Punxsutawney’s (from left) Braxton Giavedoni, John Matthews and Kaleb Young
The following list is most likely incomplete. If you have signed an NLI or have made a verbal committment to a college or university let us know by e-mailing us at sports@d9sports.com
Ten District 9 athletes recently signed National Letters of Intent to continue their athletic careers at the next level.
Six of the athletes committed to NCAA Division I programs including three from Punxsutawney.
Division I recruits are Punxsutawney’s John Matthews (baseball at Kent State), Kaleb Young (wrestling at Iowa) and Braxton Giavedoni (baseball at Penn State) as well as Brookville’s Taylor Ortz (wrestling at Clarion) and DuBois Central Catholic John Miknis (baseball at St. Bonaventure).
Brookville’s Taylor Ortz
Signing NLI’s to NCAA Division II schools are Karns City’s LeeAnn Gibson (women’s basketball at Slippery Rock), DuBois’ Adam Bankovich (baseball at Seton Hill), Keystone’s Lexis Twentier (women’s track and field at Slippery Rock) and Moniteau’s Derek Boben (baseball at Slippery Rock).
DIVISION I RECRUITS
Shea Bloom – Curwensville – Wrestling at Clarion University
Curwensville’s Shea Bloom
Bloom, who spent two seasons at DuBois before transferring to Curwensville before last season, has won three District 9 title including at 138 pounds last year while putting together a career record of 104-18. He was also the Class AA regional runner-up at 138 pounds while finishing fifth in the state. He is a 3-time state qualifier.
John Matthews – Punxsutawney – Baseball at Kent State
Matthews, a right-handed pitcher with a fastball in the 85 mph to 88 mph range according to Prepbaseballreport.com. He was 7-1 with a 1.68 ERA last year after going 7-0 with a 2.80 ERA in 2014.
Karns City’s LeeAnn Gibson
“I chose Kent State for the education and for the opportunity to play for one of the top baseball program in the country,” Matthews recently told D9Sports.com.
Kaleb Young – Punxsutawney – Wrestling at Iowa
Young finished fourth as a junior at the PIAA Class AAA championship after taking fifth as a sophomore. He has a career record of 79-8 including going 19-2 last year according to www.pa-wrestling.com.
Braxton Giavedoni – Punxsutawney – Baseball at Penn State
Giavedoni is an outfielder who hit .382 as a sophomore (junior year stats are not available). According to PrepBaseballReport.com he runs a 6.63 60 and goes from home to first in 3.94 seconds.
DuBois’ Adam Bankvoich
Taylor Ortz – Brookville – Wrestling at Clarion University
Ortz has twice finished third at the PIAA Class AA meet and has a three-year career record of 112-16 including going 41-3 last year according to www.pa-wrestling.com.
John Miknis – Baseball at St. Bonaventure
Miknis is a shortstop/right-handed pitcher for the Cardinals. He runs the 60 in 7.0 seconds and has a fastball in the low 80s according to PrepBaseballReport.com.
Moniteau’s Derek Boben
DIVISION II RECRUITS
LeeAnn Gibson – Karns City – Women’s Basketball at Slippery Rock
Gibson was a first-team All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com All-District 9 performer last year when she led the Lady Gremlins to the D9 Class AA title by averaging 14 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.0 assists per game. She shot 56.5 percent from the field (122 of 216). Gibson went over the 1,000-career point mark in Karns City’s PIAA first-round loss to Burrell.
Keystone’s Lexis Twentier
Adam Banokovich – DuBois – Baseball at Seton Hill
Bannkovich is a career .371 hitter with, two homers, six doubles and a triple in his career. Last season, he hit .444 for the Beavers according to MaxPreps.com.
Lexis Twentier – Keystone – Women’s Track & Field at Slippery Rock
Twentier took ninth in the javelin (102-03) and 11th in the shot put (29-03.75) at the 2015 District 9 Class AA Track & Field championships while also running a leg on Keystone’s fourth-place 4×800-meter relay team.
Derek Boben – Moniteau – Baseball at Slippery Rock
Boben, a multi-sport star, is a shortstop in baseball who is a .366 career hitter with two home runs, a double and 18 RBIs in 31 career games. Last year, he hit .404 with a homer, seven RBIs and 13 runs scored for the Warriors.
