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Rocket girls soccer ready to get started

8/21/2025

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“I think we have a good chance (at some wins) this year as long as we play from beginning to end and not have that middle where we fall apart,” Titusville girls soccer coach Kim Wheeling said.

​Our Scrimmage Monday went well.

Wheeling’s team was pushed into a new regional schedule last year with some heavy hitters and it resulted, in the wins and losses as not a great season.
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“We played the upper echelon of the Erie county schools last year and we held our own. It was a different season last year. I knew we were going to have some struggles. But this year we have the same situation, but we know more and we can go after it.”

But Wheeling saw good things and thinks this season with some more experience and some talented freshman coming up that will get some quality playing time, that they should fare much better.
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Wheeling has a half dozen seniors with multiple years of experience. “And we have some young kids coming in a good skill sets that will add nicely to these experienced players. It’s nice to have this group of seniors being the mentors they are.”

In their part of the region she thinks they have as good a shot as any of the teams of winning.

​“How much are going to want to get the region this year, that is going to be our push. We have good solid players returning from last year. And we have a couple freshman who are going to see a lot of playing time. They worked hard over the summer”
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Stamina was a factor last year, but they are working toward building that up this year with 23 players pushing each other. “They all get along too, which is a bonus.”

Cristian Popescu is Wheeling’s new assistant coach replacing long time assistant Uriah Sampson who stepped down after his daughter graduated last year.
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She’s happy to play these tough teams even out of the region. 

The Region 5 teams they’ll be vying for first place are Conneaut, Corry and North East. 
Their season kicks off Saturday at noon against Grove City at Carter Field.
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New or returning coaches to lead Rocket athletics this season

8/21/2025

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A school that has been around since John Heisman threw on a leather helmet and transformed the game of football into what we know today, the tradition of Titusville Rocket sports continues.

And this fall there are several new faces bringing new hope for the future of brown and gold athletics.
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Four new head coaches will be looking to build upon, or rebuild programs in girls volleyball, golf, cross county and boys soccer.
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Volleyball
The girls volleyball team is coming off a successful year, but returning former head coach Sarah Braun isn’t even paying attention to last season because she want to start with a clean slate and build a program that will last for years to come.

Braun was a member of the Rockets’ 2005 state runner-up squad and coached the team for a successful four years. She returns this year as a third grade teacher and the new Rockets’ head coach.

“I don’t know anyone, which is great. I don’t want to know what grade they are in and I tell them ‘don’t tell me what position you played last year.’ I want everyone to have the same chances ,” she said.  “It’s a blank canvas. I just want to see what we have to work with and anyone coming in who is new is working hard and anyone who played before will be working just as hard for that spot.” 
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She left coaching for a little while to raise her young family and that has given her som valuable perspective to move forward.

“When I coached before I wanted it(winning,) perhaps more than the girls,” she said. “So that was something I had to learn. I just have to teach them.”

She admits she is coming back a little wiser.

“We are going back to basics and from the basics confidence will come.”
Emphasizing fundamentals she hopes to develop better passing and footwork. The former libero understands it starts with a good pass.

Titusville will be playing again this season with a AAA in region three with Franklin, Oil City, Greenville,Hickory, Grove City, Mercer, Sharon, Slippery Rock and Sharpsville.
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Boys Soccer
In boys soccer they are looking for a 2001 graduate who has trained cyclists and triathletes all over the world, as well as played soccer in college and in Europe to lead the charge.
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Adam Diem comes into a program that has struggled for years to put W’s on the board.
He says Titusville has a great youth soccer program and sees potential to build upon the work being done with these young athletes.

“We’re young,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to build.”

He said they have 14 or15 sophomores and five or six freshmen. He’d like to see a team of 24-28 kids.
“It’s exciting to have a young team with a lot of opportunity,” he said. He is hoping bringing strong fundamentals into their everyday life and building their stamina will  pay dividends in the end.

“We’re really focussing on three things: work hard. do the right thing and have fun. If we can do those three things and do them successfully I think we have a chance at winning.”

