What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Oct. 9, 2025: Golfers tee it up with WPIAL team titles on the line

By: Don Rebel
Thursday, October 9, 2025 | 12:01 AM

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A year ago, North Allegheny won gold in the boys team golf championships in Class 3A, North Catholic claimed its second crown in four years in Class 2A, Peters Township girls captured a third straight Class 3A district title, and Shady Side Academy ended a nine-year Class 2A girls golf championship run.

On Thursday, the WPIAL will crown four winners in the 2025 team golf finals at the Cedarbrook Golf Course in Belle Vernon.

In boys 3A, the six teams advancing from Tuesday’s semifinals were Fox Chapel, Franklin Regional, Moon, North Allegheny, Peters Township and South Fayette.

Fox Chapel had the best score in the semifinals bracket at the Links at Spring Church in Apollo with a 377, while South Fayette had the lowest team score in the semifinals match at Duck Hollow in Uniontown with a 386.

In this decade, there have been five different boys team golf 3A champions and four of them are in the finals with North Allegheny (2024), Peters Township (2023), Fox Chapel (2021) and Franklin Regional (2020).

In boys 2A, the six teams that qualified following the semifinals Monday were Avonworth, Beaver, Elizabeth Forward, Freeport, North Catholic and Shady Side Academy.

Elizabeth Forward had the lowest score in the semifinals bracket at Champions Lake with a 387 while Shady Side Academy had the low score of 393 at the semis played at Hickory Heights.

There were no semifinals on the girls team golf side.

Eight teams will battle in the 3A finals: Elizabeth Forward, Fox Chapel, Moon, North Allegheny, Norwin, Oakland Catholic, Peters Township and Pine-Richland.

In Class 2A girls, only four teams will participate in the finals: Greensburg Central Catholic, North Catholic, Shady Side Academy and Southmoreland.

All four championship finals are set to begin at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Week 7 kicks off early

Heading toward the stretch run of the high school football season, the WPIAL begins earlier than usual with a Class 6A contest set for Thursday.

Top-ranked Central Catholic (3-0, 7-1) can take another step toward the regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the 6A postseason when it hosts No. 3 Norwin (2-1, 5-2) at Carnegie Mellon University.

The Vikings are coming off a 62-point win last week over Shaler and have won seven straight games since a Week Zero loss to Class 6A top-ranked LaSalle College from District 12.

The Knights have been one of the better turnaround stories in the district. A year ago, they were winless in 6A and won two games all season.

Norwin improved to 2-1 in the class last week with a thrilling win over rival Hempfield, 33-26.

In the last two meetings in 2024 and 2021, the Vikings outscored the Knights, 109-13.

This will be the 25th all-time meeting between the teams with Central Catholic holding a decisive edge over Norwin, 21-3.

The Vikings have won 18 straight games in the series with the last Knights victory coming in 1987, 12-7.

Kickoff at CMU is set for 8 p.m.

Also on Thursday at Cupples Stadium on the South Side, Perry will close out its season with a nonleague game against Carrick at 7 p.m.

The Commodores are winless, finishing 0-4 in the City League. They are 0-7 for the season.

The Raiders are playing an independent schedule this season and enter the game with a 2-4 record and are coming off a win over Brownsville last Saturday, 46-12.

Up for grabs

In the final days of the WPIAL boys soccer regular season, 51 schools have clinched a district postseason berth with several spots still up for grabs.

Here are the Thursday boys soccer matches that could lead to more qualifiers (or make thing interesting) heading into the final two days next week.

• In Section 1-4A, Hempfield (2-7) visits Gateway (2-7) in a win-and-you’re-in match. If the Spartans and Gators tie, Gateway qualifies because of the head-to-head tiebreaker.

• In Section 3-4A, Butler (2-7) visits Pine-Richland (1-7-1) on Thursday while North Hills (1-5-2) travels to Seneca Valley (7-2). If Butler wins and North Hills loses, the Golden Tornado clinches.

• In Section 1-3A, Knoch (4-5-1) has a one-game lead over Indiana (3-6-1) with two section matches left in the battle for fourth place. The Knights visits Mars (7-1-2) and the Little Indians travel to Hampton (8-0-2). Indiana has to finish ahead of Knoch because the Little Indians lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Knights.

• In Section 2-3A, Ringgold (7-5) has a one-game lead over Laurel Highlands with two section matches left in the chase for fourth place. On Thursday, Ringgold is at South Fayette (3-8) while Laurel Highlands visits Bethel Park (10-0-2). If the Rams and Mustangs finish tied for fourth place, both teams will qualify.

• In Section 1-2A, Highlands (6-5-1) has a one-game lead over Freeport (5-6-1) with two section matches remaining. Highlands can clinch a playoff berth a win at Burrell (4-8) on Thursday or a Freeport loss at Deer Lakes (10-1-1). If the Golden Rams and Yellowjackets finish in a tie for fourth place, Highlands wins the head-to-head tiebreaker over Freeport.

• In Section 1-A, Neshannock (3-4-1) and Freedom (3-5-1) are fighting for a playoff spot. Neshannock is home to South Side (0-8) and Freedom visits Eden Christian Academy (5-4) on Thursday. If the two teams finished tied for fourth place, Freedom will qualify based on head-to-head tiebreaker.

• In Section 3-A, there are two playoff berth up for grabs between Brentwood (3-5-1), Serra Catholic (3-6) and Bishop Canevin (2-6). On Thursday, Brentwood visits Bishop Canevin and Serra Catholic hosts Carlynton (1-7-1).

• In Section 4-A, Riverview (2-5-1), Jeannette (2-7) and St. Joseph (1-7) are in a battle for fourth place. Riverview hosts St. Joseph (1-7) on Thursday and Jeannette (2-7) visits Trinity Christian (4-3).

Reaching the semis

With the start of the 2025 WPIAL Class 2A girls team tennis playoffs delayed because of rain Tuesday, the tournament was forced to go to back-to-back days with the opening round played Wednesday and the quarterfinals now set for Thursday.

Last year’s district runner-up, Quaker Valley, will make its playoff debut after the top seed in the 15-team bracket enjoyed a first-round bye.

The other favorites won Wednesday as the top eight seeds are set to collide in second round action.

Here are the quarterfinals matches set for Thursday.

• No. 8 Mt. Pleasant at No. 1 Quaker Valley

• No. 5 Beaver vs. No. 4 Oakland Catholic at Frick Park

• No. 7 Indiana against No. 2 and defending WPIAL champion North Catholic at Cranberry Township Park

• No. 6 Winchester Thurston at No. 3 Sewickley Academy

All of the matches begin at 3 p.m.