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Stein earns special award in Maryland

WHEELING - A new year was ushered in Tuesday. Kurt Stein, however, will always have special memories from 2018. The Wheeling Central product guided Oakdale High to a sparkling 13-0 season en route to the Maryland Class 2A state football championship last month. Stein was hired as the school’s first-ever head coach in 2010 as Oakdale was a consolidation of Linganore, Thomas Johnson and Urbana high schools. Stein recently got some icing to that sweet championship cake as he was named USA Today’s Family Insurance All-USA Maryland state coach of the year, regardless of ...

Park’s Bell finishes grid season strong

WHEELING — He was the top receiver in the state of West Virginia as a senior, now Elijah Bell sits atop the record book at North Carolina A&T. The former Wheeling Park all-stater landed a TD pass against Alcorn State last Saturday, helping the 10-2 Aggies to a 24-22 Celebration Bowl win. It marked the 25th career receiving TD for the 6-2, 221-pound junior, tying him for the most in school annals. Bell hauled in six passes in the bowl win. That strong showing came on the heels of a huge effort in A&T’s regular-season finale when he snared 10 passes for 122 and two TDs in a 45-10 ...

Kroll recovering from surgery, eyes return

Caitlyn Kroll made a tough decision at the end of last season. The Bridgeport graduate had just helped lead St. Francis to a NEC title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. However, she opted to explore her options and it resulted in a transfer to Ohio University. Kroll is currently sitting out because of NCAA Transfer Rules. But, she’s also in recovery mode, too. The 2,000-plus point prep scorer recently underwent surgery, in Pittsburgh, for a torn hip labrum. The injury was discovered as she battled continual pain during workouts with the Bobcats. After physical therapy and some ...

Sancomb enjoying Cal U. basketball building process

WHEELING - Be it as a player or a coach, he is a proven winner. So while a 2-6 record is not to his liking, Danny Sancomb feels good about his Cal University (Pa.) basketball program. Sancomb is in his initial season with the D-II Vulcans. He spent the past 11 seasons as head coach at Wheeling Jesuit University, posting a 216-115 record. Last year, he led the Redbirds to their first-ever Mountain East Conference championship and a third-straight NCAA Tournament berth. Despite that lofty success, Jesuit hierarchy unceremoniously and inexplicably cut Sancomb loose. Cal. U. quickly and ...

Porter named Waynesburg athlete of week

No matter how good or productive you may have been in high school, no matter the level of college sports you compete at, there’s always an adjustment period. Often times, that adjustment, which includes academics and social adjustments along with the atheletic portion, goes a long way in determining the amount of success the student-athlete enjoys. Haley Porter was a brilliant high school player, student and all-around person during her career at Union Local High School. Actually, she’s a better person than she is anything else and she’s a tremendous a basketball player and ...

Barnesville’s Stephen honed craft in summer

While most kids spent their summer at a refreshing swimming pool, vacationing with their parents at a sandy beach somewhere or enjoying an amusement park and all its amenities, Reese Stephen was honing his wrestling skills. The seventh-grader at Barnesville Junior High School spent month of his ‘summer vacation’ touring the west coast as a member of the Ohio All-Star Wrestling team. “It was a good experience. It was really fun,” he said last weekend while working at the Barnesville Doan Ford Invitational as a “tapper.” Stephen went an astonishing 15-2 on the trip, ...