He does want the kids to set the goals for the season knowing they have not exactly had a culture of a winning attitude in sometime.

“Goals need to come from the players. You have to have goals. They have to be obtainable, but it needs to be these players setting them, not me,” he said. “I want to help these kids believe they are part of something bigger.” ​
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Golf
The boys golf team is being taken over by a Titusville emotional support teacher who is a former Maplewood golf coach and graduate.
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Matt Dailey coached a state qualifier at Maplewood and was part of a very successful program in the early 2000s.

His dad got him into the sport at 11 and in the tenth grade he decided to quit other sports to focus on golf. “Not to bash other sports, but I am still playing golf today,” he said emphasizing that many of his friends that played other sports wished they took up golf earlier.

“I like to help others find their game,” he said about wanting to coach. Though he doesn’t know the players well that he’ll be coaching, he is optimistic that he will instill in them the love he has for the game.
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“Golf is a game of integrity and just as important as that, it is a lifelong game,” he said getting a little into a philosophical lesson. “And the game itself is a lot like life. You’re going to make a lot of mistakes and the way you overcome those mistakes determines the end of your round. And you get lucky once in a while. Just like in life, you might get a good bounce.”

The main thing he hopes for is getting kids out on the gold course to enjoy life.

“Realistically going into this season, not knowing ability levels, I really want them to enjoy the game and have fun because I remember being in their shoes with my friends on the golf course how much we had fun.”

He, as with all the new Rocket coaches, he is stressing the fundamentals.

“I just want them to learn the game.The short game is important, 85% of the game is played inside of 50 yards. Putting and chipping are really important. I can’t stress that enough. Driving the ball far is a lot of fun but there is a reason the saying is ‘drive for show, putt for dough,’ he said. “I want them to hit the ball straight off the tee, but those next shots are really important.”
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Cross Country
In Cross Country, long time coach Joe Covell stepped down and one of his former runners, Shane Steffy stepped in. Though swimming is Steffy’s big sport, he knows the importance of cross country as a sport. He has competed in ultra-marathons and plans on competing in the Oil Creek 100 again this year.
 “I enjoy running, it puts my mind at ease.” 

The coast guard veteran recently accepted a job as the boys health and physical education teacher at the Titusville Middle School and also is the head girls swim coach.

The 2018 Titusville graduate said he knows some of the athletes, but is excited to get to know more of them as he builds for the future of the cross country program.

“I want all the kids to have fun and come back next year. That is goal number one. Success comes after that. If they are having a good time and they are still training hard, and they are passionate about it, then success will follow. So I want to be sure the kids want to be here.”
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Steffy understands strategy and team goals.

“We just have to work on training. Most of the time when it comes to cross country, it comes to mental fortitude and ‘can I push my body this hard’ and ‘do I want to push my body this hard.’ That’s what it comes down to. You are going to have to want to want it. That’s a big part of it.”

But success isn’t just coming in first place, it is coming in at your best. 

“It s really great if you win, but it's usually third, fourth or fifth places that really decide if your going to win as a team or not, Steffy said. “They work just as hard as the (top) runners and they have to have the drive as well if the team is going to succeed.”

A new chapter for Titusville’s long history of quality cross country begins. Steffy said he will rely heavily at the beginning with his assistant coach Ryan Zacherl who has been with the program and has an extreme love of running.
Schedules
Girls Volleyball Varsity
8/23 at ACV Volleyball Tournement, 9 a.m.
8/26 at Allegheny-Clarion, 7 p.m.
8/30 at Fort LeBoeuf, 8 a.m.
9/2 at Union City, 7:15 p.m.
9/4 at Mercyhurst, 7:15 p.m.
9/6 at Franklin “Spiketacular”, 8:30 a.m.
9/9 Home against Seneca, 7:15 p.m.
9/11 Home against Fairview, 7:15 p.m.
9/16 Home against Sharpsville, 7:15 p.m.
9/18 at Oil City, 7:15 p.m.
9/20 at Meadville Tournament, 8:30 a.m.
9/22 Home against Hickory, 7:15 p.m.
9/25 at Franklin, 7:15 p.m.
9/30 Home against Grove City, 7:15 p.m.
10/2 Home against Sharon, 7:15 p.m.
10/7 at Slippery Rock, 7:15 p.m.
10/9 Home against Mercer, 7:15 p.m.
10/14 at Greenville, 7:15 p.m.

