The year 2025 in WPIAL sports saw a lot of history and unusual happenings that kept all three sports seasons exciting.
In our year-end tradition, Trib HSSN winds down the year with a daily countdown and a look back at the top 25 WPIAL stories from 2025.
The year saw a couple of basketball coaches go out on top and one surprisingly shown the door, one of the best girls basketball players finish at No. 2 all-time, one program continue a long streak of shining gold while another took an exhausting path to claim a first double gold.
Join us all week as we look back at the moments that stood out in a fun-filled high school sports ride throughout the last year.
Here is a look at district stories Nos. 15 through No. 11.
No. 15 – NA still golden
The most successful dynasty in WPIAL history belongs to the Bethel Park boys swim team that captured 20 consecutive WPIAL team championships from 1981-2000.
Alone in second place is the North Allegheny girls swimming team.
The Tigers captured their 17th straight championship in late February.
They have won the WPIAL girls 3A team title every year since 2009.
No. 14 – Wade-ing up to No. 2
A strong senior season with a berth in the district finals concluded one of the most successful careers in WPIAL girls basketball.
Clairton’s Iyanna Wade first became only the fourth girls hoops player in district history to eclipse the 3,000-point mark for her career in mid-February.
She finished her career after a loss in the PIAA first round in second place on the all-time scoring list, 245 points behind Gina Naccarato of Monessen.
Her senior season was good enough for a spot on the Trib HSSN Terrific 10 all-star team.
No. 13 – Exiting on top
Two successful basketball coaches determined that the 2024-2025 would be their last, so they went the way of Jerome Bettis and exited as champions.
One of the all-time great boys basketball coaches in district history announced shortly before the end of the regular season that he would be retiring as boys coach at Belle Vernon when the season was over.
While the Leopards lost in the PIAA playoffs, thus ending the career of long time Monessen and Belle Vernon coach Joey Salvino, they did give him one more championship on the way out as the Leopards held off North Catholic to win the WPIAL Class 4A title.
Pete Serio had made his mind up that he would retire after the season but didn’t announce anything until the season ended.
However, after playing district bridesmaid several times as Upper St. Clair girls basketball coach, Serio went out a winner after the Panthers captured the WPIAL Class 6A crown and a PIAA second-place finish.
No. 12 – Lackovich fired
Coming off a 2023 WPIAL championship, 2024 WPIAL and PIAA titles and a district runner-up 23-win season in 2025, Nick Lackovich was stunningly fired from his second stint as Aliquippa basketball coach.
The move raised eyebrows around the WPIAL and caused strong opinions to be aired in the Aliquippa school district.
There was a push for him to be rehired, but the district moved forward in search of a new boys basketball coach.
No. 11 – Marathon tribesmen
It was a historic run to WPIAL and PIAA gold for the Indiana baseball team, which decided it was a big fan of the scenic route rather than the direct path.
The top-seed Little Indians won three games in the WPIAL playoffs, two of which went beyond regulation of seven innings.
Indiana blanked Ambridge in the district quarterfinals in nine innings, 1-0, and outlasted Elizabeth Forward in the Class 4A district championship game in 11 innings, 4-2.
In the first round of the PIAA playoffs, the Little Indians needed 12 innings to turn back Bellefonte, 1-0.
Then in the semifinals, they broke the record for longest state postseason game when they needed two days and 17 innings to eliminate East Pennsboro, 6-5.
Somehow, some way, Indiana won its first PIAA title in seven innings when it edged Montoursville, 5-4.