Jan 16, 2015 4 min read

After securing oral commitments from three of the WPIAL’s top senior high school football players, Duquesne added another prospect to its 2015 recruiting class.

Washington High School senior lineman Zack Blystone committed to join the Dukes this fall after taking his official visit Saturday.

“It’s a relief. I really like it there. It’s a great education and I love the coaching staff,” Blystone said. “They really made me feel at home. They are really good people and when I met some of the players, I really loved them.”

Blystone, who plans to major in athletic training, joins a freshman class at Duquesne that will include South Fayette quarterback Brett Brumbaugh, North Catholic running back P.J. Fulmore and Pine-Richland wide receiver D’Ondre Gastion.

The senior lineman was a key cog for the Prexies last season, helping lead Wash High to the WPIAL Class AA semifinals and an Interstate Conference title. Blystone was imposing as a defensive lineman, recording 41 tackles, 17 for a loss and 5 1/2 sacks.

“He was consistently dominating week in and week out,” Wash High head coach Mike Bosnic said. “We were able to get a really physical presence on the field. He was able to really dominate the line of scrimmage for us. He was able to add another dimension and neutralized the line of scrimmage.”

It was not long ago that Blystone’s dream of playing college football seemed uncertain. Blystone, who transferred to Wash High from Charleroi prior to his junior year, was declared ineligible by the WPIAL and PIAA, which both cited his move was motivated by athletic intent.

The 6-2, 278-pound two-way lineman was declared eligible to play against Brownsville Oct. 4, 2013, but only took a few snaps and was declared ineligible for the remainder of the season just days later.

Missing his junior season was detrimental to his chances of playing college football. College coaches did not have much game film on Blystone, but the Wash High student focused on improving on the field and in the classroom.

Last January, Blystone grabbed coaches’ attention when he participated in the U.S. Army National Combine in San Antonio, Texas, where he bench pressed 185 pounds 28 times and ran a 40-yard dash in 5.16 seconds.

He also drastically improved his grade point average and scored more than 1,000 on the SAT.

“All I wanted to do was put that behind me and have a good senior year. I knew I had to have a good year because I missed my junior season,” Blystone said. “As soon I found out I was going to miss the year, I started lifting and working toward my senior year to make this happen.”

Chartiers-Houston won its second consecutive WPIAL Class A championship in competitive spirt last week at Hempfield High School, edging Laurel for the title.

The Bucs will compete in the PIAA Class A preliminary round Jan. 23 in Hershey. The semifinals and championship rounds will be held the next day.

Chartiers-Houston advanced to the semifinals at last year’s state championships.

The first practice date for spring sports is March 3, but before that, the winter sports will conclude with championship events.

The WPIAL Team Rifle Championships are scheduled for Feb. 10 and the individual championshipwill be held two days later.

The WPIAL Gymnastics Champions will be held Feb. 14 at Moon High School. The WPIAL Class AAA Diving Championships will be held Feb 16 at North Allegheny with the Class AA championships at Moon two days later.

The swimming championships will be Feb. 20-21 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool with the state championships three weeks later at Bucknell University.

The WPIAL basketball playoffs will begin Feb. 12 and will conclude with championship games Feb. 27-28.