Lackawanna College’s head coach Mark Duda during the football game at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights celebrates after winning the PIAA Class 3A championship in Manchester on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Montrose’ Cara Evans returns the ball to Scranton Prep’s Lily Lengyel during the PIAA District 2 Class 2A tennis final at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Lily Lengyel hits a forehand during the PIAA DII AA semifinal tennis championships at Kirby Park on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Emma Cuck returns the ball to Montrose’ Cara Evans during the PIAA District 2 Class 2A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
PIAA 2A Individual Golf State Champion Cole Powell speaks during an assembly congratulating the golf team on their PIAA State Team Championship Title at the Scranton Preparatory School’s Xavier Center in Scranton Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. Powell is the first player in Scranton Prep history to win the PIAA Individual Golf State Championship. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Ben Boyanoski takes a swing during the District 2 golf championships at Elkview Country Club in Greenfield Twp. on Monday, Oct. 06, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Elk Lake’s Kendel Jones finishes second overall with a time of 16:05 in the class 1A PIAA state championships in Hershey on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Riverside’s Mikey Schimelfenig finishes 7th overall with a time of 16:38 in the class 1A PIAA state championships in Hershey on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Riverside lineman Tavian Branch talks with players and coaches during the Lackawanna Football Conference Media Day at the Regal Room in Olyphant Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Valley View poses with their trophy and fans after winning the Class 4A state softball championship at Penn State in State College on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Kaci Kranson, left, fights through defense of Johns Hopkins’ Greta Miller at the University of Scranton’s Long Center Friday, March 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton’s Kaeli Romanowski, left, is covered by Johns Hopkins’ Layla Henderson at the University of Scranton’s Long Center Friday, March 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Mountain View’s Addison Kilmer (21) goes up for a shot against William’s Valley’s Sage Smeltz (33) in the PIAA Class 2A quarterfinal Friday at Lake-Lehman High School. (FRANK LAURI / COMNTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Catholic junior Kingston Wheatly (22) tries to block Holy Cross senior Michael Hughes (14) from the hoop during the state semifinal basketball game at Parkland High School in Allentown on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Valley View senior Beyon McLean (0) celebrates beating Shamokin during the boys 4A Elite Eight game at Martz Hall in Pottsville, Friday, March 14, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/STAFF PHOTO)
Abington Heights’ Morgan Davis, 5, is congratulated by teammates after her goal against Upper Moreland during their PIAA-2A quarterfinal on Saturday, June, 7, 2025 at Emmaus High School. (Mike Cabrey/MediaNews Group)
New York Mets pitcher Max Kranick throws during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals in Washington, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
Former Philadelphia Phillies’ Jimmy Rollins, left, and Ed Wade, right, head off the field together after being inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame prior to a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Former Alabama tight end CJ Dippre catches a pass from former Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe during passing drills at Alabama’s NFL football pro day, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Railiriders’ Jose Rojas fields a ball during the game against the Mud Hens at PNC Field in Moosic Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Honesdale coach George Howanitz at Tuesday’s practice.
Keystone baseball players celebrate after winning the United East Conference baseball tournament Sunday.
Wyoming Valley West’s Jaquell Smith tries to block Riverside’s Nico Antoniacci’s shot at the hoop during the basketball game at Riverside High School in Taylor on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
James Madison tight end Lacota Dippre (15) celebrates his touchdown during the second half of the first round of the NCAA College Football Playoff against Oregon, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Lydia Ely)
Virginia’s Matt Lanzendorfer (33) throws the ball during an NCAA baseball game against Georgia Tech on Saturday, April 26, 2025 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)
Chase Briscoe celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Pocono Raceway, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Long Pond, Pa. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
Tom Hemans of the Scranton Miners speaks to the fans at the Scranton CYC during halftime of the regular-season finale against Johnstown on March 6, 1966. Hemans was voted “Most Popular Miner” for the second consecutive season. At right is the team’s public relations director Del Shaw.
Bill Ferrario
Eddie Kaufman bats for Mid Valley during a game against Holy Cross during his high school time. (TIMES-TRIBUNE FILE)
Bob Simons
Jim Moran (Courtesy of Kelly Moran)
Elk Lake’s Hannah Howell swims the 200-yard freestyle during a meet against West Scranton on Tuesday, Feb. 11. KEVIN MCCONLOGUE / STAFF PHOTO
Dylan Gearinger of Philadelphia comes in first overall male, crossing the finish line in one hour, eight minutes, and 32 seconds during the Scranton Half Marathon on Sunday, April 6, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Buffalo’s head coach Becky Burke instructs her team against Kent State during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the championship of the Mid-American Conference tournament in Cleveland, Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
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Lackawanna College’s head coach Mark Duda during the football game at Veterans Memorial Field in Scranton on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
As we close out 2025, we reflect on a year of success and achievement. As always, we also lost some memorable local sports figures.
