The membership of Centre County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame has elected its 2022 class of inductees.
Included in the class, which will be inducted at a banquet at the Penn Stater Oct. 16 are Bellefonte graduates Jerry Shivery, Larry Walker, Laura Caldwell, Bellefonte football and softball coach John Wetzler and deceased Raiders Ellery Seitz and Budd Whitehill.
BEA athletes elected are Paul Packer and Jerry Spackman while Robert “Bo” Sankey and Jim Gonder are P-O representatives. Marty Ilgen was elected from Penns Valley.
Elected in the deceased category are Bellefonte’s Ellery Seitz and Budd Whitehill, while State College’s Homer Barr was chosen as a legend and State’s Don Hastings was recognized as a special contributor to sports in Centre County.
“Again we have a very talented group of electees from football, basketball, wrestling, baseball and golf,” said Bucky Quici, president of the Hall of Fame. “These people contributed to sports in Centre County in many ways.”
JERRY SHIVERY
Shivery is generally considered Bellefonte’s greatest running back. In two, 9-game seasons, he gained 2,440 yards and scored 35 touchdowns — both school records. He also holds the school records for longest touchdown run (94), longest kickoff return (95), yards in a season (1,792), touchdowns in a season (23), rushing yards in a game (317) and rushing attempts in a game (51).
He was a 1967 preseason all-American and was both an AP and UPI all-state choice. A preseason knee injury prior to his senior year ended his high school career.
LARRY WALKER
Walker was a three-sport standout. He was a Big 8 conference selection as an offensive guard and linebacker. In wrestling, he was a District 6 champion and was an all-conference pick in baseball, where he was the starting shortstop on the 1987 team that was ranked No. 6 in the country by USA Today.
At Lock Haven University he was the captain of both the football and wrestling teams. He still holds the school record for most tackles in a game and season. In wrestling, he was nationally ranked at 190 pounds. He coached football, wrestling, softball and golf at Bellefonte.
LAURA CALDWELL CUNNINGHAM
Cunningham set records for season and career strikeouts (224, 792) and ERA (.490 and .738). She also has the record for career wins (74).
At St. Francis University she ranks second in career strikeouts, wins, innings pitched and appearances. She was named the outstanding student-athlete at St. Francis.
JOHN WETZLER
Wetzler, a BEA graduate, coached for more than 40 years at Bellefonte in football, softball, baseball and swimming. He coached football for 13 years at Bellefonte and his 1989 team went 12-1 and finished 10th in the state.
He was a coach-of-the-year selection in the Big Eight Conference and is a Central Pennsylvania Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame member.
His softball teams won six District 6 championships and he belongs to the District 6 Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
BUD WHITEHILL
Whitehill lettered in four sports at Bellefonte — football, wrestling, baseball and basketball.
At Lock Haven University he won the 157-pound PSAC championship. He went on to start the wrestling program at Lycoming College, where his teams posted a record of 376-173-5 record and won 10 MAC championships in 37 seasons.
He is a member of the National Wrestling, MAC, Lock Haven University and West Branch halls of fame.
ELLERY SEITZ
Seitz won 10 letters at Bellefonte — four in baseball and three each in football and wrestling.
He won the Centre Daily Time’s James Snyder Award for academic and athletic excellence.
At Penn State he won three letters each in football and wrestling and was a twotime NCAA qualifier at 191 pounds. He finished second in the national YMCA wrestling tournament and competed in the Olympic Trials.
JERRY SPACKMAN
Spackman won nine letters at BEA as an end in football, a pitcher and third baseman on the 1961 baseball team that won the Central Penn League championship — BEA’s first championship — and averaged 18 points per game in basketball.
He walked on to the Colorado State football team and tied the school record for single game receptions with seven.
He later transferred to the College of Southern Utah where he set a single game record for receptions with 13, a season record with 53 receptions, a single-game record for receiving yardage with 151 and a season-record for receiving yardage with 727, earning him All-American honors.
He went on to sign a free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers, where he made it to the last cut in preseason. He also lasted until the last cut with the Houston Oilers and also had a tryout with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He is the first Centre County athlete to sign an NFL contract.
PAUL PACKER
Packer became BEA’s second PIAA champion when he won the 95-pound crown in 1972. He had a three-year record of 43-15 while winning a District 6 and Northwest regional championship. He also won a pair of Manheim Championships.
He spent one semester at Lycoming where he went 6-0. He later spent 37 years as a PIAA official, working district, regional and PIAA tournaments as well as Eastern Wrestling League meets and tournaments, as well as officiating PSAC tournaments.
He was the president and rules interpreter for the Charles Goldthorp Chapter of the District 6 Wrestling officials.
ROBERT SANKEY
Sankey won 10 varsity letters for the Mounties — four in baseball and three each in in football and basketball. He was an all-county, all-district and all-state selection in football, where the Mounties went 15-4-1 in his junior and senior years.
In baseball, he played in the American Legion East-West all-star game after leading the Mounties to a 16-1 season and the Central Penn and District 6 titles in 1965.
He led the team in hitting with a .478 average and was 4-0 on the mound with a 0.00 ERA., striking out 35 in 24.1 innings.
He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals and played for five years in the minor league system where he reached the AAA level as a middle infielder and received the Ducky Medwick Silver Bat award as the Cardinals’ top prospect. He also spent another year with the Cleveland Indians. He coached baseball at all levels in the Philipsburg community.
JIM GONDER
Gonder’s P-O softball teams won three PIAA titles and finished second twice. His Lady Mounties won 682 games and lost
151. He also posted a 404-145 record as the coach of the P-O volleyball team.
He has been honored as the Pennsylvania Softball Coach of the Year, the Northeast Softball Coach of the Year and has been president of the Pennsylvania Softball Coaches Association for more than 20 years.
MARTY ILGEN
Ilgen won 10 letters with the Rams — the first athlete to do so — four in baseball and three each in football and wrestling.
He was the first Penns Valley Ram to be nominated for the Big 33 team while leading his team in rushing, receiving and touchdowns.
He won two sectional and one District 6 title in wrestling. In baseball, he led the team in hitting and had a winning record as a pitcher.
HOMER BARR
Barr was the Little Lions’ head wrestling coach and compiled a 64-meet winning streak that remains the longest in District 6 history. The Little Lions won the first Central Wrestling championship in 1962 and won District 6 titles in 1961 and 1965.
He produced 17 District 6 champions, 12 Northwest Regional champions and five PIAA champions. He was the first president of the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association and was inducted into that organization’s hall of fame, as well as the District 6 Hall of Fame.
DON HASTINGS
Hastings received special recognition for his leadership of the Burning Tee Golf League at Penn State.
The league has 140 members. Recognized for its organization and operation, the league provides volunteers for many tournaments at Penn State. League members have donated more than $134,000 to the Mount Nittany Medical Center since 2008.
To be nominated for the ballot of the Centre County Hall of Fame an individual must be nominated by a member of the Hall of Fame. Memberships can be obtained from current members.
This story appears in the March 31-April 6 edition of the Centre County Gazette
