TribLive Westmoreland Sports Year in Review
Top 10 local stories of 2025
See that trophy on the shelf? Slide it over a few inches. Now, keep going.
And those banners dangling from the rafters? Those are going to need updated.
Westmoreland County needs a lot more room for awards and numbers on the wall after a year of championships.
The 2025 local sports year saw teams and individuals bring home WPIAL and PIAA titles in wrestling, basketball, softball, track and field, swimming, tennis and cross country.
10. Brown makes Leopards history
Elijah Brown of Belle Vernon became his school’s first PIAA wrestling champion, defeating another competitor from Westmoreland County to take the 215-pound title in Hershey.
Brown, a junior, edged Kiski Area’s Cooper Roscosky, 4-3, in the Class 3A title match. He scored a takedown with 2 seconds remaining for the win to finish the season 48-1.
Brown initially committed to Pitt but later flipped to Penn State.
9. Panthers back on top
Franklin Regional returned to the top of the WPIAL team wrestling medal stand by winning its first district title since 2015. The Panthers, led by coach Matt Lebe, rallied to defeat top-seeded Connellsville, 32-25, in the Class 3A final
Franklin Regional won seven matches, but key wins came from Beau Fennick (107) and Titus Colangelo (114).
“These guys believe they can win,” Lebe said. “We’re a very good team from one to 13. We’re good as anyone.”
8. Hempfield softball reigns supreme
Title 9 was a fun ride for the Hempfield softball team. The Spartans held off rival Seneca Valley and star pitcher Lexie Hames, 1-0, to take the WPIAL Class 6A championship, their ninth title overall and seventh in the last 10 years.
“It’s surreal,” Hempfield center fielder Claire Mitchell said. “I never felt so emotional.”
Kent State recruit Riley Miller pitched a complete-game shutout and let her defense clean up the contact in the victory.
Allie Cervola, an Ohio commit, had the only RBI.
7. Norwin sweeps WPIAL track and field
It was quite a run for Norwin. The Knights’ track and field teams pulled a championship sweep at the WPIAL finals, with the boys winning their first title since 1977, and the girls taking their first title since 2008.
The girls went on to win the PIAA title, their first.
Momentum spilled into cross country season when the Norwin girls won WPIAL and PIAA titles — in blowout fashion.
“The girls were confident, and they took care of business,” Norwin coach Brian Fleckenstein said.
The Knights’ Ben McBride won the WPIAL Class 3A individual cross country championship.
Fleckenstein, who has piloted the Knights’ success in cross country, was named the state coach of the year for the sport.
6. GCC girls defend crown
With standout point guard Erica Gribble leading the way, the Greensburg Central Catholic girls basketball team rallied past rival Shady Side Academy to win their second straight WPIAL championship.
Gribble had 24 of her game-high 31 points in the second half as the Centurions won 56-51 at Petersen Events Center.
Another key guard, Jayla Peterson, had 15 points — eight in the final quarter — as GCC won a 3A title after winning 2A the previous season. It was the program’s seventh title overall.
“Erica and Jayla were on another level in the last eight minutes,” GCC coach Chris Skatell said. “They took over.”
Gribble carried momentum into this season when she broke the girls and boys career scoring marks at GCC.
5. Warriors claim state gold
Penn-Trafford made a highlight-filled run to its second PIAA softball championship in six years as the Warriors downed Greencastle-Antrim, 2-0, in the Class 5A final at Penn State.
Back-to-back doubles by Liz Welsh and Ella Mains produced the offense, while ace pitcher Allyson Paulone tossed a three-hit shutout.
Penn-Trafford finished 24-3. Paulone went 20-3.
“We’ve had so many heroes come through for us,” coach Denny Little said. “It’s been a different girl all year.”
4. Mazzoni’s javelin 3-peat
A repeat is impressive. But a three-peat turns heads.
Derry’s Sophia Mazzoni continued her run as one of the WPIAL’s elite javelin throwers, winning her third straight title, this time in Class 3A after two titles in 2A, with a throw of 156 feet at Slippery Rock.
“It feels great to win again,” Mazzoni said. “I am glad that I could keep that consistency here.”
Mazzoni, an Auburn commit, added her second PIAA title with a throw of 158-2 at the state finals in Shippensburg. It was Derry’s first state title by a female athlete.
3. Jayhawks roll to 2nd hoops championship
Jeannette returned to the top of the WPIAL boys basketball mountain, winning its first title since 2008.
The Jayhawks were dominant in the Class 2A final, ripping past Union, 63-39, at Petersen Events Center for their second title.
Said then-sophomore guard Jayce Powell: “No moment is ever too big for us.”
The title was the first for longtime Jayhawks’ leader Adrian Batts as a head coach.
2. Salvino goes out a winner
Joe Salvino, the longtime boys basketball coach at Monessen, went out a winner in his seventh and final season at Belle Vernon. The veteran coach guided the Leopards to a WPIAL Class 4A title, their first championship in boys basketball since 1978.
Salvino has 745 wins in 41 seasons, the second most wins in WPIAL boys hoops history.
Belle Vernon rallied past North Catholic, 54-49, in the title game at Petersen Events Center.
“When you are a coach and this is your final hurrah and you win a WPIAL championship,” Salvino said, “it doesn’t get any better than this, I don’t think.”
With Jeannette also winning a title, this was the first year in Westmoreland history where two local boys basketball teams won championships in the same season.
