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Sports Year In Review

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 15 min read
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By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Evan Holewinski is mobbed by his teammates after pitching Bethel Park to its second straight state championship in baseball. Holewinski tossed a three-hit, two-strikout shutout as the Hawks defeated Selinsgrove, 5-0, for the PIAA Class 5A crown. Cody Geddes (left of Holewinski) smacked three hits in the win, including a home run.

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By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Peters Township dominated the hockey scene in 2022, capturing the Penguins Cup as well as a state championship crown. The Indians beat Franklin Regional for the PIHL banner and Malvern Prep for the state title.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Reagan Murdoch, Ashleigh Connor and Peyton Collins hoist the trophy they claimed after beating Upper St. Clair 55-44 in the WPIAL Class 6A girls’ basketball championship game. Mt. Lebanon went on to compete in the state finals but fell to Plymouth-Whitemarsh, 60-40. The Blue Devils finished 27-2 overall.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Some of the players from the South Fayette girls’ basketball team mug for the cameras as the savor the gold medals they captured by defeating Chartiers Valley, 57-48, in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Aislin Malcolm (2) and Perri Page (11) wipe away tears as twins sisters Helene (5) and Hallie Cowan (4) despair after Chartiers Valley’s team lost its bid for a state title in girls’ basketball for the second year in a row. The Colts lost to Cardinal O’Hara, 42-19, in the PIAA Class 5A final.

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By Eleanor Bailey

Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Dylan Evans dominated the mats this wrestling season. The Chartiers Valley junior won championships at the sectional, district, regional and state levels. He also joined the Century Club, recording his 100th career win during the PIAA Class AAA tournament.

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By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Marissa Malosh hits out of a bunker during the WPIAL Class AAA girls’ golf championships at Valley Brook Country Club. The South Fayette senior won her second straight district title on Oct. 4, carding a 77 score.

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The Peters Township girls’ golf team earned PIAA runner-up honors in Class AAA. Brooke Vowcheck (79), Ellie Benson (81) and Sophia Severns (82) led the Lady Indians, who finished two strokes off the winning pace set by Phoenixville, 240-242. Amelia Severns and Gabby Catalogna also competed in the championship match played Oct. 19 at Penn State.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Mt. Lebanon defeated North Allegheny, 4-1, to capture the WPIAL Class AAA girls’ team tennis championship. The title was the 14th in program history but the first in 31 years.

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Caleigh Bogats (12) and Josie Jones (3) hoist the championship trophy while their teammates celebrate in the background after Chartiers Valley’s 17-6 victory over Mars in the Class 2A girls’ final.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Logan St. John Kletter is all smiles as she reaches the finish line in first place during the 2022 WPIAL Class AAA girls’ cross country championship race. The Mt. Lebanon rising senior recently committed to North Carolina to continue her cross country and track career.

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Mt. Lebanon native Leah Smith won gold and silver during the Phillips 66 National Championships in July and later in the year was awarded with the Perseverance Award at USA Swimming's Golden Goggle Awards event

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By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Ella Neupaver (3), Camryn Klein (5) and Molly Kubistek (88) attempt to console Lexi Pirosko (center) after Peters Township lost in a shootout to North Allegheny, 2-1, in the WPIAL Class 4A soccer championship match.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Photos: Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

South Fayette reserves react to a point scored during WPIAL volleyball championship action. After a string of three upsets in the tournament, the Lady Lions eventually lost the Class 3A title, falling to North Catholic, 3-1, in the final played Nov. 6 at Robert Morris University.

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Photos: Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Zachary Ehasz (52), Mark Banbury (55) accept the WPIAL runner-up trophy after Upper St. Clair lost to Pine-Richland, 34-3, in the Class 5A football championship game played Nov. 19 at Norwin High School stadium. With the loss, the Panthers ended their season at 10-3 overall.

In a year celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX, female athletes dominated the area sports scene like no other, and while 2022 was a celebration of their accomplishments it also featured plenty achievements by their male counterparts. The year 2022 also ended on a sad note regarding another 50th anniversary celebration. On Dec. 20, Franco Harris passed away before he could be recognized for the Immaculate Reception that defeated the Oakland Raiders in an NFL playoff game on Dec. 23, 1972 and have his famed No. 32 jersey retired by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 24, 2022.

