Top 10: High school football’s banner season top local sports story in 2023
1. High school football
There have been many outstanding football players who have come from this corner of the state. Some of those players have ended up enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The area also has produced plenty of good high school football teams, some of them WPIAL champions and PIAA champions that made for memorable seasons. However, there has never been a high school football season in the local area quite like the one that ended earlier this month. It was one that provided excitement and a sense of community pride for months.
The area produced three WPIAL champions for the first time in history, one repeat state champion, two state runners-up, the WPIAL passing, rushing, scoring and pass receptions leaders, and the top-rated recruit in Pennsylvania.
Belle Vernon won its second consecutive WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A championships, beating Avonworth for the district title and Northwestern Lehigh for the state crown.
Leopards running back Quinton Martin was the most coveted recruit in the state and eventually signed a letter of intent with Penn State.
Peters Township, with a high-powered offense and stingy defense, steamrolled opponents en route to a 15-1 record, winning the WPIAL Class 5A title over defending champion Pine-Richland. The only blemish on the Indians’ record was a loss to Imhotep Charter in the PIAA championship game. PT’s Nolan DiLucia led the WPIAL in passing yards with 3,131 to go with 30 touchdowns.
Fort Cherry, spearheaded by quarterback Matt Seig, the WPIAL leader in rushing (2,387 yards) and scoring (264 points), had a landmark season, winning the school’s first WPIAL Class A title, beating top-seeded South Side Beaver in the finals. The Rangers were undefeated until a loss to Steelton-Highspire in the PIAA title game. The Rangers finished the season with a 15-1 record.
2. Ella Menear
In less than 12 months, Ella Menear has gone from swimming for Mapletown, which has never had a team or even a pool at the high school, to winning her fifth and six WPIAL championships and a third PIAA gold medal, to committing to and competing in the Southeastern Conference for the University of Alabama to qualifying for the United States Olympic Swimming Trials.
Talk about making a splash.
Menear started her busy year by winning the WPIAL Class 2A 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard backstroke – giving her six district golds, which is believed to be the most ever won by an athlete from Greene County. At the PIAA Championships, Menear won her second consecutive gold medal in the 200 IM.
Menear moved on in the fall to Alabama, for whom she has been competing, primarily in the 200 backstroke and relay events.
She competed recently at the Almost Heaven LC Open on Dec. 18 in Morgantown, W.Va., held at The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park. It is the same pool Menear trained in while at Mapletown.
Menear swam the 100-meter backstroke in a personal-best time of 1:01.54 to not only win the race but qualify for the Olympic Trials, which will be held in Indianapolis in June.
3. High school wrestling
Washington County had two WPIAL team champions as Canon-McMillan won the Class 3A title and Burgettstown earned the Class 2A championship.
Waynesburg lost to the Big Macs in the championship dual meet on criteria, as Canon-McMillan had a 7-6 edge in bouts won after the score was tied at 28-28.
Canon-McMillan’s victory snapped Waynesburg’s run of district titles at three. The Big Macs own 22 WPIAL team championships. Canon-McMillan was fourth at the state dual meet tournament.
Burgettstown defeated Burrell, 31-24, for the Blue Devils’ first team title in 49 years. Burgettstown also won the team championship in 1958.
The Blue Devils advanced to the semifinals of the state team tournament, but lost the next two matches to finish in the top six.
Waynesburg’s Rocco Welsh won his second state championship with a 9-2 decision over Canon-McMillan’s Matt Furman at 172 pounds Welsh and teammate Mac Church were named to the 2023 Wrestling USA Senior All-America Teams.
Welsh was named the top wrestler in the country at 170 pounds.
4. Ryan Pajak
Ryan Pajak has set plenty of records during his high school career at Ringgold, but never won a state championship until this year.
That changed Nov. 6 when Pajak raced to the Class 2A cross country state title in a course-record time of 15:21 in Hershey. Pajak followed that performance three weeks later by winning the Foot Locker Cross Country Northeast Regional in a record-setting time of 14:50.6, which is a personal record for a 5K.
Pajak finished second to Butler’s Drew Griffith in the national championships on Dec. 9 in San Diego. Griffith and Pajak will be teammates next year at Notre Dame.