Boys and Girls Cross Country Varsity
8/30 Home, Rocket Invite, 8 a.m.
9/9 at Oil City, 4 p.m.
9/13 at Commodore Perry, 9 a.m.
9/23 at Conneaut, 4 p.m.
9/27 Cardinal Classic, at Cochranton, 9 a.m.
10/4 Dirty Dawg, at Harbor Creek, 8 a.m.
10/7 Home against Franklin, 4 p.m.
10/11 at Two Mile Run, TBA

Boys Golf Varsity
8/7 at Lakeview, 8:30 a.m.
8/11 at Oil City, 9 a.m.
8/14 Home against Greenville
8/18 Home against Union City, 9 a.m.
8/19 at Corry, 9 a.m.
8/27 Home, Titusville, 1 p.m.
9/3 at Conneaut, 9:30 a.m.
9/4 at Corry, 9:30 a.m.
9/11 at Lakeview, 9 a.m.
9/16 Marquette Invitational, at Country Club of Meadville, 8:30 a.m.
9/18 Bill Mook, at Wanango Golf Club, 9 a.m.
9/22 Franklin Mega, at Wanango, 10 a.m.
9/23 Rocky Grove Mega, at Lucky Hills, 9 a.m.
9/24 Tam O’Shanter, at Hermitage, 9:30 a.m.

Boys Soccer Varsity
8/23 at Ft. Leboeuf, 1 p.m.
8/25 at Warren, 5 p.m.
8/27 at Eisenhower, 3:30 p.m.
9/2 Home against Iroquois, 6 p.m.
9/4 at Mercyhurst, 4 p.m.
9/6 Home against Franklin, 12 p.m.
9/8 Home against Seneca, 6 p.m.
9/10 Home against Saegertown, 6 p.m.
9/13 at West Middlesex, 11 a.m.
9/18 at Corry, 6 p.m.
9/22 Home against Eisenhower, 4 p.m.
9/24 at Iroquois, 4 p.m.
9/30 Home against Mercyhurst, 6 p.m.
10/2 at Seneca, 5 p.m.
10/6 at Saegertown, 4 p.m.
10/11 Home against Greenville, 12 p.m.
10/14 Home against Corry, 6 p.m.
10/15 Home against Conneaut, 4 p.m.


Girls Soccer Varsity
8/23 Home against Grove City, 12 p.m.
8/26 at Seneca, 6 p.m.
9/1 at Erie, 5 p.m.
9/2 at Sharon, 4 p.m.
9/11 Home against General McLane, 4 p.m.
9/13 Home against Warren, 10 a.m.
9/15 at Cathedral Prep, 6 p.m.
9/17 Home against Fairview, 6 p.m.
9/20 at Slippery Rock, 1 p.m.
9/23 at Ft. Leboeuf, 5:30 p.m.
9/25 at Conneaut, 6 p.m.
9/29 Home against Corry, 6 p.m.
10/1 Home against North East, 6 p.m.
10/7 Home against Conneaut, 6 p.m.
10/9 at Corry, 5:30 p.m.
10/11 Home against Franklin, 10 a.m.
10/13 at North East, 5 p.m.
10/15 at Meadville, 6 p.m.

Boys Football Varsity
08/22 Home against Corry, 7 p.m.
08/29 Home against Girard 7 p.m.
09/05 at Grove City, 7 p.m.
09/12 at Conneaut, 7 p.m.
09/19 at Warren, 7 p.m.
09/26 Home against North East, 7 p.m.
10/03 at Hickory, 7 p.m.
10/10 Home against Slippery Rock, 7 p.m.
10/16 Home against Sharon, 7 p.m.

