Observer-Reporter’s Top 10 sports stories of 2024
1. Fort Cherry football repeats
The old sports adage says it’s more difficult to defend a championship than it is to win one the first time.
For the Fort Cherry High School football team, winning its second consecutive WPIAL Class A title seemed like a breeze for the first 13 weeks, then it took an amazing final drive and a play that will live forever in Rangers sports history to pull out a second championship.
Fort Cherry rolled to an undefeated regular season and the Black Hills Conference title. In the postseason, Fort Cherry steamrolled Brentwood (56-14), conference rival Cornell (27-20) and Jeannette (49-14) to reach the final at Acrisure Stadium against Clairton.
Clairton, with a defense that had allowed only three touchdowns all season, took a fourth-quarter lead but Fort Cherry put together an epic 82-yard TD drive to win the game, 21-20. The drive included a fourth-down conversion on a trick play, a pass from wide receiver Shane Cornali to running back Ryan Huey.
On fourth-and-5 at the Clairton 13-yard line, quarterback Matt Sieg, a Penn State recruit, appeared stopped for a loss but somehow lofted a pass to Huey, who caught it near the goal line for the game-tying touchdown and kicker Nik Massey booted the extra point that gave the Rangers their second consecutive title.
The season ended a week later in the PIAA semifinals with a loss to Port Allegany. Fort Cherry finished with a 14-1 record.
Sieg was the sparkplug of the team rushing for 1,840 yards, passing for 1,340 and 20 touchdowns and scoring 33 TDs.
2. High school soccer success
Bentworth had the best season in the history of its boys program, winning a second straight WPIAL Class A championship and advancing to the state final for the first time before dropping a 1-0 overtime setback to finish as state runner-up.
The Bearcats ended their season at 22-1 after losing to Lancaster Mennonite at Eagle View Middle School in Mechanicsburg.
Bentworth won the district title by defeating OLSH in a penalty-kick shootout, 5-4. Isaac Reynold scored the decisive goal, and Andrew Vipperman made the final save for the victory.
South Fayette repeated as the WPIAL Class 3A girls champion with a 4-0 triumph over Fox Chapel. The Lions scored on all four shots on target, as Mia Deramo had a pair of goals, and Gabby Beinecke and Emma Ferrari also scored.
South Fayette (20-4) defeated DuBois, 5-0, in the first round of the state tournament, but had its season end with a 1-0 loss to Mars in the quarterfinals.
The Peters Township girls (19-1-1) won the WPIAL Class 4A championship, beating Seneca Valley on penalty kicks in the final. The Indians were upset in the first round of the state tournament by Central Dauphin.
3. High school softball
The local high school softball scene has been a strong one for decades and 2024 was no exception as Chartiers-Houston and Carmichaels continued to dominate in Class A and Bentworth had a breakout season in Class 2A. And the best part is many of the key players in those storylines will be back in 2025.
Chartiers-Houston and Carmichaels were section rivals and met four times last season. The games did not lack tension and thrills.
C-H won the first meeting at Carmichaels, 6-5. In the rematch at C-H, Carmichaels won 7-5 in a game that lasted 15 innings and took two days to complete. They met again in the WPIAL semifinals at Montour and the Bucs came away with a 3-2 victory.
Chartiers-Houston went on to win the WPIAL championship, routing Union, 9-5.
C-H ran into Carmichaels again in the PIAA semifinals at Peterswood Park. The Mikes won that one, 5-4. Carmichaels, however, fell short of a state championship as the Mikes were blanked by DuBois Central Catholic, 2-0.
Bentworth, a team that did not have a senior on its roster, played above its experience level and put together a memorable 18-4 season and made it all the way to the WPIAL finals before losing to Neshanock, 3-0.
The Bearcats were sparked by freshman pitcher Sydney Gonglik, who led the WPIAL in wins, strikeouts and was one of its most feared hitters. In the WPIAL semifinals, Bentworth trailed by one run in the bottom of the seventh inning when Laurel intentionally walked Gonglik and put the potential winning run into scoring position. The Bearcats’ Sofia Gaussa followed with a two-run walk-off single that gave Bentworth a 2-1 win.
4. Cal football in PSAC final, NCAA quarters
The PennWest California football team’s season was as successful as it was unusual.
The Vulcans lost their season opener at Charleston (W.Va.) and their finale to Slippery Rock in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals. Between the losses, Cal reeled off nine wins in 10 games, including one over Slippery Rock before aloss to Kutztown in the PSAC championship game.
Early in the season it appeared that Cal couldn’t play a home game. Five of the Vulcans’ first six games were on the road. Then, the Vulcans played seven consecutive home games, including the PSAC title game and NCAA Division II playoff victories over East Stroudsburg (30-27) and Ashland (34-33) before suffering a home loss to Slippery Rock.
