We continue our look at local high school basketball at the midway point of the regular season.

First of all, here are the top highlights of recent sports events broadcast on the Astound TV Network, featuring the Liberty, Becahi, Parkland and Whitehall boys and the Easton, Emmaus, Central Catholic and Nazareth girls basketball teams…

Astound Sports: Liberty at Bethlehem Catholic (12/23)

Astound Sports Nazareth vs Emmaus (12/23)

Astound Sports: Allentown Central Catholic vs. Easton (12/23)

Astound Sports: Allen vs. Whitehall (12/23)

Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Emmaus (1/24)

Later this week here at “The SportsTalk Shop,” we’ll focus on local wrestling news and highlights.

PROGRAMMING NOTE:

It’s a busy week of basketball coming up for the ATVN Sports Department!

On Monday, we’ll have two of the top boys teams in the District XI 5A and 4A classifications squaring off against each other (Whitehall/Allentown Central Catholic), followed by two rivals in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference’s East Division (Nazareth/Freedom). 

On Tuesday, we will feature the two top Colonial League girls basketball teams facing each other (Notre Dame-Green Pond versus Northwestern Lehigh).

On Wednesday, we’ll see Parkland travel to Liberty–another matchup of top District XI 6A boys teams.

Then on Friday, another doubleheader as Northampton plays Central in boys basketball and Dieruff faces Liberty in a girls 6A matchup.

Make sure you tune in for all the action!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

In addition to being an historic season from a broadcast perspective here at ATVN, it’s been a wild winter season on the boys basketball courts so far this season (for more on local GIRLS high school basketball, look to last week’s blog for more).

With the exception of Notre Dame-Green Pond dominating Colonial League play and Parkland currently undefeated in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference action (as of “press-time”), there haven’t been any additional teams that have clearly stood out as clear ‘teams to beat’ as we reached the halfway point of the regular season of local league basketball play.

That being said, there’s still a bunch of teams that have legitimate shots at winning playoff titles when the post-season gets underway a month from now.

Here are the top highlights of recent sports events broadcast on the Astound TV Network, including impressive victories from the Nazareth and Northampton boys teams, as well as the Parkland, Pen Argyl and Dieruff girls teams…

Astound Sports: Nazareth vs. Dieruff  (1/24)

Astound Sports: Whitehall vs. Northampton (1/24)

Astound Sports: Pen Argyl vs. Northwestern Lehigh (1/24)

Astound Sports: Dieruff vs. Nazareth (1/24)

Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Northampton (12/23)

Check back to “The SportsTalk Shop” for more highlights and insights on the current sports seasons.

Astound video customers can watch all sports productions at any time through ATVN On-Demand for up to two months from the initial air date.

DVD copies are also available for our sports productions by contacting the ATVN studio.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

February 14th, 2023 will be not only a life-changing day in my book but for young girls all across Pennsylvania (PA). It was the day the PIAA board voted to sanction high school wrestling as an official PIAA sport. Girls across PA now have the opportunity to represent their beloved high schools and compete against each other in official dual matches. As much as I wish I could be a part of these new beginnings, I will be forever grateful for helping to drive for this sanctioning, as well as to all of the people I have met through my high school years. I’m even more thankful that I got to wrestle in one of the toughest districts in PA: District11.

The Lehigh Valley is not only creating some solid boy wrestlers but now girl wrestlers.  District 11 wrestling teams, especially in the Lehigh Valley, have always been a powerhouse in PA wrestling. In the past three years, many of these powerhouses have created girls’ teams. Some of these teams include Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks, Bethlehem

Freedom Patriots, Bethlehem Liberty Hurricanes, Easton Red Rovers, Emmaus Green Hornets, Nazareth Blue Eagles, Northampton Konkrete Kids, Parkland Trojans, Pocono Mountain East Cardinals, and Pocono Mountain West Panthers. It is incredible how fast girls wrestling is growing in the Lehigh Valley.

Even though it is a newly sanctioned sport, many of these teams already have some studs on their rosters.

According to “PA-Wrestling.com” 1 , these are the rankings as of December 12, 2023.

Parkland has many studs this season which include: 

#2 Shannon Fratus, Sr (170 lbs),

#4 Kelsey Gelb, Sr (155 lbs), 

#5 Ella Hesener, Jr (106 lbs), and

#3 Lily Snook, Jr (100 lbs). 

My alma mater, Easton, has #1 Aubre Krazer, Jr (130lbs) who is also the #1 Pound-for-Pound wrestler in the state. I was fortunate enough to be able to see Aubre blossom into not only a remarkable and hard-working wrestler but a great person. Some other studs who received Honorable Mentions (HM) are Liberty-Doniya Anwari, Jr. (136 lbs), Northampton-Mylea Lambert, Jr., (170lbs), and Pocono Mountain West-Summerose Fotit, Jr. (170lbs).      

