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Athletes with area ties to get inducted into West Branch Hall of Fame

From staff reports

An outstanding group of 13 honorees, including 10 living inductees and three deceased inductees as well as a Volunteer of the Year, will be honored at the West Branch Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame during the annual Hall of Fame banquet at the Genetti on Sunday, Nov. 13.

The induction class includes living inductees: Jason Bohn, Ron Bowes, Joe Caruso, Amanda Daneker, Mike Mussina, Matthew Neenan, Mike “Ace” Packer, Chevon Troutman, George Way and Jessica Zinobile. Deceased inductees are Bill Blacksmith, Deb Holmes and Tim Montgomery and Rhashan West-Bey will be honored as the Volunteer of the Year.

Among those being inducted with Lock Haven ties are Bowes, Packer, Way, Zinobile and Blacksmith.

The deadline for registration for the banquet is Monday, Oct. 31.

Ron Bowes, Lock Haven H.S./LHU

(COACHING/WRESTLING)

Bowes posted a 135-29-4 record as wrestling coach for 15 years at Thomas Wootton (1971) and Quince Orchard (1988) High Schools in Maryland and posted a 80-24-2 record at Wootton between 1971-81, coaching team to regional title. He coached one state and three regional champions. He coached three state champions, 14 regional champs and 15 county champions and was a three-time county coach of the year. Bowes is a member of Eastern Wrestling League (2016), Lock Haven University Wrestling (1994) and Football (2010) Halls of Fame and earned a Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award from National Wrestling Hall of Fame (2011).

Joe Caruso, Lock Haven H.S.

(BASEBALL/FOOTBALL)

Caruso was a Division I All-American infielder at the University of Alabama and broke both the SEC tournament hit record (14 of 26) in 1996, earning SEC Tournament MVP honors, and the College World Series hit record (14 of 23) in 1997, earning CWS All-Tournament accolades. He was drafted in 11th round by Kansas City in the 1997 MLB Draft and played seven seasons of minor league baseball, earning three invites to MLB Spring Training with the Royals (1999-01). He was a three-sport athlete at Lock Haven, earning all-state honors in baseball (1993) and football (1993) and led the football team to two district titles and two regional championships and baseball team to one district title.

Mike ‘Ace’ Packer, Lock Haven H.S./LHU

(FOOTBALL/COACHING)

Parker set the school records of 331 completions, 36 passing touchdowns and 4,551 passing yards which stood for 20 years at Lock Haven University and led NAIA in passing, averaging 266.4 yards per game, in 1970. He set NAIA single-game record by passing for 502 yards against Delaware Valley that year and led PSAC in passing as twice. He was a two-time honorable mention AP Little All-American. Parker attended NFL training camps with New York Jets (1972) and Atlanta Falcons (1973). He was the football coach at Lock Haven (1983-98) and Central Mountain (1999-00) and led Lock Haven to five district titles from 1991-96 and an undefeated regular season in 1995. Parker finished his career 103-92 after winning one game in first three seasons and was also an assistant at Lock Haven High School from 1972-83. He’s a member of the Lock Haven Football and Clinton County Sports Halls of Fame.

George Way, Williamsport H.S./LHU

(COACHING/WRESTLING)

Way was the wrestling coach at Southwest (Ga., 1978-80), Asheboro (N.C., 1981-82), Mechanicsburg (1982-87) and Manheim Central (1987-98) High Schools and won more than 200 dual meets, including posting a 147-57-4 record at Manheim Central. His teams placed in top 10 at state tournaments six times (four times at Manheim, twice at Southwest). Way coached six individual state champions and won six sectional titles, five league championships and was a three-time league coach of the year. Way was a three-time NCAA Championships qualifier at Lock Haven University (1975-77) and a two-time PSAC champion (1976, ’77) and finished fourth at 1973 state championship at Williamsport. He was inducted into District III and IV Wrestling, Lock Haven University Wrestling and Lancaster-Lebanon League Wrestling, Susquehanna Valley and Manheim Central Halls of Fame.

Jess Zinobile, Lock Haven H.S.

(BASKETBALL/SOCCER)

Zinobile led Saint Francis to four Division I Women’s Basketball Tournaments and four Northeast Conference titles (1996-2000) and was named NEC Newcomer of the Year in 1996-97, earned two NEC Player of the Year awards and was the NEC Tournament MVP three times. Zinobile set the NEC all-time records for scoring (2,338 points) and rebounds (1,295), with the scoring record standing for 19 years and her No. 22 jersey was retired in 2019. She was selected by Sacramento Monarchs in the 2000 WNBA Draft, the first NEC player drafted and played professional basketball in Spain, where she averaged 13.9 points and 6.0 rebounds in 51 career games. Zinobile scored 2,118 points in basketball and was a two-time all-state midfielder in soccer at Lock Haven. She is a member of both the Cambria County, St. Francis and Northeast Conference halls of fame.

Deceased Inductee

Bill Blacksmith, LHU

(WRESTLING/COACHING)

Blacksmith was one of six Division I wrestling champions from Lock Haven University and he was a four-time PSAC champion (1963, ’64, ’65, ’66) Blacksmith qualified for the NCAA Championships in both 1965 and 1966, winning the national title at 145 pounds in 1966 and was a two-time NAIA national champion, taking the title at 145 pounds in 1965 before winning at 152 pounds the next year. He finished collegiate career with an overall record of 74-7-2 and is inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1977 and PWCA Hall of Fame in 1979. Blacksmith coached Indiana (Pa.) from 1968-85, posting a 124-72-2 record.

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