Ringgold’s Peccon perseveres to earn opportunity with Cal U

By Jose Negron

jnegron@yourmvi.com

Chris Peccon knows a thing or two about overcoming the odds. 

That’s because he had to do it over each of his first three seasons in a Ringgold uniform. 

Peccon, a four-year starter for legendary head coach Phil Pergola, was plagued by injuries during his freshman, sophomore and junior campaigns. 

In his first year of high school basketball, Peccon was the starting point guard for the Rams before he was forced to miss 16 games due to a broken wrist. 

That setback was followed by another during the middle of his sophomore season. A sprained ankle caused Peccon to miss six games and set him back an entire month. 

As a junior, Peccon was able to help lead Ringgold back to the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs, but, again, he wasn’t immune to the injury bug. A bruised kidney sent him to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh where he stayed for four days. Bleeding didn’t stop in his kidney and an operation was needed until the bleeding finally ceased and Peccon was sent home. Still, he missed three games. 

“All of these injuries set me back from many goals I had,” Peccon said. “It was hard to keep going forward when I kept being brought back.” 

To read the rest of this story, please see a copy of Monday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at https://e.monvalleyindependent.com.