Westmoreland high school notebook: Kennedy back with Greensburg Central Catholic soccer

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, July 26, 2025 | 5:41 PM

Purchase Photo Options

A familiar name is back on the soccer field at Greensburg Central Catholic.

Veteran coach Tom Kennedy will lead the girls program this fall.

Kennedy played a key role in forming the girls team when he was at GCC in the early 1990s. He coached the GCC boys team from 1996 to 2010 and went 231-85-7, winning 11 section titles and three WPIAL titles, while putting together a 55-game section winning streak.

After a stint as men’s and women’s coach at Westmoreland County Community College (2011-13), Kennedy took the boys job at Latrobe, where he guided the Wildcats from 2014-22. He also was a volunteer assistant for the Latrobe girls from 2019-22. His granddaughter is former Wildcats and current James Madison goalkeeper Sofia DeCerb.

“I am incredibly honored and excited to return to GCC,” Kennedy said in a news release. “GCC holds a special place in my heart. I saw a need for the program that I started and felt I could help it move forward once again.”

GCC has dealt with low roster numbers in recent years. New athletic director J.T. Thompson said increasing participation is a work in progress, but more than a dozen girls have signed up.

Tarpley on the move

Another basketball player has left Greensburg Central Catholic.

A.J. Tarpley, a rising junior point guard, announced he is transferring to The Kiski School in Saltsburg.

Tarpley was a key player for the Centurions last season when they went 26-4 and reached the PIAA semifinals. He averaged 12.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.0 steals.

Tarpley played his freshman year at Greensburg Salem.

Graduation and transfers have leveled last year’s team.

GCC had 15 players on last season’s roster. Only six remain, assuming they return for next season.

Six players graduated, while Tarpley, Brandon Martin (The Phelps School) and David Wachinski (Ringgold) have transferred out.

It is unclear if Samir Crosby is going to play basketball next season.

Coach of the year

Norwin wrestling coach Kyle Martin picked up a prestigious award in junior wrestling circles. His peers selected him as the USA Wrestling Development Coach of the Year.

The award capped a whirlwind summer for Martin.

He led the PA 16U team to a Greco Roman National Duals for the first time in over a decade, then went to Milwaukee for the Junior National Duals, along with one of his Norwin wrestlers, Luca Butera.

The Pennsylvania team won the Freestyle National Duals Championship for the first time, defeating Ohio for the title.

Martin packed his suitcase and headed for the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for the Pan Am and World Team Camp.

After that event, he came home for a week then went back to Colorado for acclimation camp and then headed to Peru for the U20 Pan Am Championships.

Team USA won the U20 Freestyle Pan American Championships with eight champions and two third-place finishers.

After Lima, it was on to Fargo, N.D., where Martin and Team PA won the 16U and Junior National Championship for the first time.

Martin, the 16U director and head coach for Pennsylvania, has won a national title in Fargo every year since the honor was bestowed on him in 2018.

Appointed the mat director in 2023, Martin helped the 16U team to a seventh straight freestyle title and third consecutive national title.

Fall back

The WPIAL fall sports season begins with the opening of practice on Aug. 11 for football, soccer, cross country, girls volleyball, field hockey and girls tennis.

Golf tryouts start Aug. 4, with the first matches Aug. 7.

Tennis can begin play Aug. 18, and the rest of the sports Aug. 22.

County calendar

The Westmoreland County Coaches Association has set its schedule of events for the fall and early winter.

The girls golf championships will be Sept. 4 at Champion Lakes Golf Course, and boys golf will be Sept. 11 at Latrobe Elks.

The boys and girls cross country championships are Oct. 8 at Westmoreland County Community College.

On Nov. 19, the WCCA will have its all-star girls volleyball match at Ligonier Valley.

Recruiting

• Division II Lock Haven extended an offer to Greensburg Salem football lineman Isaiah Stillwagon. The 6-foot-3, 310-pound rising senior plays defensive tackle.

• Jeannette football player Noah Sunder, a 6-2, 180-pound receiver and linebacker, has an opportunity to play at Division III Waynesburg, the alma mater of Jeannette coach Tommy Paulone. Sunder is a rising senior.

• Abby Dlugos, a rising senior basketball player at Greensburg Central Catholic, also received an offer to play at Waynesburg.

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

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Kiski School, Norwin