5. Burke’s big year
Canonsburg resident Ron Burke, the head of the Burke Racing Stable, Fredericktown, continues to train and develop some of the most successful horses in harness racing.
Burke, who is a strong candidate to win the Dan Patch Trainer of the Year award for a fourth time in his career, had earnings this year that exceeded $27 million and his horses won four different races for more than $500,000 each. He trained two Breeders Crown champions — 2-year-old filly pacer My Girl EJ and pacer Bythemissal, who is 4 years old.
Burke was the top trainer in the Grand Circuit standings for 2023. In May, he surpassed the $300 million mark for trainer earnings. He is the only harness racing conditioner to surpass $300 million career earnings.
6. High school soccer
Bentworth and Charleroi made history as they played in the first all-Washington County WPIAL boys soccer championship match, and the Bearcats emerged with a 3-2 overtime triumph in Class A after falling behind by two goals in the first half.
The Cougars rebounded from the loss, which was their first of the season, to reach the state finals for the first time. Charleroi suffered a 1-0 loss to Delaware County Christian to finish its season at 22-2.
The Cougars defeated Bentworth, 2-1, in the state semifinals and two times in the regular season. The Bearcats completed their season with a record of 20-3.
The South Fayette boys emerged as the eighth seed in Class 3A to win its 19th WPIAL championship with a 4-2 victory over Hampton. The Lions advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals before losing to eventual state champion Erie Cathedral Prep.
The girls team from South Fayette won the WPIAL Class 3A title with a 1-0 victory in double overtime against Moon. South Fayette’s run ended in the first round of the state tournament with a loss to section rival Montour.
7. Washington County in title game
The Washington County team in the Pony League World Series held in August came so close to ending a 67-year championship drought for the area as it advanced to the title game before losing to Edogawa, Japan, 8-2.
Not since 1998 had the host team reached the championship game of the Pony League World Series. And no local entry has won the PLWS since Washington in 1955.
The Washington County all-stars, playing in front of packed houses at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park, opened the PLWS with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Paderborn, Germany. Three days later, Washington County used an inside-the-park homer by Troy Stinson and defeated Monterrey, Mexico, 7-5. The two teams had to play again the same day, and in the nightcap Monterrey came away with a 4-2 victory. That forced a third game between the two teams the following morning, and Washington County rolled to a 9-5 win, which earned it a spot in the night’s championship game.
8. SF girls basketball
When South Fayette’s girls basketball team defeated Chartiers Valley for the WPIAL Class 5A championship in 2022, many local pundits considered the Lions’ victory to be an upset.
South Fayette proved in 2023 that it wasn’t a one-year wonder. The Lions repeated as WPIAL champions and in convincing fashion.
Led by Division I recruits Maddie Webber and Ava Leroux, South Fayette rolled to another WPIAL title and a state runner-up finish. Webber, the O-R’s Girls Basketball Player of the Year, averaged 17.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.6 steals per game as the Lions outscored the opposition by an average of 61.4 to 38.3.
South Fayette finished with a 28-3 record. The Lions defeated Oakland Catholic 64-49 for the WPIAL title. In the state final, South Fayette fell to Archbishop Wood, 61-54.
9. Peters Township golf
Oct. 18 will go down as a landmark day for high school golf in the area. That’s when Peters Township doubled its fun at the PIAA Class 3A Team Championships, winning state titles in both boys and girls competitions on Penn State University’s Blue Course.
Peters Township won the boys team title by two strokes over runner-up La Salle College. Third-place Unionville was 10 shots behind the Indians.
The girls team was more dominant, winning the championship by five strokes over runner-up Manheim Township and 13 over third-place finisher Conestoga.
10. Layton wins state pole vault
Waynesburg has a rich history of pole vaulting and the 2023 track and field season was no different as Raiders senior Andrew Layton vaulted to the PIAA Class 2A championship with a vault of 15-3 to best Pen Argyl senior Taylor LaBarre and Richland junior Logan Gossard.
What made Layton’s triumph even more impressive was the fact that he competed with a stress fracture and was wearing a walking boot on his left foot when not competing.
Layton only competed in four events during the outdoor season to rest his foot. Layton became the sixth Waynesburg pole vaulter to win a state championship.