 Butler's Brin Zehmisch attempts to control Kiski's Marissa Prignon during a match Wednesday night at Kiski High School. The Golden Tornado lost the dual 36-30, but Zehmisch picked up a pin in a 130-pound bout. Josh Rizzo/PIttsburgh Preps and Colleges ALLEGHENY TWP - Brin Zehmisch once had to look for competition wherever she could find it. The Butler junior girls wrestler couldn't always find people in her weight class in the fledgling sport of girls wrestling. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zehmisch was eager to accept matches even against opponents that outweighed her significantly. Zehmisch, who is 35-16 in her career, opened the season by pinning Kiski's Marissa Prignon during the second period of a 130-pound bout Wednesday night on the road. "As a kid, I wrestled a lot of guys and there weren't many girls who wanted to wrestle," Zehmisch said. "At a small tournament, there was only me and one other girl. I wanted to wrestle no matter what my weight class was. One time I wrestle a girl who was close to 200 pounds when I was 90 pounds." Zehmisch, who has been wrestling for 10 years, has seen her experience pay off since the WPIAL and PIAA started sponsoring girls wrestling. Last season, Zehmisch finished fourth in the WPIAL at 118 pounds. Zehmisch, who was 21-10 overall, qualified for the West Regional. Zehmisch, who finished 1-2 at the regional tournament, said she got into wrestling because of her younger sister. Her interest in wrestling was because of her dream to wrestle in the WWE. Once she started with folkstyle, Zehmisch's desire changed. "My little sister brought a flyer home from school and it seemed like something I wanted to do," Zehmisch said. "It seemed like something I really wanted to do because I wanted to wrestle in the WWE. As I started progressing in wrestling, I didn't want to wrestle in WWE anymore. I like wrestling as it is." Golden Tornado girls wrestling coach Nathan Bottinger said he was happy with how aggressive Zehmisch was against Prignon. "She was forcing the pace a little bit," Bottinger said. "She's not a high-pressure kind of kid, but she likes to stay with girls, find that opening and pounce on it." Zehmisch said she believes her style of wrestling allows her to catch her opponents off guard. During matches, Zehmisch is able to quickly shift her weight to be in better positions. "Some of the people I practice with, they think I'm heave than I actually am," Zehmisch said. Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo
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10/10/2025 0 Comments WPIAL/City League week 7 football quick reactions: butler earned its sixth win on the field, kemon spell not 100 percent on penn state, what's up with Westinghouse? Butler's Mark Klemz runs for a touchdown during the first quarter of Butler's 35-8 win over Allderdice Friday afternoon at Cupples Stadium in Pittsburgh. Klemz ran for 114 yards against the Dragons. Josh Rizzo/Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges While an administrative error handed Butler its first winning season since 1997 on Wednesday night, the Golden Tornado left no doubt on Friday they planned to earn it on the field. Butler bullied Allderdice from the outset of its matchup, building a 21-point first-quarter lead before blowing by the Dragons 35-8 at Cupples Stadium. The Golden Tornado (7-1) were led by quarterback Nicco Baggetta, who passed for 183 yards and threw two touchdown passes. Mark Klemz led Butler with 114 yards on 15 carries. Tre Turner scored the lone touchdown for Allderdice. What’s up with Westinghouse? Westinghouse’s streak of 21 consecutive wins in the City League came to a halt Friday night. University Prep was able to pick up a 20-14 win over the Bulldogs. Westinghouse have now lost consecutive games. Including the forfeit to Butler for using an ineligible player, the Bulldogs are now 5-3 on the season. Mckeesport's Kemon Spell goes off McKeesport standout Kemon Spell scored six touchdowns to help the Tigers gain control of first place in the Greater Allegheny Conference. Spell, who told MVI reporter Liam Belan after the game he isn’t 100 percent to Penn State anymore, piled up 420 yards of total offense in a 56-31 win over the Planets. Hopewell's Marcantonio attempts to get record back Hopewell kicker Rocco Marcantonio had an opportunity to try and get his WPIAL record for the longest field goal in WPIAL history back. Marcantonio’s attempt came up short, but