WPIAL reveals fall championship sites: football finals at Acrisure Stadium, Norwin

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, August 15, 2022 | 3:55 PM

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The WPIAL has chosen Norwin to host the Class 5A and 6A football finals, the two championship games that won’t be played at Acrisure Stadium this year.

The list of fall sites was revealed Monday. The WPIAL already had scheduled four games at Acrisure Stadium on Nov. 25 but needed an alternate venue for the 5A and 6A finals that must be played a week earlier.

The games at Norwin are Nov. 19.

“Norwin has held our championships in the past, and they do a great job,” said WPIAL administrator Vince Sortino, the league’s chief operating officer.“They’re familiar with what we want and what we expect.”

Using Acrisure Stadium both weekends wasn’t an option.

A year ago, the WPIAL rented the Steelers’ stadium on consecutive days, but using the venue on consecutive weekends wasn’t a consideration because of scheduling conflicts, Sortino said. Pitt hosts Duke on Nov. 19, and the Steelers host the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 20.

Sortino said the Steelers wouldn’t want games three days in a row on the grass.

The Steelers and Pitt work with schedulers at the NFL and ACC to keep the stadium available one weekend each year for the WPIAL. Pitt plays at Miami (Fla.) on Nov. 26, and the Steelers have a Monday night game at Indianapolis Nov. 28.

“The Steelers have been just fantastic with us over the years,” Sortino said. “They’re always willing to help accommodate us and bring our championships down there.”

In future years, if schedules and finances are accommodating, the WPIAL would consider another two-day event on the same weekend or two separate weekends, Sortino said.

The five-game, two-day schedule last year at the North Shore stadium was profitable, he said, noting the WPIAL needs to sell around 15,000 tickets each year.

Sortino said much of the cost for renting the stadium goes to gameday expenses.

“If Jimmie Sacco and the Steelers didn’t work with us and want us there, we’d be paying a lot, lot more,” Sortino said.

Sacco is the Steelers’ vice president of stadium operations and management.

“They really go out of their way to make our event happen, to accommodate us and our championships,” Sortino said. “Our relationship with them is invaluable. Without them, we definitely wouldn’t be able to go down there.”

The state playoff brackets are to blame for the WPIAL championships being split over two weekends. The WPIAL 5A and 6A champions enter the state playoffs a week earlier than the four other classifications.

Norwin has hosted a number of WPIAL football finals over the past four years. Most recently, the 2021 Class 6A final between Mt. Lebanon and Central Catholic was held at Norwin’s stadium. The school also hosted Class 5A and 2A finals in 2019 and the 5A final in 2018.

Norwin’s stadium seats close to 6,000.

“We love hosting events here,” Norwin athletic director Mike Burrell said. “We are blessed with great facilities. Our football stadium is outstanding, and we continue to make improvements. … We consider hosting events a big honor. It’s great for our district, our community and it’s great for local businesses.”

Among the other fall championship sites, the boys and girls soccer finals return to Highmark Stadium on Nov. 2-4 or Nov. 3-5, depending on the Riverhounds’ playoff schedule.

Cross country is at Cal (Pa.) on Oct. 27, and Robert Morris will host the girls volleyball finals Nov. 5.

North Allegheny and Bethel Park will host singles and doubles championships in girls tennis. The singles finals are Sept. 21-22, and the doubles are Oct. 5-6. Washington & Jefferson will host the team tennis finals Oct. 19.

W&J also will host field hockey championships Oct. 29.

The WPIAL will use three courses for the individual golf championships. The Class 2A boys are at Oakmont Country Club on Oct. 4, and Allegheny Country Club hosts the Class 3A boys Oct. 6. The Class 2A and 3A girls play Oct. 3 at Valleybrook Country Club.

The team golf championships are Oct. 13 at Cedarbrook Golf Club.

TJ quarterback ineligible

Thomas Jefferson quarterback Luke Kosko remained ineligible for his sophomore season after the PIAA upheld an earlier WPIAL decision, said WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer.

Kosko, a transfer from Seton LaSalle, was initially ruled ineligible after an Aug. 1 hearing with the WPIAL board. In that hearing, the WPIAL found his transfer to be athletically motivated, a decision Thomas Jefferson appealed to the PIAA.

Kosko’s appeal was heard Friday and the PIAA panel sided unanimously with the WPIAL, Seltzer said.

Belle Vernon transfer approved

The WPIAL granted full eligibility to Belle Vernon sophomore Anthony Crews, a transfer from Monessen. Crews had an eligibility hearing last week with the WPIAL.

The 5-foot-11, 165-pound running back was a contributor as a freshman for the Greyhounds. He had 121 yards rushing and scored on a 92-yard run and a 76-yard pass in a 24-6 win over Charleroi last year.

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.