As the New Year is ushered in, The Almanac pauses to take a look back and present its annual list of Top 10 sporting events for 2022.

Once not enough

1. Bethel Park made history June 18 when the baseball team repeated as PIAA champion. In the state final played at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on the Penn State University campus, the Black Hawks blanked Selinsgrove, 5-0, for the Class 5A title.

Needing only 76 pitches, Evan Holewinski scattered three hits and struck out two in recording the shutout on the mound.

Offensively, Cody Geddes collected three hits, drove in two runs and scored twice. He homered to lift BP into the lead, 1-0, in the top of the fourth. He drilled a run-scoring single in the seventh. Ben Hudson, doubled and tagged a two-run single.

Defensively, David Kessler made three putouts and picked up four assists on defense while supplying two runs on offense.

After failing to win a section title and finishing third in the district after a tough semifinal loss, BP rebounded stringing together state tournament wins against Central Mountain, 4-3, West Allegheny, 7-0, and Donegal, 5-4, to reach the PIAA finals for the sixth time in school history. The victory not only gave BP its third state baseball title, it also marked the fourth time a WPIAL club has won two consecutive state titles.

At the local level, Mt. Lebanon and Peters Township dominated the diamond as each reached the WPIAL finals.

Jack Smith struck out 14 and scattered two hits in leading Lebo to its first district title in 16 years and fifth in program history. The Blue Devils slipped past arch-rival Upper St. Clair, 2-1, in the Class 6A final played May 31 at Wild Things Park in Washington. Tyler Smith scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Derrick Shields.

In the Class 5A final, which was delayed twice because of rain and lightning, PT succumbed to West Allegheny, 5-4. The Indians, like the Blue Devils, both lost their first-round state playoff games.

At the professional level, Ian Happ had an award-winning season with the Chicago Cubs. The Mt. Lebanon graduate competed in the MLB All-Star game and won a Golden Glove. In November, he was inducted into the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame and entered his alma mater’s honor hall as a Distinguished Blue Devil.

Slick skates

2. Peters Township captured its sixth state hockey championship when the Indians edged Malvern Prep, 5-4, in the Class 3A title game played March 26 at the Ice Line Arena in West Chester. Malvern Prep was the defending state champion while the Indians had not secured a title since 2017.

Freshman William Tomko was the hero. He scored the game-winning goal with 3:11 remaining in the second period. He also set up the tying goal by Austin Malley nearly three minutes earlier.

Nolan Hilbert and the PT defense took over in the third period. Hilbert stopped all 10 shots he faced in the final period. He made 35 saves in the game.

In a back-and-forth contest, Koby Ringwald, Caleb Kovac and Camden Martin accounted for the other tallies. Colin Kimberling registered three assists in the victory.

The Indians finished the year at 18-5-1. They were also the Penguins Cup champion after beating Seneca Valley, 6-2, in the PIHL final played March 21 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. They scored four goals in the third period to ice the Raiders.

Golden girls

3. Mt. Lebanon, South Fayette and Chartiers Valley ruled the courts in 2022. The Blue Devils and Lions celebrated WPIAL championships while CV advanced with Lebo to the PIAA finals.

On March 5, the Blue Devils went home with their fourth district trophy under head coach Dori Oldaker, who resigned after the season to watch her daughters, Taylor and Ryan, play for South Fayette. Ashleigh Connor led the Lebo ladies, firing in a game-high 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds as the Blue Devils defeated rival Upper St. Clair, 55-44, to claim the Class 6A title.

Earlier at the Petersen Events Center on the University of Pittsburgh campus, South Fayette upset Chartiers Valley, 57-48, to win the Class 5A title. The Colts had been three-time WPIAL champions before falling to the Lions, who were led by Maddie Webber’s 17 points and nine rebounds. Ava Leroux finished with 11 points and eight rebounds for South Fayette while sophomores Lainey Yater and Erica Hall each added 10 tallies.