the Vikings kicker has twice made a 55-yard attempt in his career. With Hopewell’s offense going off in a 48-20 win, the Vikings had plenty of cushion to give him a shot at a make. Fox Chapel's Harran Zureikat, a Georgia recruit, broke Marcantonio's record by making. a 57-yard field goal against Franklin Regional earlier this week. Don Barclay gets first conference win Things have been rough for Seneca Valley alum Don Barclay during his first season leading the Raiders program. But the Raiders showed some progress Friday night by beating Hempfield, 47-8. The Raiders (3-5, 1-3) halted a two-game losing skid with the win. Seneca Valley won’t get a chance to build on this win, as the Raiders will have to contend with Central Catholic and North Allegheny to close the season. Josh Rizzo is the editor of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on @J_oshRizzo 10/6/2025 0 Comments Western pennsylvania football games to watch for in week 7: USC-Bethel Park fight for allegheny 6 conference position, Butler seeks first winning season since 1997, mars readies for mckeesport Burrell's Liam Perdue runs past a diving Valley defender during a kick return last Friday in Lower Burrell. The Buccaneers won 41-21. Josh Rizzo/Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges The Allegheny Six Conference is once again the most hotly-contested conference in the WPIAL’s Class 5A division. Bethel Park wants to make sure it doesn’t become the forgotten team in a tight race.
The Black Hawks were tripped up by Moon two weeks ago, but will have another tough test when it travels to Upper St. Clair (6-1, 1-1) on Friday. The Panthers also suffered a loss two weeks ago, dropping a closer game with Peters Township. Bethel Park (5-2, 1-1) has a balanced offense led by running back David Dennison, who has 990 yards on 144 carries. Quarterback Evan Devine has thrown for 17 touchdown passes and six interceptions. Devine has 1,403 passing yards. The Panthers also have an excellent quarterback under center. Ethan Hellman has thrown for 1,784 yards and 23 touchdown passes. Hellman has only been intercepted once. Bryce Jones (478 yards) and Nico D’Orazio (411) have 400 or more receiving yards for Upper St. Clair. This will be a good matchup. Butler attempts to end 30 years of suffering The Golden Tornado (5-2) made the move to become an independent program for the 2020 season. Since then, Butler, which had a brief two-year flirtation with District X, has gone 19-27 as an improvement. It’s a big improvement for the Golden Tornado, which were 6-42 in the five years preceding this stretch as a WPIAL program. The question is can Butler find that elusive sixth win? The Golden Tornado haven’t had a winning season since 1997 and will have three chances to put that stigma behind them. The first challenger will come this Friday in Allderdice from the City League. The Dragons (4-3) have had an up-and-down season. Allderdice beat Fox Chapel to open the season, lost to Hollisdaysburg and then ran off three consecutive wins against Perry, Uniontown and Brashear. The Dragons have struggled to get their offense moving against tough competition. Nassir Scott leads Allderdice with 308 rushing yards. Butler quarterback Nicco Baggetta leads the Golden Tornado with 939 passing yards and has thrown nine touchdown passes. Mark Klemz leads the team with 747 rushing yards. Butler beat Allderdice 7-0 last season and it could be the Golden Tornado’s best chance to break the streak. Butler wraps up the season against Wheeling Park (W.Va.) and Central Clarion. Mars readies for McKeesport The Planets have won six of their first seven games and are ready to try and spring an upset on the road against McKeesport, which is considered one of the favorites to win Class 4A. The Tigers (4-3, 2-0) have been inconsistent this year as Penn State recruit Kemon Spell has battled to stay on the field due to injuries. When Spell plays, he’s hard to take down. McKeesport struggled against West Mifflin last week, rallying to a 28-21 win on the road. Mars pounded West Mifflin 46-0 two weeks ago and beat Butler County rival Knoch last week. Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo. |
AuthorMy name is Josh Rizzo, I am a sports writer who has worked for a variety of print and online media publications since 2008. I specialize in community journalism, focusing on regular people who happen to play sports. Archives
November 2025
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