Norwin notebook: Former Knights standout picks Pitt wrestling

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, April 13, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Pitt is it for Chase Kranitz.

The former Norwin wrestling standout is leaving Buffalo after his redshirt freshman season and will compete for the Panthers.

Kranitz, and several of his Bulls teammates, left the program after learning that John Stutzman was not returning as head coach.

Kranitz went 19-11 this season and finished third in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

Sunday fun day

Norwin played a rare Sunday doubleheader due to the backlog of postponements and came away with two wins.

The Knights (4-2, 2-0) defeated Baldwin, 1-0, and 10-4, on April 7 at Gateway.

In the first game, Nolan Ryan walked and scored on Ben Geissler’s walk-off RBI single, his second hit of the day. Ethen Culbertson pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings and Matt Rivera recorded the final out to earn the win.

In Game 2, Nate Silberman had two hits and an RBI and Keegan Carr had a hit and two RBIs for the Knights.

Softball wins

The Norwin softball team also picked a Sunday to post a victory.

Norwin staged a two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to defeat Baldwin, 4-3, in a Section 1-6A game at Gateway.

With one out, Kyla Coyne hit a game-tying home run, Bailey Snowberger doubled, and Diem Wardzinski delivered an RBI double to lift the Knights (3-3, 2-2) to a walk-off win.

Josey Michaelski also homered for Norwin. Coyne, Wardzinski and Snowberger finished with two hits.

Singled out

Junior Max Snyder won his opening match but lost in the quarterfinals of the Section 1-3A tennis singles tournament.

Snyder defeated Chase Regester of Hempfield, 10-7, then lost to Zidaan Hassan of Gateway, 10-0.

Long night

Norwin and Hempfield played a long boys volleyball match April 2. OK, the teams played a long fourth set, which might be an understatement.

With wobbly legs and a second wind, Norwin held back the Spartans, 42-40, to take the match, 3-1.

“Longest match of my career,” Norwin coach Mike Palascak said.

In the marathon set, Norwin led 23-19, but Hempfield ran off five straight points to take a 24-23 lead.

Norwin tied it 24-24. Norwin had five set points and Hempfield had four, before Ben Tygielski delivered a clinching kill with the Knights up 41-40.

“It was brutal,” Norwin’s Jackson Genicola said. “But overall very fun though. I definitely would rather just have every set be like set three.”

Hempfield won the first set, 26-19, before Norwin took the next two, 25-18 and 25-13.

The full match lasted about two-and-a-half hours.

Moe soccer games

For the first time, the Moe Rosensteel Kickoff Classic soccer showcase will feature a boys matchup.

The four-game event will be Aug. 24 at Ringgold’s Joe Montana Stadium in Monongahela.

There will be three girls games: Thomas Jefferson vs. Franklin Regional, Hickory vs. Ringgold and Avonworth vs. Latrobe followed by the Elizabeth Forward and Ringgold boys.

Times have not been announced.

Recruiting

Norwin senior baseball player Nathan Helphenstine will continue his playing career at Penn State Behrend.

Helphenstine is a first baseman and right-handed pitcher for the Knights.

College scene

Updates on Norwin athletes playing in college:

Baseball

Pitt: Sophomore shortstop Jake Kendro clubbed a solo shot off the scoreboard, increasing his hitting streak to six games, as the Panthers defeated Georgia Tech, 7-4, in the series finale. Kendro was tied for the team lead in homers with five, and he leads the Panthers with a .321 batting average.

Softball

Saint Vincent: Senior Leah Yoder went 3 for 3 with two runs, freshman Shayna Perigo had three hits, a double and two RBIs, and senior Olivia Persin had two doubles, three RBIs and two runs in a 10-0 win over Thiel.

Westminster: Junior outfielder Sydney Lokay delivered her third double of the season as the Titans defeated Geneva, 6-3.

Women’s track & field

Duquesne: Senior Emily Brozeski took fourth in the 100-meter hurdles (14.70) at the Dalton Ebanks Invitational at George Mason.

Men’s lacrosse

Washington & Jefferson: Senior Nate Petrarco scored two goals and had four assists, while sophomore Braden Petrarco added one goal, and junior Austin Hopkins (Hempfield) posted eight ground balls and four caused turnovers in a 17-9 victory over Bethany.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

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