The Colts though rebounded from their WPIAL loss to reach the PIAA finals, but their second straight trip to Hershey was not so sweet. They lost to Cardinal O’Hara, 42-19. Before losing back-to-back state titles to the Lions, CV won a PIAA title in 2019.

The defeat marked the end of an era as seniors Aislin Malcolm, Perri Page, Marian Turnbull, Abby Vaites and twin sisters Hallie and Helene Cowan graduated and their head coach Tim McConnell moved on to coach the boys varsity at Bishop Canevin. During a four-year reign, CV mounted an impressive 110-7 record. A Pitt recruit, Malcolm finished as the all-time scoring leader in CV girls basketball history while Page, a Columbia University freshman, and Hallie Cowan both were 1,000-point scorers in their careers.

Meanwhile, Lebo lost its PIAA title bid, falling to Plymouth-Whitemarsh, 60-40, in the Class 6A final played at the Giant Center in Hershey. The Blue Devils finished 27-2 overall.

Muscle man

4. Dylan Evans reached the peak in scholastic wrestling in 2022. On March 12 at the Giant Center in Hershey, the Chartiers Valley junior eked out a 3-2 decision against Cathedral Prep’s Kaeman Smith in the 152-pound championship bout to capture a PIAA title.

Evans opened tournament action with wins against Latrobe’s Jack Fletcher, 4-2, and Shippensburg’s Dominic Frontino, 10-3. The decisions not only put him in the semifinals, where he dispatched Altoona’s Luke Sipes, 8-1, they put him in the Century Club for 100 career victories.

Among other highlights during his 33-4 season on the mats were a WPIAL/ Southwest Regional title to go along with a section crown.

In July, Evans finished runner-up in the 152-pound Greco-Roman championship match during the 2022 USA Wrestling Junior and 16U National Championships held in Fargo, N.D.

In other PIAA action, Mac Stout of Mt. Lebanon lost his bid for a state title when he dropped a 9-6 decision to Nazareth’s Sonny Sasso in the semifinals. Stout wrestled back to capture the bronze medal. Stout finished 40-1 on the year with district and regional titles to his credit.

Ladies rule links

5. Melissa Malosh of South Fayette and the Peters Township girls controlled the links. While Malosh won a second straight WPIAL individual title, the Lady Indians finished runner-up in the state after winning the district trophy.

On Oct. 4 at the Valley Brook Country Club, Malosh shot a 5-over-77. That scored coupled with a first-round mark of 75 at the Youghiogheny Country Club gave her a 152 total for the championship under the WPIAL’s new 36-hole format.

Malosh finished fourth in the PIAA tournament played Oct. 16-17 at Penn State. She tied Ellie Benson. Both carded 149 scores during the two-day tournament but Benson helped Peters Township earn PIAA runner-up honors in the Class AAA team competition for the second year in a row.

The Lady Indians finished two strokes behind Phoenixville, 240-242. Benson (81), Brooke Vowcheck (79), Sophia Severns (82) were the top scorers for PT, though Amelia Severns and Gabby Catologna also competed in the championship match.

Earlier, the Lady Indians captured the WPIAL team title. On Oct. 13 at Cedar Brook Golf Course in Belle Vernon, they edged North Allegheny by two strokes, 328-330, for the Class AAA girls crown. Vowcheck submitted a low score of 78 while Benson and the Severns followed with 81, 82 and 87, respectively.

PT also finished runner-up in the boys team competition. The Indians lost the championship hardware by two strokes, 389-391, to Central Catholic. The Vikings were led by Rocco Salvitti. The Canonsburg native and Notre Dame recruit was the boys individual WPIAL champion and PIAA runner-up, falling one stroke short of the state title.

Serving up aces

6. Mt. Lebanon won its first WPIAL team tennis title in 31 years when the Blue Devils dispatched North Allegheny, 4-1, in the Class AAA girls’ championship match played Oct. 20 at the Janet L. Swanson Tennis Center on the Washington and Jefferson College campus.

After rolling through the regular season undefeated, Lebo embarked on its team championship quest by by sweeping Oakland Catholic and Fox Chapel, 5-0, then edging Bethel Park, 3-2, in the semifinals.

