Class of 2024: Fayette Sports Hall of Fame蘑菇视频 new group of inductees headlined by Uniontown wrestler Jeff Spinetti
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The Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame was established in 2008 yet 16 years later the wealth of talent from the area continues to be evident as another strong group is set to be inducted.
The Class of 2024 is headed by Uniontown wrestler Jeff Spinetti who was among the nine new individuals. That group will be joined by two teams.
“Once again we’re very pleased with this year’s class,” said Hall of Fame Executive Chair/Co-Founder George Von Benko, “Guided by our voters we feel we have yet another strong class led by Jeff Spinetti of Uniontown who was a WPIAL and PIAA wrestling champion. He was our leading vote-getter and so guaranteed to get in.”
There was one member who will be going in under the Special Recognition category that surprised Von Benko.
That was Von Benko himself, who was nominated, and then chosen for induction by the rest of the Hall of Fame committee.
“I was against it,” said Von Benko, who is a Laurel Highlands graduate. “I never felt that I deserved to be in the Hall of Fame. I was not a great athlete but I guess they said there were other reasons for this.”
One of those clearly is that without Von Benko there likely would not be a Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame, or at least not one as popular and as thriving as the current organization.
“I was very honored and very humbled that people felt that way about me and felt so strongly about some of the things I’ve done, particularly starting the Hall of Fame and also how I’m told Memory Lane (Von Benko’s weekly feature looking back on past athletic greats from the area) has rekindled people’s interest in local sports so much,” Von Benko said.
Von Benko has had a long, fruitful career in radio as well.
Individuals also to be inducted are Connellsville track & field and basketball and Mount St. Mary’s track standout Ashley Foley Weishaar, Uniontown WPIAL and PIAA high jump champion Stu McLee, South Union football, basketball and track & field and Pitt football player Fran Novak, Laurel Highlands baseball, basketball and soccer and West Virginia baseball stalwart Jack Smarslak, Geibel Catholic and George Mason basketball standout Jen Surlas, and, in the deceased category, Uniontown and Penn State basketball player and Red Raiders assistant and head coach Willie Bryant, and Brownsville and Notre Dame football standout Tom Kostelnik.
The two teams to be enshrined are the 1982 Connellsville WPIAL champion baseball team, coached by Tom Sankovich, and the 2004 Penn State Fayette Campus Region 20 Juco baseball champions, coached by the late Joe Gessner.
“I think we have a good cross-section of athletes,” Von Benko said. “Jack Smarslak was tremendous at baseball, a good basketball player and a great soccer player, too, for Laurel Highlands. I was very impressed with those going in from our deceased category, too. Two very deserving people in Willie Bryant of Uniontown and somebody maybe a lot of people don’t know that much about, Tom Kostelnik from Brownsville.
“Willie was such a huge part of Uniontown athletics as a player and then a longtime assistant coach and later head coach. He did so much for Uniontown basketball. He’d been knocking on the door the last couple years and I’m glad to see he’s going in.
“And Tom was an outstanding player at Brownsville who went on to play on Ara Parseghian’s first football team at Notre Dame. He was a linebacker and one of the leaders on their defense on a team that turned things around for Notre Dame. They went 9-1 that year.
“Tom passed away about two years ago and his wife Connie is coming all the way in from Arizona to represent him and the family is just thrilled.”
The Class of 2024 will be enshrined at the Hall of Fame Golf Outing/Luncheon/Social, starting with golf at 9 a.m. on June 21 at Pleasant Valley Golf Club in Connellsville.
The inductees will be recognized through the 蘑菇视频, George Von Benko’s Sports Line Talk Show on WMBS Radio, and the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame web page and the new Hall of Fame facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Nonprofitorganization/Fayette-County-Sports-Hall-of-Fame-106342634880603/).
Those interested in purchasing luncheon tickets or participating in the golf outing can contact Katie Propes by phone at 724-415-2211 or by email at kpropes@occluss.com.
For more information, contact George Von Benko at 724-880-4548.