Times' high school sports notebook: Moon's Haley Smarsh makes WPIAL history

She’s only a 14-year-old freshman, but Haley Smarsh has already played a part in WPIAL history.

To be more precise, she’s part of WPIAL wrestling history.

On Saturday when the WPIAL held its inaugural Girls’ Wrestling Individual Championships, Smarsh was among 13 gold-medal winners.

“It was really exciting,” said Smarsh, the one and only member of Moon’s girls wrestling team. “I’m happy to be one of the first.”

In the competition held at North Allegheny High School, 161 girls from across the WPIAL took part. Nine different schools produced champions, including Canon-McMillan with three. Norwin and Plum each had two gold medalists, while Butler, Hampton, Kiski Area, Laurel, Moon, and North Allegheny each had one.

Based on her 18-0 record, Smarsh was the top seed in the 130-pound weight class. She lived up to her No.  1 billing by winning all four of her matches, each time by pin.

“You can call Haley a technician for sure” said Mike Muraco, the boys and girls wrestling coach at Moon. “She has a variety of shots and moves and different things that she likes to do. But maybe more than anything, she’s just so aggressive. She gets on her offense early.”

That’s exactly what happened Saturday.

In her round of 16 match, she pinned Pine-Richland’s Gianna Horner in 26 seconds.

In the quarterfinals, she pinned Connellsville’s Jayli Mackey of Connellsville in 59 seconds.

In the semifinals, she pinned Canon-McMillans’ Leilani Ramos in 1:33.

Then in the championship match, she pinned Woodland Hills’ Asia Fowler in 2:31.

So as Smarsh improved to 22-0 for the season, she’s recorded 19 pins.

When asked about her penchant for putting opponents on their backs, Smarsh said “Wrestling with the guys. It really helps me a lot by wrestling with the guys at practice. They really work me hard.”

Smarsh, who’s been wrestling since she was 5 years old, is indeed a fascinating athlete. She actually competes in four sports at Moon.

This past fall, she was a linebacker on the football team. She didn’t see any action in varsity games but did play junior varsity.

In the spring, she’ll play softball and rugby.

But right now. She’s just concentrating on wrestling.

All the top five finishers Saturday at the WPIAL Championships advance to PIAA West Regional that will be held Saturday, March 2 at Canon-McMillan.

“First of all, it’s just so exciting that girls have this opportunity,” Muraco said of the WPIAL’s inaugural girls championships.

“And for Haley herself, just being a freshman, winning a WPIAL championship in her first year, that’s pretty cool. She deserves it. She works so hard. I am so proud of her.”

BRANDIN CUMMINGS JOINS BROTHER, NELLY, IN 2,000 POINT CLUB

Lincoln Park’s Brandin Cummings (3) attempts a layup after getting around North CatholicÕs Owen Maddalon (20) during the first half Wednesday night at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

On Friday when Lincoln Park (20-3) opened the WPIAL basketball playoffs with a 93-63 win over Freeport, Leopards guard Brandin Cummings became the 35^th player in WPIAL history to score 2,000 career points.

But there’s much more to the story than “Beebah’’ as he’s called, just reaching 2,000.

Brandin Cummings, a senior, joined his brother Nelly Cummings in the 2,000 Point Club. Nelly, who played at Lincoln Park from 2013-17, is seventh on the WPIAL all-time scoring list with 2,411 points.

Also, the Cummings brothers are just the second brother combination in WPIAL history to score 2,000. The other is Chartiers Valley’s T.J. McConnell and Matty McConnell. T.J. had 2,404 points from 2006-10, and Matty 2,018 from 2011-15.

And consider this: The Cummings brothers are now the highest-scoring brother scoring tandem in WPIAL history. They now have combined for 4,430 while the McConnell brothers have 4,422.

“I’m lucky to have been able to coach Nelly and Brandin,” said Lincoln Park coach Mike Bariski.

“Obviously, they’re both incredibly gifted athletes who can score,” Bariski added. “But they’re totally different players. Totally different size. Different length. They score differently. But both of them are unbelievable competitors. They’re tenacity is the same. That’s the big thing that they have in common.”

Brandin Cummings, a 6-foot-4 guard who’s a Pitt recruit, entered the game against Freeport with 1,996 career points. He officially surpassed 2,000 by knocking down a 3-pointer later in the first quarter. That gave him 2,002 career points. He finished the game with 23 points and now has 2,019 for his career.

At that point when Cummings reached 2,000, the game at Lincoln Park’s gym was stopped briefly to recognize the moment. Cummings shared the moment with his parents. Nelly Cumming, a 6-foot guard who played college basketball at Bowling Green, Colgate and Pitt, wasn’t in attendance. He’s playing professionally overseas in Bulgaria.

In the win over Freeport, Meleek Thomas, a junior guard with multiple NCAA Division I scholarship offers, led Lincoln Park with 30 points.

There are now nine boys basketball players from high schools in the Beaver County Times coverage area to score over 2,000 points in their careers. Here’s the list (name, school, graduation year and career points):

Jake DiMichele, OLSH (2022), 2,642

Nelly Cummings, Lincoln Park (2017), 2,411

Don Hennon, Wampum (1955), 2,376

Brandon Fuss-Cheatham, Blackhawk (2001) 2,278

Dante Calabria, Blackhawk (1992), 2,252

Lance Jeter, Beaver Falls (2006), 2,243

Todd Thomas, Beaver Falls (2009), 2,063

* Brandin Cummings, Lincoln Park (2024), 2,019

Gabe Jackson, New Brighton (1991), 2,011

* – Still active

CAN QUIPS SLOW DOWN CLAIRTON’S IYANNA WADE?

One of the most intriguing games this week in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL girls basketball tournament will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the North Hills Middle School. It’ll be Aliquippa (20-3), the second-seed in Class 2A, taking on 10^th-seed Clairton (18-4).

Or to be more exact, it’s the Quips’ defense vs. Bears guard Iyanna Wade, one of the most prolific scorers in WPIAL history.

Wade, a 5-4 junior guard who’s the daughter of Clairton coach Carlton Wade, has been the WPIAL’s leading scorer the past two years. Wade led the WPIAL in scoring last year as a sophomore at 33.3 points a game.  She finished regular-season this year by averaging 40.1. Earlier this year, she set the WPIAL single-game record with 65 points in a game against Steel Valley.

Then last week in a first-round playoff game against seventh-seeded Freedom, she led the Bears to a 78-65 overtime upset win by scoring 52 points.

Wade’s 52-point effort is the second-best in WPIAL girls playoff history. East Allegheny’s Brooke Stewart set the record with 56 in 1997.

In the win at Freedom, Wade was clutch down the homestretch by scoring 29 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. She sent the game into OT by knocking down a game-tying 3-pointer with three seconds left in regulation.

Aliquippa beat Freedom, its section rival, twice this season: 47-45 in OT at Freedom, and then 40-33 at home.

The Quips opened the playoffs with a 53-18 blowout win over No. 15 seed California (10-13).

They’ll obviously have a tougher challenge on their hands Wednesday against Iyanna Wade and the Bears.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Times’ high school sports notebook: Moon’s Haley Smarsh makes WPIAL history