Another round of postponements

Tuesday's local slate wiped out. Here is what's on tap for Wednesday.

District 5-A Volleyball
Play-In - Conemaugh Township vs Shanksville at Chestnut Ridge, 5 pm
First Round - HOPE for Hyndman vs Everett at Chestnut Ridge, 6 pm, followed by Chestnut Ridge vs Play-In winner
First Round - Berlin vs Shade at North Star, 6 pm, followed by North Star vs Northern Bedford

District 6-A Volleyball
First Round - Ferndale vs Northern Cambria at Bishop Carroll, 6 pm, followed by Bishop Carroll vs Claysburg
First Round - Juniata Valley vs United at Conemaugh Valley, 6 pm, followed by Conemaugh Valley vs Purchase Line

District 5-A Girls Soccer
Semifinal - Berlin vs North Star at Somerset, 4 pm
Semifinal - Conemaugh Township vs McConnellsburg at Somerset, 6 pm

Dake-Taylor to highlight NWCA All-Star Classic

Cornell senior Kyle Dake and Penn State junior David Taylor, unbeaten NCAA champs last year, to wrestle in NWCA All-Star Classic on Saturday.

Here's a link to a story about it. The Classic will be streamed on Flowrestling.org.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2012/10/29/wrestling-kyle-dake-david-taylor-cornell-penn-state/1666963/

Sandy wrecks playoff schedule

All of Monday's local playoff soccer and volleyball action was wiped out due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy felt in and around Bedford County. Here is the new slate for tomorrow, as of 7:30 p.m. on Monday. There will likely be more changes, as the bad weather will continue and many schools have already called off for Tuesday. For a further breakdown, see Tuesday's sports section in the Bedford Gazette.

Tuesday, October 30
District 5-A Boys Soccer Semifinals - BOTH TO BE PLAYED AT SOMERSET
(7) HOPE for Hyndman vs. (3) Windber, 4 pm
(1) Conemaugh Township vs. (5) Fannett-Metal, 6 pm

District 5-AA Boys Soccer Championship
(2) Somerset at (1) Bedford, 7 pm
NOTE - This game is still on at Bedford very tentatively, likely to be moved to Wednesday at Somerset at 8 pm

District 6-A Volleyball First Round
(8) Ferndale vs. (9) Northern Cambria at Bishop Carroll, 6 pm
(12) Claysburg at (5) Bishop Carroll, 7:30 pm
(7) Juniata Valley vs. (10) United at Conemaugh Valley, 6 pm
(11) Purchase Line at (6) Conemaugh Valley, 7:30 pm

District 5-A Boys Soccer preview

Saturday's Quarterfinals
(8) Rockwood at (1) Conemaugh Township
(5) Fannett-Metal at (4) North Star
(6) McConnellsburg at (3) Windber
(7) HOPE for Hyndman at (2) Northern Bedford

Breakdown: To me, this is a wide-open tournament. And traditionally, lower seeds have done well, including last year's final where it was third-seeded Fannett-Metal and fourth-seeded Chestnut Ridge squaring off. FM won last year, while they will first face the winner two years ago in North Star. Northern Bedford and HOPE for Hyndman have split their matchups this year.

The championship pick: Northern Bedford.

District 5-A Girls Soccer Preview

Saturday's Quarterfinals
(8) Johnstown Christian at (1) Conemaugh Township
(5) Chestnut Ridge at (4) McConnellsburg
(6) Tussey Mountain at (3) North Star
(7) Rockwood at (2) Berlin

Breakdown: The top four seeds all have at least 13 wins. Conemaugh Township has 16, Berlin 15, and North Star and McConnellsburg each at 13. Chestnut Ridge is the fifth seed based on tiebreaker criteria over Tussey Mountain. I see the top part of the bracket as Conemaugh Township's to lose, while the bottom half is up for grabs, and I'll take Berlin for a 1 vs. 2 final next week.

The championship pick: Conemaugh Township.

