Times' high school notebook: PIAA football matchups, locations set

When the PIAA officially sanctioned girls wrestling on May 17, it created quite a stir throughout the state.

That date, at least to staunch advocates of the sport, was considered a giant step forward for wrestling.

Girls wrestling would now be an official high school sport in Pennsylvania.

The PIAA contends that girls wrestling has gained a tremendous amount of popularity and participation over the last few years, and it expects that growth to continue in the next few years.

That may happen, especially on the grass roots level.

But as of right now, the PIAA sanction hasn’t had a major effect in the WPIAL or at schools in the Beaver County Times coverage area.

Let’s just say it’s had a mild ripple effect.

As of April 21, 108 high schools in the state had already started girls wrestling programs that basically competed independently. Of those 108 schools, 16 were from the WPIAL: North Allegheny, Canon-McMillan, Connellsville, Kiski Area, Southmoreland, Plum, Fort Cherry, Seneca Valley, Laurel, Mount Lebanon, Moon, Burgettstown, Pine-Richland, Penn Hills, Trinity and Peters Township.

Since then, 10 more schools started girls wrestling programs, including one WPIAL school, Upper St. Clair on June 19.

“It’s really good for the girls. It gives them another opportunity to participate and compete,” said Frank Vulcano, the athletic director at Canon McMillan and chairperson of the WPIAL wrestling committee. “More schools will start recognizing girls wrestling as a sport and hopefully, over time, it will evolve.”

In the BCT coverage area, the only high school with a girls varsity wrestling team is Moon. The Tigers started their girls wrestling program on Oct. 24, 2022.

This year, West Allegheny has a girls club wrestling team which isn’t sanctioned by the PIAA.

Beaver wants to start a girls wrestling program this season, even though it only has one girl out for the team. But before the PIAA sanctions the Beaver girls team, it must first get approval from the Beaver school board.

Other Beaver County area schools that have boys wrestling programs – Ambridge, Blackhawk, Central Valley, Ellwood City, Freedom, Hopewell, Quaker Valley and South Side – do not have girls wrestling programs.

Several of those schools have had a few girls wrestle with boys teams over the years. Some of those schools don’t have any girl wrestlers this year. Generally speaking, there hasn’t been enough interest at those schools to start a girls program.

“I thought it was long overdue,” Quaker Valley boys coach Austin Heinl said of the PIAA’s decision to officially sanction girls wrestling. “It’s great that our state is now part of one of the fastest growing sports.”

While QV won’t have girls wrestling on the varsity level, it will start a girls youth wrestling program. That’s how the boys program at QV evolved over the years. The Quakers’ boys varsity program started seven years ago and has developed into one of the best programs in the WPIAL. In 2022, Quaker Valley won the WPIAL Class 2A team title by ending Burrell’s 15-year run as champs.

“It’s a no-brainer that we will build interest in girls wrestling at the youth level,” Heinl said. “Once interest rises, we could start middle school and varsity wrestling for girls when the numbers are there.”

While there aren’t any official details as of now, the WPIAL and PIAA do plan on staging official championships for girls wrestling this season.

COLIN CHECKAN SUCCEEDS “BEAR” McCOY AT SOUTH SIDE

One of the most consistent and most stable wrestling programs historically in the Beaver County area is South Side.

Year in and year out, the Rams have produced their share of quality wrestlers who routinely stack up wins and advance deep in post-season tournaments.

One reason for that success has been the men who have coached wrestling at South Side.

In 2009, Ron Ledbetter resigned after 15 seasons as coach. He was succeeded by Jerry “Bear” McCoy, a 1992 South Side graduate who was one of the Rams’ all-time greats.

After the 2022-2023 season, McCoy resigned after 14 years as coach. Combined, Ledbetter and McCoy gave South Side 29 consecutive seasons of coaching stability.

Now the new coach is Colin Checkan, who’s another of the Rams’ all-time greats.

Checkan, a 2010 grad, ranks third on South Side’s all-time wins list with 135. He only trails Nathan Reckner (147) and David DeMor (137).

Checkan has been an assistant at South Side for the past two years.

“It’s been an invaluable experience coaching under ‘Bear’ the past two years,” Checkan said. “He has so much wrestling knowledge. I learned so much from him.”

PIAA SEMIFINALS SITES FOR QUIPS AND TIGERS

The football teams from Aliquippa and Beaver Falls will continue their quest for a state championship at 7 p.m. Friday when they play semifinal games in the PIAA playoffs.

Aliquippa (12-0), which won its third straight WPIAL 4A title on Friday with a win over McKeesport, will next play District 4 champ Selinsgrove (13-0-1). That game will be played at Central Cambria High School in Ebensburg.

For Aliquippa, that will be a 95-mile bus ride that will take an estimated time of one hour and 50 minutes.

Selinsgrove, which is located about 50 miles north of Harrisburg, will have a 128-mile bus ride that will take an estimated two hours and 11 minutes.

Meanwhile, the 9-5 Tigers, who won their second WPIAL 2A title in the last four years on Friday with an upset win over Steel Valley, will next play Pittsburgh City League champ Westinghouse (12-0) at West Allegheny High School’s Joe B. DiMichela Stadium. So the Tigers and Bulldogs will have relatively short bus rides, maybe 40 minutes long, to West Allegheny.

HIGH SCHOOL HOOPS COMING TO PPG PAINTS ARENA

For the first time since it opened in 2010, PPG Paints Arena will be the site for high school basketball.

A new holiday high school basketball invitational – the inaugural Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Classic – will be played on Wednesday, Dec. 27 at the home venue of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins.

The one-day event features three boys games and one girls game. The boys and girls teams from Lincoln Park will be playing.

In the last of the four games, it will be Lincoln Park vs. North Catholic at 8 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s WPIAL Class 4A championship game.

The other games:

West Mifflin vs. McKeesport (boys), 2 p.m.

Lincoln Park vs. West Allegheny (girls), 4 p.m.

Allderdice, last year’s Pittsburgh City League champs, vs. Fox Chapel (boys), 6 p.m.

KDKA radio will broadcast all four games.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com.

TWO MOON GIRLS EARN ALL-STATE SOCCER HONORS

Of the 12 WPIAL players selected to the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association all-state team, two were from Moon.

They’re goalkeeper Serayah Leech and defender Gabrielle Larson, who are seniors who helped the Tigers win their third straight PIAA 3A title.

Leech, who recorded a WPIAL record 55 career shutouts, is an Indiana University of Pennsylvania recruit. She will play for the East team in the 11th annual Girls’ Soccer High School All-American Game on Dec. 9 in Charleston, S.C.

Larson, who has played basketball at Moon the past three years, will play NCAA Division I college soccer at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Times' high school notebook: PIAA football matchups, locations set