Westmoreland high school notebook: WPIAL individual golf competitions get underway

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, September 22, 2024 | 4:32 PM

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The WPIAL golf individual postseason gets serious this week with the start of the championship rounds.

The tournaments are 36 holes and spread over two days, a week apart, at different courses.

The first round for Class 2A boys will be Monday at Youghiogheny Country Club in McKeesport. The final round will be Oct. 2 at Sewickley Heights Golf Club.

The girls 3A and 2A first round is set for Monday at Willowbrook Country Club in Apollo, and the finals will be Sept. 20 at Butler Country Club. The Class 3A boys first round will be Tuesday at Southpointe Golf Club in Canonsburg, with the final round Oct. 1 at famed Oakmont Country Club.

Local players in the boys 2A field are freshman Luke Sikora of Greensburg Salem; seniors Braden Riley and Braden Marker, and juniors Sean Walker, Brandon Plunko and Cole Zubaty of Greensburg Central Catholic; seniors Aydan Gross and Ryan Karfelt of Mt. Pleasant; sophomore Bryce Ferace of Greensburg Salem; senior Tyler Jones of Ligonier Valley; and senior Tucker Bitar of Burrell.

The boys 3A field will include juniors Colin Holt, Dylan Mauser and Jose Balza, and seniors Liam Copeland and Ethan Raver of Franklin Regional; juniors Jack Sacriponte and Parker Berk, senior Jack Ridilla and freshman Nate Meeder of Latrobe; seniors Preston Stoner, Dom Cerilli and Jeff Lenart, and sophomore Landon Stoner of Norwin; seniors Jake Lenart and Owen Szekely, and juniors Aidan Dzurko and Anthony Barilla of Penn-Trafford; and junior Max Mottura, senior Caden Witt and freshman Brady Jankowski of Kiski Area.

Local girls in the 3A finals are Norwin junior Adalena Robb; Hempfield senior Milana Yannascoli and junior Kat Devito; and Franklin Regional juniors Gianna Johnson and Athena Neuschwander.

The 2A tournaments will include sophomore Kennedy Kelly and junior Alayna Stawovy of Greensburg Central Catholic; sophomore Kendall Campbell of Southmoreland; and sophomore Morgan Miller of Mt. Pleasant.

The team playoffs begin Oct. 8.

A player from Westmoreland County has won a WPIAL boys title in three straight years. Nick Turowski of Penn-Trafford won 3A in 2021 and ‘23, and Hunter Jurica of Derry won 2A in 2022.

A girl from Westmoreland has not won a title since Olivia Zambruno of Greensburg Central Catholic went back-to-back in 2014-15 in 2A.

Mt. Pleasant coach

Mt. Pleasant hired Scott Hillen as girls basketball coach. Hillen coached the women’s team at Penn State Fayette for the past nine years. He resigned after last season.

Hillen replaces longtime coach Scott Giacobbi, who stepped down after 19 seasons. Giacobbi also retired from teaching.

A former Southmoreland boys basketball assistant, Hillen started the women’s basketball program and was the head coach at Westmoreland County Community College for eight years.

He also will lead the middle school girls program.

Pieper commits

Kamryn Pieper, a senior basketball player at Penn-Trafford, announced a commitment to Point Park, which now is a Division II program after decades in the NAIA.

Pieper is a 6-foot forward who also can play guard. She also had an offer from Wheeling.

Pieper averaged 6 points, 6 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals last winter.

Basketball is in her blood. Pieper is the daughter of Penn-Trafford’s girls all-time leading scorer, Samor Himes.

Flag day

With the PIAA passing a third reading for the initiation of girls flag football, the sport will be fully sanctioned and will begin official play in 2025-26.

It will be a spring sport.

While more local schools are expected to sponsor teams, three are already in place at Jeannette, Belle Vernon and Greensburg Salem.

Double play

The WPIAL girls tennis postseason turns to doubles this week.

Class 3A tournaments will be Wednesday and Thursday at the following sites: Franklin Regional (Section 1), North Allegheny (Section 2), Fox Chapel (Section 3) and Bethel Park (Section 4).

Class 2A sites are: Valley (Section 1), South Park Courts (Section 2), Indiana (Section 3), Blackhawk (Section 4) and Nichols Courts, Sewickley (Section 5).

The first three rounds of the WPIAL doubles championships will be Oct. 2 at Bethel Park and North Allegheny.

The finals will be Oct. 3 at Bethel Park.

The tennis team playoffs begin Oct. 7.

Miller time

Ligonier Valley dominated East Allegheny in a girls volleyball match, with Marlee Miller putting on a show in the second set of the 3-0 sweep.

Miller had 24 service points, including 18 straight in the second set. She added 15 aces and six kills in the win.

Light-up night

The new LED scoreboard is up at Penn-Trafford’s Warrior Stadium.

The digital screen is not yet operational, but officials plan to have it working later this week.

The Penn-Trafford boys soccer team was the first to use the new board Thursday in a win over Belle Vernon.

Trevor Kovatch of Belle Vernon scored the first goal to go up on the board.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Jeannette, Ligonier Valley, Monessen, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland