Feb 24, 2022 6 min read

ON THIS DATE

Feb. 26

1926 – Tiger Flowers dethrones Harry Greb of Pittsburgh in a 15-round split decision to win the world middleweight boxing title at Madison Square Garden.

1935 – Babe Ruth is released by the New York Yankees and signed by the Boston Braves.

1947 – Coach Alton Grover’s East Washington boys basketball team finishes the regular season as the area’s lone unbeaten following a 44-30 victory over Peters Township that puts the Ghosts’ record at 22-0.

1954 – Dick Kurtz scores 28 points and Washington crushes South Union 78-35 in the first round of the WPIAL Class A basketball playoffs at the Pitt Field House.

1966 – Waynesburg wins its 11th consecutive section team title and has 10 champions in the Section 4 wrestling tournament at Beth-Center. The Raiders’ Dale Murdock (95 pounds), Dick Ketchem (120) and Bill Brunofsky (154) are repeat champions.

1969 – Terry Evans scores 22 points, Scott Herz adds 21 and Washington & Jefferson assures itself of at least a tie for the Presidents’ Athletic Conference title with a 93-74 victory over Bethany.

1980 – Guards Lowes Moore and Joe Fryz combine for 51 points as West Virginia upsets Duquesne 95-87 in the first round of the Eastern Eight basketball tournament at the Civic Arena.

1981 – The Boston Bruins beat the Minnesota North Stars 5-1 in a game marred by fights. The teams set an NHL record with 84 penalties worth 392 minutes, and 12 players are ejected.

1982 – Penn State’s Elaine Sobansky, a Trinity graduate, finishes third in the shot put at the USA-Mobil Track Championships at Madison Square Garden. Sobansky’s best throw is 52-6 1/2.

1983 – Canon-McMillan defeats Derry 35-16 to win the Class AAA title and Washington beats Jefferson-Morgan 33-16 in the Class AA final of the WPIAL Wrestling Team Tournament.

1986 – Angie Kelly scores all but one of her team’s total in the first half and finishes with 20 points as Jefferson-Morgan wins its first WPIAL girls basketball playoff game, 46-40, over South Side Beaver at Trinity.

1989 – Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux becomes the third NHL player to have 100 assists in a season, joining Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky. Lemieux gets three assists and a goal in the Penguins’ 8-6 loss to the Hartford Whalers.

1991 – Junior point guard Chris Cook scores 29 points and makes 13 of 16 free throws to lead West Greene to an 81-67 victory over Avella in the WPIAL Class A boys basketball playoffs at Trinity High School. It’s the first WPIAL playoff victory in West Greene’s history.

2006 – Leigh Sulkowski scores a game-high 25 points and Washington & Jefferson overcomes a 10-point deficit in the second half to beat visiting Thomas More, 61-58, in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference tournament championship game.

2008 – Matt Connor gives Peters Township its third consecutive WPIAL Class AAA champion in the 200 individual medley as he wins the gold medal in a career-best time of 1:55.28.

2011 – Trinity’s Kyle McWreath runs his record to 28-0 with a 5-2 decision over Waynebsurg’s Kyle Gray in the 215-pound finals of the Section 4-AAA tournament at Mt. Lebanon.

2011 – Charleroi’s Cody Wiercioch wins the 160-pound title at the WPIAL Class AA Championships with a 2-1 decision over Burell’s Traveis McKillop.

2011 – California University’s Kayla Smith scores a season-high 31 points, including her 2,000th career point, in the Vulcans’ 81-66 win at Lock Haven.

Feb. 27

1956 – Centerville overcomes a halftime deficit by scoring 49 second-half points and defeats Perryopolis 72-45 in a WPIAL Class B basketball playoff game at Donora. Bob (Red) Worrell scores a game-high 21 points for the Wildcats.

1959 – The Waynesburg High School wrestling team completes its third consecutive undefeated season and stretches its dual-meet winning streak to 48 with a 32-10 victory over Canonsburg. Duane Makel (103), Bill Snodgrass (133), Robb Bartholomew (145) and Jim Husk (165) each win for the Raiders to remain undefeated on the season.

1961 – Bruce Gibbs scores 16 of his 26 points in the first half and Bentleyville holds on down the stretch to defeat Aspinwall 49-48 in the WPIAL Class B basketball playoffs in McKeesport. Bentleyville advances to the quarterfinals and a game against Fort Cherry.

1965 – The Trinity wrestling team, which finished its dual meet season undefeated, wins the team title at the Section 3 tournament held at the Hillers gym. Trinity’s individual champions are Ron Junko (95 pounds), John Abajace (103), Ray Day (112) and Woody Law (120).

1969 – Cyrill A. (Cy) Layne resigns as head football coach at Trinity High School, where he had a 28-39-5 record in eight seasons.

1972 – Bill Ferguson scores 25 points as Burgettstown Union wins the Section 12-B basketball championship and a spot in the WPIAL quarterfinals with a 70-57 victory over Waynesburg in a tiebreaker game played at Charleroi.

1979 – Steve Hamay scores 25 points, Kevin Tony has 20 and Bentworth edges Shannock Valley 58-54 at Monessen in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs.

1983 – Greg Jones scores 32 points and coach Gale Catlett gets his 100th victory at West Virginia as the Mountaineers defeat No. 1-ranked UNLV 87-78 in Morgantown, W.Va.

1985 – California University overcomes a halftime deficit and goes on to defeat host Clarion 78-65 in the PSAC West Division basketball championship game. Michael Wilson leads the Vulcans with 19 points and Jim Stepoli scores a season-high 14.

1987 – Tom Kelley scores 32 points, Matt Markley has 23 and Immaculate Conception upsets top-seeded and defending WPIAL Class A champion Duquesne 76-68 in the quarterfinals at Thomas Jefferson High School.

1987 – Karen Donley scores 28 points and Trinity overcomes a 13-point halftime deficit to beat Sacred Heart 55-50 in the WPIAL girls basketball quarterfinals at Washington High School.

1991 – California University uses a 15-0 run over a five-minute period of the second half to wipe away an 11-point deficit as the Vulcans rally for a 72-67 victory at Shippensburg and win the PSAC West Division title. Kenney Toomer scores 30 points for Cal.

1995 – The Pittsburgh Penguins score a team-record seven goals in the second period and defeat the host Quebec Nordiques, 7-5.

1996 – Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers coach Marvin Lewis is named defensive coordinator of the NFL’s new Baltimore franchise.

1999 – In a bout involving two former state runners-up, Beth-Center’s Ulysses Davis outlasts Washington’s Dan Kosek 6-4 in overtime at the WPIAL Class AA Championships. Davis is one of eight local wrestlers to win championships in the tournament held at Chartiers Valley.

1999 – Eric Watson has 19 points and 14 rebounds as California University defeats host Bloomsburg 75-64 in the PSAC men’s basketball championship game. Watson is named the MVP of the conference’s Final Four.

2001 – Jamee Bush scores 14 of her 21 points in the second half as Washington overcomes a six-point halftime deficit to beat Chartiers-Houston 56-50 in the WPIAL Class AA girls basketball semifinals at Upper St. Clair.

2010 – Fort Cherry’s Sam Guidi wins his second WPIAL Class AA wrestling championship in three years with a 3-2 decision over Bentworth’s Dylan Demain in the 160-pound final. Fort Cherry’s Gary Kiefer upsets top-seeded Kyle Dudley of Valley 2-1 in three overtimes to win the 171-pound title.