Local Sports

Student Athletes Recognized at MAC Banquet

The Midwestern Athletic Conference held it’s 58th annual student athlete recognition banquet Wednesday night at the Fez in Hopewell. Each year the MAC honors one boy and one girl from each school district in the conference for displaying excellence on the field, court, classroom and community. This years recipients are Allie McKelvey and Nick Ioanilli from Lincoln High School and Morgan Bailey and Jason Dambach from Riverside. This year’s program, which included a Gala Buffet, was enjoyed by the students, family members, coaches and school representative from each district. After dinner the students were announced by on-air personality Chris Shovlin…


Two Ellwood Graduates Travel to Puerto Rico for Baseball

Two Lincoln High School graduates spent a week in Puerto Rico as part of the inaugural Clemente Cup baseball tournament. Matt Germanoski and Greg Lynn are 2012 Lincoln graduates who were on the 2012 Class AA WPIAL championship baseball team. Currently, they’re both seniors on the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg baseball team. The two went with their team and nine other college Division 3 baseball teams from the states. Through the program, they played games in Aguadilla, Anasco and Lajas. The two also met Luis Clemente, Roberto Clemente’s son. More information about UPG Baseball can be found at pittgreensburgathletics.com.


Wolverines Tennis Team Sweeps Panthers

The Ellwood City tennis team swept a match against rival Riverside on Monday. In singles, Ellwood’s Christian Mittica, Trey Houk and Patrick Pawlak defeated Panther opponents Tyler Squicquero, Tyler McDonough and Hunter Paff. The Wolverines also won both double matches to win the entire match 5-0. Singles Home Team Set Scores Visitors Ellwood City 1 2 3 H V Riverside 1 Christian Mittica 6 – 4 3 – 6 7 – 5 X 1 Tyler Squicquero 2 Trey Houk 2 – 6 6 – 4 6 – 4 X 2 Tyler McDonough 3 Patrick Pawlak 6 – 4 6 –…


Wampum Native Stephen Johns Debuts in NHL and Scores First Goal

Ellwood City now boasts a National Hockey League Player. Stephen Johns made his NHL debut with the Dallas Stars on March 11 and has since played four more games. On March 17, he scored his first goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Johns is a native of Wampum and a Class of 2010 Lincoln High School graduate. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2014. The 6’4″, 213 pound defenseman signed a two year contract with the Stars with an $800,000 annual salary. Johns’ talent and dedication were noticed by Ellwood residents while he was still a Lincoln…


Cortney Harden Joins RAYSL Training Staff

As Riverside Area Youth Soccer League grows, so too does it’s training staff. After adding Doug Miller to the Club in the Fall 2015 season, RAYSL recently added alum Cortney Harden as a Technical Trainer. “Bringing Cortney on is very exciting for us,” Club President Derek Zona said. “Over the past year, our Board has been focused on finding a skilled female trainer who can make a positive impact on the lives of the young ladies in the club, acting as both a mentor and a role model.” Harden’s immediate focus will be Riverside’s U12 and U14 girls’ teams. She…


PIAA Swimming: Ellwood’s Petrak Wins Silver and Bronze

Ellwood City’s Taylor Petrak earned a silver and bronze at the PIAA swimming championship at Bucknell University over the weekend. Petrak, a junior, claimed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.19 seconds, a .14 improvement from her WPIAL performance. In the 100-yard freestyle, Petrak finished in 50.70 seconds, .37 seconds slower than her WPIAL performance. Prior to the state championship, Petrak said her primary goal was to improve her times. With the USA YMCA Nationals approaching in April, she’s shooting for times of 22.89 and 49.89. As a sophomore, Petrak won the 50 and placed second in…


Ellwood and Riverside Sports Schedule Week of March 21

Ellwood City Monday 3:45PM S Softball at North Catholic Tuesday No Events Wednesday 3:30PM Boys Tennis at Neshannock Thursday 4:30PM Baseball Laurel Home 5:00PM Softball Freedom Home Saturday 1:00PM: Baseball Moon Home Riverside Monday, March 21 3:30PM Boys Varsity Tennis Ellwood City HS Away Tuesday, March 22 4:00PM Boys and Girls Varsity Track Wilmington Area Senior High Sch Away Wednesday, March 23 3:30 PM Boys Varsity Tennis Postponed- Beaver Area High School Home 4:00 PM Boys Varsity Baseball Union Area MS/HS Home Thursday, March 24 11:00 AM Boys and Girls Varsity Track WILMINGTON RELAYS Away 4:00PM Boys Varsity Baseball Western…


Ellwood’s Petrak Travels to Swimming PIAA as Defending State Champion

As a sophomore, Ellwood City’s Taylor Petrak did what few other Ellwood athletes ever accomplished: win a PIAA individual championship. Petrak, a swimmer from a school with no team and no pool, claimed the gold in the 50-yard freestyle and the silver in the 100-yard freestyle. As a junior, she’s returning to the PIAA at Bucknell University as a defending state champion. Two weeks ago, she won the WPIAL 50-yard with a time of 23.33 seconds and placed second in the 100-yard with a time of 50.33 seconds. In both races, she beat her PIAA times from last year. Between…


Ellwood City Has Opening for Boys and Girls Basketball Coaches

At the school board meeting on Thursday, the board accepted the resignation of the girls basket coach and declared that the boys basketball coach position was open and is taking applicants. Both the girls coach, Jolene Krupa, and the boys coach, James Kosior, had been in their positions for two years and competed in Class AAA conferences. Krupa’s record was 21-24 and her team advanced to the first round of the playoffs in 2014-15, the first time a girls team has done so since 1997-98. In addition, Krupa had coached the team’s five seniors since 8th grade. Her sister, Dena…


EC Wrestling: Alberts Has Sights on a PIAA Medal

Tyler Alberts is on the road to Hershey with a medal on his mind. The Ellwood City junior will be competing in the PIAA wrestling championships on Thursday through Saturday and in a way, he’s been preparing most of his life for this. Alberts started wrestling in first grade through clubs. In the Ellwood junior high wrestling program, he advanced to the state competitions. Last year, as a sophomore, Alberts advanced to states but lost the preliminary round. He won the first consolation match but lost the second. Now, with a taste of states, he’s more prepared, knows what to…