Scholastic Notebook – 04/03/2015

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, April 3, 2015 | 2:45 PM

Look at the list of WPIAL tennis champions over the past decade and you’ll see the name Kissell at various places on the girls side.

But Chad Kissell is on the cusp of proving that this championship stuff is not just a girl thing in the Kissell family.

Kissell is a senior at Latrobe High School and is the No. 1 seed for the WPIAL Class AAA boys tournament Tuesday and Wednesday. The tournament starts Tuesday at North Allegheny and lasts through the semifinals. The championship matches in Class AAA and AA will be Wednesday at Norwin.

Kissell has been climbing the WPIAL tennis ladder the past three seasons and now he hopes to get to the top rung. As a freshman, he lost in the first round. As a sophomore, he lost in the quarterfinals. Last year as a junior, he lost in the title match to Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s Adam Blasinsky.

Kissell would be the third member of the Kissell family to win a WPIAL title. Michaela Kissell won three consecutive championships from 2003-05. Then came sister, Joelle, who won the 2008 WPIAL title.

There was one other Kissell sister who came close to a WPIAL title. Stacia finished third in 2012.

As far as talent goes, Chad Kissell certainly doesn’t take a back seat to his sisters. According to tennisrecruiting.net, Kissell is ranked 65^th nationally for his age group, 13^th in the Middle Atlantic region and third in the state. Chad will play NCAA Division I tennis next year at Valparaiso.

Where Are They Now?

Did you ever wonder what happened to the Kissell sisters, daughters of Mark and Kim Kissell? Well, here goes:

*Stacia is a junior player at Western Carolina, a Division I college in the Southern Conference. A year ago, Stacia became the first Western Carolina player to earn first-team all-Southern Conference.

*Stacia Kissell’s coach at Western Carolina is … her sister. Michaela is now Michaela Kissell-Eddins. Michaela is now in her second season as coach after one year as the interim coach at Pitt. Michaela played at Miami and then Marshall.

*Joelle Kissell played at North Carolina State and finished her career there as the school record holder for career wins. She most recently had an internship at Fox Sports in Orlando, Fla.

All-State Basketball Teams

The all-state boys and girls basketball teams were announced Thursday, and the WPIAL was certainly well-represented on the girls side.

Eighty girls made all-state, with first, second and third teams picked in each of the four classifications. WPIAL players made up 28 percent of the girls selections.

Six girls from the WPIAL were first-team picks. There was a Wise and Weiss on the first team, and also a Cass and a Chass. First-team picks were Norwin’s Alayna Gribble (AAAA), Blackhawk’s Chassidy Omogrosso (AAA), McGuffey’s Sammie Weiss (AAA), Burrell’s Sydney Bordonaro (AA), Seton-LaSalle’s Cassidy Walsh (AA) and Vincentian’s Brenna Wise (A).

Omogrosso and Wise picked up big honors as both were selected the players of the year for their respective classifications. It is the second year that both Omogrosso and Wise were named state players of the year. Wise also was the MSA Sports Player of the Year.

Second-team selections from the WPIAL were Amanda Kalin of Pine-Richland, Maria Palarino of Penn-Trafford, Alexa Golden of Chartiers Valley, Claire Oberdorf of Greensburg Salem and Sam Breen of Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic.

Third-team selections from the WPIAL were Abby Gonzales of North Allegheny, Andi Lydon of Shaler, Courtney Zezza of Plum, Allison McGrath of South Park, Lexie Posset of Beaver, Kaitlyn Slagus of Belle Vernon, Courtney Vannoy of Blackhawk, Nicolete Newman of South Park, Conor Richardson of Carlynton, Torrieonna Cash of Vincentian and Lexi Griggs of Vincentian.

That means three of Vincentian’s starting five made all-state.

On the boys side, there were three first-team selections – Chartiers Valley’s Matty McConnell (AAAA), Aliquippa’s Stephon McGinnis (AA) and Lincoln Park’s Nelly Cummings (AA).

Nine WPIAL players made second team and five made third team. Roman Creighton of City League member Allderdice made third team.

Second-team selections from the WPIAL were North Allegheny’s Cole Constantino, Hempfield’s Kason Harrell, Ambridge’s Daylon Carter, Mars’ John Castello, Indiana’s Riley Stapleton, Seton-LaSalle’s Ryan Norkus, Jeannette’s Julian Batts, Cornell’s Dane Jackson and Monessen’s Lavelle Rush.

WPIAL boys players who were third-team all-state were Mt. Lebanon’s Jonny David, Steel Valley’s Dom Keyes, Beaver Falls’ Donovan Jeter, Beaver Falls’ Josh Creach and Greensburg Central Catholic’s Romano Sebastiani.

USC’s Ford to Pitt

It didn’t get a lot of attention because it happened on the weekend of the state basketball championships and also the NCAA tournament in Pittsburgh. But the Pitt football team has a recruit from the WPIAL class of 2016.

Upper St. Clair offensive lineman Brandon Ford made a verbal commitment to Pitt.

Ford is 6 feet 6, 300 pounds. He also had scholarship offers from Maryland and some Mid-American Conference schools.

Falcon Soaring

Connellsville’s Madison Wiltrout opened eyes last year when she won a Class AAA state championship in the javelin as a freshman. But she already has bettered her top throw of last season.

WIltrout’s best throw last year was 151 feet, 1 inch. But that didn’t come until the PIAA championship meet. But in a recent dual meet, Wiltrout threw 152-5. It is the 11^th-best throw in WPIAL history.

It makes you wonder how far can Wiltrout go this year?

What We’re Hearing

George Yokitis, who has plenty of success as Vincentian Academy’s boys coach, is a candidate for the vacant Bethel Park job. Ben O’Connor resigned as Bethel Park’s coach a few weeks ago. One of Ben’s assistants, Andrew Tsangaris, is one of the other top candidates to get the job.

Tags: Bethel Park, Connellsville, Latrobe, Upper St. Clair