1. King makes WPIAL history
“Sweet 16.” Lily King remained the queen of WPIAL swimming, achieving a WPIAL and PIAA sweep for her prep career, meaning the Mt. Pleasant senior won the maximum 16 titles — eight WPIAL and eight state.
No WPIAL swimmer had accomplished the feat before.
King won the 100-yard freestyle in a PIAA-record 47.31 seconds at the state meet at Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium to reach WPIAL greatness and cap a legendary career.
Mt. Pleasant also won its third straight PIAA team title.
King, a N.C. State commit, became just the second WPIAL swimmer (Gateway alum Michelle Chow was the first) to win eight state titles.
King also set a state record in the 50 free as a freshman and won four titles in that event. She also took four 200 free titles.
King set WPIAL marks in the 100 free, 50 free and 200 free.
Over the summer, King was part of a world record-breaking relay team. The 400 relay of King, Rylee Erisman, Liberty Clark and Julie Michler posted a time of 3 minutes, 35.53 seconds at the World Juniors in Otopeni, Romania.
Other notable storylines:
• Warren Schaeffer, a former Greensburg Central Catholic standout shortstop, was promoted to manager of the Colorado Rockies.
He initially became interim manager when the team fired Bud Black in May. Schaeffer had been the team’s third base coach.
Schaffer, 40, is the eighth manager in Rockies’ history. He was a 38th-round draft pick of the team in 2007 out of Virginia Tech.
• Palmer Jackson won his first professional golf tournament. But the win carried special meaning that went beyond its obvious significance. The former Franklin Regional PIAA champion and Notre Dame standout won the Raiffeisenbank Challenge in Brno, Czech Republic and dedicated the victory to Nancy Palmer, his mother who was home with ongoing health issues.
He finished the HotelPlanner Tour event at 21-under-par 263, closing with a 7-under 64 to seal it at Kaskada Golf Resort.
• Penn-Trafford’s Mia Williams capped her prep career by winning a PIAA Class 3A tennis singles championship. Williams won in straight sets, downing West Chester Henderson’s Erika Dunwoody, 6-3, 6-0, at Hershey Racquet Club.
• Belle Vernon’s Max Henson, playing as an individual all postseason since Belle Vernon does not have a boys tennis team, captured the PIAA Class 2A championship in Hershey. He won the title with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Samir Roberts-Mouzon of Carver Engineering & Science.
• Gabi Dusi of Belle Vernon won her third straight WPIAL Class 2A singles tennis title. She also took second in the state.
• Nationally ranked wrestler Landon Sidun of Norwin committed to Penn State.
• Quarterback Anthony Smith transferred to Seton LaSalle, but when he was ruled ineligible by the PIAA, he decided to leave the state. He transferred again, to Fairmont Senior (W.Va.), where he threw for 2,279 yards and 26 touchdowns. He has several Division I scholarship offers.
• The Hempfield boys won their first WPIAL team cross country championship.
• Mazzoni wasn’t the only local state champion in track and field. Others included Jerry Davis of Greensburg Central Catholic (400 meters) and John Jablunovsky of Ligonier Valley (high jump).
• Norwin unveiled details to demolish the home side of Norwin Knights Stadium and rebuild a new, $25.4 million stadium which will open in two years. Teams that play there in 2026 will play home games on the road.
• Greensburg Salem alum Brennan Marion, after one year as head coach at Sacramento State, left to join Deion Sanders’ staff at Colorado.
It is Marion’s 10th college coaching stop in as many years.
• Sue Hozak, a Norwin alum, picked up her 700th career win as women’s volleyball coach at Saint Vincent. The milestone came in a 3-0 sweep of Geneva in October.
• Longtime Seton Hill women’s volleyball coach Rick Hall retired after 41 seasons. Hall finished with a record of 822-453.
• The Jeannette, Hempfield and Penn-Trafford communities mourned the death of football coach T.J. Detruf, a Penn-Trafford assistant who died unexpectedly in July.
Detruf was a standout quarterback at Jeannette and his son, Dom, was the starting QB at Hempfield this season. Dom changed his number from No. 11 to 18 to honor his father. T.J. wore No. 18 when he played.
• Octavia Walker (170 pounds) and Josephine Dollman (148) won back-to-back WPIAL girls wrestling championships. Karsyn Champion, another Norwin girl, won her first title (155).
• Chris Snyder stepped down as athletic director at Seton Hill after 21 years. The university opted for a by-committee approach to running the athletic department until a new AD is hired.
• Belle Vernon basketball standout Zion Moore reached 2,000 career points. He became the 39th player in WPIAL history and just the 10th in Westmoreland history to hit the milestone.
• Veteran Hempfield boys basketball coach Bill Swan was investigated for unspecified reasons and eventually resigned after his second stint with the program.
Former Latrobe star Austin Butler was later hired as his replacement, taking over the Spartans with no varsity head coaching experience.
• Belle Vernon football coach Matt Humbert stepped down after 11 seasons, a run that included 94 wins, two WPIAL championships and two PIAA titles.
• Former Norwin standout pitcher Jake Bazala, who had a productive career at Mercyhurst during the school’s transition from Division II to Division I athletics, was drafted by baseball’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Bazala was a 10th-round draft pick of the Savannah Bananas, a traveling road show that entertains fans with a fun approach and non-stop action.
The Bananas sold out two “shows” last year at PNC Park.
• Brian Pritts of Southmoreland was named WPIAL Athletic Director of the Year. The honor comes just two years into his tenure.