March 13, 2023 3:49 am
Kris Letang’s power-play goal 1:38 into overtime lifted the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. Letang’s ninth goal of the season came after New York’s Artemi Panarin was called for tripping Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin early in the extra period. Letang’s blast from the point helped the Penguins strengthen their hold on the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh is now 7-1-1 in its last nine games. Barclay Goodnow and Chris Kreider scored for New York, which went 2-0-1 on a three-game road trip.
March 13, 2023 3:50 am
CHICAGO (AP) — Zach Edey scored 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and No. 5 Purdue hung on to beat Penn State 67-65 in the Big Ten Tournament championship game. The Boilermakers led by as much as 17 in the second half but the lead shrunk to one point in the closing seconds. Purdue won its second conference tournament title. Purdue led 66-60 when Penn State’s Myles Dread nailed a 3 with 16 seconds remaining. Evan Mahaffey then stole Brandon Newman’s inbound pass and fed Wynter for a layup that made it a one-point game with six seconds remaining. Purdue’s Fletcher Loyer one free throw but missed the second.
March 13, 2023 3:51 am
Alabama is the overall top seed in the NCAA Tournament after cruising through the end of a season clouded by a murder case. Kansas, Houston and Purdue grabbed the other top seeds. Action in the 68-team tournament begins Tuesday with two games in the First Four. March Madness gets into full swing Thursday and Friday with 32 games spread over eight cities. The Final Four is set for April 1 and 3 at NRG Stadium in Houston. Hear the action of the NCAA Men’s & Women’s Basketball Tournaments on WJPA-AM (1450).
March 13, 2023 3:52 am
South Carolina is six wins away from becoming the 10th women’s basketball team to go undefeated for an entire season, and the Gamecocks will enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. Dawn Staley’s squad has been challenged a few times this year but has always pulled through. The defending national champions will play Norfolk State in the first round of the tournament. The other No. 1 seeds are Indiana, Virginia Tech and Stanford. The tournament begins Wednesday with four First Four games and the full madness starts Friday.
March 13, 2023 3:53 am
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Two people with knowledge of the deal say the Miami Dolphins are acquiring All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams. Los Angeles will get Miami’s third-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft and tight end Hunter Long for Ramsey. Both people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither team had announced the deal. Ramsey had 77 tackles and four interceptions during the Rams’ Super Bowl-winning 2021 season. Last season, he had a career-high 88 tackles and four interceptions.
March 11, 2023 1:56 am
The PIAA Wrestling Championships is Pennsylvania’s most-popular high school championship event, and WJPA Radio brought home the excitement as we have for over 70 years. When Class 2A started Thursday morning, the brackets included 14 wrestlers from Washington & Greene Counties. A dozen more from the two-county area were in the Class 3A brackets that opened up Thursday afternoon. Thanks for Mark Uriah who called his 40th consecutive PIAA tournament. He was joined by Greg Warnock and Greg Smith in the booth. PIAA Wrestling Homepage
Class 2A
Bentworth
Chris Vargo (127) 2nd place
Vitali Daniels (215) 4th place
Burgettstown
Joey Baronick (285) 6th place
Fort Cherry
Braedon Welsh (172) 4th place
Class 3A
Canon-McMillan
Andrew Binni (127) 2nd place
Matthew Furman (172) 2nd place
Trinity
Blake Reihner (139) 5th place
Ty Banco (285) 6th place
Waynesburg
Mac Church (145) 2nd place
Rocco Welsh (172) champion
Brody Evans (189) 3rd place
Eli Makel (215) 4th place
Chartiers Valley
Brady Joling (121) 4th place
Dylan Evans (160) champion
Thomas Jefferson
Maddox Shaw (133) 2nd place
West Allegheny
Nico Taddy (145) 7th place
Ty Watters (152) champion
Shawn Tayler (160) 2nd place
March 11, 2023 1:20 am
The PIAA Basketball playoffs tipped off Friday night with a pair of wins by Washington County teams. Burgettstown girls rallied from a 12-point first quarter deficit to down District 6 runner-up United in overtime. Kaitlyn Nease led the Blue Devils with 18 points. Eden Rush had 15, including a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Jillian Frazier had 11 for the winners. Peters Township boys advanced by outlasting Milton Hershey School. The Indians led by five after one, were tied at the break, up five again after three, and pushed the margin to seven in the final minute of the game. Brendan McCullough (21), Mickey Vaccarello (14) and Nate Miller (10) all reached double figures for Peters Township. Chartiers-Houston and Waynesburg girls teams both lost and were eliminated. PIAA Brackets
Trinity scored just four points over the final 11 minutes of the first half and never recovered, losing to Cathedral Prep. Senior Eden Williamson led Trinity with 12 points in her final game.
