J-M grad Howard repeats as All-American
Brendan Howard talked about not having “closure’ when his chance to compete in the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships was taken away thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown senior did get a portion of that closure when he was recently named to the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division II All-America team.
“I think it’s the least the NCAA can do for some of the top guys seeded in the tournament,” said Howard, who was honored in the 125-pound weight class, where he was seeded third in the national tournament with a sparkling 27-2 record. “It’s fine. I like it.
“Out top-seeded guy, going for his third national title (Jacob Ealy at 141), didn’t get that chance so it was good to see him get All-American also.”
It was the second time Howard, a Jefferson-Morgan graduate, earned All-America status.
“I’m proud of that,” Howard said. “Any time you can do that in any sport it’s a big deal. A lot of hard work was put into that. To do it twice, it’s amazing.”
Like everyone else, Howard is trying to deal with the coronavirus situation as best he can, staying isolated and taking online classes.
“To be honest, I’m in my bed eating McDonald’s right now,” he said with a laugh. “I just got done with my classes yesterday. When I transferred from Clarion (after his freshman year) a lot of credits didn’t transfer over to UPJ, so I have one more semester in the fall, three more classes to take.”
A psychology major, Howard hopes the pandemic lifts before summer ends.
“If we do have it where we can actually be on campus at that point, I’ll probably be helping out coaching next year’s team (as a volunteer assistant),” said Howard, who noted that coaching the sport he loves and excelled at could be in his future.
“Definitely. I was coaching a lot of kids around the Johnstown area from like eighth grade up to high school, helping them out and doing some private sessions with them,” Howard said. “I really see progress in a short amount of time with these kids.
“It’s an option in the future.”
Lost season of softball
When it comes to local high school athletics, no sport shines brighter than softball.
That makes it all the more disheartening to see the 2020 season wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Post-Gazette released what the softball preseason rankings would’ve been and eight area teams were listed in the top five in their respective classifications.
Defending PIAA Class AA champion Frazier, defending WPIAL Class A champion West Greene and defending Class AAAA champion and 2019 state finalist Elizabeth Forward were each ranked No. 1.
Albert Gallatin was ranked fifth in Class 5A, Mount Pleasant and Yough were at Nos. 2 and 5, respectively, in 4A, Southmoreland was second in AAA and Jefferson-Morgan was fifth in A.
In baseball, 2019 WPIAL Class AAAAA finalist Laurel Highlands was ranked No. 3 in 5A, EF was ranked No. 5 in 4A and perennial power California, the defending WPIAL champion, was ranked No. 2 in A.
WVU joins Gallagher party
West Virginia and head coach Neal Brown made it a sweep of the major college football programs in the area, joining Pitt and Penn State in extending a scholarship offer to Laurel Highlands freshman Rodney Gallagher.
That puts Gallagher’s total number of offers at nine with six in football and three in basketball.
Michigan, Virginia Tech and William & Mary, along with the Mountaineers, Nittany Lions and Panthers have made football offers.
Gallagher has received basketball offers from Pitt, Illinois and Rhode Island.
Gallagher tagged WVU assistant coach Dontae Wright along with Brown in a Tweet that revealed his offer from the Mountaineers.