Updated Soccer Goal Leaders

Soccer Goal Leaders in the Bedford Gazette coverage area through October 24

Boys Soccer (Top 5)
1. Sam Felix, Bedford  28
2. Tanner Russell, Northern Bedford  22
3. Brad Torbet, HOPE for Hyndman  20
4 (tie). Trenton Barnes, Northern Bedford; Coltin Ebersole, Northern Bedford; and Garrett Thomas, Bedford  14

Girls Soccer (Top 5)
1. Olivia Claycomb, Tussey Mountain 27
2. Taylor Easter, Bedford  20
3 .Hannah Grimes, Bedford  18
4 (tie). Mylee Dull, Chestnut Ridge; and Kasi Payne, Everett  14

District 5/6-AA Girls Soccer Playoff Preview

Tuesday's Play-In Result
(9) Huntingdon 2, (8) Tyrone 1

Thursday's Quarterfinals
9 Huntingdon (10-7) at 1 Forest Hills (16-0-1)
5 Bedford (13-4-1) at 4 Westmont-Hilltop (12-3-2)
6 Somerset (11-6-1) at 3 Ligonier Valley (13-3-1)
7 Juniata (11-5-1) at 2 Bellefonte (13-3)

Breakdown: The Class AA field features a lot of talent that shows with each team having at least 10 wins in the season. Top seed Forest Hills is the prohibitive favorite and rides the offensive firepower from seniors Casey Gallaher and Briana Kostan, who have both topped the 100-goal mark for their respective careers. The 4-5 matchup between Westmont and Bedford is a rematch from last year's quarterfinals, won in a penalty kick shootout by Westmont. This contest will take place at Richland High School, same as last year. These two played twice already this year. Westmont won 2-1 in the first one, and the teams played to a 2-2 tie last week.

The championship pick: Forest Hills.

Football Week 8 wrap

Spring Into Sports Player of the Week - Devin Weyandt, Claysburg
Second time this season for Weyandt to win the weekly award. Weyandt collected nine catches for 176 yards and one touchdown in Claysburg's 33-27 victory over Tussey Mountain on Friday night.

2012-13 PA Wrestler College Committments

Here are where some of this year's top Pennsylvania Wrestling seniors will be headed next year.

Nick Zanetta-Pittsburgh
Ryan Diehl-Maryland
Matt McCutcheon-Penn State
Josh Patrick-Rutgers
Jake Hart-Edinboro
Colt Cotton-Bloomsburg
Darian Cruz-Lehigh
Zain Retherford-Penn State
Grimaldi Gonzalez-Bucknell
Tyler Greene-Bucknell
Ryan Soloman-Pittsburgh
Brett Harner-Princeton
Austin Matthews-Clarion
Evan Daley-Clarion
Tyson Dippery-Rutgers
Peter Renda-North Carolina State
Cam Cyphert-Clarion
Colt Peppelman-Harvard
Cody Wiercioch-Pittsburgh
John Dutrow-Drexel
Connor Schram-Stanford

Week 7 Football Recap

Sorry, a little late on the posting this week.

Spring Into Sports Player of the Week - Zach Helsel, Claysburg. Helsel gained 283 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Bulldogs rolled past Williamsburg in a 34-6 win.

Week 6 Football Wrap

Local Standings
Northern Bedford, 6-0
Chestnut Ridge, 3-3
Tussey Mountain, 3-3
Everett, 2-4
Bedford, 1-5
Claysburg, 1-5

Spring Into Sports Player of the Week: Beau Bosch, Chestnut Ridge - Bosch accounted for four touchdowns in the Lions' big win at Mountain Ridge on Friday night.

Week 5 Football Wrap

Local Standings
Northern Bedford, 5-0
Tussey Mountain, 3-2
Chestnut Ridge, 2-3
Everett, 2-3
Bedford, 1-4
Claysburg, 1-4

Spring Into Sports Player of the Week - Luke Campbell, Bedford. Campbell made all five of Bedford's receptions for 131 yards in a 26-21 win over Westmont, the first victory for the Bisons this season. Campbell, the leading receiver in the county last fall, came out two weeks ago and has made an immediate impact.

Week 5 Short Passes - Northern Bedford is now listed as a Class A honorable mention in the latest state rankings by the Harrisburg Patriot-News.

Week 6 Picks (winners in bold)
Bedford at Johnstown
Chestnut Ridge at Mountain Ridge (Md.)
Claysburg at Moshannon Valley
Everett at Bellwood
Northern Bedford at Mount Union
Glendale at Tussey Mountain