Girls Basketball Middle School
8/28 at Maplewood, 4 p.m.
8/29 Home against Corry, 4 p.m.
9/2 Home against Franklin, 4 p.m.
9/4 at Warren, 4 p.m.
9/8 Home against Union City, 4 p.m.
9/10 at Conneaut, 4 p.m.
9/11 at Cambridge Springs, 4 p.m.
9/15 Home against Saegertown, 4 p.m.
9/17 at Iroquois, 4 p.m.
9/22 Home against Lakeview, 4 p.m.
9/24 Home against Maplewood, 4 p.m.
9/25 at Franklin, 4 p.m.
9/29 Home against Warren, 4 p.m.
10/1 at Union City, 4 p.m.
10/2 Home against Conneaut, 4 p.m.
10/6 Home against Cambridge Springs, 4 p.m.
10/8 at Saegertown, 4 p.m.
10/10 at Corry, 4 p.m.
10/14 Home against Iroquois, 4 p.m.
10/16 at Lakeview 4 p.m.

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“I’m going to be leaning on him for advice for sure. For a lot of kids this is their main sport. This is the one they love to do so I’m super excited to be a part of that journey for them.”
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Reloaded for another run

8/21/2025

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If you look at last season, the success of the senior heavy Titusville Rocket squad could be seen in a couple of different ways.
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One, it was a very talented, perhaps once in a generation of athletes team that gave the brown and gold a couple solid years and now it’s time to rebuild. 

It’s an argument that certainly could be made with the school’s all-time leading rusher and scorer of touchdowns, Jaxon Covell, moving to play college ball. ​
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And a three year starting quarterback who was the field general in the trenches not afraid to engage the enemy directly in battle himself.

​ Ian McDonald had weapons and he used them. And when defenses seemed “onto them,” concentrating on Covell, McDonald tucked the ball and darted upfield himself or handed it to Kamo (Kameron Mong) who quietly was one of Titusville best all around athletes excelling in three sports. 


On defense all the above mentioned were keys in stopping the opponent along with the stud defensive end JJ Miller who seemed to be in on every tackle. And don’t discount the linemen. Covell often referred to his accomplishments as all their accomplishments. The line was strong and opened garage door wide holes at times for Covell to break through.
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So with so many seniors gone and a virtual mirror image schedule this year, the 7-3 Rockets should be looking at a rebuild.

But, that’s not the way they see it at all. ​

​Last year’s junior varsity squad went undefeated.

“We had basically two varsity teams last year,” said senior Brock Middleton who is eager to prove what this generation of Rockets are doing is building a sustainable program.
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Fellow senior Coleman Knapp agrees. “We just have to play to our level.” Knapp, one of the returning starters on the line isn’t worried about the seeming lack of varsity playing time by many of this years starters. “They’ve been here with this program, we all work hard,” he said.

There are 13 seniors on the team, many who were part of that undefeated season last year in JV and many got in some quality minutes filling in for injured Rockets or playing the fourth quarter in the many blowouts.
“This is a very team oriented squad,” said coach Mike Reynolds. “When you look at our seniors this year,, these guys have waited and worked hard in our system and have contributed to this team… we’re really excited about seeing what they are going to do.”

And his son Noah, their team ball boy doesn't only see this year's team as being good, he predicts they will be even better going 8-1.
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Senior Brody Sellen, who was picked to be the likely starter at quarterback. “We want to feed off last year,” he said. “Keep winning and get back in the playoffs. Keep this culture of Rocket football strong.

In his fourth season as head coach Reynolds has a 16-15 including playoffs. His first season was a 3-7 season that he thought should have been at least 5-5.

Since then he has gone 13-8 and was just shy of the playoffs in 2023 by technicality and won only the second playoff game in school history last year.
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“This is probably one of the strongest group of kids on the offensive line I’ve had in a long time,” Reynolds said.

And they seem to have the necessary work ethic to turn that strength into positive results.
“The senios from last year are hard to replace,” said Sellen. “But everyone worked really hard in the off-season, we had really good attendance for all the workouts and everyone is stepping up in a really good way.”
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The Rockets open their season tonight at 7 p.m. at the historic Carter Field against Corry who they lost to last year to start the season.
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NOTE: The week two game against Girard at home with start at 7:15 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.

