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2025 wpial discussion

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2020sports said:
ok, I hear ya- but this stuff only really effects 6A. Still pretty impressive to win at 1-5. And, even though there are negatives, there are a lot more teams benefitting from the 6 levels- better chance for winning records, playoffs, which keeps more kids playing football, so that is a positive.

For 6A, the reality is if it was 4 levels, imo, PR and Peters are the only teams that would have given any challenge to PCC and NA in the last 3 years- things would not have been much different- imo, 99% likely NA would have still won in 23 and PCC would have still won in 24. 22, not sure, maybe PR could have wo 6A.

imo- there's a whole lot of things the WPIAL could do to make postseason better- better media coverage, better "free access" to watching on TV or streaming- and how about this- ALL home playoffs games? Except for the final, which would NOT be played at Norwin, which is terrible- maybe Highmark Stadium, or Robert Morris Field
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PR beat both NA and Central in the 2022 regular season, that was the year when everybody was really down on wpial 6A
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Easton Announces Corey Keener as Head Wrestling Coach

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In an expected move, Easton announced the hiring of Corey Keener as their next head wrestling coach today. Keener replaces Jody Karam, who retired after five seasons at Easton and over thirty as a high school head coach. Keener was hired as Karam’s top assistant five seasons ago, and has been groomed as Karam’s successor.

As an athlete, Keener is District 11’s all time leader in wins with 190. He won a pair of state championships and was a three-time state finalist for Blue Mountain, while leading the Eagles to their only trip to state duals in 2009. After high school, Keener wrestled for Tom Borelli at Central Michigan, where he was a three-time NCAA qualifier. He used his final year of eligibility as a graduate transfer at Penn State, where he qualified for a fourth NCAA tournament and helped the Nittany Lions win a team national championship. Keener also won Fargo and University national titles in freestyle.

Keener initially joined the staff at Pottsville in 2019, where his dad is the head coach. He was hired to teach gym at Easton Area Middle School and take the top varsity assistant job in 2021. He has been in charge of running technique development and the offseason Gold Medal Wrestling Club for the Red Rovers. Keener has been instrumental in the development of the lightweights, particularly 2025 state championship Nick Salamone.

Again, not an unexpected hire, and a lot of time and energy has spent with coaching legends Jody Karam, Steve Powell, and Barry Snyder showing Keener the finer points of running his own program. This has definitely been an apprenticeship. He will certainly put his own stamp on things, and it’s a big move one seat over on the bench, but he’s been put in position to succeed. He also returns a state champ, five state qualifiers, and is bringing in maybe the best freshman class in the state. Keener should be in position to succeed right away. I would love to see him hire a younger upper weights coach (pry alum Tyler Greene away from Freedom?) which they haven’t really had since Ryan Cummins left to take the State College job a decade (or more?) ago. He also needs to figure out the system to get more medalists on the podium in Hershey - this year they should really have five. But that’s his maze to navigate now. Good luck!
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Full Circle Recruiting

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Also, not totally related but to contain it in one thread -

How many Pennsylvania athletes had a better all around year that Kurtis Crossman? You don't see this very much anymore, but here's what he's accomplished across three sports.

Fall - Football: First Team All EPC defensive end AND tight end. Easton-P'burg defensive MVP. All EasternPaFootball defensive end.
Winter - Wrestling: 33-10, D11 runner-up at 215 pounds, PIAA state qualifier (2nd time), Beast of the East round of 12
Spring - Baseball: First Team All EPC first baseman, currently hitting .421, slugging .598 and leading the league in doubles

Crossman has been a varsity starter in baseball since his freshman season, and cracked the football and wrestling lineups as a sophomore. In this era of specialization, it's kind of nice to see a kid who is excelling in three sports. As a younger athlete, I think he was getting more baseball attention. From what I'm hearing, he's got a lot more low FBS, or FCS (lots of the high academic Patriot League/Ivy League types, plus Villanova, New Hampshire, etc.). I don't think solely focusing on football means he'd be getting offers from Georgia and Penn State instead, so isn't it kind of nice that he's doing all three, excelling at all three, and still has opportunities at the next level that probably would be there regardless? Not to get on too much of a soap box, but it's cool.
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Full Circle Recruiting

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That is former Easton great Jarred Holley (All State 2006, 2007, All Big East at Pitt) now on the defensive staff at Marshall paying a school visit to Easton’s two rising senior defensive ends Algee Macon and Kurtis Crossman. Cool to see.