Due to these rankings, the Trojans are ranked the #5 team in PA with #10 Pocono Mountain West Panthers not too far behind. Some honorable mentions for teams are the Bethlehem Liberty Hurricanes and Easton Red Rovers.

On December 7th, the Easton Lady Red Rovers had their first match of the season defeating the Nazareth Lady Blue Eagles 66-12. The Lady Rovers won 11 out of the 13 matches that night. Two of the coaches who led the Lady Rovers to their first win of the season are Jordan Kutler and Ryan Pomrinca. I was very fortunate enough to wrestle my senior year under these two not only amazing coaches but people. 

Meanwhile, the Lady Blue Eagles are led by John Fidelibus, whose kids I was also fortunate to grow up with in the wrestling community. Seven days later on December 14th, the Lady Trojans got an impressive 60-6 win over the Emmaus Lady Hornets. Parkland won 11 out of the 12 matches that night.

It is so exciting that these girls now have their own dual matches and now have the chance in March to compete at the famous Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The weekends of Pennsylvania Wrestling States have always been some of my favorite memories. During my high school days, girls wrestling states were in a high school gym in late March. As much as I loved it there, it never compared to the electric environment of Giant Center in early March. It was so incredible to witness every year I went to watch. Now, this year from March 7th – 9th, 2024; girls across the state now get to experience this incredible electric environment. I definitely will not miss the opportunity to witness this thrilling new beginning.  The growth these past three years has been amazing to see. I’m very thankful and happy to be still a part of the growing PA girls wrestling. So now all I can say is “PA Girls Wrestling is Here to Stay!”

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

We are one month into the girls high school basketball season and Jarrett Carnes is back with us once again for his second video podcast of the season.

In this edition of “Coach Carnes’ Corner,” the Liberty head coach takes a look at Dieruff’s big win last week over Nazareth, the Bethlehem Catholic coaching transition and a preview of the big Easton/Parkland showdown coming up on January 16th (the game will be broadcast live on ATVN and also streamed for free on ATVN’s YouTube channel).  Follow the link here on our website and sign-up to get notifications when we are going “live” with our programming.

Coach Carnes also debuts a brand new segment this week called the “Players’ Spotlight” in which he gives shout-outs to players with exceptional performances so far this winter in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

Here’s episode two…

Check back for more of Coach Carnes’ insights and highlights on girls basketball in a few weeks!

Also, check back to “The Shop” in a few days for more local sports news and opinions on other sports including more news on the first-ever season of girls wrestling in Pennsylvania, plus highlights of recent games broadcast on ATVN!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Before we take our last look at the top football plays from the 2023 season, an important sports programming note for our network.

We officially welcomed Cameron Nunez to our on-air broadcasting family as she made her broadcasting debut with our Parkland vs. Liberty girls/boys wrestling event.  In addition to doing another great job for us through her wrestling blogs here on our website this winter,  Cameron has added a new dimension to our broadcasting coverage with “between match” and “between bout” interviews during our live doubleheader broadcasts of local high school wrestling– something that has never been attempted before. 

It continues to be an historic season for ATVN viewers this winter–don’t miss a minute of the action and keep checking back to our website for the latest broadcast schedules!

Now, our final look back on the gridiron of best plays from this fall’s high school football season as seen on the Astound TV Network this past year.

Enjoy…

Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Emmaus (10/23)

Astound Sports:  Nazareth vs. Saint Joseph’s Prep (11/23)

Astound Sports: Northampton vs. Whitehall (10/23)

Astound Sports: Dieruff vs. Liberty (8/23)

Astound Sports: Easton vs. Freedom (10/23)

Check back to “The SportsTalk Shop” for more highlights from the past year over the next several weeks!

And don’t forget … with the winter sports season underway, a reminder all live regular season games/matches will be streamed for free at youtube.com/@AstoundTVNetwork.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

We hope that all of our readers had a wonderful holiday season and are anxious for our regular features and coverage of local sports to continue in the New Year!

We start off our January coverage with live coverage of Lafayette basketball, Nazareth vs. Northampton boys AND girls wrestling and a pair of boys–and girls–basketball games coming up in both the Colonial League AND the EPC over the first week of the year.

AND…(sorry for the overuse of the conjunction)…we will feature two of the premiere wrestling programs in the state this Saturday, with live coverage (both on ATVN and live streaming on our YouTube channel) of Notre Dame-Green Pond versus Bethlehem Catholic…two teams expected once again to play for a state championship later this year and featuring some of the best wrestlers in the country!

Remember to bookmark and keep checking back to our website for more upcoming broadcasting details!

