Norwin notebook: Amber Klingensmith earns gold medal in WPIAL swimming debut

By: Triblive And Michael Love And Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, March 9, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Norwin’s Amber Klingensmith didn’t compete at the high school level last year as a freshman, opting to concentrate on her swims with Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics.

But she was familiar with Pitt’s Trees Pool, and she said it helped her in her WPIAL-championship debut.

Klingensmith’s first swim at WPIALs was golden.

She lowered her school record in the 100-yard butterfly set at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association meet a month ago, touching the wall first in 56.34 seconds.

“It was really nice to see all the hard work pay off,” Klingensmith said. “It was nice to go out there and swim with some people that I know in an atmosphere I was comfortable with. That was a good feeling.

“It’s great to be able to race Lauren (Bell) again. We raced each other at counties. She always pushes me to be my best.”

Klingensmith also finished third in the 100 backstroke.

Also for Norwin at the WPIAL 3A championships:

• Tyler Turgeon placed second in the 100 butterfly and was fifth in the 100 back.

• Hanna Klingensmith placed sixth in the 50 free and the 500 free.

• The girls 200 freestyle relay of Hanna Klingensmith, Amber Klingensmith, Kismet Juart and Remi Detschelt placed fifth.

All of those swimmers qualified for the PIAA meet.

The girls 400 free relay, which consists of the same foursome as the 200 free relay, are alternates for the state meet.

Other Knights who competed in the WPIAL meet included:

• Aidan Samuels, 13th 200 IM, 14th 100 fly

• Liam Samuels, 19th 50 free, 21st 100 back

• Ellis Slavin, 24th 200 free

• Kismet Juart, 33rd 50 free, 26th 100 free

• Remi Detschelt, 37th, 50 free

• Amelia Vecchio, 30th 100 breast

• Boys 200 free relay, 12th; 400 free relay, 11th

• Boys medley relay, 23rd; Girls medley relay 22nd

Girls wrestling regionals

Norwin’s Josephine Dollman missed the PIAA girls wrestling regional championships after undergoing surgery on her ankle.

Knights coaches said Dollman injured her ankle in the WPIAL match but continued to wrestle to victory. It was later discovered in a doctor’s visit that she had done damage to her ankle.

Last year, Dollman took first at 142 and was favored to claim the championship at 148 this year.

WPIAL champ Karsyn Champion was the top seed at 155 and looking for her second regionals championship after winning at 148 last year. Her bid to earn another gold medal was cut down in the quarterfinals as District 10 runner-up Whisper Abercrombie of General McLane won a 11-6 decision.

Champion wrestled her way through the consolation bracket and pinned Trinity Webster of Hickory to place third.

Abercrombie would lose to Cydney Rea of Northwestern in a District 10 championship rematch. Rea pinned Abercrombie in the third for the win at 155.

Norwin’s Octavia Walker made it to the title match at 170, where she took on District 10 champion Davaya Truman of Erie.

Truman scored an early takedown and a pair of nearfalls to go up 10-0. Walker fought all the way back with a reversal and two straight four-point nearfalls to tie the score at 10-10.

Truman then scored a reversal and a two-point nearfall to come away with the 14-10 win.

Indoor track

Annie Czajkowski of Norwin finished seventh in the 3,000-meter run, while Ryan Schiller was eighth in the 60-meter hurdles at the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association championships at Penn State.

Xander Irwin took 15th in the pole vault, while Brandi Brozeski was 12th in the high jump and 17th in the 60-meter hurdles,

College watch

Updates on Norwin athletes competing in college:

Women’s basketball

Grove City: Senior guard Mara Polczynski had 10 points and 12 rebounds to pace the fourth-seeded Wolverines to a 58-38 victory over No. 5 Saint Vincent in the PAC quarterfinals.

Wrestling

Saint Vincent: Junior Ryan Weinzen finished fifth at 184 pounds at the NCAA Division III Regional Championships.

Men’s volleyball

Saint Vincent: Freshman Jackson Genicola had 26 assists as the Bearcats won their first PAC match of the season, 3-0 over Bethany.

Baseball

Pitt-Johnstown: Redshirt junior outfielder Justin Turcovski was named the PSAC West Baseball Athlete of the Week. He had five hits, including a home run, and five RBIs in a doubleheader split against Wheeling.

Men’s track and field

Penn State Behrend: Freshman Carter Tobin set a program record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.14 seconds in a preliminary race at the New York Athletic Conference Championships

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