PT teams, Chartiers-Houston girls movin’ up in winter sports
By John Sacco
Contributing writer
A whole lot of shuffling is going on with local girls’ and boys’ basketball teams and a pair of two-county area wrestling programs in the WPIAL’s realignment over the next two-year cycle.
Chartiers-Houston girls’ basketball team is moving from Class 2A to 3A, Washington’s boys basketball team is moving back to the program’s more traditional Class 2A status and Waynesburg wrestling participating in Class 2A, down from 3A highlight the big changes.
Other significant basketball moves include Peters Townships boys and girls moving to 6A from 5A, Ringgold girls dropping into Class 4A, Bentworth and Washington girls moving up to Class 3A. The Avella, Mapletown and West Greene girls have voluntarily moved up to Class 2A.
In other boys’ basketball moves, Avella, Mapletown and West Greene are also voluntarily moving up – all citing less travel and more local opponents as big reasons why.
“I was surprised to learn that we were going to 3A, but I have known for a while,” said veteran Chartiers-Houston girls’ coach Laura Montecalvo. “So, obviously this wasn’t a shock. We have a few common opponents in the section, some that carry over from our old section. Several of these teams we’ve played as non-section opponents for the last several years, when we were in 2A and they were 3A. Overall, I think that it’s going to be a competitive section, several solid teams, and it should help prepare everybody for postseason play.”
The section includes Bentworth, Charleroi, Chartiers-Houston, McGuffey, Washington Waynesburg, Brownsville and South Park.
Meanwhile, a drop back into Class 2A could help the Little Prexies’ boys team pick up steam in returning the program to consistent winning and playoff appearances.
“I always feel like when when you’re playing schools that are similar in size and demographic and it’s more of a local schedule that it’s more exciting for our school,” said Washington athletic director Mike Bosnic.
The Little Prexies’ girls team moves up but will be in with local teams.
“It’s the first time I can recall that our girls’ (enrollment) numbers were higher than our boys. I don’t know if that’s just an anomaly or what, but for this enrollment, our boys’ numbers dropped.”
Waynesburg has literally grappled with wrestling Class 3A or 2A when faced with the decision over the years. Considering all factors, the Raiders find themselves headed back Class 2A.
“With our numbers at the time we felt this is what would be best our school,” said Waynesburg coach Tony Welsh. “For the last couple years, we could have probably been there and it has been talked about — probably for the last three or four years. Last year, we had, 13 or 14 guys on the roster by the end of the season.”
In addition to the moving down in classification by Ringgold and Waynesburg the alignment for local wrestling teams the next two seasons are Canon-McMillan, Peters Township and South Fayette in Class 3A, Section 1, Group 2 with Upper St. Clair; in Class A, Section, 1, Group 1 includes Bentworth, Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry, Ringgold and Washington; Section 1, Group 2 features Avella, Burgettstown and McGuffey with Carlynton and Keystone Oaks; and Section 1, Group 3 includes Beth-Center, Jefferson-Morgan, Waynesburg and West Greene with Brownsville. Belle Vernon will compete in Section 3, Group 1.
The breakdown of boys’ basketball for local team is Class 6A, Section 2 Canon-McMillan and Peters Township with Baldwin, Connellsville, Hempfield, Mt. Lebanon, Norwin and Upper St. Clair. In Class 5A Trinity will compete in Section 3 with Albert Gallatin, Bethel Park, Laurel Highlands, Thomas Jefferson and Uniontown. South Fayette will play in Section 4.
In Class 4A, Belle Vernon and Ringgold will compete in Section 3 with Elizabeth Forward, Greensburg Salem, Mt. Pleasant and Yough. In Class 3A, Section 4, Charleroi, McGuffey and Waynesburg will battle Brownsville, South Park and Southmoreland. In Class AA, Section 4 Bentworth, Beth-Center, California, Carmichaels and Mapletown will compete against Clairton and Frazier. Section 5 will feature Avella, Burgettstown, Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry, Jefferson-Morgan, Washington and West Greene. Monessen is just one of three public schools in the 14-team Class 1A.
“We’re accustomed to it,” Greyhounds’ coach Dan Bosnic said. “We just look forward to the challenge of the competition.”
The next realignment cycle in girls’ basketball shows Canon-McMillan and Peters Township in Section 2 with Baldwin, Bethel Park, Hempfield, Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair. In Class 5A Trinity will compete against Albert Gallatin, Connellsville, Laurel Highlands, Thomas Jefferson and Uniontown. South Fayette will play in Section 4. In Class 4A, Belle Vernon and Ringgold will play with Elizabeth Forward, Mt. Pleasant, West Mifflin and Yough in Section 3.
In Class 2A, Section 2 it will be Avella, Burgettstown and Fort Cherry with Brentwood, South Side Beaver and Sto-Rox. In Section 3 Beth-Center, California, Carmichaels, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown and West Greene will join Frazier. Monessen will compete in the 15-team Class 1A.
Said Avella boys coach Mike Macik: “We thought about it as we did two years ago. The travel was a lot. This might not work for us either. But we have Burgettstown and Fort Cherry right here, and we hadn’t play them.”
Added new Peters Township boys coach Ron Zewe: “I’m very excited. I think the teams that will be in that section have been the standard across the WPIAL for quite some time now. If you look at 6A, Upper St. Clair has won the WPIAL championship three years in a row. I’m thrilled to be in the same section as them and compete against them. Mount Lebanon obviously has a great history. I’m a Baldwin grad myself. So, it’ll be fun going against my alma mater again. As far as the other teams go, I have a ton of respect for them, their coaches, the success that they’ve had. I think our section is going to be very strong as well as 6A in general.”