Dec 31, 2017 12 min read

2017 was spilled with memorable sports moments in our area, from state title wins to individual achievements. Here are our top ten moments in sports for 2017.

1. Wild comeback nets West Greene state title

It was one of the most miraculous comebacks in PIAA softball finals history.

West Greene High School overcame a seven-run deficit in the third inning and won the PIAA Class A softball title, 9-8, over Williams Valley at Nittany Lions Field in State College. It was the first state title of any kind for the tiny Greene County school and avenged a 3-2 loss to Williams Valley in the 2016 Class A championship game.

“It’s indescribable,” said West Greene head coach Bill Simms after the game. “It’s such a boost, not just for us but our community.”

Williams Valley scored two runs in the first and five in the second. But West Greene chipped away over the next few innings and took the lead, 9-7, with three runs in the top of the sixth. Williams Valley scored a run in the sixth inning and put a runner on third base with one out in the seventh but couldn’t score.

West Greene won its second straight WPIAL title and finished the season with a 26-1 record.

Compiled by Joe Tuscano

2. A WPIAL championship, at last, for Wash High football

The Washington High School football team finally got over the playoff hump and won its first WPIAL championship since 2001.

The Little Prexies put together their fourth consecutive undefeated regular season but in the previous three failed to get to the WPIAL championship game. This year, the Prexies dominated the competition in the Century Conference before handling Freedom, East Allegheny and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic in the postseason to reach the WPIAL title game against Steel Valley, which had a 26-game winning streak.

After playing to a 10-10 stalemate in the first half, Wash High dominated the final 24 minutes and won 37-10 at Robert Morris University’s Joe Walton Stadium. Washington’s Isaiah Schoonmaker made a crucial goal-line tackle on fourth down in the first quarter, blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown in the third, ran 68 yards for a score later in the third and caught a four-yard touchdown pass in the fourth.

Washington’s attempt to win its second PIAA championship ended a week later with a wild 49-42 loss to Wilmington in the semifinals. The Prexies committed four costly turnovers in that game.

Washington running back Nick Welsh had a memorable season running behind the Prexies’ large and athletic offensive line. Welsh led all WPIAL classifications in rushing with 2,324 yards and 32 touchdowns. He ran for more than 100 yards in each of the Prexies’ 14 games and scored at least one touchdown in every game. Welsh averaged an amazing 11.62 yards per carry and was named the Observer-Reporter Player of the Year.

3. High school wrestling

Gavin Teasdale took another step towards wrestling immortality, Brendan Furman finally found the secret to success and Dom Fundy came one win shy of gold in the 2017 PIAA Wrestling Championships in Hershey.

Teasdale dominated Austin Clabaugh of Bermudian Springs, 13-5, in the 126-pound finals for his third straight title without a loss. The Jefferson-Morgan product scored 80 bout points, 17 shy of beating the 96 he scored winning the 113-pound title last year. Teasdale won at 106 as a freshman.

Teasdale raised his record to 40-0 for the season and 122-0 overall. Teasdale joined the likes of George Custer of Canonsburg, Coleman Scott of Waynesburg and Manuel Pihakis of Canonsburg in the group of three-time winners. Teasdale and Custer, who went 76-0, are the only undefeated wrestlers in this group.

Teasdale is tracking the same path another Jefferson-Morgan great, Cary Kolat, took on the way to four undefeated seasons and four state titles. Kolat went 137-0 while compiling his four titles and becoming the seventh four-timer in 1992.

Furman, a senior heavyweight from Canon-McMillan, capped a strong performance in the Class AAA portion of the tournament by winning the heavyweight title with a 5-3 decision over Isaac Reid of Kiski.

It was the fifth straight time Furman defeated Reid, but this one meant the most. Furman became the first Big Macs wrestler to win a state title since Solomon Chishko (145) and Dalton Macri (126) did it in 2014.

Fundy, a 182-pounder from Beth-Center saw his run for gold derailed when Cody Mulligan, a senior from Saegertown, shut down Fundy’s attacks in a 6-0 victory in the finals.