Our best plays of the fall high school sports season continue here at “The SportsTalk Shop.”  This week, we focus on the District XI 6A championship game as well as the top football squads in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

Enjoy…

Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Nazareth District XI Championship  (11/23)

Astound Sports:  Scranton Prep vs. Northwestern Lehigh (11/23)

Astound Sports: Whitehall vs. Allentown Central Catholic (10/23)

Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Bethlehem Catholic (10/23)

Astound Sports: Emmaus vs. Easton (10/23)

Astound Sports: Nazareth vs. Whitehall (10/23)

Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Nazareth (9/23)

Check back to “The SportsTalk Shop” for more highlights from the past year over the next several weeks!

Astound video customers can watch all sports productions at any time through ATVN On-Demand for up to two months from the initial air date.

DVD copies are also available for our sports productions by contacting the ATVN studio.

And don’t forget … with the winter sports season underway, a reminder all live regular season games/matches will be streamed for free at youtube.com/@AstoundTVNetwork.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Here’s a sample of the Parkland boys basketball team that appeared on a recent “SportsTalk” show that was broadcast live on both ATVN and live-streamed for free on our YouTube channel…

For anyone, assuming that our 2022’s “year of firsts” with the Astound TV Network’s Sports team was just a flash in the pan, think again.

Last year around this time, we posted a series of “first” … details of our expanded coverage of the student athletes in the ATVN viewing area during the previous 12 months.

We promised we were going to up the ante in 2023.

Did we do what we said we were going to do?

Let’s take a look at the following accomplishments and additions to our broadcast and programming lineups by the Astound TV Network crew during the past 12 months…

• our first ever District XI girls softball championship doubleheader
• more high school baseball than ever before, including our first foray past the first round state baseball playoff game and exclusive coverage of the Liberty baseball team’s post-season run
• our network’s first ever girls volleyball doubleheader championship
• Our network’s first ever league girls semifinal basketball games…and we did them for BOTH the EPC and the Colonial League
• expanded coverage of our local teams, with more schools being represented in each sports season that we broadcast than in any other year of our station’s history
• thanks to some new, creative scheduling techniques…more high school football games than ever before
• ditto for high school basketball and wrestling last winter (and even more planned for 2024!)
• The first EVER women’s wrestling match broadcast 
• The first girls/boys wrestling doubleheader ever to be broadcast
• we covered at least one game for EVERY school in our Lehigh Valley coverage area while still bringing you the best games/matches from each season; something our network never before accomplished
• we brought you more league and district playoff games than ever before
• our first-ever “all features” edition of our SportsTalk program, with exclusive interviews with EVERY sports team in the our coverage areas during the fall and spring sports seasons

And, oh, by the way, we also launched FREE streaming of all of our live games, with all of our studio shows and remote productions available to watch for free at any time for Astound video customers through ATVN On-Demand.

We did it all while also bringing you just as many Lafayette University sports events, Blue Mountain League baseball and Grandview Speedway racing as we have done in the past.  We also continued to bring you our traditional sports season “previews” and “recaps” SportsTalk shows as in previous years, along with having great guests and special interviews on our show throughout the year.

Plans are already underway to do even more local sports – and even more “firsts” – in 2024, along with new and innovative ways to feature the special people in the Astound viewing area. We hope you’ll join us for what promises to be an exciting ride for local sports fans and ATVN viewers in the coming year. 

Until then, enjoy your holiday season and keep your expectations high for the ATVN in 2024.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Our best plays of the fall high school sports season continue here at “The SportsTalk Shop.”  This week, our top plays include the PIAA Semifinal Football Playoff Game between Northwestern Lehigh and Wyomissing, District XI volleyball playoffs and more games from the gridiron making our list.

Enjoy…

Astound Sports:  Central Catholic vs. Bethlehem Catholic (11/23)

Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Liberty (11/23)

Astound Sports: Northwestern  Lehigh vs. Wyomissing (12/23)

Astound Sports: Nazareth vs. Bethlehem Catholic (10/23)

Astound Sports: Freedom vs. Emmaus (10/23)

Astound Sports:  Bangor vs. Saucon Valley (09/23)

Check back to “The SportsTalk Shop” for more highlights from the past year over the next several weeks!

Astound video customers can watch all sports productions at any time through ATVN On-Demand for up to two months from the initial air date.

DVD copies are also available for our sports productions by contacting the ATVN studio.

And don’t forget … with the winter sports season underway, a reminder all live regular season games/matches will be streamed for free at youtube.com/@AstoundTVNetwork.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Last year one of our new additions to the Astound TV Network was launching a new video podcast promoting and showcasing girls basketball in the Eastern Pennsylvania region.