In the championship match, Sophia Cunningham and Jackie Tang won singles matches while Lebo swept the doubles action with the tandems of Michelle Yang and Carly Grant as well as Sylvie Eriksen and Anna Clara Oliveira.

Mt. Lebanon also produced the WPIAL doubles champions when Cunningham and Eriksen combined to beat NA’s Emily Wincko and Abbey Swirsding, 6-0, 6-0, in the finals played Oct. 7 at Glenn Creek Tennis Club in South Park.

Bethel Park’s duo of Lily Sierka and Katie Peterson were bronze medalists in the Class AAA doubles competition while Chartiers Valley’s duo of Kaitlyn Kuczinski and Delaney Fox placed third in Class AA action. Both tandems joined Cunningham and Eriksen in the state tournament.

Upper St. Clair’s Maggie Stief also competed in the PIAA championships held Nov. 4-5 at the Hershey Racquet Club. She was the WPIAL singles runner-up, falling to Penn-Trafford’s Amelia Williams, 6-1, 6-0, in the championship match played Sept. 22 at Bethel Park.

In boys’ tennis, Jacob Patterson of South Fayette easily won his second straight singles title. He defeated Trey Davidson from North Allegheny, 6-1, 6-0, in the Class AAA championship match played April 13 at the Pure Athletex Sportsplex in Wexford. The Denison University recruit was the PIAA runner-up, dropping a three-setter, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, to David Lindsay from Central Mountain on May 28 at the Hershey Racquet Club.

In doubles play, Mt. Lebanon brothers Jack and Luke Wilke finished fourth, dropping their consolation match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, to Franklin Regional’s duo of Andrew and Aaron Allen. The Wilkes were Section 4 champions.

Silver sticks

7. The Mt. Lebanon boys and girls collected silver medals during the WPIAL lacrosse championship matches played at Joe Walton Stadium on the Robert Morris University campus while the Chartiers Valley girls claimed their first title ever.

After upsetting No. 4 Indiana, 17-5, and toppling the No. 1 seed Blackhawk, 20-9, the Colts downed Mars, 17-6, in the Class AA final played on May 25.

Juliana Betts scored seven goals and dished up three assists while Josie Jones contributed two goals and four assists to propel the CV offense. Kaitlyn Kuczinski anchored the defense, recording six saves. She had more than 100 stops during the season.

When Reagan Murdoch suffered a broken left wrist in a fall, the girls’ AAA contest turned. An American University recruit, Murdoch had scored 196 goals in her career and had already managed a hat trick and an assist before leaving the match. Without Murdoch, the Blue Devils were outscored, 7-0, and Shady Side Academy went on to victory, 15-7.

In the boys’ AAA final, Lebo dropped a heartbreaker, 12-11, also to SSA. With 1:56 to play in regulation, Aidan Conway appeared to score the game-winning goal, off an assist from Gus Cramer, but the Bulldogs responded 50 seconds later. With his fourth goal of the game, Mac Mohn tied the match and with 2:59 to play in sudden-death overtime, J.P. Henry polished off the Blue Devils with the unassisted game-winning goal.

Fleet feet

8. Several area athletes thrilled spectators with their feats on foot.

Mt. Lebanon’s Logan St. John Kletter won a cross country title during the WPIAL Class AAA championships held Oct. 27 at Roadman Park on the Penn West-California campus. During the PIAA Cross Country Championships held Nov. 5 in Hershey, Brett Kroboth from Peters Township and Lebo’s Caroline Adams submitted the top performances with fourth and fifth places respectively.

Racing without one of its best runners, South Fayette earned runner-up recognition in the WPIAL team standings behind North Allegheny. The Tigers won their fifth straight title with 31 points. Alaa-Eddine Guetari, Roman Galioto, Tim Danziger, Zack Warhol and Josh O’Korn set the pace for the Lions.

During the WPIAL track and field championships held May 18 at Slippery Rock University, Melanie Schumaker had the Midas touch twice. She won the pole vault then ran the second leg on South Fayette’s championship 4×100 relay, which also included Olivia Renk, Amanda Marquis and Dea Monz.