Fundy became the fifth state runner-up in Beth-Center’s history. The other four are Chuck Colborn (167 pounds, 1978), Marc Bartolomucci (119, 1984), Tio Paci (119, 1992) and Ulysses Davis (103, 1998).

Canon-McMillan finished as runner-up in the WPIAL Class AAA Team Tournament and went 2-2 in Hershey.

Compiled by Joe Tuscano

4. A first for Washington County girls basketball

For decades, girls basketball teams from the local area, especially those from Washington County, have been well represented in the PIAA playoffs. Making the statewide tournament has not been difficult. Staying in them long enough to reach the finals, now that was a problem.

That came to an end last March when Trinity High School became the first from Washington County to advance its girls basketball team to the PIAA Championships. The Hillers bounced back from a loss in the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals to reach the state finals at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Trinity’s bid for a state championship fell short when it lost to Archbishop Wood, 34-26, in a defense-dominated final.

To get to the finals, Trinity defeated District 6 champion Bellefonte (67-22), WPIAL champion Chartiers Valley (50-36) and Archbishop Carroll (44-39) before eliminating South Fayette (61-51) in the semifinals. Trinity guard Sierra Kotchman, who was the Observer-Reporter Girls Basketball Player of the Year, scored 30 points and made seven three-point field goals in the win over South Fayette.

5. From flop to first

Brenna Cavanaugh went from flop to first in one of the most amazing performances in PIAA track history.

The Bentworth junior came into the PIAA Track & Field Championships in late May with the fastest time in the Class AA 100-meter hurdles but fell on the final hurdle of her semifinal heat. Incredibly, she rolled to her feet and crossed the finish line in time to earn the last qualifying spot for the finals.

Cavanaugh then won the gold medal from Lane 8 at Seth Grove Stadium in Shippensburg. That lane is used for the runner with the slowest qualifying time from the semifinals. It is believed Cavanaugh was the first person to finish first in a sprint or high hurdles race from that lane in PIAA history.

Waynesburg’s Ben Bumgarner won the 3,200-meter run in Class AA, turning in a time of 9:10.58, 17 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. Bumgarner became the first PIAA track champion from Waynesburg since Carlos Gibbs won the 3,200 run in 1990. Earlier in the school year, Bumgarner won a gold medal at the PIAA Cross Country Championships in Hershey.

Compiled by Joe Tuscano

6. Waynesburg kicks up a storm

The Waynesburg girls soccer team scored its way to a WPIAL Class AA championship.

Led by Pitt commit Madison Clayton, head coach Joe Kijowski and his two daughters, Rhea and Jillian, the Raiders (20-2) outscored its opponents by an amazing 147-14 margin.

Taking advantage of their family-like closeness, the Raiders played through cold conditions in the WPIAL semifinal to advance to the title game against Freedom. In the championship, Kylie Sinn, Clayton and both Kijowski girls each scored a goal to win the match 4-2. Waynesburg became the first school in Greene County to win a WPIAL soccer championship.

While most games are closer in the postseason, the Raiders won their first four playoff games by scores of 5-0, 7-0, 4-2 and 6-0, before losing 1-0 in the second round of the PIAA playoffs to Bedford.

Claytyon led the WPIAL in goals with 57 goals as the Raiders finished the season with a 20-2 record. Clayton scored 148 goals in her career.

7. Chartiers-Houston puts end to title drought

The Chartiers-Houston High School girls basketball team knew better than most how difficult it is to win a WPIAL championship. There are plenty of pitfalls that must be avoided along the way and sometimes they can come in the form of injuries.

That’s what derailed the Bucs in 2016, when standout forward Alexa Williamson went down with a season-ending knee injury. Even without their leading scorer and a dominating force in the low post, the Bucs made a deep run into the postseason, gaining valuable experience along the way that paid off in a big way in 2017.