It was another remarkable year in local sports, capped by a rush of high school gold-medal efforts on both the individual and team levels in the fall sports season.
Here’s a look back at 2025 with some significant dates and storylines that captured our attention and had our readers talking.
Sweet Vic-tory
Dunmore native Vic Fangio dials up a defense that shuts down Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs and enables the Philadelphia Eagles to win Super Bowl LIX, 40-22. Fangio, a longtime defensive coordinator in the NFL, reaches the pinnacle of the sport for the first time.
Heard it here
Abington Heights wrestler Brian Heard became District 2’s all-time wins leader, securing his 170th career victory with a 16-0 technical fall over Nazareth’s Elijah Simak in the opening round of the Class 3A Northeast Regional. Heard surpassed Abington Heights’ Evan Craig’s mark of 169, which he set in 2010 for his second straight state title. Heard finished his career with four district titles, two regional titles and two state fifth-place medals.
Hoop of the day
The Holy Cross and Valley View boys and Mountain View girls advanced to the PIAA basketball semifinals. Holy Cross defeated District 3 runner-up Lancaster Mennonite, 63-52, in Class 3A; Valley View topped District 4 runner-up Shamokin, 53-46, in Class 4A; and Mountain View dropped District 11 champion Williams Valley, 32-14, in Class 2A. All three teams lost in the semifinals, with Holy Cross losing on a 3-pointer at the buzzer to District 12 champion West Catholic, 58-57.
Youth movement
St. Clare/St. Paul rolled to the state CYO eighth grade boys basketball championship with a 63-23 victory over Our Lady of Peace (Erie) in the title game at Marywood University. The Crusaders (35-0) captured their first state title since 2007. Jimmy Doherty led the way with 25 points, including the 1,000th of his career, Matty Seitzinger added 15 points and Sean Fairweather chipped in 14 points.
Goin’ West
Clarks Summit native Becky Burke was named the women’s basketball coach at Arizona on April 9. The former Abington Heights and University of Louisville star spent the last three seasons at Buffalo, which culminated with a program-record 30 wins last season and the WNIT championship. She became the 10th head coach in the history of Arizona women’s basketball, replacing Adia Barnes, who left to take the head coaching job at SMU.
To the Max
Valley View grad Max Kranick makes the New York Mets’ Opening Day roster. He appeared in 24 games out of the bullpen and was 3-2 with a 3.65 ERA before being placed on the injured list with a right elbow strain in June and undergoing his second career Tommy John surgery in July.
Dippre to the NFL
Lakeland graduate C.J. Dippre signed as an unrestricted free agent with the New England Patriots on April 26. He was released by the team at the end of training camp Aug. 26, but added to the Patriots practice squad the next day. Then Nov. 17, he was elevated to the active roster.
Giant achievement
Despite the threat of the school closing, Keystone College baseball clinched its 20th straight conference championship and its second United East title, after defeating Penn State Harrisburg, 6-3, and punched its ticket to the NCAA Division III Tournament with an automatic bid. Andy Rivas had a two-run single and finished with three RBIs in the final to earn United East Tournament MVP.
A district first
Morgan Davis scored five goals, Allie Rothenberger added four and Sadie Gilbert chipped in three to lead Abington Heights to a 13-7 win over District 1 third-placer Upper Moreland to become the first District 2 lacrosse team to advance to the state semifinals. The Lady Comets lost to District 1 champion Strath Haven, 17-7, three days later in the PIAA Class 2A semifinals.
State of success
Taylor Cawley fired a two-hitter with no walks and 13 strikeouts to lead Valley View to a 6-0 victory over District 3 champion Kennard-Dale in the PIAA Class 4A softball championship game June 12 at Penn State University. A three-run first inning and 14-hit attack by the Cougars supported Cawley. Kalli Karwowski and Ella Swingle each had three hits and Abbi Call added two hits and three RBIs. Cawley and Ashlyn Palickar also contributed two hits for the Cougars (24-2), who closed the season with 13 consecutive wins.
Diamond dandy
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Triple-A franchise plays its 5,000th game, a 5-4 loss to Lehigh Valley in the season-opener in Allentown. The RailRiders went 49-26 (87-60 overall) to win the International League second-half title, then lost to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, two games to one, in the best-of-3 final. Shelley Duncan earned IL Manager of the Year, and Jose Rojas and Allan Winans were all-stars.
Tricky win
Chase Briscoe saved fuel over the final 30 laps to win the NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway, holding off teammate and seven-time Pocono winner Denny Hamlin. It is Briscoe’s first win since joining Joe Gibbs Racing at the start of the season.
