Sports
WPIAL Wrestlers Impress at National Pre-Season Tournament
October 28, 2013
The WPIAL was well represented this past weekend at the Super 32 Challenge held at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC. The event, widely regarded as the nation’s top pre-season high school wrestling tournament, filled the 14 varsity weight brackets with over 1,500 wrestlers from across the United States. Showing why they are from one of the sport’s toughest regions, WPIAL wrestlers earned five gold medals and four silvers. Two other WPIAL athletes also turned in top-four finishes.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Football Playoff Rankings – 10/27/2013
October 27, 2013
The WPIAL will unveil the playoff brackets Monday night for the upcoming journey that we call the Highway to Heinz. The committee does not rank the teams 1 through 16, they seed them. First they figure out the top 4, then the rest of the top 8 that will be home for the opening round adhering to some basic rules including...you can't play a team in your own conference in Round One and you can't be seeded beneath a team that you finished ahead of in your own conference. You start plugging in the rest of the puzzle until the picture is complete. Here is a completed picture of a football bracket as drawn by the artists here at the MSA Sports Network.CLASS AAAA:#1 Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings (9-0)This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 10/27/2013
While others use smoke and mirrors to trick you, we have a week full of various postseason treats this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We open up the Highway to Heinz with exclusive coverage of all 32 First Round WPIAL football playoff games all starting Friday with the expanded MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding with the one and only WPIAL High School Football Scoreboard Show. We also have high school football regular season finale's from District 6 and District 9 with a pair of college football games, the WPIAL girls volleyball Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championships, the WPIAL boys and girls soccer Semifinals and Championships, plus This Week in the WPIAL and the WPIAL Football Playoff Pairings Show ALL here at MSAsports.netDistrict College Football Recap for Saturday, October 26th
The final weekend of October brings wind, rain and tough conditions, just how football players like it.Slippery Rock and Cal both came up with huge wins in the PSAC, setting up a battle next week at the Rock for the West Division title.W & J wins as well, the Presidents control the PAC race. And a quarterback making his first NCAA start leads Robert Morris to a comeback in the NEC.Here are recaps of ALL the games:Slippery Rock 44 – Edinboro 20 The 22nd ranked Rock used the ground game to win their fifth straight game. Teddy Blakeman ran for three touchdowns as SRU will host Cal next week with a spot in the PSAC State Title Game on the line.WPIAL Saturday’s Scholastic Starz for Week Nine
The curtain has come down on the 2013 WPIAL football regular season. A final Huzzah to all of the great players and their highlight performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday throughout the past nine weeks. Here is the final encore from the top six stand outs in District 7 on the final day of this years campaign.Elijah Hardy and Nathaniel Cofer - Summit AcademyNorth Allegheny Wins 2013 PIAA AAA Team Tennis Gold
October 26, 2013
North Allegheny winning a championship is not breaking news. However a week after winning their very first WPIAL Girls Team Tennis Class AAA title, the Tigers added their first ever state tennis crown to their crown trophy case. North Allegheny edged District 1 champion Methacton Saturday evening in Hershey to claim the PIAA Triple A championship. District 10 Mercyhurst Prep won the Class AA state championship. Here are all of the results from the 2013 PIAA Girls Team Tennis Playoffs.2013 PIAA CLASS AAA GIRL TEAM TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS 3 - Methacton Warriors 2PIAA CLASS AAA Semifinals:NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS 4 - West Chester Henderson Warriors 1WPIAL Football Scores for Saturday, October 26th
