WPIAL releases fall alignment
Connellsville and Laurel Highlands will part of the same football conference without defending champion Belle Vernon this fall.
The WPIAL recently released its alignments for the 2022 fall season.
Connellsville moves from Class 5A into Section 3 in 4A, joining perennial powers Thomas Jefferson and McKeesport and the upstart Mustangs along with Ringgold, Trinity and Latrobe.
WPIAL Class 4A finalist Belle Vernon falls in 3A and was placed in Section 3 where a strong Elizabeth Forward program welcomes them along with Mount Pleasant, Southmoreland, Greensburg Salem and South Allegheny.
Juggernaut Central Valley, which has won the past two WPIAL and PIAA championships in 3A, will move up to 4A along with a strong North Catholic program.
Elizabeth Forward coach Mike Collodi did take a glance at the revamped conference his Warriors will play in.
“I am aware, I did look at it and know we do have a really good conference,” Collodi said. “I believe every single team in it made the playoffs last season. It’s going to be very competitive and I look forward to it.
“It’s nice to see a bit of change. We’ll play some new teams. It’s exciting. There are some familiar faces and some new faces. It’ll be fun.”
Collodi said he has more important things to worry about than who’s in his conference or in 3A.
“Honestly, I just focus on our team,” Collodi said. “I’m not all that concerned about who’s in our conference or who we play.
“We want to concentrate on ourselves and we want to get better. We’re back into the weights for our offseason training. We’re focused on getting bigger, faster and stronger and let the chips fall where they may.”
The Warriors have a strong recent resume themselves, having reached the WPIAL final and semifinals the past two years, falling to Central Valley both times.
“We won four conference titles in five years so needless to say I think we probably are in the upper echelon of that conference and in Triple-A overall,” Collodi said.
Aliquippa’s fate remains up in the air as it awaits a PIAA ruling on if it will be in Class 5A, 4A or 3A next season although it most likely will be included in one of the bigger two classifications.
Yough moved from 3A to 2A where it will join Section 1. The Cougars, unfortunately, lost several natural conference rivalries such as Mount Pleasant and Southmoreland, but Derry joins them along with Apollo Ridge, Burrell, Imani Christian, Ligonier Valley, Serra Catholic and Steel Valley.
Charleroi and Waynesburg Central remain at 2A in Section 3 and will be joined by Brentwood, Keystone Oaks, McGuffey, Sto-Rox and Washington.
One big question was which teams would make up Section 2 in Class 1A — better known as the Tri-County South — with Beth-Center and Frazier both dropping down from 2A.
The Bulldogs will join the conference that also includes holdovers Bentworth, California, Carmichaels, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown, Monessen and defending TCS champ West Greene.
Frazier was put into a strong Section 1 that also includes Clairton, Leechburg, Greensburg Central Catholic, Springdale, Riverview and Jeannette.
Avella got the short end of the stick among last year’s TCS teams as it was moved from a conference where it was competitive and had developed some strong rivalries into a loaded Section 3.
Albert Gallatin, Uniontown and Brownsville will play independent schedules.
In girls volleyball, Connellsville was dropped from 4A to 3A and will be part of Section 3 along with Thomas Jefferson and a slew of local teams in Albert Gallatin, Laurel Highlands, Uniontown, Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward and Ringgold.
Yough fell from 3A to 2A and will be in Section 3 along with Brownsville, Bentworth, Beth-Center, Charleroi, Waynesburg Central, Southmoreland, McGuffey and Washington.
As expected, Frazier and Carmichaels, which both were dropped from 2A to 1A, will rejoin Section 2 along with defending section champ Mapletown, California, Jefferson-Morgan, West Greene, Geibel Catholic and Avella.
In boys soccer, Connellsville falls from 4A to 3A and into Section 3, joining Fayette County rivals Uniontown, Laurel Highlands and Albert Gallatin, along with Bethel Park, Thomas Jefferson and Trinity.
Elizabeth Forward remains at 2A in Section 1 and Belle Vernon falls from 3A to 2A into Section 3 along with Brownsville, Mount Pleasant, Southmoreland, Waynesburg Central, Yough, McGuffey and Washington.
Five local teams at 1A — Bentworth, Beth-Center, California, Charleroi and Geibel Catholic — will now be together in Section 2 along with Greensburg Central Catholic and Ligonier Valley.
In girls soccer, Elizabeth Forward moves from 2A up into 3A where it will join Albert Gallatin, Belle Vernon, Connellsville, Uniontown, Ringgold, Laurel Highlands and Thomas Jefferson.
In Class 2A, Mount Pleasant, Southmoreland and Yough are in Section 3 with East Allegheny, Ligonier Valley and Woodland Hills, while Brownsville was shifted into Section 4 where it joins Keystone Oaks, McGuffey, Shady Side Academy, South Park and West Mifflin.
In 1A, Bentworth, Beth-Center, Charleroi, Monessen, Waynesburg Central, Chartiers-Houston and South Allegheny are in Section 2.
In boys golf, Albert Gallatin, Connellsville, Laurel Highlands and Ringgold remain at 3A in Section 2 along with McKeesport and Trinity.
Uniontown and Belle Vernon both moved down from 3A to 2A and will play in Section 8 along with Charleroi, Elizabeth Forward, Frazier, Geibel Catholic and Yough.
Also in 2A, Brownsville will play in Section 3 along with Carmichaels, Jefferson-Morgan, Waynesburg Central, Beth-Center, Bentworth and McGuffey, and Mount Pleasant and Southmoreland will play in Section 2 with Derry, Greensburg Central Catholic, Greensburg Salem, Jeannette and Ligonier Valley.
In girls golf, Connellsville remains at 3A in Section 3 along with Franklin Regional, Gateway, Hempfield, Indiana, Norwin and Penn-Trafford, and Elizabeth Forward, formerly at 2A, will play in Section 2.
In 2A, Geibel Catholic, Mount Pleasant and Southmoreland are in Section 1 with Derry, Greensburg Central Catholic and Ligonier Valley.
In girls tennis, Connellsville stays at 3A and will play in Section 3, while Mount Pleasant and Southmoreland remain at 2A in Section 1.
In cross country, both the boys and girls teams at Albert Gallatin, Elizabeth Forward, Laurel Highlands, Ringgold and Uniontown will be at 2A in Division I, Section 2, while Connellsville boys will be at 2A and its girls will be at 3A in the same section. Both Yough teams are at 2A in Section 1.
In Division II, all local boys and girls team will be in the same class. Waynesburg Central and West Greene are at 1A in Section 3, Belle Vernon, Brownsville and Southmoreland are at 2A in Section 5 and California is at 1A in the same section.