Boys athlete of the week

// The Post-Gazette’s top male performer from the past seven days

The past week: Grieco scored two key goals in a 9-6 victory against Marple Newtown in the PIAA Class 2A lacrosse title match to help Mars become the first WPIAL team, boys or girls, to win a state lacrosse title. Check this out: Grieco, a 6foot-4 sophomore attacker, played in the shadow of three Division I recruits in the Mars offense, but became a key component of the team’s offense as defenses keyed on seniors Wes Scurci, Austin Cote and Josh Stepp. He finished the season with 81 goals, including 12 in the Planets’ final three matches of the state tournament.

Has it sunk in that you won the state championship? Sort of. It still feels amazing, but I think I’m just starting to realize that we did it. We accomplished the goal. What was it like on the field when the clock hit 0:00? It was amazing. It was unexplainable. There was just so much hard work and effort from everybody. The players and the coaches, the fans, everybody. All of the emotions spilled out right when that clock hit zero.

How did you celebrate? When I got home, we just all hung out and watched the game together and talked a bunch and fell asleep. It was a fun time. What was it like to watch the replay? It was great. Although rewatching that fourth quarter was a little tough, most of the rest of the game was a lot of fun. We would all get excited when the guys were doing stuff. Everybody looks at the D-I players, but did all the focus on them let you develop your game? There’s a reason I was one of the leading goal scorers and it was the Division I commits. They were the ones dodging and getting attention and I’d be open for an easy goal. Most of the credit goes to them. Your brother Jonathan is the team’s starting goalkeeper. What’s it like shooting on him? It’s a lot of fun. He gives me a little bit of a different look being a lefty, but shooting on him is good because we get really competitive really fast. Who wins more, you or your brother? Oh, that’s tough. It depends on where I’m shooting from. If I’m shooting from a regular stepdown, 12 (yards) out, he probably wins more than I win on that one, to be honest.

What do you do when you’re not playing lacrosse? Normally I hang out with my friends, hang out with my family. I play a lot of wiffleball with my friends. That’s always a good time.

How does lacrosse translate to wiffleball? I can’t say it does.

What are you streaming on Netflix? I just finished “Stranger Things.” That was good. I cannot wait for Season 5. It’s going to be great.