Tessa Dellarose plays soccer at Brownsville High School, a small Class 2A program that has only 14 players on its roster this season.
But just a few years from now, Dellarose will be playing for a college soccer giant.
If you’re a football player and Alabama and Clemson want you, you must be pretty good. The same if you’re a basketball player and Duke and Kansas come knocking at your door.
Well, North Carolina is the women’s soccer equivalent of that. And Dellarose, who began her sophomore year of high school this week, has already decided to become a Tar Heel.
“I love their campus, but it’s just their dynasty with the whole program,” Dellarose said. “It’s a one-of-a-kind program that has won 22 national championships. Their coach is one of the greatest of all time. I wanted to be part of that.”
Dellarose is a standout midfielder who scored 26 goals and was named to the all-section team her freshman season, while helping Brownsville go 13-5 and advance to the WPIAL playoffs.
Dellarose also plays for the Riverhounds Academy. She said that her coach, Jason Kutney, suggested she attend a camp at North Carolina last summer. Dellarose said Tar Heels’ coaches watched her at that camp and at several national tournaments. A scholarship offer eventually came her way, and in April, she said her mind was made up.
“I thought it was a good idea to commit that early because if I would have waited, my spot could have been taken,” Dellarose said.
The previous WPIAL player to play women’s soccer at North Carolina was a pretty good one. Pine-Richland’s Meghan Klingenberg helped the Tar Heels win NCAA titles in 2008 and 2009 before going on to play for the US National Team. Klingenberg won a World Cup in 2015, something that, like many soccer players, has been a dream of Dellarose’s.
“That is the ultimate goal,” she said.
It has been a busy summer for Dellarose, who in July helped the Riverhounds U-16 team win the ECNL (Elite Clubs National League) Showcase Cup in San Diego. Later in the month, she spent time in Portland after being invited to the ECNL National Training Camp. And just this past weekend, she attended another camp at her future college.
Since joining the NCAA in women’s soccer in 1982, North Carolina has qualified for the NCAA tournament every year. The Tar Heels won their most recent championship in 2012. They finished as the runner-up last season.
Stout commits
Mt. Lebanon senior wrestler Luke Stout, last year’s PIAA Class 3A runner-up at 182 pounds, committed to Princeton last week. Stout, who has a career record of 111-16, is ranked the No. 9 senior in the state by PA Power Wrestling. FloWrestling ranks him the No. 3 wrestler in the country in his weight class.
Few families in Western Pennsylvania do wrestling like the Stout’s. One of Luke’s brothers, Kellan, wrestles at Pitt. Another, Mac, also wrestles at Mt. Lebanon, where he is a sophomore. Their father, Bryan, was a four-time All-American at Clarion University.
Baseball commitments
Baldwin’s Nick Dolan (Ohio); Mt. Lebanon’s Cam Knox (Fordham).
Basketball commitment
Thomas Jefferson’s Alyssa DeAngelo (Fairmont State).
Soccer commitment
South Park’s Grace Albitz (IUP).
Volleyball commitment
Moon’s Sanaea Simmons (Holy Cross).
Wrestling commitment
Kiski Area’s Nick Delp (Bucknell).
Brad Everett: beverett@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BREAL412
First Published: August 21, 2019, 11:45 a.m.
