Year in Review: Bentworth soccer dominance top local sports story of 2025
Here is a look back at the Observer-Reporter’s top 10 sports stories of 2025.
1. Bentworth boys soccer wins 1st PIAA title
One thing in the local sports world that became clear in 2025 is that small school soccer runs through the towns of Bentleyville and Ellsworth.
A storybook season for the Bentworth boys soccer team ended with a 1-0 win in overtime over Delco Christian in the PIAA Class A championship on Nov. 15 at Northeastern High School in Manchester.
It was the Bearcats’ first state title and finished off a 25-0 season.
The game-winning goal fittingly enough came from the Moessner brothers, Adam and Ryan.
The two brothers Ryan, a senior, and Adam, a sophomore, that revolutionized Bentworth soccer linked up one final time for state gold. Ryan, from the midfield, played a long throughball that Adam tracked down and deposited into the net before ripping his jersey off in celebration.
Prior to achieving state gold, the Bentworth boys finished off a WPIAL three-peat with a 3-1 victory over Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at Highmark Stadium on October 30 behind two goals from Ryan and one from Adam.
They weren’t the only Bentworth team to win that day.
A couple hours earlier, the Bentworth girls team won their first WPIAL Class A title, 1-0 over Sewickley Academy. Brielle Dillon had the game-winning goal.
The girls team’s historic season ended with a loss to McConnellsburg in the first round of the state playoffs.
2. Girls basketball season
When the ball was tipped at Giant Center in March, not many people thought South Fayette would beat four-time defending Class 5A state champion Archbishop Wood.
That didn’t matter to the girls wearing green jerseys, because they went out on the court and pulled off a stunning, but convincing, 45-37 win on March 29.
Juliette Leroux led the way with 15 points and Ryan Oldaker scored 10 for the Lions, who won their first state title after seeing their bid for a WPIAL four-peat end at the hands of local rival Peters Township.
Led by Miami (Fla.) recruit and Observer-Reporter Player of the Year Natalie Wetzel, the Indians topped South Fayette, 40-36. Bri Morreale had a clutch three-pointer in the final minute that gave the Indians the lead.
South Fayette got its revenge in the state semifinals, beating Peters Township 50-36 at Canon-McMillan. Sophomore point guard Lailah Wright led the Lions with 14 points. Oldaker had 13 points.
3. PT football wins 2nd WPIAL title in 3 years
The way Peters Township won its second WPIAL title in three years will be remembered for years to come.
Down 19-0, and seemingly out after mustering 38 yards of offense in the first half, the Indians pulled off one of the most stunning comebacks in WPIAL football championship history to win 20-19 over Pine-Richland on Nov. 22 at Acrisure Stadium.
It was the rubber match between the teams, who met in the finals for the third straight year. Peters Township won in 2023 and Pine-Richland in 2024.
Pine-Richland dominated the first half, scoring three touchdowns in an end zone that had fireworks going off in the background for Light up Night festivities in downtown Pittsburgh.
But a Cole Neupaver 75-yard touchdown run lit a spark in the Indians in the third quarter. It was the first of three he scored, including a 1-yard plunge for the go-ahead score.
Nolan DiLucia had two long completions on fourth-down plays in the second half, one to Lucas Rost and the other to Reston Lehman, that kept scoring drives alive.
The Indians’ defense stood tall in the second half, holding Pine-Richland to 54 yards.
4. Fatal crash at The Meadows
The local harness racing community was shaken by the tragic death of driver Hunter Myers in March.
Myers was driving Always B royalty in the 11th race at Hollywood Casino The Meadows on March 19 when another horse in the race appeared to break stride, causing a chain-reaction crash that threw Myers backward and onto the track.
Medics tended to Myers, 27, on the track and he was transported by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital. He died the next morning from his injuries.
The 12th and 13th races at the North Strabane track were canceled following the incident, as were all cards for the remainder of the week.
Myers, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, was considered a rising star in the industry, driving mainly at The Meadows and Northfield Park near Cleveland. Myers drove in 2,450 races and had more than $23.8 million in purse earnings during his career. He ranked among the top 10 drivers in North America in 2022 and 2024.
5. Matt Sieg’s season
Those who watched Fort Cherry quarterback Matt Sieg throughout his career often expected the unexpected – a highlight-reel play they’ve never seen before, a school or WPIAL record set, etc.
Sieg’s senior year was chalk full of surprises, records and breath-taking plays. It started last offseason when he committed to play football, as a safety, at Penn State in 2026, under head coach James Franklin.
This fall, Sieg was as good as ever on the field. Battling through an injured shoulder that limited his throwing, Sieg was still the Black Hills Conference Offensive MVP with 1,774 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns. He set the Fort Cherry career rushing record and established WPIAL records for touchdowns scored (139) and total yardage (12,592).
