WPIAL again denies request from Farrell to rejoin district

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, November 17, 2025 | 4:53 PM

For the second time in two years, the WPIAL board has denied a request from Farrell to rejoin the district.

The board on Monday voted unanimously to reject Farrell’s request to leave PIAA District 10 for the WPIAL, citing many of the same concerns that were raised previously, WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer said.

“The reasoning, as before, was distance,” said Seltzer, noting that the WPIAL has no schools in Mercer County.

The WPIAL vote two years ago also was unanimous.

Farrell competed as a WPIAL member for six decades before leaving in 2006 to join District 10, which includes schools in the northwest corner of the state. When Farrell left the WPIAL almost two decades ago, shorter travel was among its reasons.

If Farrell were accepted back, Seltzer noted that WPIAL opponents could be traveling from a county or two away. In boys volleyball for example, the WPIAL has no teams in Lawrence County.

“You’re talking Beaver County schools and maybe some from Butler having to travel over an hour,” Seltzer said. “The board said that just isn’t feasible.”

The PIAA lists Farrell as competing in football, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, competitive spirit, boys and girls volleyball, swimming and track and field.

The school’s updated PIAA enrollment — 80 boys and 74 girls — qualifies for Class A competition the next two seasons, though the Steelers often play voluntarily in a higher classification. In the current two-year cycle, boys basketball “played up” to Class 4A, and football, girls basketball and boys volleyball competed in 2A.

In football, Neshannock and Mohawk are the WPIAL’s only Class 2A-sized schools in Lawrence County for the next two seasons, unless Laurel, Shenango or Union plays up.

Seltzer noted that while longer drives on Friday nights might be accepted, making the same trips on weeknights in the winter aren’t as easy. The WPIAL schedules already includes long drives for some schools, but Seltzer said none of those currently go to Mercer County, which no longer is part of the WPIAL’s footprint.

Farrell first joined the WPIAL in 1944 and had great success.

The girls volleyball team won 20 WPIAL titles, which remains a league record. The boys basketball team won 13 titles, which ranks third in WPIAL history. The football team has six WPIAL titles.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.