Winter sports alignment changes announced

Local schools will have new alignments and opponents over the next two years.

The WPIAL officially released its new winter sports classifications for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons Tuesday, shuffling up the makeup of basketball, wrestling and swimming sections.

Mon Valley teams will have new opponents in these sports, while a few squads will also change classes.

Starting with boys basketball, Yough will make the jump to Class 4A from 3A, while South Allegheny will drop from 4A to 3A.

California will step up from Class 1A to 2A for the next two seasons, while Serra Catholic will drop from 2A to 1A.

McKeesport and Thomas Jefferson will both stay in Class 5A, but they’ll have some new opponents to get used to.

The Tigers will play in Section 1-5A alongside holdovers Franklin Regional, Gateway, Latrobe and Penn-Trafford. Completing the section will be Albert Gallatin, Laurel Highlands and Uniontown.

Uniontown finished third in Class 4A last year, while Laurel Highlands will also move up from 4A to 5A.

The Jaguars will also have many of the same opponents in Section 3-5A as they have the last few seasons, including Bethel Park, Peters Township, Ringgold and Trinity. Making up the remainder of that conference will be Baldwin, which is dropping to Class 5A after appearing in the Class 6A title game last season, and South Fayette.

The Rams will look to improve on their section mark from last year in this new setup as they will again have to compete with Thomas Jefferson.

In Class 4A, Belle Vernon and Elizabeth Forward will be in the same section again, and they no longer have to deal with Uniontown.

Section 3-4A is made up of the Leopards, Warriors, Derry, East Allegheny, Greensburg Salem, West Mifflin and Yough. With three Mon Valley squads there, it will make for exciting matchups, and it will be interesting to see how Derry Area adjusts as a playoff squad down in Class 3A last winter.

South Allegheny will see an entirely different set of opponents for the next two years after dropping to Section 3-3A. The Gladiators, who had plenty of success over the past few years in 4A, will compete against Apollo-Ridge, Seton La-Salle, Shady Side Academy, South Park and Steel Valley.

Behind new head coach Joseph Dunn, Charleroi will remain in Section 4-3A as it’s shuffled just a bit. The Cougars will take on Brownsville, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant, Southmoreland and Waynesburg in their section for the next two years.

The four Mon Valley schools in Class 2A will all battle each other in Section 1-2A as Bentworth, California, Clairton and Frazier will join Greensburg Central Catholic, Jeannette, Riverview and Springdale in the conference.

In Class 1A, Monessen and Serra Catholic will compete with Environmental Charter, Geibel, Neighborhood Academy and St. Joseph’s to round out the boys basketball classifications.

Moving to girls basketball, Yough will again move up from Class 3A to 4A and Clairton and Serra Catholic will drop from Class 2A to Class 1A to conclude the local changes in classification.

McKeesport and Thomas Jefferson will play in Section 2 and Section 4, respectively, in the WPIAL’s second-largest classification. The Tigers will take on Greensburg Salem, Indiana, Kiski, Latrobe, Penn-Trafford and West Mifflin after beating Indiana in last season’s district and state playoffs.

TJ will join Albert Gallatin, Baldwin, Bethel Park, Peters Township, Trinity and Uniontown in its section.

Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward and Ringgold will remain in Section 3-4A and be joined by Yough along with Laurel Highlands, Mt. Pleasant, South Park and Southmoreland.

In Class 3A, South Allegheny will compete in Section 2 and Charleroi will be in Section 3. The Gladiators will play against Avonworth, Deer Lakes, East Allegheny, Ligonier Valley, Shady Side Academy and Steel Valley, while the Cougars will battle Brownsville, Keystone Oaks, McGuffey, Seton LaSalle, Washington and Waynesburg in their conference.

Every Class 2A Mon Valley squad resides in Section 3 as Bentworth, California and Frazier will face Beth-Center, Carmichaels, Chartiers-Houston and Jefferson-Morgan in section play. Clairton, Monessen and Serra Catholic will also join each other in Section 2-1A along with Avella, Bishop Canevin, Geibel, Mapletown and West Greene. The Eagles are coming off of an appearance in the WPIAL Class 2A championship.

Realignment will affect boys wrestling and boys and girls swimming sections as well.

On the mat, Section 7-3A will contain Belle Vernon, McKeesport, Ringgold and Thomas Jefferson along with West Mifflin. In Class 2A, Bentworth and Frazier will join Beth-Center, Brownsville and Jefferson-Morgan in Section 3 and Elizabeth Forward, South Allegheny and Yough will be paired with South Park and Southmoreland in Section 7.

In boys and girls swimming, Section 5-2A will include Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward and Ringgold along with Laurel Highlands, Trinity and Uniontown. Section 6-2A will contain McKeesport, Thomas Jefferson, Brentwood, East Allegheny, Steel Valley and West Mifflin.