Natalie Dell Day recap

 Highly competitive, but highly classy. Incredibly dedicated, yet incredibly gracious.
 That's Natalie Dell in a nutshell. Bedford County, specifically Everett, celebrated her as the area's first-ever Olympic medalist this past Friday.
And what a day it was.
  I had the privilege of following Natalie around for many of the events, and I want to thank the Bedford County Chamber of Commerce and the Everett Area School District for allowing me to do so outside of the allotted time for media interviews with her.
  To begin, I have to take you back to August 1, hours after Natalie and her teammates Megan Kalmoe, Kara Kohler, and Adrienne Martelli gave the United States the bronze medal in Women's Quadruple Sculls rowing at the 2012 London Olympics.
  After watching the medal final and ceremony online early that morning, I knew I had to get in touch with Natalie, for this was such a fantastic moment in Bedford County sports history.
  I spent the next few minutes calling and leaving a message on her cell phone, sending an email to her, and also trying to contact her via Facebook, hoping she would see or hear this somewhere in all the craziness and with the five-hour time difference.
  After lunchtime here at home, I reached her. She answered on the first ring on my end and responded with a simple, down to earth "Hi." I was caught a little off-guard, but I guess she probably recognized the 814 area code on my phone and/or didn't figure to field many calls from the United States just yet.
  We had such a great conversation about her experience that day and what led into that day. So when Everett put plans together to honor her, I knew it was something I had to knock out of the park in terms of coverage for the Gazette. Of course, I also wanted an autograph or two and a picture with her and the medal for my personal collection. (Photo is on my Facebook page)
  Fast forward to Friday, where I walked into the Bedford County Chamber of Commerce's breakfast and had the awesome opportunity to meet Natalie Dell, 2012 Olympic Medalist. We both stated, nearly simultaneously, how nice it was to put a face to the name after emailing back and forth for a couple of stories since the Olympics ended.
  Through my career and my overall love of sports, I've had the chance to meet and see some great athletes (professional, collegiate, high school) up close and personal, but I have not met one who is more genuine, more down to earth, and more generous with her time than Natalie Dell.
  I said in a column piece in the August 2 edition of the Gazette that I knew next to nothing about rowing before I had heard that Natalie would be part of the Olympics. After all of this and even though Natalie won't be involved (she said she is officially retired), I will make it a point to watch some rowing from the 2016 Rio De Janiero Olympics and probably beyond.
  There were some wonderful parts of Friday's events. The elementary kids chanting "USA, USA, USA" was one of my favorites. At the end of the elementary assembly, Natalie allowed all the kids to see and touch the medal up close, and she also hung out with some high schoolers showing off the hardware. Kellie Goodman Shaffer, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce and the former Sports Director at WTAJ-TV in Altoona, choked up when presenting Natalie with a check from local businesses to help cover her expenses for the homecoming. And during the breakfast, Natalie stated that she was carrying Bedford County with her in those Olympic races. Quite amazing, and quite humbling that she made it a point to let all of us know that. She was racing for herself, her teammates, her country, her family, and her native home of Clearville, the Everett Area School District, and the entire county.
  She discussed how underfunded their club team at Penn State was compared to the top level NCAA rowing programs. Lack of a close place near campus to row, lesser boats and uniforms, and something such as knowing another team had two massage therapists compared to one for them all gave her the desire to beat her opponents' that much more, which brought some laughs from the crowd at the breakfast.
  That desire to win and be the best carried over when she gave it everything she had for three years to make the national team. Many of the top rowers often go directly into the U.S. team program, this was not the case for Natalie. Her lack of height (5-8) was one factor that worked against her in trying to get noticed.
  She lost much more than she won, but she carried on and finally made it, attending a pair of World Championships before getting the ultimate honor to be an Olympian this summer.
  It is such a moment to be proud to be an American, despite the everyday issues that many of us face. Bedford County Commissioner Kirt Morris called Natalie: "An awesome role model."
  I can't thank Natalie enough for her time during the past two months and her graciousness on Friday. At one point during the late afternoon, she asked me if I was tired of hearing her speak, as she had already made three speeches with one more coming before the football game with West Branch. "Not one bit," I said. It's not everyday you get to experience something like this and feel like you're a little part of history in this way.
  I'm a little sad knowing Natalie is not going to row anymore competitively, but I completely understand her decision. She gave up eight years of her life to pursue rowing greatness, putting aside other personal and professional aspirations to do so. She's going to take a long vacation after moving to San Francisco, and she deserves it for sure.
  I hope that Natalie's achievements inspire any of our young athletes to chase after their dreams, whatever they may be. Remember, Bedford County has now had someone in two straight Summer Olympics. Let's continue that trend!
 
A couple extra tidbits:
  - After her competition was finished, Natalie took in the rest of the Olympics and says she enjoyed synchronized swimming and women's wrestling the best out of what she got to attend.
  - For anyone who has not seen it, please visit further down in this blog for two videos that feature Natalie and her experiences this summer. You can also view them on her Facebook Athlete page at www.facebook.com/natalierows, where there is also a huge collection of photos from the Olympics.
 - Also, Saturday's Bedford Gazette has my story chronically Natalie's journey on Friday as well as a feature piece on reaction around Everett which was written by Gazette newswriter Cara Beemiller. See Page 6 of the Weekend Edition for several photos.