Having faced off against Peters Township star Natalie Wetzel not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times this season, nobody is more qualified to evaluate her credentials than Thomas Jefferson coach Matt Gould.
“She took literally all of our attention,” Gould said. “She’s that good. You can’t leave her open at the 3-point line. You can’t let her post up by herself. Her mid-range game is fantastic. When she decides to guard or rebound, there’s not much you can do to stop her.
“I think the way her game has expanded over her career has been phenomenal.”
After one of the best seasons in school history, Gould’s Jaguars finished with an overall record of 22-6 — or, to put it another way, 0-4 against Wetzel and the Indians, and 22-2 against everybody else. After two regular-season losses against Peters Township by scores of 52-39 and 58-49, Thomas Jefferson gave the Indians all they could handle in a pair of dramatic playoff battles. But in the end, Wetzel’s presence proved to be the difference, as Peters Township first prevailed in a 46-43 WPIAL Class 5A semifinal thriller, then rallied for a 57-53 win in the second round of the PIAA tournament to end the Jaguars’ season.
“We had good games, and I thought we had good game plans,” Gould said. “In the state playoff game, she finished with 27 [points]. … We tried to faceguard her with Maggie [Spell]. We tried to double her if she got it in the post.
“I would say it didn’t work.”
Although Gould’s teams fell victim to Wetzel’s greatness more than anybody else this season, that didn’t stop him from singing her praises. And if you talk to any other coach around the area who witnessed Wetzel’s dominance up close and personal, there’s a good chance you’ll receive a similar response.
Just ask South Fayette coach Bryan Bennett, the 2025 Pittsburgh Union Progress girls basketball Coach of the Year. His Lions fell just short of a WPIAL championship four-peat after a furious fourth-quarter comeback by Wetzel and the Indians, who took down the eventual state champs with a 40-36 triumph in the WPIAL Class 5A title game.
“We watched every single one of their games while preparing for them, and I don’t remember her ever being in foul trouble,” Bennett said. “She’s definitely one of the toughest kids we had to go against, just because she can score in so many ways. She’s an outstanding 3-point shooter, she can take you off the dribble, and she posted up a lot more than what I remembered.”
A 6-3 senior forward and Miami recruit, Wetzel will soon be taking her talents down to South Beach to play in the ACC — but first, let’s tie a bow on her extraordinary high school career at Peters Township, shall we? A three-time PUP all-star and two-time first-team selection, Wetzel led the Indians to an overall record of 26-4 as a senior along with their second WPIAL title in school history, averaging 18.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.7 blocks per game.
For all of those reasons and more, Wetzel is the 2025 PUP girls basketball Player of the Year. All players in the WPIAL and City League were considered for the award, which was selected by the PUP sports staff.
“She was just so good this season, and it was on both ends of the court,” said Peters Township coach Steve Limberiou. “I think you could make a valid argument that she was the best defender in the WPIAL this year, certainly one of the best rebounders, and I think she was one of the best scorers, too. I think her numbers would have been higher, but she was doubled basically every time she touched the ball around the hoop.
“She’s certainly deserving of all the accolades coming her way.”
All the numbers and milestones aside, Wetzel also exudes all the intangibles every great player needs to succeed. From her toughness and competitive nature to her leadership and will to win, Wetzel’s substantial impact on every game she played went far beyond the box score.
For proof, just look at how quickly Wetzel returned from a Grade 3 ankle sprain she sustained in the regular-season finale against Mt. Lebanon on Feb. 10. Only nine days later, Wetzel was back on the court in limited action for a 51-32 WPIAL quarterfinal win against Indiana, then she ramped it up to full throttle for the WPIAL semifinal win over Thomas Jefferson on Feb. 22 — and the rest, of course, is history.
“I kind of thought my season was over in the moment,” Wetzel said. “I had tweaked it at practice a couple weeks [earlier], but this time, I felt it pop and go back in. It swelled up right away. It was not very fun.”
After taking over as the Indians’ new coach in 2022, Limberiou sat down with Wetzel to discuss each other’s goals and expectations for the team prior to her sophomore season. He said Wetzel expressed her desire to be remembered as one of the greats, just like former Peters Township and Penn State star Makenna Marisa, who led the Indians to an undefeated season in 2018-19 along with their first WPIAL and PIAA titles.
Since then, Wetzel has blossomed into one of the top players in the state and a top-100 overall prospect in the nation in the 2025 class — but more importantly, she helped re-establish the winning culture that Marisa left behind at Peters Township while going out on top as a WPIAL champion.
“I feel like just last year I was a freshman,” Wetzel said. “It’s crazy how fast the four years went.”
Wetzel finished her decorated career with 1,692 points and 806 rebounds, solidifying her status as one of the best players to come out of Western Pa. in recent memory. Only time will tell whether she is capable of reaching those same heights at the next level, but the future certainly looks bright for Wetzel and the Hurricanes.
And although Peters Township came one win short of a trip to the state championship game, Wetzel cemented her legacy forever by adding a second WPIAL championship to the school trophy case — even though Limberiou insists it wasn’t necessary.
“I think the thing that was most impressive about her is that she got better every season,” Limberiou said. “She was talented right away, but she added something new to her game every year. … Her post-up game around the rim has gotten so much better. She was always talented, but at the same time, what sets her apart is that she is always an elite worker.
“She is always getting better at something, and when you have that combination of talent and focus and the work she puts in, you get what you saw this season.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
