February made for a few jubilations and dejections as the WPIAL playoffs for winter sports moved through the brackets. But my favorite this month is the wrestler feature shown below.
Canon-McMillan High School hosts several big wrestling tournaments every winter, and with most, busts out a huge spotlight to showcase the "parade of champions" and their final bouts. The names are rattled off fairly quickly, causing me to race up and down the bleachers to experiment with different angles. With light this good and rare in high school gyms, it pays to play with trial and error. This angle above the red carpet, as I squeezed between hundreds of cheering parents, caught my eye as my favorite angle. Now all I had to do was wait for a boy to hold his head gear separated enough from the rest of his silhouette.
Huntingdon's Collin Glorioso is introduced before wrestling Jefferson Morgan's Brendan Howard during their 120-pound championship match in the Southwest Regional Class AA wrestling tournament on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015 at Canon-McMillan High School. Glorioso won 8-2.
Penn Hill's Jasmine Baxter embraces Jade Ely (10) as Penn-Trafford's Courtney Chiodo walks off the court as time expires during the WPIAL girls playoffs on Friday, Feb. 20, 2015. Penn Hills won 40-22.
Penn Hills' Saroyah Johnson falls to the floor with teammates as they celebrate their win over Penn-Trafford during the WPIAL girls AAAA playoffs on Friday, Feb. 20, 2015 at Gateway High School. Penn Hills won 40-22.
Latrobe's Tommy Kisick (52), Matt Dragon (14), Sean Graytok (41) and Seth Holler (far right) celebrate as Upper St. Clair's Andrew Wheeler reacts after a call against Upper St. Clair as during the first round of AAAA WPIAL boys basketball playoffs on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015 at Charleroi Area High School. Upper St. Clair won 61-59.
Apollo-Ridge head coach Jim Callipare reacts to a call during a game against Frazier on Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 at Yough High School. Frazier won 56-53.
Apollo-Ridge's Zabreana Vensel reacts as time begins to expire during a game against Frazier on Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 at Yough High School. Frazier won 56-53.
Burrell's Natalie Myers walks off the court as Bishop Canevin celebrates their 32-30 win during the WPIAL semifinal AA girls basketball game on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015 at Hampton High School.
Frazier's Hannah Kline (3) celebrates her team's win over Apollo-Ridge with her teammates on Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 at Yough High School. Frazier won 56-53.
Penn-Trafford's Katy Abreu calls for a teammate as she passes the ball over Penn Hills' Jade Ely during the WPIAL girls AAAA playoffs on Friday, Feb. 20, 2015 at Gateway High School. Penn Hills won 40-22.
Jeannette's Swade Redman falls on the ball while pressured by Eden Christian Academy's David Ritchie during the WPIAL semifinal A boys basketball game on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015 at Hampton High School. Jeannette won 52-40.
Jeannette's Anthony Schmitt shows his bloody teeth to an athletic trainer during the WPIAL semifinal A boys basketball game against Eden Christian Academy on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015 at Hampton High School. Jeannette won 52-40.
Jeannette head coach Adrian Batts reacts after Anthony Schmitt was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim against Eden Christian Academy during the WPIAL semifinal A boys basketball game on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015 at Hampton High School. Jeannette won 52-40.
Longtime PIAA official Ted Gonder of Claridge playfully raises the arm of Enzo Brown, 5, of Bethlehem-Center as his newly befriended opponent Damien Foster, 4, of Burgettstown looks on during the championship day of the Southwest Regional Class AA wrestling tournament on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015 at Canon-McMillan High School.
Jefferson Morgan's Gavin Teasdale grabs the face of Cambria Height's Hunter Campbell during their 106-pound first round match during the Southwest Regional Class AA wrestling tournament on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 at Canon-McMillan High School. Teasdale won 21-9.
Sal Mignogna, 75, of Greensburg pulls Marsha Kirker-Bozich close to him as they dance during a Valentine's Ball on Thursday, February 12, 2015 at Senior LIFE in Greensburg. "I've never seen him so happy," said Kirker-Bozich, the activities coordinator. "He remembers jitter-bugging with his girlfriend."
Kasey VanSickle, 2, of Wharton pauses while playing in the snow during Winterfest at Ohiopyle on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015.
A pedestrian makes her way across a slushy Otterman Street in Greensburg on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015.
A flock of Mallard ducks soar through the heavy snowfall on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015 in Greensburg.
Ryan Kern works to help a picker remove lumber from a semi-truck involved in a crash with a sedan on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015 along US-119 near the on ramp toward Mt. Pleasant Route 31. A Hyundai Sonata slid, due to the snow covered roadway, into the lane of the semi-truck, which forced it into the median, according to the state police report. The truck driver suffered minor injuries.
Johnny Mestre exhales cold air as he passes graffiti of a flower in the snow along Bullitt Avenue in Jeannette on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015.
Molly Kline of Johnstown motions to her 3-year-old Australian Shepherd Annabelle during an agility training session with Loyalhanna Agility Club on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015 at B&D Creekside Activity Center in Latrobe.
Westmoreland Youth Symphony conductor Morris Brand rehearses his musicians on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015 at Seton Hill University's Performing Arts Center in Greensburg.
Junior marketing major and St. Vincent basketball guard Pat Jones, 20, from Frostburg, Md., poses for a portrait while holding a photograph of himself and his late mother Jennie Jones on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015. Jennie Jones was a breast-cancer patient who attended the team’s “Pink Out” game for breast-cancer awareness last February. Just before the start of this season in November, Jones died. The team is dedicating this Saturday's “Pink Out” to her, with proceeds benefiting the St. Michael’s Early Childhood Center in Frostburg, renamed for Jennie Jones after her death. The team then plans to present the center with the donation in November before their tip-off tournament in Frostburg.
A pedestrian leans into the chilly wind while making her way around the Palace Theatre in Greensburg on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015.
Nick Walters of Penn Line works to remove trees along Route 981 on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015 in Latrobe. The state Department of Transportation is planning to widen the roadway and remove the intersection leading to the Unity airport entrance from Route 30, which is now a four-way stop, and construct a roundabout with center-turning lanes on Route 981 from Arnold Palmer Drive to the airport entrance. The project is slated to complete in 2017.
Kevin Mikita of Santella Excavating exhales cold air as he tends to one of two simultaneous water main breaks in Latrobe on the 400th block of Main Street on Friday, Feb. 20, 2015.