The 2013 WPIAL football regular season has come to an end on Saturday after results from five contests. Actually, there were only four games after Geibel Catholic forfeited for the second straight week and third time this season due to a lack of healthy players. The forfeit gives Jefferson-Morgan a victory to close out the campaign. Here are ALL the results from the five Saturday games, three of which were heard here on the MSA Sports Network.WPIAL CLASS AA Allegheny Conference:Summit Academy Knights 38 - Freeport Yellowjackets 20 (MSA) WPIAL CLASS A Eastern Conference:Springdale Dynamos 28 - Riverview Raiders 0 (MSA)WPIAL CLASS A Tri-County South Conference:WPIAL Friday Night HighLights for Week Nine
Friday night in Week Nine. One last chance for ALL of the teams around the WPIAL to shine. Some will move on to the Highway to Heinz in the hopes of making this a lucky 13th season in the 21st century. Others who will not move on just wanted to close out the campaign on a high note. Here are the players who sang like soprano's Friday night with large performances that had the crowd calling for an encore. Trevor Morrow - Upper St. ClairFINAL WPIAL Football Playoff Picture
The 64 teams and their positions out of their respective conferences are now set. Now it is up to the WPIAL football steering committee to seed the 16 teams in each classification. Here are ALL of the final playoff teams and their position through the nine week regular season.CLASS AAAA Foothills Conference:McKeesport Tigers (8-0) have clinched CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPPenn-Trafford Warriors (6-2) have clinched Second Place (Take second based on head-to-head tiebreaker with Gateway)Gateway Gators (6-2) have clinched Third Place2013 WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League Football Standings – 10/25
October 25, 2013
Here are the latest WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League football standings through Week Ten of the 2013 high school football season...plus the FINAL WPIAL football playoff clinchings. Standings are updated after each game on Thursday, Friday and Saturday's scholastic gridiron action each week. Standings can be also seen on each teams football webpage here on the MSA Sports Network.# - Clinched at least a share of the conference title * - Clinched playoff spot x - Eliminated from playoff chase % - Not eligible for WPIAL playoffsWPIAL CLASS AAAA: (SET WITH 16 PLAYOFF TEAMS)Northern Eight Conference:Scholastic Notebook – 10/25/2013
West Allegheny doesn’t have a running back among the WPIAL’s top 40 rushers. The team’s quarterback isn’t among the top 30 in passing yardage.Yet, when you look at the top offenses in Class AAA, West Allegheny is near the top of the list. And when you look at the rankings of the best teams in Class AAA, West Allegheny is right at the top.So how does it work? No big offensive star, but yet a powerful offense? Well, if ever a team was indeed a “team,” it is West Allegheny. And they are the MSA Sports No. 1-ranked Class AAA team heading into the final Friday night of the regular season.
2013 WPIAL Boys and Girls Cross-Country Results
A cold and windy afternoon at Cooper’s Lake, PA provided both excitement and challenge for competitors of the WPIAL Cross Country Championship Race. Six races were held each totaling a distance of 3.1 miles to decide the top three winning high schools and top individual competitors from the A, AA, and AAA classes for both boys and girls. The top three teams in each class advance to the PIAA meet in Hershey, PA. as well as the top 15 finishers in each race from non-qualifying teams.(Above: Nate Edenfield of Uniontown wins Boys AA race)Results:Girls Class ATop Three Teams: Laurel (83 points), Bishop Canevin (122 points), Our Lady of Sacred Heart (130 points)WPIAL and City League Football Scores for Friday, October 25th
For several WPIAL teams headed into the final Friday of the 2013 football regular season, it was now or never. As Apollo Creed told Rocky Balboa..."there is no tomorrow' (echo trails off). There weren't many playoff berths up for grabs, but the chase was on for conference titles, home field advantage, playoff seeding and those precious remaining postseason openings for one final night. Here are the Week Nine final scores of games in the WPIAL plus the Pittsburgh City League Semifinals schedule.WPIAL CLASS AAAA Southeastern Conference:Upper St. Clair Panthers 35 - Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 7Woodland Hills Wolverines 19 - Penn Hills Indians 7Washington Back in Football Playoffs After PIAA Overturns Forfeits
October 24, 2013