I guess that’s how we felt when Chuck Amato would come back to recruit?
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private vs public schools

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IF the legislation passes, it still leaves it up to the PIAA as to how to proceed, it's not a mandate. They could leave it alone or put together a separate classification for non-boundary. As Rover said, the regular season schedule wouldn't have to change at all. I haven't looked to see how many teams this might affect, but it might create a scenario where the "non-boundary/private" schools don't play district games and instead are seeded directly into a state playoff, to solve the geographical imbalances. Could you put LaSalle on the opposite side of the state bracket from SJP? It COULD create some intriguing possibilities down the road.
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private vs public schools

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2020sports said:
This is an interesting topic- but I just dont think things are gonna change- PA legislators are really big into the "status quo." there are all kind of "laws" that get approved by Committees, but never even get voted on, let alone "voted yes." I think once they talk about possible civil rights problems, they won't even vote. If this happens- maybe this will change some things- but the problem w Western PA is there just are not that many private schools- and would really be a burden for "scheduling" games during regular season.
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Why does scheduling have to change if the playoff format changes?
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private vs public schools

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Fletchster1 said:
Current situation - Non-boundary schools who can pick and choose their student body vs boundary schools who have to take what they get playing in league, district, and state playoff games.

Future situation - Non-boundary schools who can still pick and choose their student body vs other Non-boundary schools who can also pick and choose their student body. Boundary schools who have to take what they get vs other Boundary schools who have to take what they get.

Community vs Non-community - Kids that grow up in a community playing for boundary schools with local pride versus kids that grow up in a community playing for some non-boundary school outside their community. Kids and their families can do what they want, but I believe there is nothing like two rival boundary schools battling on the gridiron with their communities behind them.
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This is an interesting topic- but I just dont think things are gonna change- PA legislators are really big into the "status quo." there are all kind of "laws" that get approved by Committees, but never even get voted on, let alone "voted yes." I think once they talk about possible civil rights problems, they won't even vote. If this happens- maybe this will change some things- but the problem w Western PA is there just are not that many private schools- and would really be a burden for "scheduling" games during regular season.
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private vs public schools

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Current situation - Non-boundary schools who can pick and choose their student body vs boundary schools who have to take what they get playing in league, district, and state playoff games.

Future situation - Non-boundary schools who can still pick and choose their student body vs other Non-boundary schools who can also pick and choose their student body. Boundary schools who have to take what they get vs other Boundary schools who have to take what they get.

Community vs Non-community - Kids that grow up in a community playing for boundary schools with local pride versus kids that grow up in a community playing for some non-boundary school outside their community. Kids and their families can do what they want, but I believe there is nothing like two rival boundary schools battling on the gridiron with their communities behind them.
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private vs public schools

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This
Fletchster1 said:
Common sense will prevail. Excited to get back to all playoff games between two communities versus the lopsided mess we often see when a non-boundary plays a boundary.
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I'll be interested in how this works out in practice. How will it affect public schools in Philly? Will it apply to all sports? How will this actually work, for instance, with sports like track, lacrosse, or soccer? And how will it work if boundaries become more porous because of demographic changes or because certain programs are offered in one district and not in another?

I'm also interested in your expectation that the change will result in playoff games between communities. I don't think it's accurate to say all boundary/public schools are community schools and all non-boundary/private schools are not community schools. Things are not the same in all parts of the state, and a lot has changed in recent decades. Also, there are different kinds of communities.

A long time ago I lived in Scranton for a few years. I remember seeing the big crowds at Memorial Stadium and at other venues. Much has changed since. Will putting Scranton Prep in another playoff classification increase attendance at Dunmore or Valley View games?
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LaSalle vs PCC Week 0?

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BradlyPitt said:
it's been 5 years, year 6 didn't start yet, though they probably won't win it next year

4 championship appearances in 6 seasons, that is great

what is great to you?
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What would be great would be you, Brad Pitt, trying out a new angle. How about starting off a comment by saying, "You know, I never thought of that. Great point!" instead of, "You're wrong, I'm right!" Why are you always in what appears to be a fight?
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