Year-ender
1. Gavin Teasdale and Logan Macri each won PIAA titles in Hershey in March.
Teasdale, a senior at Jefferson-Morgan, became only the 13th wrestler in state history to win four championships after defeating Joshua Johnson of Saucon Valley, 2-0, in the 126-pound finals in Class AA.
Teasdale finished his high school career with a 162-2 record, hist two losses coming in his senior season. Beau Bartlett of Wyoming Seminary stopped Teasedale’s undefeated streak at 134 straight with a 4-3 decision in the Powerade 126-pound finals. Teasdale had a 162-2 career mark.
Macri wrapped up his state title with a 3-2 decision over Doug Zapf of Downingtown East in the 120-pound final in Class AAA. Macri ended his scholastic career with a 152-30 record.
3. West Greene’s softball team made it back-to-back state titles when the Pioneers defeated Williams Valley 11-7 at Penn State in June.
West Greene played one-run games against Williams Valley in 2016 and 2017, with 2016’s game ending in a walkoff and last year’s seeing West Greene come back from down 7-0 to win 9-8.
McKenna Lampe hit for the cycle, going 4-for-5 with four RBI and three runs.
6. Gene Steratore wrapped up a sterling officiating career by landing the referee job in the officiating crew for Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis in February.
In June, he officially retired after a 15-year career of officiating in the National Football League to take a job as a television rules analyst for CBS Sports.
Steratore, a Uniontown native and South Strabane Township resident, also retired from his college basketball officiating position, last working primarily for the Big Ten Conference.
9. Jake Evans, a heavyweight wrestler from Waynesburg University, won a 10-5 victory over James Bethel of SUNY-Oneonta to capture the NCAA Division III wrestling national championship at the Cleveland Auditorium in March.
Evans, a graduate of Elizabeth High School, became the first national champion from Waynesburg since the school joined Division III. The Yellow Jackets’ other wrestling national champions have been at the Division I and NAIA levels. Evans finished the season with a 50-3 record.