Mar 18, 2022 6 min read

ON THIS DATE

March 19

1938 – The finals of the first PIAA Wrestling Championships are held at Penn State’s Rec Hall. Canonsburg’s George Custer (95) and Philip Ahwesh (185) win individual titles.

1943 – Sammy Angott of Washington wins a 10-round decision over featherweight champion Willie Pep in a non-title boxing match at Madison Square Garden. The loss drops Pep’s record to 62-1.

1955 – Trinity puts four wrestlers into the finals and wins two state titles in the PIAA Championships at Penn State. The Hillers’ Ronald Taggert (112) defeats Shamokin’s Ralph Littleberry, 2-1, and Trinity’s Bill Gallo edges Clearfield’s Russ Triponey, 4-3. Canonsburg’s Nick Dano (185) also wins a title, beating Muncy’s Don Baylor, 4-0.

1955 – Dick Ricketts and Si Green combine for 56 points to lead Duquesne to a 70-58 triumph over Dayton in the NIT championship.

1958 – Jim Chacko makes a free throw with three seconds remaining to give Charleroi a 46-45 victory over Washington in the WPIAL Class basketball championship game at the Pitt Field House. A potential game-winning basket by Washington’s Don Ferrell is negated after being ruled it came after time expired.

1960 – Waynesburg wins its second straight team title in the Southwest Regional wrestling tournament at Washington High School. The Raiders have two champions, Bill Lapping at 103 pounds and Tom Baily at 133. Trinity had the most champions with three: Jerry Lattimore (88), George Reese (138) and Nick Stellavato (165).

1977 – Trinity’s Ken Evans wins his second state wrestling title with a 6-4 decision over Bob Siar of Shaler in the Class AAA 132-pound title bout in the PIAA Championships held at Penn State. Evans is Trinity’s first back-to-back state champion in 23 years.

1973 – Don Clendaniel, who guided Chartiers-Houston to four WPIAL football championships, is hired as head coach at Washington.

1979 – Jeff Hostetler scores 27 points and Conemaugh Township defeats cold-shooting Bentworth 65-54 in the PIAA Class A Western Region semifinals at Altoona.

1979 – Bill Connors, who built Beth-Center’s football program into one of the best in Class AA, leaves the Bulldogs to become head coach at Ringgold.

1983 – Canon-McMillan’s Craig Dellasoro decisions Saucon Valley’s Sean Finkbeiner 3-1 to win the Class AAAA 132-pound title at the PIAA Wrestling Championships.

1988 – Darrin Walls scores 30 points and Harold Hamlin has 18 as Waynesburg College routs Dordt (Iowa), 87-66, to advance to the NAIA basketball tournament’s Final Four at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City.

1988 – Avella’s Ryna Sella wins the PIAA Class AA 98-pound wrestling championship with a 5-1 overtime victory over Chris Rickard of North Schuylkill in the finals.

1994 – Four area wrestlers – McGuffey Jeremy Hunter (103) and Canon-Mac’s Keilan O’Daniel (16) in Class AAA and Jefferson-Morgan’s Travis Makel (130) and Chartiers-Houston’s Corey Walker (heavyweight) in Class AA – win state titles at the PIAA Championships In Hershey. It is the second state title for Hunter.

1994 – Jen and Melissa Guna each score 11 points, and Peters Township ends the game on a 9-3 run, to defeat Seton-La Salle 43-41 in the PIAA Class AAA quarterfinals at Chartiers Valley.

2001 – After guiding Peters Township’s boys basketball program to 11 postseason appearances in 13 seasons, head coach Rick Bell leaves to take the same job at Canon-McMillan.

2005 – Mike Gansey scores 29 points, including 19 in the extra periods, as West Virginia overcomes a double-digit deficit to upset second-seeded Wake Forest, 111-105, in double overtime in an NCAA basketball tournament game in Cleveland.

2011 – Butler upsets top-seeded Pitt, 71-70, in one of the wackiest finishes in NCAA tournament history. After Butler’s Andrew Smith gives Butler the lead with 2.2 seconds to go, Shelvin Mack inexplicably runs into Pitt’s Gilbert Brown as Brown tries a half-court desperation heave. Brown makes the first free throw to tie the score at 70 but misses the second, and Howard grabs the rebound only to be fouled even more inexplicably by Nasir Robinson with 0.8 seconds left.

March 20

1943 – The Washington-Greene County area dominates the PIAA Wrestling Championships at Penn State’s Rec Hall. Waynesburg has four individual champions – James Conklin (120), Matthew Gusic (127), Earl Fuller (145) and Keith Moore (165) – and Canonsburg’s Tony George wins the 133-pound title. Conklin becomes the first Pennsylvania wrestler to win four state titles.

1955 – Dick Ricketts and Sihugo Green combine for 56 points to lead Duquesne to a 70-58 triumph over Dayton in the NIT championship game.

1959 – Jerry West scores 38 points and West Virginia defeats Louisville 94-79 in the NCAA basketball tournament semifinals.

1971 – George Bryant of Washington decisions Dave Hammer of Bethlehem Liberty 7-2 to win the 112-pound title at the PIAA Wrestling Championships at Penn State’s Rec Hall.

1973 – In a special election, the BBWAA selects (393 out 424 votes) the late Roberto Clemente to be a member of the Hall of Fame. The usual five-year rule is waived by the organization’s board of directors.

1973 – Behind 18 points from Bob Anderson, Washington defeats Cornell 68-63 in the PIAA Class B basketball quarterfinals at Charleroi.

1976 – Ken Evans of Trinity wins the 119-pound title at the PIAA Wrestling Championships by decisioning Tim Bainey of Phillisburg-Osceola.

1982 – Chartiers-Houston’s Phil Mary wins his second consecutive PIAA Class AAA wrestling title, decisioning Mike Price of Souderton 8-4 in the Class AAA 105-pound final. Chartiers-Houston, a Class AA team in enrollment, wins the Class AAA team title.

1983 – North Carolina State’s Sylvester Terkay, a Canon-McMillan graduate, pins Michigan State’s Don Whipp in 1:43 to win the heavyweight division at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Iowa City.

1985 – Serra Catholic upsets Washington 56-51 in the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals, ending the Prexies’ 52-game boys basketball winning streak.

1986 – Washington puts five players in double figures and defeats Rochester 64-48 to advance to the PIAA Class AA state championship boys basketball game for the second time in three years.

1993 – Canonsburg’s Sylvester Terkay, a heavyweight at North Carolina State, pins Michigan State’s Don Whipp in 1:43 to become the first area wrestler in 28 years to win an NCAA championship.

1993 – Drew Spencer becomes the first Peters Township High School wrestler to win a state title when he decisions Oil City’s Charley Carbaugh 5-2 in the Class AAA 135-pound final. Freshman Jeremy Hunter becomes the first McGuffey wrestler in 24 years to win a state title when he edges North Allegheny’s Teague Moore 6-4 in overtime in the Class AAA 103-pound final.

1996 – The Pittsburgh Penguins trade Markus Naslund to the Vancouver Canucks for Alek Stojanov.

1996 – Robert Jones scores 24 points and grabs 12 rebounds as California University upsets No. 3-ranked Alabama A&M 95-85 in the NCAA Division II basketball quarterfinals at Louisville, Ky.

2010 – South Fayette avenges two earlier loss to North Catholic by dominating the WPIAL champion Trojans 59-35 in the PIAA boys basketball quarterfinals at Chartiers Valley High School. South fayette, which never trailed, had four players score in double figures led by Mike Lamberti’s 14 points.