When West Allegheny football coach Bob Palko was designing an emblem for his team's helmets more than a decade ago, he copied the "W" from the University of Wisconsin's insignia and added an "A." The "WA" has been on West Allegheny's helmets ever since.

When West Allegheny player Mike Caputo plays college football next season, he'll still have the "W" on his helmet.

Caputo, a West Allegheny senior and the Post-Gazette Player of the Year in 2009, announced Tuesday night he will attend the University of Wisconsin. Caputo rushed for 2,615 yards on 360 carries last season, but he also was a standout at defensive back. Wisconsin recruited Caputo (6 feet 2, 200 pounds) to play strong safety.

Caputo had more than a dozen offers from Division I colleges, but narrowed his choices to Pitt, Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin a few months ago. Caputo said Pitt eventually backed off and Caputo then narrowed his list to two -- Wisconsin and Ohio State. He let coaches know Monday night that Wisconsin was his choice.

Caputo visited all of his four finalists.

"It was pretty much the same everywhere I went, but Wisconsin just seemed to have that little something extra that I liked and really interested me," Caputo said. "The staff there [at Wisconsin] just seemed to have more of a relationship with the players. At Ohio State, I didn't really see a lot of that."

Caputo scored 34 touchdowns as a junior, leading West Allegheny to the WPIAL Class AAA championship. But he also was the team's leading tackler with 89 1/2, had 11 tackles for loss and four sacks.

"I don't really have a preference at all what position I play. It doesn't really matter to me," Caputo said.

He does prefer playing in the Big Ten Conference, though.

"Personally, I like the Big Ten," Caputo said. "I guess it's my type of football."

Caputo is the second West Allegheny player to choose Wisconsin during Palko's tenure. Linebacker-defensive end Ben Herbert also played for the Badgers after winning a WPIAL title at West Allegheny in 1997. Herbert is now Wisconsin's strength and conditioning coach.

Two Woodland Hills players have narrowed their college choices to two. Linebacker Ejuan Price said his top two schools are Ohio State and Iowa, "but I might open things back up a little," Price said.

Woodland Hills defensive end Quinton Jefferson said his top two are Pitt and Iowa.

Elsewhere, South Fayette offensive tackle Nolan Spicer (6-4, 265) committed to Liberty, an NCAA Division I-AA school. Spicer was recruited to Liberty by Manny Rojas, a former West Allegheny player who is now an assistant coach at Liberty.

The Thursday FSN games are a go after all.

There was some question for a while whether the cable station would continue to televise a WPIAL game Thursday nights for the sixth year in a row. FSN released a schedule of Thursday games and the highlight is the regular-season finale that will match West Allegheny's Caputo and Hopewell's Rushel Shell. That game will be televised live, Oct. 28.

Only two other Thursday games will be televised live -- Beaver Falls vs. Aliquippa Sept. 9 and Seneca Valley-McKeesport Sept. 23.

The other Thursday games will be aired on tape Thursday nights because of Pirates and Penguins games, as well as a college football game. The games on tape will be Mars-Hampton (Sept. 16), Erie McDowell-Pine-Richland (Sept. 30), Gateway-Central Catholic (Oct. 14), South Fayette-Seton-LaSalle (Oct. 21). There will be no game televised Oct. 7.

A first-round playoff game will be televised live Nov. 5. Nov. 12 and 19, playoff games will be televised on tape. All four WPIAL championship games will be televised Nov. 27.

Quaker Valley's Tabitha Bemis, the Post-Gazette Female Athlete of the Year, has decided to compete in track and field at Edinboro University. She originally was going to be a diver at Pitt, but changed her mind.

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