Varsity
By Mike Copper, Tom Reisenweber, Jeff Kirik Erie Times-News staff bloggers
For the very latest in high school sports news from northwestern Pennsylvania, no site is more indispensable than Varsity, primarily maintained by Times-News sports writers Mike Copper and Tom Reisenweber and sports editor Jeff Kirik.  Read more about this blog.
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Posted: February 8th, 2010

Five Fort LeBoeuf wrestlers to watch at Wednesday’s PIAA Class AA first-round dual. Originally scheduled for Tuesday, the Bisons will face the District 7 second seed, Burrell or Shady Side Academy, at 7 p.m. at North Hills High School:

KODY PACE: The junior could face Frank Martellotti, the state’s top-ranked wrestler at 130, if the Bisons face Shady Side.

RILEY SMITH: The LeBoeuf sophomore, 15th at 135 in last week’s OTM poll, was a champion at the North East Invitational.

DAVID CHURCH: One of three Bisons with at least 20 victories this season, the senior was ranked sixth in last week’s OTM poll at 140.

JEREMY KING: Ranked fourth by OTM at 152, the senior could face Burrell’s third-ranked Travis McKillop.

BRANDON BRADNEY: The junior, ranked 10th at 215, potentially could draw No. 1 Brian Beattie of Burrell.

– Mike Copper

Posted: February 8th, 2010

Posted: February 8th, 2010

Girls
REGION 1

Jamestown 58, Rocky Grove 29
Kennedy Catholic 51, Commodore Perry 18
REGION 2
Sharpsville 45, Mercer 37
West Middlesex 56, Lakeview 45
Greenville 37, Wilmington 34
REGION 3
Cochranton 60, Conneaut Lake 41
Linesville 40, Saegertown 37
Maplewood 44, Cambridge Springs 34
Conneaut Valley 46, Union City 28
REGION 4
North East 39, Eisenhower 26
Girard 30, Fairview 26
Villa Maria 88, Northwestern 32, Kayla McBride scores 30 points for Victors
Iroquois 44, Youngsville 31
REGION 5
Grove City 38, Hickory 34
Sharon 56, Franklin 53, Karlesia Edwards scores 33 points, including eight 3-pointers for Tigers
Slippery Rock 62, Oil City 44
Meadville 55, Titusville 48
REGION 6
Mercyhurst Prep 70, Fort LeBoeuf 20
General McLane 62, Corry 56, Val Majewski scores 39 points for Lancers
Warren 45, Harbor Creek 42
NON-REGION
Farrell 51, Strong Vincent 45

Posted: February 8th, 2010

The Fort LeBoeuf wrestling team had its PIAA Class AA first-round dual postponed until Wednesday.

LeBoeuf, the second seed from District 10, were supposed to meet the District 7 second seed Tuesday at North Hills High School. However, the WPIAL AA final between Burrell and Shady Side Academy, originally scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed twice because of inclement weather throughout the southern part of the state.

Burrell and Shady Side are now scheduled to meet Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Fox Chapel High School. The loser will face the Bisons on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at North Hills.

That dual is the only PIAA first-rounder which won’t take place Tuesday. The winner advances to the main portion of the AA state tournament, scheduled Friday and Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

– Mike Copper

Posted: February 7th, 2010

Vote on the upper right of the page for the District 10 Breakout Players of the Week. The voting will run through Tuesday. The winner of each poll will be featured in Friday’s edition of the Erie Times-News. Players can be nominated more than once this season, but can only win the poll once.

Here are the nominees for boys and girls:
Boys
Wendell Torres, East
– The senior reached 1,000 points as the Warriors picked up a big win over General McLane. Torres also has 1,000 rebounds in his career.
Matt Durisko, Hickory - One of the best big men in Mercer County, Durisko eclipsed 1,000 points during Hickory’s 63-44 win over Oil City on Friday.
Andrew Rickard, Girard – The prolific scorer passed Marc Blucas as the all-time leading scorer in boys basketball history at Girard on Tuesday. Rickard finished the week with 1,692 career points.
Dylan Gravatt, Rocky Grove - The senior put together a triple-double Friday against Commodore Perry with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Gravatt is the leading scorer for the Orioles and will be important the rest of the season to Rocky Grove’s success.
Preston McMeans, Warren – Scored 22 points as Warren upset Harbor Creek. The Dragons have been a dangerous team at home and McMeans is a big reason why.

Girls
Baylie Jones, Conneaut Valley
– Jones became only the sixth girl in Valley history to score 1,000 points on Thursday.
Jamera Wayne, Strong Vincent – Wayne has been tough all season for the Colonels and scored 16 points Saturday in a big non-region win over Class AA power North East. Wayne started the week with a 27-point performance against East.
Lindsay Stamp, Mercyhurst Prep – Stamp continues to impress this season with double-doubles in almost every game. Stamp scored 12 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in Saturday’s win over State College after scoring 12 points against Harbor Creek earlier in the week.
Jessica Bittler, West Middlesex – Hit two free throws with 29 seconds left to give the Big Reds a big upset of Farrell. Bittler is the Big Reds’ leading scorer this season and has been impressive.
Karly Rhoads, Slippery Rock – Rhoads scored 16 points during the Rock’s 50-36 win over Franklin. The win all but clinched Region 5 for the Rockets.