SF’s Grace Howard pulled out a victory in the high jump, Dani Prunzik of Upper St. Clair sprinted to her second straight title in the 100-meter dash and Max Lewis won the high jump.

Individually at the PIAA championships held May 27-28 at Shippensburg University, Prunzik secured silver in the 100; SF’s relay combined for third and Schumaker was sixth in the pole vault.

Making a splash

9. Area swimmers made a big splash on the local, state and national level in 2022.

Mt. Lebanon native Leah Smith earned gold and silver during the Phillips 66 National Championships held July 26-30 in Irvine, Calif. Smith won the 200-meter IM with a 2:11.67 time and finished runner-up to Katie Ledecky by the slimmest of margins in the 400 IM. The 27-year-old Virginia graduate was awarded with the Perseverance Award at USA Swimming’s Golden Goggle Awards event held in December in New York City.

Also at the national championships. Upper St. Clair graduate and Indiana University sophomore Josh Matheny swam a personal best time of 59.44 and won the 100-meter breaststroke.

During the PIAA Championships held March 16-17 at Bucknell University, Ganesh Sivaramakrishnan shone with silver. The Upper St. Clair senior finished runner-up in the 100-yard butterfly and backstroke events. During the WPIAL finals held March 3-4 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool, Sivaramakrishnan captured gold in both races. He helped the Panthers to a runner-up showing in the team standings, scoring 236 points to Seneca Valley’s winning total of 293.5.

Mt. Lebanon freshman Sylvia Roy was also a double winner at the WPIAL meet. She won the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 backstroke with All-America marks. USC’s Kaitlyn Connors won the 100 free race. Both Roy (fifth) and Connors (sixth) medaled at states.

Silver linings

10. All that glittered was not gold for the Peters Township girls soccer club, the South Fayette volleyball club and the Upper St. Clair football team as each unit settled for silver in WPIAL championship action.

The Lady Indians, like France in the World Cup against Argentina, lost the Class 4A trophy in a shootout against North Allegheny on Nov. 4 at Highmark Stadium. In the 2-1 defeat to the Tigers, Bella Spergel scored the lone goal in regulation and added a penalty shot. Christian Sefer also connected on her penalty kick but NA won the shootout, 3-2, for its third title in four years.

The Lady Indians finished the season at 15-4-2 after losing a quarterfinal match to Owen J. Roberts in the PIAA tournament. They were section runners-up to rival Mt. Lebanon, whom they beat, 2-1, in the WPIAL tournament.

After recording upset wins against Armstrong, Hampton and Latrobe, there was not fairy tale ending for South Fayette in the WPIAL volleyball tournament. In the Class 3A championship match played Nov. 6 at the UPMC Events Center on the Robert Morris University campus, the Lady Lions succumbed to top-seeded North Catholic, 3-1.

SF dropped the first two sets, 25-22 and 25-20, before winning, 25-12. The Trojans wrapped up the match with a 25-22 win in the fourth set. The Leroux sisters dominated: Ava had 17 kills while Juliette supplied nine. Outside hitter Bella Bowers recorded 13 kills and setter Noelle Bair had 43 assists. Livia Chambers led with 13 digs. After a loss to the District 10 champions in the PIAA tournament, the Lady Lions ended their 2022 campaign with a 13-7 record.

USC also took home runner-up WPIAL hardware after falling to Pine-Richland, 34-3, in the Class 5A football championship game played on Nov. 19 at Norwin High School stadium. After finishing runner-up to undefeated Bethel Park in the Allegheny Six Conference, USC entered the postseason seeded No. 5. The Panthers upset Gateway, 21-14, then avenged their regular-season loss to the Black Hawks, beating BP, 17-7, in the semifinals.

Almanac MVP Aiden Besselman was the lone bright spot for the Panthers, who were limited to 121 yards of offense because of seven PR sacks. He had four receptions catches for 74 yards while Ty Lagoni added four more catches for 61 yards. Nathaniel Stohl tallied nine tackles and Van Hellmann collected eight on defense for the Panthers, who only trailed 13-3 after three quarters.

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