Major move
Scranton Prep graduate and Misericordia University and University of Virginia product Matt Lanzendorfer is picked in the 15th round of the MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Pittston native won an NCAA Division III national title with Misericordia before spending a season with Virginia, going 4-2 with a 2.90 ERA in 22 relief appearances and striking out 40 in 31 innings.
Worth the Wade
On Aug. 1, Carbondale native Ed Wade is inducted into the Philadelphia Phillies Hall of Fame, along with former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Baron Jimmy Rollins. In his tenure as Phillies vice president and general manager from 1998 to 2005, Wade drafted many of the core players part of five NL East winners (2007-11), two NL pennant winners and the 2008 World Series championship team: Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Pat Burrell, Carlos Ruiz and Ryan Madsen. He acquired Shane Victorino and signed Jim Thome. He hired Charlie Manuel as manager when fans were clamoring for Jim Leyland. That helped make him the 50th inductee and sixth executive on the Wall of Fame. In 15 seasons with the Phillies, Rollins became the team’s all-time hits leader with 2,306, a three-time All-Star and the 2007 National League Most Valuable Player.
Scranton shocker
Elizabeth Bennett had 15 points while Dunmore graduate Sophia Talutto had 14 points as the University of Scranton beat NCAA Division I Pittsburgh, 69-63, in a women’s basketball exhibition game Nov. 19 at Petersen Events Center. According to the NCAA, it is the first time a women’s Division III team beat a Division I power conference team. It happened only once in men’s basketball when Ohio Northern beat Oklahoma, 72-69, in 1980.
Blazing start
In a 97-37 opening-night victory over Wyoming Valley West on Nov. 28, Riverside sophomore and basketball star Nico Antoniacci scored a school-record 53 points — all in the first half. He had six 3-pointers and 27 points in the first quarter. He finished 19 for 24 from the field with 10 3-pointers and 5 for 5 from the foul line. Jerry Kincel set the previous mark with 52 points Jan. 17, 2012, in an overtime loss to Holy Cross.
Best in state
Abington Heights’ Nick Bradley was named the Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year for Pennsylvania. The Comets went 17-5 and reached the District 2 Class 5A final. The future Auburn University righthander was 9-1 with a 0.71 earned run average and batted .493.
The Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association named Abington Heights’ Lilia Calvert the girls soccer state player of the year. The Rutgers commit compiled 156 points, including 68 goals and 20 assists to lead the Lady Comets to District 2 Class 3A and Lackawanna League Division I titles and the state quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Abington Heights’ Frank Dyska earned PSCA Class 3A Boys Coach of the Year.
Also, Lackawanna Trail’s Isaac Ryon was tabbed the Pennsylvania Football Writers’ Class 1A Player of the Year after etching his name in the LIAA history books. He ran for 2,876 yards to break the single-season record of 2,669 yards set by Honesdale’s Terrin Ash in 1992. Ryon had 49 rushing touchdowns to surpass the record of 44 set in 2013 by Old Forge’s Brandon Yescavage. Ryon had 54 total touchdowns, which also beat the record of 46 set by Yescavage in 2013. He finished his career as Lackawanna Trail’s all-time leading rusher with 4,969 yards, breaking the mark of 4,546 yards held by all-state back Richard Jackson (1998-2000). He also set school records with 82 rushing touchdowns and 89 total touchdowns.
End of an era
Lackawanna College announces that it is leaving the NJCAA ranks for NCAA Division II, becoming a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Then, before the end of the football season, Mark Duda reveals he has the early stages of Parkinson’s disease and announces his retirement after 32 years as head coach. Duda is the active leader in wins in NJCAA with 217 against 105 losses. He guided the Falcons to 13 NJCAA bowl appearances, coached 55 NJCAA All-Americans and had a number of players go on to the National Football League such as Bryant McKinnie, Mark Glowinski, Kevin White, Jermaine Eluemunor, Jaquan Brisker and Ji’Ayir Brown.
Franklin downfall
What began as a season of promise for Penn State football, fell apart quickly. The Nittany Lions opened the season ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll after advancing to the College Football Playoff last season, but lost in overtime to Oregon, and then suffered back-to-back losses to heavy underdogs UCLA and Northwestern, costing head coach James Franklin his job after 12 seasons.
What followed was a nearly two-month search for a head coach that came with several candidates falling through and signing extensions with their current schools.
Penn State eventually hired Iowa State head coach Matt Campell on Dec. 11 to replace Franklin, who went 104-45 in his 12 seasons, including six 10-win seasons in the last nine years, and six trips to New Year’s Day Six bowl games. However, Franklin was 5-21 against Top 10 teams in his time in Happy Valley, including eight straight losses to Ohio State, which ultimately contributed to him losing his job.
Franklin landed on his feet, being hired as Virginia Tech head coach on Nov. 18.