We’re honored once again to have Liberty Head Coach Jarrett Carnes back with us once again this winter to host his own segment and share his views and insights on local basketball.

Coach Carnes also has a few surprises in store for this us for his 2023-24 shows (details on that to come in a few weeks).

Here is the season two premiere of “Coach Carnes’ Corner” in which we take a look at new coaches in the area and Jarrett gives you his teams and players to keep an eye on this winter…

Check back for more of Coach Carnes’ insights and highlights on girls basketball in a few weeks!

Also, check back to “The Shop” in a few days for more local sports news and opinions on other sports, plus highlights recent games broadcast on ATVN!

PROGRAMMING NOTE:

Our winter schedule season “tips off” with a big high school basketball doubleheader this Wednesday at Bethlehem rivals square off–Bethlehem Catholic vs. Liberty will be live at 7pm on both ATVN and streamed for free at youtube.com/@AstoundTVNetwork.   

We will also have Emmaus playing Northampton exclusively for Astound Video Customers at 9:30 pm on Wednesday.

On Thursday, our wrestling season coverage begins with another great rivalry–Easton vs. Nazareth.  This too will be available live at 7pm on ATVN and on our YouTube channel.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Before we give you insights on an historic, record-setting winter sports season for our network, a reminder that we encourage you to check out the auction items available here:  biddingowl.com/dreamcometrue  (until 8:45 pm Monday night) to help support the annual Dream Come True Telethon, which benefits critically, seriously and terminally ill children in the Lehigh Valley.

Your bids and donations would be most welcome to benefit families within our community.  Please consider bidding on your favorite items (they made great Christmas presents) and tune in to tonight’s telethon, starting at 6pm on ATVN and streaming live.

Now, it’s time to unveil Astound TV’s 2023 – 24 winter high school sports season scheduling plans!

Among our highlights for the winter season we will have:

• more teams and more boys basketball games, AND…
• more girls basketball games than we’ve ever had before, AND…
• more boys wrestling matches than ever before in our network’s history, AND…
• we will have TWO girls/boys wrestling doubleheaders for the first time ever on any Lehigh Valley broadcasting outlet!

Sign up to subscribe and get notified of our free, live high school sports broadcasts by going to: youtube.com/@AstoundTVNetwork

Obviously there will be changes as the season unfolds with snow, winter weather and negative forecasts altering schedules.  Also, as we saw in 2022, the officiating shortage and transportation issues forced schools to make last minute changes to the dates and even normal start times of sports events.

That being said, here’s a look at just SOME of our broadcast plans and planned matchups heading into this winter’s scholastic season.  More games and matches will be added later in the season!  (Make sure you bookmark our website and check back often as changes and additions occur.)

Liberty at Becahi Boys BB (“Live” this Wednesday at 7pm!)

Easton at Nazareth Wrestling (“Live” this Thursday at 7pm!)

Central at Becahi Boys BB (“Live” Friday, 12/8, at 7pm!)

Emmaus at Northampton Boys BB

Nazareth at Emmaus Girls BB

Pen Argyl at Wilson Boys BB

Whitehall at Parkland Boys BB

Allen at Emmaus Boys BB

Emmaus at Northampton Wrestling

Notre Dame at Saucon Valley Boys BB

Dieruff at Liberty Boys BB

Freedom at Easton Boys BB

Saucon Valley at Bangor Boys BB

Catty at Northwestern Boys BB

Northampton at Easton Wrestling

Nazareth at Allen Boys BB

Central at Easton Girls BB

Liberty at Parkland Girls/Boys Wrestling

Parkland at Northampton Boys BB

Allen at Whitehall Boys BB

Northampton at Parkland Girls BB

Nazareth at Northampton Wrestling

Freedom at Becahi Boys BB

Easton at Liberty Boys BB 

Liberty at Easton Girls BB

Pen Argyl at Northwestern Boys BB

Bangor at Nolehi Boys BB

Notre Dame at Becahi Wrestling

Emmaus at Parkland Boys BB

Freedom vs. Liberty Boys BB

Whitehall vs. Northampton Boys BB

Northwestern at Bangor Boys BB

Southern Lehigh at Saucon Valley Boys BB

Freedom at Parkland Girls/Boys Wrestling

Nazareth at Liberty Girls BB

Parkland vs. Central Boys BB

Notre Dame at Saucon Valley Wrestling

Whitehall at Emmaus Wrestling

Central at Parkland Girls BB

…and a lot more!

Don’t forget all regular season and Colonial League playoff events will be streamed for free at youtube.com/@AstoundTVNetwork.

Make sure you subscribe and get notified for our live stream sports broadcasts on YouTube.

And…Astound video customers can watch all sports productions at any time for free through ATVN On-Demand.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.