Trib HSSN top 24 stories of 2024 (15-11): Girls step into PIAA wrestling spotlight

By: Don Rebel
Friday, December 27, 2024 | 6:01 AM

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The year 2024 in WPIAL sports saw a lot of history and unusual happenings that kept all three sports seasons exciting.

There was a sense of been there, done that on the hardwood and in the pool during the winter sports season, exhausting action and perfection on the diamonds, hardcourts and tracks in the spring, and greatness on the gridiron, the pitch and around the district hills and valleys in the fall.

Some individual and team records ended while others rolled on.

Join us all week as we look back at the moments that stood out in a fun-filled high school sports ride throughout 2024.

In our year-end tradition, Trib HSSN winds down the year with a daily countdown and a look back at the top 24 WPIAL stories from 2024.

Here is a look at district stories No. 20 through No. 16.

No. 15 – Two ‘Lopes a-leaping

The Avonworth football team enjoyed a successful regular season, finishing 7-3 overall and tying for the Class 3A Western Hills Conference title with Beaver and Central Valley.

However, after getting pummeled in the regular season finale by Beaver, the No. 5-seeded Antelopes decided to change how they do things on offense in the rematch against the Bobcats in the 3A quarterfinals.

Relying on a strong offensive line, Avonworth relied on the power running of the Neal brothers out of the wildcat offense.

Senior Nico and junior Luca took turns each week running wild in leading the Antelopes to a second WPIAL championship in the last five years and another PIAA runner-up trophy following a heartbreaking loss in the state finals to Northwestern Lehigh in overtime.

No. 14 – My oh Mya, 2 state titles

Two district golfers won PIAA Class 3A individual championships this fall after neither won gold in the WPIAL championships.

Fox Chapel sophomore Carson Kittsley shot a 4-under par and Elizabeth Forward junior Mya Morgan was 1-under par to claim state titles at the two-day event played at Penn State.

Kittsley finished tied for fourth place in the district championships at the Oakmont Country Club behind winner Colton Lusk of Peters Township.

Morgan finished two strokes behind Ellie Benson of Peters Township in the WPIAL finals at Butler Country Club.

Kittsley made it back-to-back PIAA 3A titles for district golfers after Hunter Swidzinski of Butler won state gold in 2023.

However, the Morgan championship run was rare air as she became the first golfer form the WPIAL to win a PIAA girls golf championship since Caroline Wrigley of North Allegheny and Maddie Smithco of North Catholic swept 3A and 2A state gold in 2018.

No. 13 – Girls wrestling debuts

Call them the Lucky 13.

Thirteen wrestlers became the first WPIAL champions in the inaugural season of girls wrestling as a sanctioned sport throughout the state.

There were no district teams championships in Year 1, but Valarie Solorio, Capri Chambers and Natalie Rush of Canon-McMillan, Josephine Dollman and Octavia Walker of Norwin, Saphia Davis and Alaina Claassen of Plum, Isabella McNutt of Hampton, Ana Malovich of Butler, Haley Smarsh of Moon, Ava Golding of Kiski Area, Contessa Cotelesse of Laurel and Leyna Rumpler of North Allegheny all claimed district individual gold.

On the PIAA stage, Canon-McMillan won the first team championship and Valarie Solorio of the Big Macs won gold in the 100-pound weight class.

No. 12 – A titanic season

There have been some great teams throughout the district, but few dominated like the Shaler boys volleyball team this spring.

The Titans finished the regular season as co-champs in Section 2-3A along with North Allegheny, the only team to beat Shaler this season.

Shaler defeated Hempfield, Seneca Valley and North Allegheny in the finals to win its second straight WPIAL championship.

Then the Titans knocked off Carlisle, State College, Warwick and Parkland to capture their first PIAA state championship.

Shaler was a preseason No. 9 in the weekly USA Today boys volleyball rankings and finished ranked No. 1 in the Northeast Region.

No. 11 – Wade in the waters of greatness

Clairton High School is small in size but has been the home of some very large talents over the years.

But none of the great athletes who have donned the black and orange over the years had quite the season that junior girls basketball player Iyanna Wade had this past winter.

Wade was not only the leading scorer in the WPIAL and PIAA with 843 points for a mind-numbing average of 40.1 points per game, she also was the second-leading scorer in the country.

Her point-per-game average is second in district history behind Cali Konek of Imani Christian, who averaged 45.9 points per game in the 2016 season.

She became only the third WPIAL girls basketball player to lead the district in scoring two years in a row after she was tops on the scoring list as a sophomore as well with an average of 33.3 points per game.

On Jan. 25, 2024, Wade broke the WPIAL girls basketball single-game scoring record with 65 points in a victory over Steel Valley.

She also finished as a member of the 2024 Trib HSSN Terrific 10 all-star team.