College carousel
It’s been a whirlwind year for lineman Tavian Branch. The Riverside football standout committed to Rutgers on June 11 before decommitting Aug. 29. Then, he committed to Penn State on Sept. 6, and 12 days later Nittany Lions coach James Franklin helicoptered to Montrose to see Branch play. After Franklin was fired Oct. 12 a day after the Nittany Lions lost to Northwestern, Branch reopened his recruitment Oct. 13 and decommitted from Penn State on Nov. 13. On Dec. 3, he committed to Auburn.
Awesome autumn
Lackawanna League players and teams secured a monster fall sports PIAA postseason.
— On Oct. 22, Scranton Prep golf repeated as Class 2A team champion with a record score of 6-under 282 on the Penn State White Course. Brendan Bell shot a 4-under 68, with four birdies and 14 pars, Cole Powell shot 2-under 70, Ben Boyanoski carded a 1-under 71 and Guy Rothery added a 1-over 73 as the Cavaliers topped Peters Twp.’s mark of 284 set in 2023. A day earlier, Powell won the Class 2A individual title with a 7-under-par 137 (68-69).
— On Oct. 25, Lily Lengel and Emma Cuck had wins in singles, and the No. 1 doubles duo of Adith Velaga and Maci Bulzoni had a win to lead the Scranton Prep girls tennis team to a 3-2 victory over District 1 champion Lower Moreland and the PIAA Class 2A title.
— On Nov. 1, Montrose’s Cara Evans captured the Class 2A tennis individual title in singles, while Scranton Prep’s Lily Lengyel and Emma Cuck claimed the Class 2A doubles championship.
— On Nov. 1, the Lackawanna League dominated the PIAA Class 1A cross country championships with Elk Lake capturing the team title and Riverside finishing second. Elk Lake’s Kendel Jones finished second in 16:05 on the Hershey Parkview Course and teammates Cody Adams (16:29) and Parker Upright (16:35) were fourth and sixth, respectively. Riverside’s Mikey Schimelfenig was seventh in 16:38.
— On Nov. 15, Joey Pivirotto scored the first goal and Nico Bustos put the game away with a header off a free kick from James Mitchell, as Abington Heights captured the PIAA Class 3A boys soccer title with a 2-0 victory over District 3 champion Conrad Weiser. Goalkeeper Billy Johnson had eight saves to secure his 18th clean sheet of the season, as the Comets became the first District 2 boys state champion since Mountain View captured the Class 1A crown in 2012. The Comets outscored their opponents, 134-9, this season and, 31-0, in seven postseason games.
In memoriam
Bob Simons, who coached golf for 54 seasons at Wallenpaupack and became the winningest high school golf coach in Pennsylvania, died April 20 at 77. His career record is 682-239-23 with four Wayne County League championships, six Lackawanna League championships, two District 2 and eight District 12 team titles. He also had nine individual district champs and six Jackman Memorial winners.
Former Mid Valley golf and baseball standout Eddie Kaufman died Oct. 7 at 20 years old after a year-long battle with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He was the 2022 Times-Tribune Golfer of the Year, and a two-time Lackawanna League first-team coaches’ all-star in baseball. He continued his athletic and academic careers at Roanoke College.
Bill Ferrario, a former West Scranton lineman who played at the University of Wisconsin and had stops in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins and Carolina Panthers, died Sept. 23. Ferrario was a two-time All-Big Ten guard for the Badgers, one of three players in Big Ten history to start all 50 games of his career and a driving force for the Badgers, who won the Rose Bowl in 1999 and 2000. Ferrario was picked by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round (105th overall) of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played two seasons with the Packers. He retired in 2005.
Jim Moran, a co-founder of the Steamtown Marathon, died Dec. 8. He was 76. Moran, of Clarks Green, ran in the New York City and Boston marathons and other races, in addition to the 26.2-mile run from Forest City to Scranton, which he helped start in 1996. The marathon has raised more than $2.5 million for St. Joseph’s Center.
Former Scranton Miners basketball star Tom Hemans died Jan. 4 in Lancaster, Virginia at 90. Hemans was one of the most talented players in the history of the Eastern Professional Basketball League. He spent 13 years in the league and played for five teams, including the Hazleton Hawks (1956-60) and Scranton Miners (1962-68). The graceful 6-foot-7 forward is considered one of the all-time scoring and rebounding leaders in league history. He was a second-team all-star in 1956 and a first-team all-star in 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1964.
Former longtime Honesdale High School baseball coach Fred Light died Aug. 9 at age 82. Light, a member of the Wayne County Hall of Fame, coached the Hornets for 22 years, and also coached basketball and softball.
Legendary former baseball manager Lee Elia died at 87. Elia managed the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons to the Governor’s Cup Finals in 1992 and was named the International League Manager of the Year.
Alex “Ace” Brogna a longtime local high school and college baseball coach at Pittston Area, King’s College and Keystone College died at age 86.