Friday, March 10, First Round (winners to Tuesday)
2A Girls Burgettstown 57, United 52 OT
2A Girls Homer Center 43, Chartiers-Houston 20
3A Girls Mercyhurst Prep 73, Waynesburg 35
5A Boys Peters Township 60, Milton Hershey 53
Saturday, March 11, First Round (winners to Wednesday)
5A Girls Cathedral Prep 48, Trinity 30
Tuesday, March 14, Second Round (sites/times to be determined) (winners to Friday)
5A Boys 7-2 Peters Township vs. 3-7 Lampeter-Strasburg, 5:15 pm at Altoona WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here
2A Girls 7-3 Burgettstown vs. 10-1 Kennedy Catholic, 6:45 pm at New Castle WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen Here
March 12, 2023 7:57 am
CHICAGO (AP) — Jalen Pickett scored 28 points, Seth Lundy had 16 and Penn State beat No. 19 Indiana 77-73 to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship. Andrew Funk added nine points as 10th-seeded Penn State won for the eighth time in nine games. The Nittany Lions went 8 for 23 from 3-point range, compared to 2 for 14 for the Hoosiers. Next up for Penn State is top-seeded Purdue, which stopped Ohio State’s surprising run with an 80-66 victory in the first semifinal.
March 12, 2023 7:56 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored a power-play goal and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 on Saturday. Pittsburgh led 2-1 until Jason Zucker’s goal at 14:24 of the third period. Zucker, who redirected a Marcus Pettersson shot between Carter Hart’s pads, has 10 goals in the last 12 games. Rickard Rakell and Mikael Granlund also scored. Jake Guentzel added an empty net goal. Casey DeSmith stopped 31 shots for the Penguins, who have won six of their last eight games. Kieffer Bellows scored for the Flyers, who lost their third straight. Carter Hart made 27 saves.
March 10, 2023 3:21 am
The PIAA Wrestling Championships is Pennsylvania’s most-popular high school championship event, and WJPA Radio has brought home the excitement for over 70 years. When Class 2A started Thursday morning, the brackets included 14 wrestlers from Washington & Greene Counties. A dozen more from the two-county area were in the Class 3A brackets that opened up Thursday afternoon. This eight-session tournament runs through the finals on Saturday with all the action live on WJPA-AM (1450) and online. Mark Uriah is calling the action for the 40th consecutive year. He’s joined by Greg Warnock and Greg Smith in the booth. PIAA Wrestling Homepage
Friday morning was rough for area Class 2A wrestlers with only Chris Vargo, Bentworth and Braedon Welsh, Ft. Cherry advancing to the semifinals. Vitali Daniels (Bentworth) lost in the quarterfinals but won his 3rd Round consolation bout and clinched a PIAA medal. Joey Baronick (Burgettstown) won a pair of consolation bouts to clinch a state medal. The other three Burgettstown wrestlers were eliminated: Joey Sentipal lost in the quarterfinals, and again in 3rd Round consolations. Gaven Suica won his 2nd Round consy bout before losing in the next round, one win shy of earning a medal. Parker Sentipal lost in the 2nd Round consolations and was eliminated, along with Tyler Berish (Beth-Center), Lucas Barr (McGuffey) and Jorden Williams (Chartiers-Houston). Class 2A wrestlers return to the mats Friday evening for semifinals and two more consolation rounds.
Friday evening’s Class 2A session set the pairings for the medal bouts. Christ Vargo will wrest for the 127-pound championship, looking to become Bentworth’s third PIAA champion. Bearcat teammate Vitali Daniels will wrestle for third place in the 215 pound bracket. Fort Cherry’s Braedon Welsh goes for third at 172 pounds while Burgettstown’s Joey Baronick will take the mat, shooting for fifth place at 285 pounds.
Friday afternoon saw six Class 3A wrestlers from the two-county area reach the semifinals: Canon-McMillan’s Andrew Binni & Matthew Furman, Trinity’s Blake Reihner & Ty Banco and Waynesburg’s Mac Church and Rocco Welsh. Two other Waynesburg wrestlers have clinched medals with Brody Evans and Eli Makel reaching 4th Round consolations. Four other area wrestlers are also in the semifinals: Dylan Evans (Chartiers Valley), Maddox Shaw (Thomas Jefferson) and West Allegheny teammates Ty Watters & Shawn Taylor.
PIAA Wrestling Championships WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here!
Saturday, March 11
8:50 am 3A Semifinals, 4th/5th Consolations
1:50 pm 2A Championship & Consolation Finals (1st-8th place)
6:50 pm 3A Championship & Consolation Finals (1st-8th place)
