County’s rich sports history honored with 1st Hall of Fame class

The deep, rich sports history of Centre County finally got a chance to honor some its greats.

Whether they were standouts in baseball, football, wrestling, gymnastics — even fishing — they got a big thank you Sunday from their home for lifetimes of excellence. The Centre County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame has welcomed its first 13 members.

After close to three decades of talks by various people to honor local athletic success, seeing a full Ramada Inn ballroom prompted chapter president and former State College wrestling coach Ron Pifer to tell the 300-plus in attendance, “Three words: We did it.”

“As I look around this room, see all the people, see all the smiles, I know we’re moving in the right direction,” Pifer said before the festivities began. “It’s going to take us time to get where we want to be, and there are men and women that need to be in, but we need to start someplace and we’re pleased we’re here today.”

The ceremony acknowledged a history many area sports fans have known for years: The county has produced outstanding athletes beyond the Penn State campus. Each of the five public school districts has sent someone to either the majors or NFL, and every school competing at a PIAA level has claimed team state championships.

The class included a number of men who competed with and against each other in the county’s schools either as athletes or coaches. Among them were Ward Whitehill and Dave Adams playing football for Bill Luther at Bellefonte. Playing Red Raider baseball around the same time was Denny Leathers, who would return to the school for nearly 400 wins as coach. The wrestling mat turned out Joe Humphreys at Bald Eagle Area, Thad Turner at Philipsburg-Osceola and Penns Valley coach Joe Hammaker.

In some ways, the good-natured rivalries resumed among the honorees and friends.

“There’s been a lot of talk, but there’s been a lot of friendly talk too,” Turner said. “This is special to see everyone again.”

While Humphreys may be a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, he is best known for his fly fishing as a master of area creeks and streams and a guide to many stars and dignitaries. Others honored helped build greatness at Penn State, like Bruce Parkhill in basketball, Rich Lorenzo in wrestling and Gene Wettstone in gymnastics.

“I’m more representing people, I feel like, than being honored myself,” Parkhill, a State College graduate, said during a video presentation made for each of the 13 enshrined.

Also honored were two men who went on to Major League Baseball careers in Bellefonte’s John Montgomery Ward, who played in the majors in the 1800s and registered the second perfect game in league history, and Myles Thomas of State College and Bellefonte, who played four seasons with the New York Yankees. Ward also is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and Thomas was part of the 1927 “Murderer’s Row” Yankees with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

Completing the class was someone who told many of their tales — Doug McDonald, a writer and sports editor for the CDT for 37 years.

Wettstone, Ward, Thomas and Luther were honored posthumously, but the rest were on hand Sunday.

Many of them also achieved greatness beyond the county’s borders. Wettstone both coached and officiated in the Olympics, Turner coached the Lehigh wrestling program for nearly two decades, and Adams coached at Pitt and was an administrator at a number of other colleges.

The honorees were nominated and voted on by a hall membership that already numbers over 200, and the 2018 class is already in the works. There also will be a permanent Hall of Fame display at the Centre County Visitor’s Bureau, across Porter Road from Beaver Stadium.

After such a long wait, there are finally names to be mentioned as some of the best in county sports history.

“They’re just outstanding people, and that’s impressive to me,” Leathers said of the group. “It’s a group of people that deserves all that they’re getting. ... Our county is full of athletes and they’ll all get their due.”

This story was originally published October 15, 2017 at 7:08 PM with the headline "County’s rich sports history honored with 1st Hall of Fame class."