The two-time defending WPIAL Class A champion Rangers rolled through the regular season undefeated and made it to the semifinals before their offense had trouble scoring and the defense couldn’t get off the field in a surprising 24-14 loss to Laurel. It prevented Fort Cherry from becoming the first area school to win three consecutive WPIAL championships.
Meanwhile, Penn State endured a stunning losing streak and Franklin was fired midseason. Shortly thereafter, Sieg announced that he was opening his recruitment. Franklin was hired as Virginia Tech’s head coach in November, but on Dec. 3, Sieg surprised some when he announced that he was signing a letter of intent to play at West Virginia under head coach Rich Rodriguez.
6. Burke’s big year
For harness racing trainer Ron Burke and the Burke Racing Stable Fredericktown, it doesn’t get much better than 2025.
A Canonsburg resident, Burke had a record-setting year, capped by winning the Dan Patch Awards’ Trainer of the Year. Burke and the partnership of Weaver Bruscemi LLC (Mark Weaver and Mike Bruscemi) and Burke Racing Stable LLC (Weaver Bruscemi LLC in combination of Burke family matriarch Sylvia) were named Owners of the Year.
The group was the leader in the owners’ earnings derby. Their horses won more than $6 million in 2025.
Lexus Kody was the group’s top money-winning horse at $1,371,651, while Louprint earned $1,025,971, along with a pair of $750,000-plus winners in Loua Dipa and Breeders Crown champion Sippinonsearoc. Louprint, in his 3-year-old season, won the $1 million North America Cup and the prestigious 80th Little Brown Jug.
7. High school wrestling
Though 2025 brought fewer gold medals to the area than in recent years, there were some stellar performances, especially by a girls lightweight at Canon-McMillan and a hulking boy from Belle Vernon.
C-M’s Marlee Solomon won the girls 112-pound state title in Hershey with a 14-0 major decision over Conneaut’s Daylee Wilson in the championship match. It concluded a season in which she went 39-3 and also earned a WPIAL title.
Brown won a 4-3 decision over Kiski’s Cooper Roscosky in the finals at 215 pounds to not only win his first PIAA title, but give the Leopards program its first state champion.
Brown finished the season with a record of 48-1. The lone setback was to Ringgold’s Jake Conroy, on Jan. 22 in a dual meet. Brown jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first period, and increased his advantage to 8-0 in the second, but Conroy rallied for a 14-10 decision in double overtime.
Brown avenged that loss in the section finals with a technical fall, and also won two more times in the exciting series, including a 6-3 decision in the state semifinals.
Currently a senior, Brown originally committed to Pitt but recently changed his commitment to Penn State.
8. South Fayette girls soccer wins state title
The South Fayette girls soccer team made history by using the comeback trail. The Lions fell behind in the state quarterfinals, semifinals and in the championship, but clawed back to win each one and claimed their first state title.
Abbey Spalla, Silvi Rossi and Harper Zapf had a goal apiece in the championship, a 3-1 win over Radnor on Nov. 15. The Lions were down 1-0 at halftime.
They had a similar 1-0 deficit against DuBois in the semifinals before exploding for six unanswered goals in a 6-1 win.
Probably the biggest shocker was the comeback they pulled off in the quarterfinals. The Lions were down 3-0 at halftime against Cocalico, but rallied to win 4-3 in overtime. Lily Chiapetta had the game-winning goal and Gabby Beinecke scored twice.
South Fayette saw its bid for a WPIAL three-peat come up shot in a 1-0 loss in overtime to Fox Chapel, but still added a trophy to the case.
9. W&J women win NCAA tournament game
The Washington & Jefferson women’s basketball program continued to be a powerhouse in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. The Presidents won their seventh league championship, and then accomplished a first in program history.
W&J won its first game in the NCAA Division III tournament when it overcame a 10-point halftime deficit and defeated Messiah 76-72 in overtime in Delaware, Ohio. The Presidents’ Bryn Bezjak scored 18 points, including a game-tying basket at the buzzer that forced overtime.
The Presidents ended the year with a 24-5 record under head coach Jina DeRubbo.
10. St. Francis to leave D-I, join PAC
The Presidents’ Athletic Conference, which includes Washington & Jefferson and Waynesburg as members, found itself in the national news early this year when it was announced that St. Francis University, located in Loretto, will be leaving Division I athletics and joining the Division III PAC.
The announcement happened in March, a week after the St. Francis men’s basketball team played in the NCAA tournament as the Northeast Conference champion.
St. Francis will be the PAC’s 13th member and begin play in the 2026-27 academic year.