Jan 14, 2022 4 min read

ON THIS DATE

Jan. 15

1943 – The Pittsburgh Pirates announce they will hold spring training in Muncie, Ind.

1955 – Waynesburg College’s wrestling team edges visiting Ohio State 16-11. The Yellow Jackets get a fall from Ray Carlson in the pivotal 177-pound bout. Carlson is a minister who is the pastor at First Methodist Church in Jefferson. John Nicolella, captain of Ohio State’s team and a Washington High School graduate, wins a 5-1 decision at 123.

1967 – The NFL’s Green Bay Packers open the Super Bowl series by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL, 35-10.

1971 – The Pittsburgh Condors withstand a 53-point performance by New York’s Rick Barry and beat the Nets 120-117 in a fight-filled ABA game.

1973 – The Washington School Board accepts the resignation of head football coach Dave Johnston. In 13 seasons, Johnston had a 74-43-2 record and guided Wash High to five conference championships.

1985 – Senior heavyweight Mike Sprouse wins a 2-1 decision in the final bout to give Peters Township High School a 25-24 upset of No. 2-ranked Trinity. It’s only the second win in school history for PT over Trinity.

1991 – Bridget Durkan scores a school-record 39 points, leading Canon-McMillan to a 78-60 victory over Waynesburg in a non-section girls basketball game. Durkan breaks the C-M single-game record of 33 points, set by Maria Janco in 1988.

1994 – Edinboro overcomes a 13-point halftime deficit and upsets California, ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division II, 74-68, at Hamer Hall. The Vulcans make only eight of 22 free throws, including just one of nine in the second half.

1995 – San Diego linebacker Dennis Gibson twice knocks down passes in the end zone — the last one on fourth down — to preserve the Chargers’ biggest NFL victory, a 17-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship.

1997 – Patrick Lalime becomes the first goalie since NHL expansion in 1967 to open his career with a 15-game unbeaten streak as Pittsburgh beats Hartford, 3-0.

Jan. 16

1962 – Waynesburg High School’s wrestlers win the final four bouts, coming from behind three times, to defeat host Canon-McMillan 30-17. It’s the 31st consecutive dual meet win for coach Ernie Closser’s Raiders. Ed Levine’s 6-3 win at 154 pounds gives Waynesburg a lead it does not relinquish.

1973 – Charles R. Ream, head football coach at Washington & Jefferson since 1960, is appointed associate professor in the college’s department of education and relinquishes his football and track coaching positions.

1976 – Washington defeats Canon-McMillan 29-13 in a battle of the WPIAL’s top-two ranked wrestling teams. Wash High’s Curt Ellis (98 pounds), Tom Daimond (112), Wray Spossey (119), John Mousetis (126) and Scott Stephens (155).

1984 – Michelle Bazzoli scores 15 of her 17 points in the second half as Chartiers-Houston edges visiting Washington 54-51 in a game for first place in Section 18-AA-A.

1987 – Washington’s wrestling team routs Jeannette 62-6 to give Little Prexies head coach Bill Solominsky his 100th career victory.

1987 – Mario Bongiorni scores 25 points to lead Burgettstown to a 70-46 victory over Immaculate Conception and becomes the Blue Devils’ all-time boys basketball scoring leader with 1,231 points. Bongiorni breaks the school record held by Ned Rittle.

1988 – Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder, the CBS NFL Today tout for 12 years, is fired for his racial comments during an interview the previous day with WRC-TV in Washington.

1989 – Paced by Holly Marra’s 23 points and 18 by Lynne Unice, Trinity’s girls basketball team wins its seventh consecutive game, 60-50, over Keystone Oaks.

1989 – West Virginia Wesleyan gets 31 points from Kado Wilks and defeats Waynesburg College 95-91 to end the Yellow Jackets’ 54-game home-court winning streak.

1991 – Kelly Stacey becomes the all-time leading scorer in Washington & Jefferson women’s basketball history by scoring 24 points in a 78-48 victory over Point Park. Stacey’s career points total reaches 1,525.

1998 – Avella’s Rich Tranquill scores 32 points, including his 1,000th career point, but the Eagles lose to South Fayette 77-76 in Section 6-AA-A.

1998 – Bentworth’s Bryant Thomas, who leads the WPIAL in scoring, produces 44 points and sparks an 18-4 run, leading the Bearcats to a 76-69 victory at Beth-Center. The win keeps Bentworth in the top Class AA playoff spot in Section 5-AA-A.

1999 – McGuffey wrestling team, ranked No. 1 in Class AAA, wins five consecutive bouts to start the match and defeats Trinity, 39-15.

2015 – The NCAA restores 112 football wins it stripped from Penn State and Joe Paterno in the Jerry Sandusky child-molestation scandal and reinstates the venerated late coach as the winningest in major college football history. The NCAA announces the settlement with the school weeks before a scheduled trial on the legality of the sanctions imposed in 2012.