Skating star: AG’s Valenti stars for Morgantown hockey team
Geno Valenti is a starter on the Albert Gallatin baseball team but there is another sport he loves that isn’t offered at his high school.
Valenti is a hockey player who had to look outside the area for a team to play on.
The Morgantown Mohawks are glad he did.
Valenti, the son of Jerry and Robin Chory Valenti and grandson of Theresa and the late Rob Chory of Masontown, found a spot with the Mohawks and the results have been amazing.
With Valenti leading the way, Morgantown won the West Virginia High School state championship this past season.
The Monarch defeated Central, 6-1, in the state semifinals and then knocked off the host Wheeling Park Patriots, 4-1, in the final at Wes Banco Arena on Jan. 29 to claim the Bob Otten Trophy, thanks in large part to Valenti.
Goals by Nico Kourtis and Jakob Scheffen-Krause gave the Mohawks a 2-0 in the final and an unassisted goal by Valenti made it 3-0. After the Patriots finally got on the board, Valenti put in his second goal of the game with four minutes remaining to all but ice the victory.
Valenti, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound left-handed forward, isn’t the only hockey player from Albert Gallatin. Brayden Hellen and Luke Wilson are two more AG players that got to share the state championship with Valenti, who was voted the Morgantown MVP of the tournament.
Cory Kourtsis, Morgantown Hockey Association High School Director, lauded Valenti, whose team also played in the PIHL.
“Geno’s a very good player and was one of our leaders on the team,” Kourtsis said. “In that state championship tournament I think he had five goals, two or three assists, he really should have been the MVP of the whole tournament.
“He’s just a super kid that everybody loves. He’s got a great personality, he’s funny and the kids all love playing with him.”
The state crown earned the Mohawks a trip to the Chipotle-USA Hockey High School Division II National Championships in Plymouth, Minnesota, near Minneapolis.
There was a gap of almost two months between the national championships and the state tournament so in the meantime Morgantown continued playing in the PIHL.
“We finished our PIHL season and played in the playoffs there,” Kourtsis said. “It’s a co-op team with Morgantown High School, University High School, Albert Gallatin, Grafton High School, Bridgeport High School and Fairmont Senior High School.”
Morgantown fell to Bishop Canevin in the postseason. Valenti rang up 28 points in 17 PIHL games with 14 goals and 14 assists.
Along the way Valenti played in the PIHL D2 All-Star game at the RMU Island Sports Center and scored the first goal although his D2-Gold team lost to the D2-Blue team.
Valenti is more than just an offensive sniper, according to Kourtsis.
“We’re kind of a grinder team,” Kourtsis said. “Geno has got a great shot but he’s a physical player and very smart, too. He’s good at positional play. He knows how to get in, get the puck and get shots off. He’s one of our better passers. He’s just got all-around good skills.
“Overall, though, we’re not flashy. We don’t have a lot of superstars. They just play together. We have a fantastic goalie, senior Hayden Derk. He is going to play for the D-II WVU hockey team next year.”
The Mohawks, guided by veteran coach Rob Rockis, headed to Minnesota for the national championships in late March and were involved in a 16-team competition with four four-team divisions. Morgantown swept all three of its games in the First Liberty division to advance.
The Mohawks started with a 4-1 win over Greensville, South Carolina, with Valenti scoring his team’s final goal and Hellen adding an assist.
The second game was a 6-2 victory over the Oklahoma Oil Kings with Hellen scoring the first goal to put Morgantown ahead to stay. Valenti had an assist.
In the third game Valenti had an assist and a goal in regulation which ended with the score tied 3-3. Valenti put an end to the battle with an unassisted goal in overtime.
The Mohawks met a familiar foe when it reached the national quarterfinals, though, and were eliminated by Bishop Canevin, 8-2, with Valenti scoring one of his team’s two goals.
Valenti accumulated four goals and two assists in the four games in Minnesota.
The season still wasn’t over for Valenti.
“The travel team he plays on in Pittsburgh (Allegheny Badgers 16U AA Team) also won the Pennsylvania state championship, and they played nationals in Buffalo,” Kourtsis pointed out.
“It’s rare for a hockey player to go to nationals at any level. To be doing it twice in one year on different teams is pretty special.
“But Geno is a pretty special player.”