LV FLASHBACK
A look back at Lehigh Valley sports stories over the years from March 29.
1996: Central Catholic grad Michelle Marciniak scores 21 points, grabs seven rebounds and hands out six assists to lead Tennessee to an 88-83 overtime victory over Connecticut and a berth in the NCAA women’s national championship game.
1995: Lehigh selects 42-year-old Greg Strobel, a former U.S. freestyle coach, as its next head wrestling coach.
Strobel goes on to compile a 189-83-1 dual meet record through 2008. He leads the Mountain Hawks to six EIWA championships and his wrestlers capture 30 All-American honors. He is voted the national coach of the year in 2004, USA Wrestling’s Man of the Year in 2010 and is inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.
1967: The East Penn League votes to admit Freedom as the basketball circuit’s 11th member, although scheduling commitments probably would prevent the school from playing a full schedule and competing for a championship until the 1969-70 season.
1967: Stroudsburg’s Hal Watson is named to the Pennsylvania squad that will take on the country’s best high school players in the third-annual Dapper Dan Club’s Roundball Classic at Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena.
1957: Butch Kosman scores 23 points and Fountain Hill (27-3) wins the PIAA Class B championship with a 72-64 win over previously unbeaten Shannock Valley (26-1) at Westminster College in New Wilmington. Fleetwood (25-4) wins its first Class C title with a 64-63 win over Williamsburg (21-3) at Albright College behind Arlan Burkert’s 20 points.
1957: Just five days after leading Central Catholic to its second straight PCIAA Class A title, coach Emil Carazo resigns to take a position at East Paterson, High School in New Jersey. Carazo posted an 80-35 overall record and won two state titles in his four years with the Vikings.
1956: Allentown’s Butch Heffner and Palmerton’s Bob Mlkvy are the lone juniors named to the AP’s All-State first-team in basketball. Heffner is the first Canary first-team selection since Bill Wanish and Elmo Jackson in 1946. Mlkvy follows older brother Bill (1948) and Jim Oravec (1955) as Palmerton’s third first-team pick.