Centre County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame honors its 2021 class

As I sat among the nearly 400 people who attended the Centre County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame banquet Sunday at the Penn Stater, I was awestruck that these men and women being honored were sons and daughters of Centre County soil.

There were four-time PIAA champions, NCAA wrestling runners-up, a national champion, an All-American football player and a pitcher who threw a no-hitter in the Major Leagues. It really was a tour de force of greatness, whose members walked among us, may have eaten at a restaurant with us or passed us on our highways.

“The banquet was a huge success,” said Bucky Quici, president of the board of directors and one of the inductees. “Several of the board members have gotten calls from those in attendance telling us how much they enjoyed the day. That is a tribute to the hard work of the board.

“Thanks to the inductees, the contributors, and those in attendance. We are already looking forward to greeting the class of 2022, which will be chosen in the upcoming election.”

Here are the 2021 Hall of Fame inductees, in alphabetical order, with some highlights of their careers:.

• Beth Devlin Keune. She was the first girl to play in the Bellefonte Little League and went on to earn four letters in softball and basketball at Bellefonte, then went on to pitch for Penn State, where she still holds the school record for the single season ERA with an 0.54 mark.
• Gene Dixon, Philipsburg-Osceola. He won a PIAA wrestling title at 165 pounds in 1959 after finishing second the year before. He went on to wrestle at Bloomsburg, where he won an NAIA national championship in 1961. He later started the wrestling program at West Branch High School, where he coached for 10 years. He was also an outstanding football player for the Mounties, rushing for 1,204 yards as a senior and kicking two field goals.
• Angela Hoover, BEA. She was undefeated in the javelin in her high school career. She won four PIAA titles in the javelin from 2000-04, and remains the only male or female to do that. She went on to throw the javelin at Pitt, where she won the Big East Conference Outdoor Championship and set a school record with as throw if 160 feet. A shoulder injury forced her to end her career.
• Dr. Dave Joyner. A State College graduate he was a PIAA heavyweight wrestling champion, then moved on to Penn Sate, where he became an NCAA runnerup at heavyweight. He was also an All-American in football for the Lions and was a co-captain of the 1972 team that beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl. He became an orthopedic surgeon and served on the U.S. Olympic committee and was the head physician for the U.S. World Games.
• Eric Milton, Bellefonte. After his high school career at Bellefonte, where he once struck out 18 batters in a seven-inning game, Milton received a scholarship to the University of Maryland. The New York Yankees made him their No. 1 pick in the 1996 draft. The Yankees traded him to the Minnesota Twins, where he threw a no-hitter in 1999. He also pitched for the Phillies, Reds and Dodgers in an 11-year career.
• Ron Pifer, Bellefonte. He won two PIAA titles while wrestling for Bellefonte in 1957 and 1958, was an NCAA runnerup at Penn State and coached at State College (twice) and also the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He became a renowned clinician, teaching the use of legs and has written a book on the subject.
• Joseph “Bucky” Quici, Bellefonte. He was a head coach in both girls basketball and softball at Bellefonte. He led his softball teams to 293 wins from 1977-98 and the PIAA finals in 1997. In basketball, the Lady Raiders won 101 games and went undefeated in 1983. He holds the school record for most wins in a season in both softball and basketball at Bellefonte.

Four inductees were honored posthumously. They were Rebecca “BJ” Wetzler, of Bellefonte, Larry Fornicola, of Bellefonte, Jackson Horner, of State College, and Max Dinges, of Penns Valley.

Wetzler posted a .517 career batting average for the Lady Raiders and was a three-time Mountain League selection as a catcher. She played collegiatley for Campbell University. She passed away in 2006 from melanoma.

Horner was a legendary track and field an cross country coach at State College. His track and field teams never lost a dual meet in 28 track seasons and 29 cross country seasons. Five of his cross country teams won PIAA titles His 1965 4x880 relay team set a national record. He is a member of the National Scholastic Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame.

Fornicola, of Bellefonte, won an NCAA championship while wrestling at Penn State in 1955. In high school he was a two-time District 6-9 champion. In 1956, he placed fourth in Olympic Greco-Roman trials and was a two-time All-Army freestyle champion. He went on to coach at Dieruff high school in Allentown for 25 years and then became the head coach at Keystone Junior College. He passed away in 1993.

Max Dinges, Penns Valley. Dinges remains Penns Valley’s only PIAA champion, winning the 180-pound title in 1963, finishing the season with a 22-0 record. Of his 22 wins, 20 were either by fall or shutout. He became Penns Valley’s first sectional, District 6 and Northwest regional title winner in 1963. He is a member of both the Penns Valley and District 6 Halls of Fame. He passed away shortly after learning he had been elected to the Centre County Hall of Fame last December.

William “Keno” Beezer of Philipsburg was a Special Recognition inductee for his work in the Philipsburg community, where he coached Teener baseball for 20 years and became a Major League scout. He also founded the Philipsburg YMCA. He is a member of the Clearfield County and American Legion Halls of Fame, among his numerous honors. The Keno Beezer scholarship Fund was established in 2010 for students in the P-O, Moshannon Valley and West Branch school districts.

Voting for the next hall of fame class will begin later this month. To be eligible to vote, you must be a member of the Centre County Hall of Fame. Memberships are available by contacting Bucky Quici at 814-883-0725 or at bq913@hotmail.com, or Keith Bierly at 814-404-0506 or at keithbierly@yahoo.com.

Anyone becoming a member before Dec. 31 is entitled to a 25 percent reduction in the entry for the Hall’s annual golf tournament and also a 25 percent reduction in the cost of next year’s banquet. Members are entitled to nominate someone for the election and also to vote in the election..

This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 4:36 PM.