Centre County Sports Hall of Fame’s first members reflect on legacies

The long legacy of athletic success in Centre County received an overdue celebration Sunday afternoon.

Triumphs on the local, state and national level were honored with the first class in the Centre County Sports Hall of Fame at the Ramada Inn, honoring 13 men for their accomplishments, some in single sports and others in multiple disciplines and contributions.

Of the 13, four passed away before their hometown could reward their achievements.

That group included a pair of local products who went on to Major League Baseball success decades ago. John Montgomery Ward grew up in Bellefonte, went to the Bellefonte Academy and Penn State, and retired from the majors in 1894 with more than 2,000 hits as a batter and 100 pitching wins — still the only man in major league history to accomplish the feat. He pitched a perfect game in 1880, was a very successful amateur golfer after he left baseball and was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964.

Myles Thomas was born in State College and grew up on a farm near Bellefonte, and played for the New York Yankees from 1926-29 and for the Washington Senators in 1929-30, posting a 23-22 record in 105 outings, including helping the 1927 “Murderer’s Row” Yankees to the 1927 World Series title with a sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Also honored were Bill Luther and Gene Wettstone. Luther strung together 107 wins in 21 seasons as the head football coach at Bellefonte, and also played football at Penn State. The product of Osceola Mills, now part of the Philipsburg-Osceola school district, is honored each season when the Mounties and Red Raiders play for the Luther Trophy. Wettstone guided the Penn State men’s gymnastics program for 38 seasons, capturing nine NCAA titles, and also coached Team USA in two Olympics and was a judge in two more Olympic Games.

The nine other honorees all were on hand for their special day, and each was asked one question: What do you remember most, or take away the most, from your sports career?

Dave Adams: A two-time state wrestling champion at Bellefonte who went on to wrestle at Penn State and coach for 25 years at Penn State, Navy and Pitt and serve as athletic director at San Jose State and Akron.

“It’s been my association with so many outstanding people. It never ceased to amaze me what great people are associated with sports. I’ve met so many people, and something like this brings back so many memories. I hope somewhere along the way I was able to contribute to someone’s upbringing.”

Joe Hammaker: Left his mark with 14-year coaching run at Penns Valley that included a pair of undefeated seasons, and landing in the Pennsylvania State and Lock Haven halls of fame prior to Sunday for his success as a wrestler, coach and mentor.

“I can pick out two: When Max Dinges was state champ, and when our team stopped State College’s 64-match win streak. ... It was great.”

Joe Humphreys: Wrestled for and coached at Bald Eagle Area, landing in the national Wrestling Hall of Fame, but also found a career in fly fishing, holding the state record for largest brown trout caught, teaching his passion at Penn State and also guiding the likes of President Jimmy Carter, Vice President Dick Cheney and basketball coaching legend Bob Knight, among many VIPs.

“I remember wrestling for Penn State, we were wrestling Lehigh ... and I had the kid beaten, I had a 3-1 lead and 15 seconds left in the match, the referee was a homer and called me for stalling. Nobody back in those days was called for stalling, and that was a two-point penalty. We ended up a 3-3 draw.”

Denny Leathers: Followed his baseball passion to the minor leagues, reaching as high as Class AA, then guided the Bellefonte baseball team to 396 wins during his 30-year coaching career while also piling up records during a long Centre County Baseball League career.

“I once had a really good game playing (in the minors) for Miami, and we were playing in Cocoa Beach (Fla.), and it just so happened that Ted Williams (of the Houston Astros staff) was in the stands. ... We won, I pitched an 11-inning shutout, won 1-0, struck out 12 or something like that, and he made a comment to the Miami newspapers and me, a little bush-leaguer from Bellefonte, PA, I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ The ‘Splendid Splinter’ thought I had a nice game. I thought that was the coolest thing that ever happened to me.”

Rich Lorenzo: Coached the Penn State wrestling program for 14 seasons, mentoring 53 All-Americans and five national champions. He founded the Penn State Wrestling Club and the Nittany Lions’ wrestling complex is named for him.

“The sport of wrestling brings together so many kinds of people, from all kinds of vocations, all kinds of interests, all kinds of backgrounds, men and women, parents, young wrestlers, alumni — it’s a great family of people. ... Wrestling was a great tool for me to learn about life.”

Doug McDonald: Was a writer and sports editor for the CDT for 37 years, devoting his energies as much to sports like high school track and field as to Penn State football and wrestling.

“It’s hard to pick out anything. I never covered wrestling before I came here. ... I covered everything — College World Series, wrestling, bowl games, basketball when they filled the track at Rec Hall. To single out anything is too hard.”

Bruce Parkhill: The State College graduate was an All-American soccer player at Lock Haven before finding basketball coaching success at William & Mary and Penn State, taking the Nittany Lions to the NCAA tournament and two NIT Final Fours.

“Beating North Carolina when I was at William & Mary, and beating UCLA when I was here at Penn State stick out in my mind. ... It was just a dream to see Penn State in postseason play. Growing up here, I wanted to see that happen.”

Thad Turner: Graduated from P-O and wrestled at Lehigh, then coached at Lehigh for 18 seasons, guiding the team to 14 top-10 NCAA finishes with 43 All-Americans and nine individual national champs.

“There’s no one, special thing. It’s the associations with younger people over a long period of time. I’m 78, but I think like a 20-year-old still because of the young people I’m around all the time. I still go in the (wrestling) room maybe once a week. ... The wins and losses, they’re not that important. Hopefully it’s the associations you make and hopefully you have an influence on those young people you coach.”

Ward Whitehill: Posted a prolific baseball, wrestling and football career at Bellefonte, earning all-state honors in the latter, served as an assistant coach for the Lock Haven baseball team and had a long and impressive career in the Centre County Baseball League, playing into his 50s.

“Baseball’s probably my biggest memory. I pitched a 15-inning game against State College and lost, I pitched a seven-inning game in a tournament at DuBois and had 19 strikeouts and I lost that game. I loved all the sports.”

This story was originally published October 15, 2017 at 11:11 PM with the headline "Centre County Sports Hall of Fame’s first members reflect on legacies."