Westmoreland High School notebook: WPIAL golf finals on horizon

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, September 26, 2021 | 6:27 PM

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The WPIAL individual golf postseason winds into the semifinal rounds for Class AAA while Class AA players are preparing to play for WPIAL championships.

The boys Class AAA semifinals will be Monday at Willowbrook Country Club in Apollo.

Westmoreland area qualifiers include Nick Turowski and Chase Crissman of Penn-Trafford; Owen Miele of Latrobe; Austin Corona of Hempfield; Tyler Mocello, Patrick Bush and Rogan Maloney of Belle Vernon; Zach Abdallah, Nolan Shilling and Jeff Anderchak of Franklin Regional; and Cambell Curry of Kiski Area.

The boys Class AA championship will be Thursday at Allegheny Country Club in Sewickley.

Among the field will be Derry’s Hunter Jurica, Antonio Hauser and Ashton Beighly and Wade Boyle of Greensburg Central Catholic.

Jurica and Boyle were co-medalists in Section 2.

On the girls side, Greensburg Central Catholic’s Meghan Zambruno defended her Section 1-2A title to advance to the WPIAL finals Oct. 7 at Hannastown Golf Club. She will be joined by teammates Ella Zambruno, Izzy Aigner and Liv Kana.

The Zambruno twins have qualified for the WPIAL finals four years in a row.

Soccer postseason

The WPIAL will use a similar format to the one it implemented last fall for the soccer playoffs, league executive director Amy Scheuneman said. Higher seeds will play home games for the first and second rounds, “provided the school’s facility meets minimum requirements to host the contest,” which refers to turf, seating, etc.

Neutral sites will be considered for the semifinals, and the championships are set to return to Highmark Stadium at Station Square in Pittsburgh on Nov. 5-6.

Hempfield softball coach

Hempfield began the interview process last week to replace longtime softball coach Bob Kalp.

Amazingly, the Spartans’ program has not had a head-coaching vacancy since 1997 when Kalp took over.

Kalp, 76, guided the Spartans to seven WPIAL championships and four PIAA titles and collected 431 wins.

“Multiple” applicants are being considered, and the district could have a candidate ready for vote at its October meeting unless an off-schedule meeting is arranged in the meantime.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Derry Area, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Penn-Trafford