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Below is the first day of camp story we wrote for both the Meadville Tribune and the Titusville News-Journal.
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Titusville, like many other football programs across the region, opened up camp this week with heat acclimation practices.

Coming off one of the school’s best seasons all-time featuring record setting performances by a solid and large senior class that gave them only their second playoff win ever, many would think this is a rebuilding year.
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But with 13 rising seniors, that made up a junior varsity team that went undefeated last year, some getting valuable varsity minutes, head coach Mike Reynolds sees this as another season to grow the program.
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Four years ago, Reynolds came back with the goal of building a successful program.

​ Not just one that rises to the occasion because of one extraordinary senior class, but one that comes back to compete after that group graduates and still puts up numbers and wins

“We had a record setting year last year with a great group of guys, but when you look at our seniors this year, and these are guys that have waited and worked hard in our system, and have contributed to this team in a variety of ways, we’re really excited to see what they are going to do,”  Reynolds said. “This is really a very team oriented group… really working hard together to accomplish our vision out there on the field.”
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“We had two varsity teams last year,” said senior Brock Middleton looking to play tight end and defensive end this year. “I had two seniors ahead of me on the team (so I didn’t get a lot of varsity time,) so now this is my time. We are absolutely looking to repeat this year getting into and winning playoff games. Hopefully go farther.”

Lineman Coleman Knapp agrees. “We have the type of roster to go compete, we just have to play to our level,” he said.

One player that has been waiting for his turn, while also being a strong contributor on defense, is Brody Sellen who is an early favorite to take over at quarterback.

“We want to feed off of last season, keep winning and keep the culture of Rocket football strong,” Sellen said.
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“Brody is the kid that has waited for this opportunity,” said Reynolds, He said Sellen has been working hard all summer to step up into a leadership role.

Jaydin O’Neill, who saw a fair amount of action last year backing up all-time leading rusher Jaxon Covell, has been “doing a great job running the football according to Reynolds.

The players and coaches all agreed that the off-season work, mainly in the weight room will pay dividends.
“We got some big boys,” said Sellen. 

“Strong,” Middleton and Knapp said almost in unison.

 “This is probably one of the strongest groups of kids, offensive line wise, I’ve had in a long time,” Reynolds added. “This is a group of young men that can move a lot of weight around. That’s exciting to bring out on a Friday night.”

The Rocket schedule is a mirror image of last season. They faltered in a first game on the road,losing to Corry 28-22.
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But then rattled off five straight dominating Girard, Grove City, Conneaut, Warren and North East before running up against defending state champion Hickory who were way too much for the Rockets. They responded to that loss with 42 - 0 shutout against Slippery Rock.

The last game of the regular season was their worst defeat to the very strong Sharon Tigers.
In the playoffs they dismantled Fairview before losing to the Tigers a second time a week later to end their season.

They’ll face all the same teams and hope to not falter and improve against the teams they lost against.
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“The seniors from last year are hard to replace, but everyone worked really hard in the off-season…we had really good attendance for all the workouts and everyone is stepping up in a really good way,” said Sellen.
The goal extends beyond just seeing how they will do after a very successful season, the goal is to keep it going.

“At the end of the day we want to be a good team and we want to execute and continue that tradition of honoring this community,” Reynolds said “ … and we want to compete for District 10 championships day in and day out.

“People are following the vision, they want to work hard and see what we can do this year,” said Middleton. “We just love to grind. We want to get better everyday.”

“At the end of the day we build to compete with teams like (Sharon and Hickory),” said Reynolds. “We understand we’re in the toughest conference in District 10 and we’ve got to gear up and get ready to go.”
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“We look around whenever it is game day and we get a crazy amount of people showing up for us,” said Knapp. “Thousands of fans are coming out to watch you. There is no sport like football.”
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    Eight & 27 focuses on stories centered around Titusville, PA. With the sad end of The Titusville Herald, we're hoping to pick up the slack.

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