Bethel Park notebook: Wrestler captures county championship

By: Ray Fisher
Saturday, January 24, 2026 | 11:01 AM

Bethel Park’s Ian Bucheli turned in a championship performance Jan. 17 at the Allegheny County wrestling tournament at Fox Chapel.

Bucheli, a junior, captured first place in the 145-pound weight class by securing a 9-0 major decision against Fox Chapel senior Adam Haines in the championship round.

Bucheli improved to 18-4 on the season with his seventh consecutive victory and 10th win in his past 11 matches.

Two other medalists for the Black Hawks were juniors Caleb Crawford, who placed third at 139, and Colton Fisher, who ended up eighth at 160.

Bethel Park finished 11th in the final team standings.

‘Starting to heat up’

The Bethel Park girls basketball improved to 4-4 in Section 4-5A and 9-6 overall thanks to a 60-16 win Jan. 19 against Albert Gallatin.

“Offensively, we’re starting to heat up,” Bethel Park coach Steve Norman said. “We’re making the kind of mistakes young players often make, but we’re not making them repeatedly, and our underclassmen shoulder a lot of the burden defensively, so we’re confident the offense will continue to improve.

“We have had multiple players lead us on any given night. It’s a well-balanced and unselfish offense. The team mantra is ‘with and for each other,’ and I think we can show that every night.”

A trio of backcourt players — senior Bella Coleman (11 points), sophomore Fiona O’Neill (10) and senior Kat Boff (9) — combined for 30 points for the Black Hawks at Albert Gallatin.

With the win, Bethel Park stood firmly in fourth place in the section behind Thomas Jefferson (7-0), Baldwin (5-1) and Trinity (5-2).

“Our section is easily the toughest in 5A,” Norman said. “TJ is first, but our section is filled with strong teams. We’re looking forward to a rematch with multiple section opponents as an opportunity to keep improving.

“Last year was a big step forward for the program with a playoff win and qualifying for states. We’ve been in the gym every week since late May hoping to continue to move forward as a team and program.”

The Black Hawks held the second-best defensive average in Class 5A with a 35.0 ppg mark.

“I figured we’re up there,” Norman said. “Credit to (assistant) coach Dillon Penix. He’s in charge of defense for us, and after our three years together at Bethel Park, he’s done a great job teaching our kids how to play defense well.

“We’re really happy with how we’ve played defense. We’re holding most teams below their average and slowing down opponents’ offense. Most teams are struggling to get two players into double digits against us.”

Bethel Park’s defensive average in section play is even lower in the 30.0 ppg range.

“Some 5A teams play weak schedules so their overall points against can be misleading,” Norman said, “though I don’t think it is in our case. In our section, we should be up there for (lowest) points allowed per game, which I think is noteworthy given the offensive prowess of our section opponents.

“We were really happy with the wins over Mercyhurst Prep and Belle Vernon at Cal U (in late-December). We’ve played two ranked 6A teams in Canon-McMillan and Pine-Richland, so we’re not hiding from anyone or playing an easy schedule. We’re in the hardest section of 5A and pretty happy with how the season has gone so far.”

Record-setter

Does the name Heidi Miller ring a bell for any Bethel Park aquatics enthusiasts?

Miller holds five pool records at Bethel Park that she set in girls swimming in 2014.

Representing the Greater Pittsburgh Aquatic Club, Miller established records in the 200 individual medley (2:03.25), 50 freestyle (23.75), 100 butterfly (56.39), 500 freestyle (4:59.86) and 100 backstroke (56.87).

Big game

Bethel Park’s Joe Parisi, a 6-2 junior forward, tipped off the new year with a bang, exploding for 28 points including seven 3-pointers in a 67-45 nonsection loss at home against Mt. Lebanon.

Did you know?

Did you also know that the officers of the Bethel Park Hockey Boosters are president Keith Jones, vice president Gary Kirstein, treasurer Nate Parzick, secretary Jessica Hartman and registrar Becky Jones?

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