close

College notebook: Dahlquist filling role for Campbell

6 min read
1 / 4

Dahlquist

2 / 4

McAleavey

3 / 4

Casilli

4 / 4

Wise

Former Trinity High School standout Courtney Dahlquist has made an immediate impact for the Campbell University women’s basketball team.

Dahlquist, who was the Observer-Reporter’s Girls Basketball Player of the Year last season after leading the Hillers to the WPIAL Class 5A title game for the second consecutive season, is averaging 5.5 points per game and 3.0 rebounds per game as a freshman for Campbell, which has a 7-3 record.

A key substitute for the Camels, Dahlquist is shooting 58 percent from the field – she’s 21-for-29 from two-point range – 70 percent from the free-throw line and is averaging 9.5 minutes per game.

Dahlquist’s top performance so far was her first collegiate game, against Pfeiffer, when she scored 14 points and grabbed a season-high seven rebounds in only 12 minutes. She made seven of eight shots in that game.

In wrestling

After placing seventh in the heavyweight division at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, The Citadel’s Michael McAleavey was named the Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week for Nov. 29-Dec. 5.

McAleavey, a Venetia native and Peters Township graduate, went 4-2 at the event, becoming the first Bulldog to place in Las Vegas since 2014.

A graduate student, McAleavey lost his opening match to No. 15 Lucas Davison of Northwestern. McAleavey rallied from a 6-0 deficit to secure a third-period fall over Sam Aguilar of Cal Poly and used the momentum from that match for an 8-4 decision over Daniel Conley of Columbia.

McAleavey advanced to Day 2 of the tournament with a victory over No. 10 Brian Andrews of Wyoming, 2-0.

McAleavey Placed eighth in the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn., last weekend. He became the first Bulldogs wrestler to place at the tournament since 2015.

Purdue’s Gerrit Nijenhuis placed fifth last week in the Matmen Open that was held in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Nijenhuis, a former two-time state champion at Canon-McMillan, posted his first collegiate technical fall in a 16-1 win over Harvard’s Michael Doggett in the opening round. Nijenhuis put Doggett on his back in the first and the second periods, nearly scoring a fall, then posted a pair of third-period takedowns to seal the victory. In the quarterfinals, he lost on a late takedown, 8-6, to Manuel Rojas. Nijenhuis decisioned Michigan’s Jaden Bullock, 7-3, to earn his spot on the 174-pound podium, and backed it up with a 3-0 decision over Penn’s 21st-ranked Nick Incontrera.

After a loss in the consolations, Nijenhuis rebounded with a dominant 14-3 major decision over Rutgers’ Connor O’Neill, scoring five takedowns and a two-point nearfall.

In football

It took two years, but Josh Casilli finally got onto the football field for the University of Pennsylvania.

After the Ivy League opted not to play football in 2020 because of the pandemic, Casilli, a McMurray native and former Peters Township standout, played his first season with the Quakers this fall and became a valuable part of Penn’s offense.

Casilli, a wide receiver, caught 10 passes for 146 yards and one touchdown, a 12-yarder against Brown.

Casilli’s best game was at Cornell on Nov. 6 when he caught five passes for 61 yards. He followed that with two catches for 50 yards against Harvard.

In basketball

Waynesburg University senior Matt Popeck etched his name in the school record book during a recent win over Stevenson and as a result he was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week on Monday. The Washington native and Wash High graduate has received each of the last two PAC weekly awards and has picked up the accolade three times since Nov. 29.

Popeck averaged 27.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game over the holiday break. He scored a career-high 41 points Thursday in an 83-69 win, setting the school’s single-game record with 11 three-point field goals on only 13 attempts. Popeck’s 11 three-pointers are tied for the fourth-most in NCAA Division III this season. It was his third game scoring 30-plus points this season and the eighth-highest single-game scoring output in Waynesburg history.

Popeck had a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double in a loss at Kenyon on Dec. 20.

Over those two games, Popeck shot 52.8 percent (19-for-26) from the floor and 61.9 percent (13-for-21) from three-point range. Popeck leads the PAC with an 89.5 percent (34-for-38) free-throw percentage, a 43.4 percent three-point field-goal percentage and 37.4 minutes played per game average. His 22.6 points-per-game scoring average ranks second in the league.

Jersey Wise was a key player on four West Greene girls basketball teams that played for WPIAL Class A championships.

Now a freshman at Garrett, a junior college in McHenry, Md., Wise is the Lakers’ leading scorer, averaging 15.9 points per game. She has helped Garrett win seven of nine games.

Wise also is averaging four assists and 2.6 steals per game. She has scored in double figures in all but one game and has a season-high of 21 points. She has scored at least 18 points four times.

Forty percent of the starting lineup for the Seton Hill women’s team is from the O-R’s coverage area.

Cheyenne Trest, a graduate student from Canonsburg, is a starter at guard and Sam Kosmacki from Morgan and a South Fayette graduate, starts at either a guard or forward spot.

Kosmacki is averaging 7.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game and is second on the team with 15 three-point field goals. Trest, a 1,000-point scorer for Seton Hill, is averaging 6.5 points per game this season and is second on the team with 43 assists.

Seton Hill is off to a 10-4 start that includes a 4-1 record in the PSAC. In the Griffins’ last game, a 91-45 thumping of Pitt-Greensburg in nonconference play, Seton Hill had seven players score in double figures, including Kosmacki with a team-high 16 points and Trest with 10 on 4-for-5 shooting.

Former Trinity standout Michael Dunn has played in all 10 games of his freshman season for Shippensburg, helping the Raiders to a 7-3 start.

Dunn is averaging 14 minutes of playing time and 3.8 points per game. He is shooting 91 percent (10-for-11) from the free-throw line.

Dunn’s best game so far came Dec. 3 against Mercyhurst, when he scored 10 points, including making all five of his free throws.

In a rarity, a recent nonconference women’s basketball game featured three Trinity graduates.

Slippery Rock’s 86-84 double-overtime win Sunday at Fairmont State included sisters Kaylin and Emily Venick for The Rock and Sierra Kotchman for Fairmont State.

The Venick sisters, from Rices Landing, are freshmen guards. Kaylin Venick played 11 minutes, scored two points and grabbed three rebounds. Emily Venick played three minutes in the game.

Kotchman, a senior guard, scored 20 points for Fairmont and made four three-pointers.

Compiled by Chris Dugan

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today