton Hill: Grad forward Brice Gandhi was named the All-PSAC West first team, while sophomore defender Joe Spencer of England, Sweden-born grad defender Elias Mobrin, German sophomore midfielder Julian Marker and sophomore keeper Aiden Hollander made the second team.

Ganhhi, who is from Kigali, Rwanda, led the team with 14 goals.

The Griffins blanked Mercyhurst, 1-0, in the PSAC quarterfinals as freshman James Aubrey, another Englishman, scored the game-winner and Hollander made seven saves in the shutout.

Aubrey was a recent PSAC West Athlete of the Week.

Women’s soccer

Pitt-Greensburg: Eight players from UPG made the All-AMCC teams, a nod to the team’s reputation as a winner in the conference.

Sophomore forward/midfielder Maya Wertelet was named the conference’s offensive player of the year, while senior backer Nylah Pannebaker was tabbed a co-defensive player of the year for UPG (13-5-2), an ECAC Tournament team.

A formidable scoring duo, Wertelet led the conference with 18 goals and Hickey added 12.

Those two players, along with sophomore Megan Hickey (MF/F) and Paige Inman (D/MF), were first-team selections.

Junior Julia Rowe (D/MF) and sophomore goalkeeper Hailey Kepner made the second team, while junior Logan Jennings (MF/F) and junior midfielder/forward Sarah Tonkovich were third teamers.

Jennings, Hickey, Pannebaker and Kepner were named to the ECAC All-Tournament Team.

UPG lost to Hartford, 6-0, in the championship of the ECAC Tournament to finish the season 14-6-2.

Saint Vincent: The Bearcats had three All-PAC first-team players in freshman forward Emma Koller, senior midfielder Tanisha Grewal and sophomore defender Olivia Toomey.

Freshman defender Cori Bieber made the second team.

Bearcats’ leader Bryan Butler garnered conference coach of the year offers.

Grewal, a four-time All-PAC performer, had 10 goals and five assists. Koller had a team-high 11 goals for the Bearcats (10-4-4).

Seton Hill: Freshmen Maddie Teakle and Kilee Coatney were selected to the All-PSAC West second team.

Slippery Rock: Senior Sydney Patrick (Hempfield) was named to the All-PSAC West second team after ranking second in the conference in assists with 11. She finished with 23 points (six goals) and totaled seven points over her last four games.

Westminster: Junior Brooke Horvath (Franklin Regional) made the All-PAC second team. The forward is a three-time all-conference pick.

She had 12 goals and 10 assists for the Titans (14-4).

Junior defender Mackenzie Powell (Penn-Trafford) was an honorable mention selection. She had a goal and three assists over 18 starts.

Men’s swimming

Clarion: Freshman Henry Miller (Southmoreland) was part of two record-breaking races for the Golden Eagles in a 151-125 win over Bloomsburg.

Miller swam a leg of the winning 400-yard medley relay that finished in a pool record-time of 3 minutes, 26.96 seconds. The relay also included junior Austin Prokopec (Penn-Trafford), who improved his lap by nine seconds.

Miller set the pool record in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:10.57.

Women’s volleyball

Carlow: Sophomore outside hitter Rebecca Hess (Greensburg Central Catholic) was named to the USCAA All-American first team. She was leading the team with 323 kills, second in the AMCC.

Wrestling

Buffalo: Redshirt freshman Chase Kranitz (Norwin) won his first three matches of the season as the Bulls went 4-0 at the Buffalo Duals.

Kranitz, a 184-pounder, posted two pins and a technical fall, with one of the pins coming against Seton Hill.

Clarion: Junior John Meyers (Greensburg Salem) was named the Mid-American Conference East Wrestler of the Week. A heavyweight, he was a runner-up at the Clarion Open, where he upset Kent State’s Brentan Simmerman, the No. 1 seed.

Ohio: Redshirt sophomore Garrett Thompson (Franklin Regional) picked up a 4-3 decision at 165 pounds as the Bobcats defeated Chattanooga, 23-19.

Pitt: Former local high school standouts Colton Camacho (Franklin Regional), Finn Solomon (Franklin Regional) and Dayton Pitzer (Mt. Pleasant) picked up wins as the Panthers won two out of three matches at the Navy Duals.

Solomon, a redshirt freshman who transferred from North Carolina State, went 3-0 at 149 pounds for Pitt (2-1), ranked No. 16.

Camacho, a redshirt senior 125-pounder, and redshirt freshman heavyweight Dayton Pitzer each went 2-1.

Solomon is ranked No. 24 in his weight class, while Pitzer is No. 9.

Saint Vincent: Senior heavyweight Jake Beistel (Southmoreland) went 3-1 and finished third at the Washington & Jefferson Invitational.

SVC, which rebooted its program for the first time since 1975, will host a match for the first time in 48 years Tuesday night against Penn State Behrend.

Seton Hill: Grad student William Burgess won a title at 125 pounds, while freshman Niko Ferra (Burrell) was third at 141 at the Ohio Intercollegiate Open.

Washington & Jefferson: Freshman Christian McChesney (Greensburg Salem) finished sixth at the W&J Invitational at 197 pounds. He finished with a 3-2 record.