North Allegheny wrestling dynasty pins down another Hall of Fame spot

By: John Grupp
Saturday, September 27, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Jeff Alexander was always the smallest guy in a North Allegheny wrestling room packed with state champions and bad intentions.

The 1990 graduate, who arrived on varsity as a 4-foot-10, 98-pound freshman, became a key part of one of the most dominating wrestling dynasties in WPIAL history.

“I got nervous every single day before practice,” said Alexander, a two-time PIAA runner-up at 103 pounds.

“I didn’t have a chance in that room. I got some of the worst beatings of my life in that room.”

Alexander is one of 13 inductees in the North Allegheny Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2025 and joins a bunch of his former teammates from those decorated 1987-1990 powerhouse NA wrestling squads.

The Class of 2025 also includes boys basketball coach Dave DeGregorio, who retired this past summer, and two-sport star Mike McKnight, a 1,000-yard rusher for the 1990 PIAA football champion and second baseman for the 1991 PIAA baseball runner-up.

The class will be celebrated at the 28th annual Hall of Fame Banquet on Oct. 2 at the Holy Trinity Center in McCandless.

Girls tennis coach Michelle Weniger, who is 365-54-1 with six WPIAL titles and five PIAA crowns in 21 seasons, became emotional after getting her hall call.

“I was very happy,” she said.

“I cried a little bit.”

Gabby (Smychynsky) White, an all-WPIAL soccer player who graduated in 2016, will gladly be making the trip from her home in Myrtle Beach, S.C., for the banquet.

“I wasn’t planning on coming home this year,” she said. “It’s a great time for me to get home. I definitely did not expect to be inducted. I feel truly honored.”

Alexander is the sixth wrestler from the four-time state champion Tigers to be inducted into North Allegheny’s hall of fame, joining Ray Brinzer (HOF Class of 1998), Ty Moore (1998), Rich Catalano (2005), Jamie Kyriazis (2008), the current NA wrestling coach, and Ken Bauer (2009).

The late Gus DeAugustino, their coach, was inducted in 1997, one year before he died.

“Obviously, I was on a team with a bunch of tremendous guys,” Alexander said.

“It’s nice to be inducted into the hall of fame with all of those guys.”

Alexander, 53, who lives in McCandless and works as regional manager for a marketing firm, was shocked to get the news from athletic director Bob Bozzuto.

Thirty-five years had passed since Alexander wrestled at North Allegheny, and it was 16 years since anyone from those legendary wrestling teams was inducted.

“I definitely was not expecting it,” he said. “I hadn’t even given it a second’s worth of thought, to be honest with you. It was a very nice surprise.”

Alexander, who went “about 99-21-1” in his NA career, was a main contributor to a team that won four consecutive PIAA titles, three WPIAL crowns and a national title in 1988.

Alexander, who wrestled at Illinois, went 33-5 as a junior and 35-2 as a senior, losing to Greensburg Salem’s Brian Kapusta in the 103-pound state finals both years.

Upon arriving in high school, Alexander had expected to wrestle at 85 pounds for the North Allegheny ninth-grade team. However, before the start of the 1986-87 season, he learned DeAugustino was putting him on varsity at 98 pounds, allowing freshman star Ty Moore to compete at 105 during the regular season.

A stunned Alexander suddenly needed to gain weight. Moore, who went 146-1 and win four state titles, shared the plans with Alexander while the two were at school lunch one day.

“He said, ‘Start eating,’ ” Alexander said.

Tiger pride

Here is the North Allegheny Hall of Fame Class of 2025:

• Jeff Alexander (wrestling), 1990

• Dave DeGregorio (basketball), coach

• Adam Dobies (baseball), 2003

• Ryan Gil (cross country, track), 2011

• Abby Gonzales (basketball), 2016

• Dan Hamm (soccer), 1976

• Anna Li (tennis), 2017

• Mike McKnight (football, baseball), 1991

• Abby Miller (volleyball), 2020

• Gabby Smychynsky (soccer), 2016

• Michelle Weniger (tennis),coach

• Joe Wirth (volleyball), 1979

• Andrew Zhang (swimming), 2018

Tags: North Allegheny