McKivitz prepping for Senior Bowl

January 24, 2020

Colton McKivitz realized shortly after the West Virginia University season ended with a win at TCU in November that his football life was going to be quite different. He’s getting a full glimpse of that right now. McKivitz — the Union Local product — has spent most of the week in Mobile, Alabama preparing for Saturday’s Reeses Senior Bowl, which will be aired live on the NFL Network at 2:30 p.m. McKivitz is playing on the South squad and is one of six tackles listed. He’s been working at both left and right tackle. McKivitz was named Second Team All-American by Walter ...

Seeding committee knocks it out of the park in first attempt

January 23, 2020

To say the OVAC Ron Mauck wrestling tournament’s seed committee hit a home run in its first at-bat wouldn’t be doing the seven members their do justice. They smacked a grand slam well out of WesBanco Arena. Prior to the 67th annual event that was staged for three days last week inside the downtown Wheeling venue, coaches and tournament organizers got together to see how they could make some changes to the yearly mat extravaganza. It was decided by a vote of the coaches that this year’s tournament would be seeded (1-12) by a committee for the first time. Now, there were certain ...

Wheeling native Harris writing a new chapter in Florida

January 19, 2020

WHEELING — It was time for a new challenge. D.P. Harris authored a hall of fame coaching career at St. Vincent College. The Wheeling Park grad served as head men’s hoop coach for the Latrobe, Pa.,-based school for the past 16 years with impressive results. He directed St. Vincent to a sparkling 318-126 record and four Presidents’ Athletic Conference championships to go with four NCAA Tournament berths. That success landed Harris into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2014. Harris elevated St. Vincent basketball to the point where the Bearcats were perennial winners. However, ...

Local MEC athletes shining in academics

January 17, 2020

The term student-athlete certainly resonates at both Wheeling University and West Liberty University. The two schools have long shined in athletics and their athletes also get it done in the classroom. That was proven again this week when the Mountain East Conference announced its Academic All-MEC team and Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the Fall Semester. Several former area athletes, who compete in a fall sport, earned recognition on the team. The area products listed as Wheeling University Academic All-MEC , which includes students who carried between a 3.7 and 4.0 grade ...

Defending champs to spoil LSU’s dream season

January 12, 2020

WHEELING — The Tigers will lay claim to college football’s national championship Monday night in New Orleans. That is a no-brainer. The $64,000 question, however, is what breed of Tiger - be it LSU or Clemson. LSU gained the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, proceeding to demolish Oklahoma in their semi-final game. The No. 3 seed and defending champion Clemson, meanwhile, slipped past Ohio State in a much-debated battle of heavyweights in the other semi. This has been the ultimate dream season for LSU. Coach Ed Orgeron’s team has compiled its 14-0 mark on the strength of a ...

Is wrestling returning to Wheeling University?

January 9, 2020

What is going on with the wrestling program at Wheeling University? In late January, 2019 it was announced that several Cardinal athletic programs were being restored, with the mat sport being one of those listed. However, as of today I haven’t heard one word about the program, which was a NCAA Division II national runnerup in 2019 before it was unceremoniously shut down less than a week later. I was also contacted by the chief operating officer wanting to know if I had any ideas on a head coach for the program. I provided a name I thought was very worthy of consideration, but, ...