Posted: February 6th, 2010

The Fort LeBoeuf wrestling team won’t know who its PIAA Class AA first-round opponent will be until less then 24 hours before it’s held.

The Bisons, seeded second from District 10, are supposed to meet the District 7 second seeds. That dual is scheduled Tuesday at 7 p.m. at North Hills High School.

LeBoeuf (11-4) will face Burrell (11-7) or Shady Side Academy (15-4). The latter schools were supposed to compete Saturday at Highlands High School in Natrona Heights, but were postponed because of inclement weather.

Their WPIAL final was rescheduled for Monday at a site and time to be determined.

– Mike Copper

Posted: February 6th, 2010

Wrestling results from Saturday’s 13th annual Major Tom Carr Memorial Tournament at Central Tech’s Al Calabrese Gymnasium:

– Mike Copper

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: February 6th, 2010

Boys
REGION 1

West Middlesex at VisionQuest ppd.
NON-REGION
Bradford 56, Oil City 49
General McLane 57, Conneaut (Ohio) 41
Cochranton 55, Jamestown 54
State College a45, Mercyhurst Prep 38
Seneca 60, Reynolds 57
Ursuline (Ohio) at Kennedy Catholic, ppd.

Girls
NON-REGION

General McLane 48, Conneaut (Ohio) 37
Farrell at Warren G. Harding, ppd.
Central Tech at Hickory, ppd.
Conneaut Lake at Mercer, ppd.
East 70, Tidioute Charter 28
Northwestern 72, Union City, 34
Mercyhurst Prep 44, State College 33
Strong Vincent 51, North East, 40
Slippery Rock at Indiana ppd. until Wednesday
Seneca 67, Reynolds 59 OT
Villa Maria 58, St. Joseph Central (W.Va.) 47

Posted: February 6th, 2010

Another big night of boys basketball in District 10 Friday with plenty of playoff consequences. Today, I will break down all seven region races and what last night meant to them. Included are the remaining schedules of the contenders.

Region 6
East looks like the Region 6 champion after completing the regular season sweep of General McLane Friday. Wendell Torres scored 16 points and grabbed 18 rebounds as the senior went over 1,000 points in the Warriors’ 47-37 win over the Lancers. Torres has 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds during his career. Fellow big man Kyle Shuman led McLane with 12 points and 13 rebounds. East would have to lose three of its last four region games to not grab the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. McLane has a comfortable two-game lead on the rest of the field and will likely be the No. 2 seed.

-Harbor Creek found out the hard way that Warren is a brutal place to play. The Dragons scored 36 points in the second half to upset the Huskies 72-64. Preston McMeans led Warren with 22 points, while Josh Rzepecki was the big man for Harbor Creek with 21. The loss also put a dent into the Huskies’ playoff hopes. Harbor Creek dropped into fifth place and has a tough schedule left, including McLane, Girard and East.

-Girard and Central Tech took care of business Friday to remain in a tie for fourth place. Girard beat Corry 64-36 behind 15 points from Adi Cosic, while Central handled Fort LeBoeuf 68-49. Shawnquel Pennamon led the Falcons with 19 points, while freshman Eugene Husband added 13. Girard is probably in the best position after not losing to a team at the bottom of the standings, while Harbor Creek and Central have.

Here are the remaining region games for all five teams.
East: Tuesday vs. Corry, Friday vs. Central Tech, Feb. 16 at Girard, Feb. 20 vs. Harbor Creek
General McLane: Tuesday vs. Harbor Creek, Friday at Warren, Feb. 16 vs. Fort LeBoeuf, Feb. 19 vs. Central Tech
Girard: Tuesday at Central Tech, Friday at Harbor Creek, Feb. 16 vs. East, Feb. 19 at Fort LeBoeuf
Central Tech: Tuesday vs. Girard, Friday at East, Feb. 16 vs. Warren, Feb. 19 at General McLane
Harbor Creek: Tuesday at General McLane, Friday vs. Girard, Feb. 16 vs. Corry, Feb. 20 at East

For a look at the other six regions, click below.

– Tom Reisenweber

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: February 5th, 2010

District 10 fans who attend this spring’s PIAA track and field meet at Shippensburg University will see Seth Grove Stadium as it is for the last time.

Shippensburg officials announced through a Feb. 5 news release that more than $2 million in renovations will be made to the school’s athletic facilities. Among them are the conversion of the stadium’s surface from natural grass, which it’s had since it opened in 1972, to Fieldturf.

Those renovations will begin shortly after the May 28-29 state meet. Future projects include improvements to the stadium’s vaulting areas and jumping lanes, plus a new runway for the adjacent javelin field.

– Mike Copper