Dec 14, 2021 5 min read

1. Waynesburg Wrestling

For the first time in an illustrious wrestling program, Waynesburg won the PIAA Class AAA Team Title with a 42-3 rout of Central Dauphin at Cumberland Valley High School.

The Raiders earned the right to battle for the title with a 50-13 rout of the Williamsport Millionaires in the semifinals.

The Raiders finished in second place the previous season, falling to Nazareth in the finals.

Waynesburg had 12 section champions out of the 13 weight classes.

Waynesburg finished with 100 points in the individual tournament team standings with three state champions and two runners-up. Hempfield was a distant second with 57 points.

Wyatt Henson won his second consecutive PIAA gold medal, winning the title at 138 pounds. Mac Church (120) and Luca Augustine (172) were the Raiders’ other state champions.

Cole Homet (138) and Rocco Welsh (152) finished in second place at Hershey.

In the WPIAL Team Tournament, the Raiders ravaged Seneca Valley, 67-3, in the finals. Seneca Valley only had a handful of regular starters, which was more than the number of fans who showed up to cheer them on. The 67 points set a WPIAL record for points in team tournament finals.

2. Joe Throckmorton

This should have been an offseason of celebration for Joe Throckmorton, who led the Waynesburg High School to the program’s first PIAA Team Tournament title after a 42-3 wipeout of Central Dauphin at Cumberland Valley High School.

Instead, that match would be the final one Throckmorton would coach at the school. Over the summer, the 59-year-old coach was cited for a bizarre occurrence at the Green Cove Marina last August. Throckmorton was charged with conspiracy to commit theft by unlawful taking, criminal mischief and receiving stolen property by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

Throckmorton submitted a letter of resignation at the next school board meeting. Kyle Szewczyk, a long-time assistant under Throckmorton, was later hired as his replacement.

4. Kathy McConnell-Miller

On second thought. …

Kathy McConnell-Miller followed her heart and not the prestige of coaching a college program when she said no to the wonderful people at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Fla, and decided to stay as head girls basketball coach at Trinity High School. The bags were packed but she wasn’t ready to leave. The Florida school had already announced her hiring and invited her down for a look and Trinity was gearing up a search for a new head coach.

“Anyone who knows me knows the significance of my family,” McConnell-Miller said. “I value the opportunity to work with these young women.”

Instead of working in the sunny climes of Florida, McConnell-Miller chose to stay in moody Western Pennsylvania.

McConnell-Miller was named Girls Basketball Coach of the Year in 2020 by the Tri-County Athletic Directors Association after guiding the Hillers to a 21-5 record. The Hillers advanced to the WPIAL title game, losing to Chartiers Valley, coached by McConnell-Miller’s brother, Tim McConnell. In the state tournament, Trinity defeated Penn Hills and Great Valley before the season was shut down because of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This past season, Trinity easily won the Section 3 championship, winning all 12 league games. The Hillers returned to the WPIAL title game, losing again to Chartiers Valley. Only district champions advanced to the state tournament this past season and the Hillers’ season ended with a 21-2 record.

The biggest win of the 2020-21 season was a 49-42 victory over Chartiers Valley in January, which ended the Colts’ state-record 64-game winning streak.

5. West Greene softball

Give me five.

That’s what West Greene softball players could have said after a 17-2 dismantling of Union in the WPIAL Class A finals at Lilley Field on the campus of California University in June. It was the fifth WPIAL title for the Pioneers. 

The Pioneers tied Sto-Rox (2000-04) and Hempfield (2015-19) for the most consecutive softball titles won in a row in district history. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic closing down spring sports last season, West Greene has been the reining champs longer than any other team in WPIAL history.

Behind the hitting of Jersey Wise, the pitching of Kiley Meek and a defense that was spectacular at times and just plain outstanding the rest of the way, West Greene made it back to the state finals for the first time since 2018.

And there was only heartbreak there, especially in the bottom of the seventh inning

West Greene allowed two runs, the final one on a one-out double to the right-centerfield gap by No. 9 hitter Allison Huhn that gave Tri-Valley a 2-1 victory and the state’s Class A title.

This was the fourth time West Greene reached the finals and the Pioneers are 2-2 in the big game. Tri-Valley, the District 11 champion with a 25-2 record, was making its first trip to the championship game.

8. Jujubee

He won the Kentucky Futurity and Breeders Crown championships this fall. And now Jujubee has been voted the top 3-year-old colt trotter of the year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association.

Jujubee – stabled at The Meadows and trained by Greg Wright Jr. – rolled in the finals of both of Standardbred racing’s most prestigious races.

Jujubee was the top money-earning male trotter this year, with $948,791. He won 14 times in 2021 and finished no worse than second in 17 of 18 races. In addition to his Breeders Crown ($650,000) and Kentucky Futurity ($561,000) victories, Jujubee won the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final ($253,000) and Phil Langley Memorial.

The colt captured the Kentucky Futurity, the third leg of trotting’s Triple Crown, in 1:49.3 and the Muscle Hill Trot in 1:49.4 to become the first 3-year-old male trotter with two sub-1:50 winning miles.

Jujubee is the first Meadows-stabled horse to win the Kentucky Futurity.