Weigel’s son joins ABC 7 team

Rafer Weigel, son of the late sportscaster Tim Weigel, is returning to Chicago and will take over as the weekend sports anchor and reporter at ABC 7, the network announced Tuesday.

Weigel will replace Ryan Chiaverini, who was named co-host of ABC 7’s new morning show, “Windy City Live.”

“Rafer Weigel is a talented broadcaster who has worked hard to earn his stripes,” said ABC 7 Vice President and News Director Jennifer Graves. “He loves this city and has never lost his passion for following Chicago sports teams.”

Tim Weigel, who was with ABC 7 for 17 years, died in 2001 after losing a battle with brain cancer.

“His father is an important part of ABC 7’s sports legacy, and we are thrilled that another Weigel will again be working the sports beat at our station,” Graves said.

Rafer Weigel’s career has taken him from Hollywood — where he landed several TV and movie roles — back to Chicago as a sports reporter at two major newspapers, to San Diego as a TV reporter and to his last stop as a sports anchor for HLN’s morning news show.

He is set to take over at ABC 7 on March 21.

Weigel was raised in Evanston and is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.