Cal center Jaheim Bassham and kicker Anthony Beitko were named first team Division II All-Americans by the Associated Press. The Vulcans finished ranked No. 12 in the final AP poll.
5. Girls wrestling
Success and Canon-McMillan wrestling have gone together since George Custer won the 95-pound PIAA championship for Canonsburg in 1938, which was the first state title for the program and the state of Pennsylvania.
Eighty-six years later, another Canon-McMillan trailblazer made history in wrestling, as the Big Macs’ Valarie Solorio pinned her way to the championship at 100 pounds for the inaugural PIAA title in girls wrestling.
Solorio, who finished her senior season at 16-0 and is now competing for the University of Iowa, was one of five Canon-McMillan wrestlers who earned a spot on the podium to help the Big Macs win the team championship with 93 points. Bishop McCort was runner-up with 81 points.
Canon-McMillan’s Natalie Rush was second at 190 and teammate Audrey Calgaro placed third at 170. Yunuen Ayala (118) and Dynisty Williams (155) took fifth.
Canon-McMillan was eighth in the Walsh Women’s Ironman and won the Powerade in front of a hometown crowd.
6. High school golf
The local area, though it has produced state and WPIAL champions, both individuals and teams, has never been known as a hotbed for high school golf. That might be changing.
The area produced three WPIAL individual champions this year, one WPIAL team champion and a repeat PIAA team winner.
In individual competition, Peters Township’s Colton Lusk shot a final round of 4-under par 67 at Oakmont Country Club to win the WPIAL Class 3A boys championship by five strokes. The finals were held over two rounds on two courses, Oakmont and Southpointe Golf Club.
McGuffey’s Logan Crowe won the WPIAL Class 2A boys championship with two terrific rounds, including a 3-over 75 in the final at Sewickley Heights Golf Club.
In the girls Class 3A competition, Peters Township’s Ellie Benson entered the final round with a three-stroke lead, and after completing 18 holes in the rain at Butler Country Club, the Peters Township junior not only held on to her advantage, but increased it to win her first district title.
Benson would play a key role in another championship. The PT girls repeated as WPIAL champions, and after 18 holes at the PIAA team event the Indians were tied with Manheim Township. Peters Township then garnered its second consecutive state title by winning a tension-filled playoff that lasted four holes. The Indians won a birdie putt by Benson.
7. Fort Cherry relay team
Matt Sieg is known as a difference maker in football.
The same can be said for track and field, as he helped Fort Cherry win the WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A Championships in the 400-meter relay, which was a first in school history.
Sieg, who ran the anchor leg for the Rangers, was joined by Dylan Wudkwych, Tegan Henke and Shane Cornali to win WPIAL gold at Slippery Rock University and the PIAA title at Shippensburg University.
Fort Cherry didn’t have much trouble winning the district championship but had to rally for the state title after having some trouble with the handoff on the first exchange. Mercyhurst Prep had the lead over the Rangers when Sieg retrieved the baton from Cornali for the anchor leg. The sophomore sprinted to victory in a season-best time of 42.43.
8. Ringgold forfeits game
The Ringgold High School football program was shut down for a week in October and the Rams were forced to cancel a game against Thomas Jefferson because of what was described as “alleged incidents of misconduct” by members of the team.
The “alleged incidents” were brought to the attention of Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh. After an investigation, Walsh sent a letter to Ringgold’s administrators and school board stating that the matter was closed. The district administration also investigated and said the alleged violations were isolated to a small group of football players.
Some parents of Ringgold students wrote on social media that the “alleged incidents” were “just boys being boys.”
9. South Fayette’s three-peat
Did anybody say dynasty? The South Fayette girls basketball certainly qualifies as one.
The Lions had a 19-9 record in 2023-24 but won the school’s third consecutive WPIAL Class 5A championship. The Lions defeated Mars, Trinity and McKeesport to reach the title game and knocked off Armstrong, 70-63.
South Fayette was stopped short of a second consecutive trip to the PIAA finals when it lost to WPIAL rival Oakland Catholic in the second round.
10. Wild Things come close, again
It was more of the same for the Wild Things in 2024. Washington made the playoffs again, won another division title and had one more round of postseason frustration.
The Wild Things moved into first place in the Frontier League’s West Division in late June and remained there the rest of the way, winning their ninth division title and third since 2021. Washington had a franchise-best 67-28 record and won the West by eight games over second-place Gateway.
The Wild Things swept Lake Erie in the division finals to face defending champion Quebec in the best-of-5 championship series. Washington was three outs away from forcing Game 5, but Quebec scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, which included a walk-off three-run homer that gave the Capitales the championship.