Healthy and playoff-tested Chartiers-Houston hit Vincentian Academy with a first-quarter blitz, forging a 13-point lead after eight minutes, and the Bucs led the rest of the way for an impressive 47-35 victory in the WPIAL Class AA championship game at the Petersen Events Center.

Chartiers-Houston became only the third Washington County school, and the first in 25 years, to win a WPIAL girls basketball title. Washington won a championship in 1992 and Immaculate Conception was the first, accomplishing the feat in 1986.

The Bucs never trailed against Vincentian, a program that won the past five Class A titles. Chartiers-Houston led 9-2 less than 90 seconds into the game, 17-4 after the first quarter and by then it was only a matter of time until the Bucs were hoisting the gold championship trophy and reacting to their loud and loyal fans in the arena’s second level of seating.

Chartiers-Houston finished the season with a 24-3 record, losing to Bellwood-Antis 80-66 in the second round of the PIAA playoffs. That game ended the Bucs’ 18-game winning streak.

8. Rush’s record night

They have been playing high school football in Western Pennsylvania for more than 100 years. During that time, no player has had a game quite like Mapletown’s Dylan Rush produced Sept. 15, when the Maples played at Avella.

Rush, a senior running back, set the WPIAL’s single-game rushing record by gaining 524 yards on 39 carries and scored seven touchdowns. The previous record was 492 yards, set last year by Armstrong’s Zane Dudek. The local single-game rushing record had been 424 yards by Mike Vernillo of Fort Cherry in a 1997 contest. Rush’s 524 yards is believed to be the second-best single-game total in state history.

Rush scored on runs of 10, 55, 70, 72, 42, 64 and 11 yards in Mapletown’s 48-32 victory.

Before his season ended early because of complications from a sinus infection, Rush was the leading rusher in the WPIAL with 1,464 yards and 18 touchdowns in seven games.

In his four seasons at Mapletown, Rush ran 5,762 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry.

9. W&J one win from national title

The Washington & Jefferson College baseball team achieved new heights this past season.

The Presidents, led by head coach Jeff Mountain and a core of 13 seniors, won the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, cruised through the NCAA Mideast Regional played at Ross Memorial Park and advanced to their first NCAA Division III World Series in Appleton, Wis.

W&J (42-13) crusied through pool play at the World Series, winning three consecutive games to reach the championship series against California Lutheran. The Presdients won the opening game of the best-of-3 finals by a 12-2 score and was one victory from of a national championship. Cal Lutheran, however, rebounded and won the finals two games, 12-4 and 7-3.

The Presidents’ offense was first in the nation in runs, home runs, doubles and hits, second in slugging percentage, fourth in runs per game and fifth in batting average. The offense was led by PAC Player of the Year senior catcher Derek Helbing (.328 BA, 12 HR, 55 RBI) and senior outfielder Nick Vento, who became the program’s leader in games played, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI and total bases.

Riley Groves led the Presidents on the mound, as the senior won 11 games with a 2.30 ERA. Groves was named the PAC Pitcher of the Year.

Groves, Helbing and Nogay each were named All-American, and Mountain, who surpassed the 400-win mark during the season, was the ABCA Mideast Regional Coach of the Year.

10. Moore’s run at Waynesburg ends

Two weeks prior to the conclusion of the regular season for the Waynesburg High School football team, head coach Russ Moore was asked by two school officials to “resign, effective immediately.”

Moore, one of the longest-tenured coaches in the area, obliged with a letter of resignation ending his third stint as Waynesburg’s head coach. He retired as the school’s football coach and athletic director after the 2015 season, but when a new coach could not be found he returned to the sidelines.

One of the youngest teams in the WPIAL, especially in Class AAA, Waynesburg only had three seniors and four juniors.

Moore was asked to resign the morning after a 28-27 double-overtime loss to Bentworth that dropped the Raiders’ record to 1-6.

Moore’s coaching career began at his alma mater, Clay-Battelle in Blacksville, W.Va. He has coached nine playoff teams and has a career record of 96-122. He guided Waynesburg to a WPIAL Class 2A championship in 1999 with a win over Washington at Three Rivers Stadium.