Local Sports

Wolverines Find Success In Running Game But Not Enough Against The Eagles

The official start to the 2019 WPIAL football season began last night as 118 teams were in action Friday. For the Wolverines, they were competing in their second game of the season against the Serra Catholic Eagles from McKeesport, PA. Both teams were looking to improve on their Week Zero results as Serra Catholic slipped by Yough 9-0 while the Wolverines were coming off of a 48-0 loss to Beaver Falls. The first quarter involved 5 total drives between the teams with the biggest opportunity for points being for the Wolverines as they punted on their first possession. The Serra…


Ellwood Fall Sport Senior Q&A: Part 1

School is back in full swing and so are high school sports! Football and Volleyball are among the popular sports for students at Lincoln. We caught up with the coaches of those teams to see what they are doing to prepare for the upcoming rivalries “We are just trying to get a little bit better everyday,” said football coach Joseph Lamenza. For Volleyball Coach Jenna Ricciuti, this is a unique season. “This is a very special volleyball season for myself and the team,” she said. “This group of seniors were 7th graders when I first took the position of Head…


High School Football Season Passes Now On Sale

Football season passes for our two great, local high school football teams are now on sale! For Ellwood City, tickets are on sale in the main office at Lincoln High School. (six homes games) Adult $20.00, Student $5.00, Super Fan student passes are $10.00 this pass will get the student into all athletic events for this school year. Senior citizen passes are also available in the main office. For Riverside, all season tickets are sold at the gate the night of the first game. Season passes are $15 for the entire season (a discount of one game). Both high school…


Pie Festival, Panther Night Planned For This Evening

Both school districts will be featuring events this evening at their respective stadiums to help roll out the 2019-20 school year and be introduced to fall sports teams. The Annual Pie Festival hosted by the Lincoln Blue Band will be held on Thursday, August 22nd at Helling Stadium. The gates will open at 6:00 pm. and the show will begin at 7:00 p.m. Rain location is the LHS Gymnasium.  Tickets are $3.00 and drinks and ice cream will be sold. This is a special event to kick off the Blue Band’s fall entertainment. All Blue Band members and fall sport…


Letter to the Editor: Promising Senior Year Forthcoming For LHS-Alum

This year, Lincoln High graduate Nick Ioanilli will wrap up a stellar career at Colgate University where he won many awards both on and off the field. In 2018, Nick was chosen All-Patriot League Second Team, Defensive Player of the Week and was named to both the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and the Colgate Raider Academic Honor Roll. Nick had three interceptions, returning one for a touchdown during the 2018 season. One of Nick’s best games was against Cornell where he had a career-high 11 tackles. Continued improvement is expected from Nick this season and he is expected to…


Board to Re-evaluate Soccer Program Funding in September

During  a special board meeting on Friday morning, Ellwood City School Board decided to allow the soccer program to use the Ewing Park School property for practice and to order nets to facilitate those practices, according to District Superintendent Joseph Mancini, who was reached for comment following the meeting. He said the games will continue to be held at Stiefel Park. He added that the board will re-evaluate the funding request at the September board meeting. Practices are being moved to Ewing Park to allow for more practice availability time in the hopes to attract additional players. This “special meeting”…


RACE Swim Team Hosting Tryouts

RACE is looking to build a team for the 2019-2020 swim season and will be hosting tryouts on Monday at 5 p.m. “Joining a swim team can give kids many benefits and be incredibly rewarding,” said Gwen Nulph, RACE coach. “It gives them the chance to be part of a team, build camaraderie, improve skills, get consistent physical activity, set and strive for goals, and have a lot of fun!” What is RACE?  Riverside Aqua Club of Ellwood (RACE) was established with the purpose of teaching competitive swimming and developing teamwork. Its mission is to build and maintain a competitive…


Turn4Toilets, Big Rigs and Goaldiggers Win Championship in Their Respective League

The last night of the Summer Stiefel Hockey League was incredible. Three league winners claimed stakes to their championship accolades. Game recaps as provided: B-LEAGUE: Fancy Sauce(3) vs. Turn4Toilets(4) Lance Sabol started the scoring for Fancy Sauce unassisted. Josh Syphrit and Louie Bove scored the Sauce’s other two. Tallying assists were Sean Strosnider, Sabol, and Syphrit. Turn4Toilets were led by Kevin Boariu with a goal and assist. Matt Linebaugh and Rich Cellini each added a goal. Jake Krummert and Shane Frum also added points for the undefeated B League Champs. The game-winning goal to send Turn4Toilets to their victory was…


Jack Ferrante Memorial Scholarship Tournament Results

Forty-two golfers participated in the annual Jack Ferrante Memorial Scholarship Tournament held last Sunday at the Del Mar Golf Course. The two-man team of Dexter Boots and David Marshall placed first with Chris Cioffi and Rick Grinnen winning the runner-up honors in the Best Ball Tournament. The Scholarship is awarded every year to a senior on the Ellwood City Wolverines Golf Team. This year’s recipient is Alex Scott, who will be attending Penn State University this Fall. Pictured (Left to Right) is Joe Cioffi, Event Coordinator, Alex Scott, Scholarship Winner, and David Marshall, winning team member.


Local Woman Qualifies For Olympic Swimming Trials

She never imagined she would have the chance to do what she loves on a world stage. Taylor Petrak, 2017 Lincoln High School Graduate, has qualified for the Olympic Swimming Trials. As a very young “fish in the water,” Taylor didn’t necessarily have her sights set directly on the Olympics. “I never had any specific goals of making it to the Olympics,” she said. “It was not on my radar.” But a wave of talent and speed now has the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics in a major spot on Taylor’s radar. She qualified for the trials on July 23 posting…