Apr 17, 2025 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

Peters Township and South Fayette had intense battles in the WPIAL and PIAA girls basketball playoffs, so it’s no surprise to see members of both teams receive All-State accolades.

Indians senior Natalie Wetzel was named first-team All-State in Class 5A Thursday, while South Fayette coach Bryan Bennett is the 2024-25 state Coach of the Year. The team was voted on by Pennsylvania sports writers.

Two of Bennett’s players, Ryan Oldaker and Juliette Leroux, were second team All-State.

Bennett guided the Lions to their first ever state championship with a 45-37 win over Archbishop Wood in the Class 5A final in Hershey. Oldaker and Leroux, who are juniors, were key contributors to the team.

Wetzel, a Miami (Fla.) recruit, led the Indians to their second WPIAL championship, with a win over South Fayette.

The Lions got revenge, beating the Indians in the state semifinals.

Wetzel was the Observer-Reporter Player of the Year.

WPIAL scholarships

Canon-McMillan’s Abby Tucker, Fort Cherry’s Shane Cornali, Peters Township’s Colton Lusk and South Fayette’s Luke Miller were announced as recipients of James Collins Scholar-Athlete Awards by the WPIAL Wednesday afternoon.

Each recipient receives a $1,000 scholarship for the college of their choice.

* Tucker is a standout volleyball player and track and field athlete for the Big Macs. She won the WPIAL Class 3A championship in javelin last year and has led the volleyball team to three consecutive section titles. She was on the All-State volleyball team twice.

Tucker will attend West Virginia where she’ll play volleyball and study exercise psychology.

* Cornali was a key member of Fort Cherry’s back-to-back WPIAL Class A champion football team and a part of the Rangers’ 2024 WPIAL and state champion 400 relay team in track and field. He’s a captain on the baseball, basketball and football teams.

Cornali will study physical therapy and play football at Wheeling.

* Lusk won the WPIAL Class 3A individual golf championship this fall at Oakmont Country Club, capping a successful career for the Indians. As a junior, he led Peters Township to WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A team championships.

He’ll continue his golf career at Sienna.

* Miller excelled as a runner for South Fayette in cross country, track and field both indoors and outdoors. He owns the school record in the indoor 400-meter dash and is a part of three relay teams that hold the school record. Miller was a member of the Lions 1600 relay team that finished sixth at WPIALs last year.

He’s attending Penn State to study chemical engineering.

Geyer to WPIAL Board

The WPIAL announced its elected Board of Directors for the 2025-26 school year Wednesday and one local Athletic Director, Peters Township’s Brian Geyer, will continue to serve on the board.

Geyer is currently the WPIAL Board President.

It was his first year in that role.

Eight other Athletic Directors Moon’s Alan Alcalde, Norwin’s Michael Burrell, Keystone Oaks’ Mark Elphinstone, Hampton’s Michael Gavlik, Bethel Park’s Laura Grimm, Mt. Lebanon’s John Grogan, Carlynton’s Nathan Milsom and Winchester Thurston’s John Rosa were elected to the board as well as Brentwood Principal Jason Olexa.

Sabatucci chooses Buffalo

Canon-McMillan football standout TJ Sabatucci announced last week that he will be continuing his career at Buffalo.

Sabatucci, a junior, had three other offers from Mid-American Conference schools Akron, Toledo and Miami (Ohio).

He was an All-Conference tight end for the Big Macs last fall.

Trump hired at B-C

Tim Trump is the new Beth-Center football coach.

Trump was hired recently to take over the Bulldogs after previous coach Tony Ruscitto was not retained.