In again out again in again Washington. The case involving the Washington football team and the eligibility of one of its players is over. Washington wins and now the Little Prexies can start thinking playoffs once again.On Thursday afternoon, the PIAA overturned a previous WPIAL ruling that ordered Washington to forfeit five wins for using a player who is in his fifth year of high school. Under PIAA and WPIAL rules, a student only gets four consecutive years to play sports when the student starts ninth grade. Regardless of whether the student doesn’t play sports for a year, he/she gets only four continuous years.Chicks Picks – Week Nine – 2013
Welcome to Week 9. After nearly a decade of dominating fantasy football leagues, Chick’s Picks decided to throw her hat into fantasy hockey, hoping for at least a bit of a challenge. While her league mates spent weeks researching and preparing for the draft, Chick’s Picks sat back and chuckled, knowing her prized crystal ball was the only research she needed.Draft day was finally here. Chick’s Picks packed up her crystal ball and headed to meet the gang at league headquarters. It was no surprise to see the gaggle of league mates in line awaiting her autograph when she arrived. Chick’s Picks is, after all, kind of a big deal around the WPIAL.MSA Sports Hometown Girls Volleyball Salute – FREEPORT YELLOWJACKETS
Last 7 years the Lady Jackets section record has been 90-2. In 2013, Freeport finished 11-1 and as co-champs with Knoch in Class AA Section 4. They are the #2-seed in the Class AA playoffs.This years Lady Jackets are anchored by it's 5 senior players. Returning AA all-state and WPIAL first team outside hitter Alexis Schrecengost (2.6 GPA) along with Section 4-AA All-stars libero Brittany Bianco (3.7 GPA), setter Emily Toy (4.0 GPA)and opposite hitter Megan Sweeny (3.4 GPA).District College Football Preview for Saturday, October 26th
October 23, 2013
In the final week of October, such huge conference games highlight this week's schedule.In the PSAC West, The Rock tries to maintain it's share of the top spot while Cal and Gannon square off to knock the loser out of the conference race.W & J looks to stay on top of the PAC while Geneva sits a half game back.Here are recaps of ALL the games, including three that can be heard on the Network:Slippery Rock (6-1) at Edinboro (4-3) Noon on WLER 97.7-FM and msasports.net The Rock is headed back to the “Big House” to play. The Rock announced that they will play Mercyhurst on October 18, 2014 at Michigan Stadium. It’s the third time the Rock will play there.Big Game Hunting – The Football Fourpack for Week 9
Although much has already been decided week nine of the 2013 WPIAL football season brings us all the sweetness you might expect with regard to conference championship tilts. It also has a fair share of win and you are in games. It also has some games that will have a huge impact come seeding time for the football steering committee. The stretch run winds down and we get set for the Highway to Heinz.AAAA Foothills Conference: #3 McKeesport Tigers (8-0)(7-0) at #6 Gateway Gators (7-1)(6-1) Thursday October 24th at 7:00 PM @ Antimarino Stadium on the campus of Gateway high school. Broadcast on the MSA Sports Network by Paul Paterra and Lou RoodUSC’s Grant Engel & Cent Valley’s Macky Fouse Win PIAA State Golf Championships
After finishing in fourth place in the WPIAL golf championships three weeks ago, Grant Engel rose to the occasion on the bigger stage of the state championships as the Upper St. Clair senior captured the PIAA Class AAA Individual Golf Championship at the two day event at Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York. Meanwhile, WPIAL Girls Class AA champion Macky Fouse, a senior from Central Valley doubled her pleasure with a state title to add to her district gold by shooting a two day total of 152.Engel shot a 73 to follow up on a 74 on Monday for a 147 and a two stroke victory over Andrew Willner of Conestoga. Engle's Uper St. Clair teammate Thomas Steve shot a 154 to tie Fox Chapel's Patrick Sheerer as the next closest WPIAL golfers as they finished in 10th place.2013 MSA Sports Hometown Girls Volleyball Playoff Recaps
Six of the seven teams that were a part of the 2013 MSA Sports Girls Volleyball Program qualified for the WPIAL postseason. Over the next two weeks, anytime Avonworth, Brentwood, South Side, Blackhawk, Freeport and West Allegheny hit the court, we will recap their playoff performance right here.WPIAL CLASS AA FIRST ROUND:
