The Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association met for its annual spring meeting in May and elected 10 individuals for inductition as part of the Class of 2024 Hall of Fame, eight of whom are wrestlers, one is a coach and one is a contributor.

The 55th annual Hall of Fame Class consists of Central Mountain graduate Andrew Alton, Central Mountain graduate Dylan Alton, Phil Davis, Matt Fisk, Chris Henrick, Loyalsock graduate Ben Hepburn, John Hnath, Zack Kemmerer, Mike McMullan and Marshall Pepperman.

The class will be enshrined on Sunday, Oct. 27 in Boalsburg.

• Andrew Alton was a 2010 graduate of Central Mountain and a 2015 graduate of Penn State. He and his twin brother Dylan were Central Mountain’s first-ever four-time state placewinners. Andrew was a three-time District 6 and a four-time Northwest Regional champion. Andrew finished third both in the 2007 and 2008 PIAA Class AAA state tournaments before claiming back-to-back state titles in 2009 and 2010.

In 2009, Andrew won his first state title by posting a first round 23-8 victory against Robert Blotzer from South Allegheny before earning three first period pins including decking Hempfield Area’s Jack Bachman in the 140 lb. finals in 1:24. The following years, in 2010, Andrew repeated as state champion when he defeated West Allegheny’s Aaron McKinney in the 145-pound title bout, 23-8.

He finished in his junior and senior seasons with perfect 91-0 record and completed his scholastic career with a 178-8 record and 87 pins. Andrew attended Penn State University where he competed for Hall of Fame coach Cael Sanderson. During his career with the Nittany Lions, Andrew finished 5th in the 2011 Big Ten Championships at 141 and 4th in the 2013 Big Ten tournament at 149, was a two-time NCAA qualifier and was a member of four Penn State national championship teams (2011-2014). He finished his Nittany Lion career with a 65-17 record with 32 pins.

• While competing for PWCA Hall of Fame coach Doug Buckwalter, Dylan Alton (Class of 2010) captured four District 6 and Northwest Regional titles. He finished seventh at 125 pounds in the 2007 Class AAA state championships. In the next three seasons, he captured consecutive state titles in 2008 (135), 2009 (145) and 2010 (152). As a sophomore in 2008, Dylan met Indian Valley’s Adam Will in the 135-pound title bout and defeated Will for the fourth time that season, 8-2. The following year, in 2009, in a rematch of returning state champion, Dylan defeated Cumberland Valley’s Joe Napoli in the 145-pound championship finals, 6-3, and was named the Class AAA tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.

The following year, Dylan claimed his third state title, defeating LaSalle College senior Shane Springer in the 152-pound finals, 11-4. He finished his scholastic career with a 176-5 record and 92-0 in his junior and senior seasons. At Penn State, Dylan was a three-time Big Ten placewinner (third, sixth and eighth), a three-time NCAA qualifier and attained All-America status after finishing third at 157-pounds in the 2012 NCAA Championships.

Dylan finished his Penn State career at 86-25 with 16 pins and like his brother, Andrew, was a member of four-straight NCAA championship teams.

• Hepburn graduated from Loyalsock in 1979 and graduated in 1983 from Penn State. In high school, he was a three-time sectional champion, a two-time Northeast Regional champion and a two-time state qualifier. He wrestled with the Nittany Lions from 1979-83 where in his senior year, he was the starting heavyweight on a team that finished seventh in the NCAA Tournament.

He began his coaching career at Loyalsock in 1984 under Dave Kanaskie and became head coach in 1985. In 40 years as coach, his teams posted 319 wins and finished in the top 10 at the state tournament five times, including winning the team championship in 2004.

His teams placed third at states in 1998, fifth in 1996, and 2003 and eighth in 1999. Individually, Hepburn saw five wrestlers win a total of eight championships, including two-time state champions Tom Waldron (1997,1998), Chris Fleegor (1998, 2000) and Isaiah Britton (2003, 2004). He also saw Mike Waldron (1996) and Chris Engler (2003) win titles.

In all, Hepburn coached 42 state qualifiers, 30 individual state placewinners, 19 Northeast Regional champions and 21 District 4 champions.

• Davis graduated from Harrisburg in 2003 and wa sa 2008 Penn State graduate. He was a four-year team captain and went 112-17 with three state medals in Class AAA. He finished fourth in 2001 and 2022 and fifth in 2003. In his three years at states, he advanced to the semifinals only to lose by two points to eventual champions Joel Edwards of Upper Darby (6-4), Jon Oplinger of Northampton (7-5) and Josh Haines of Northampton (9-7, OT).

As a freshman in college, he finished seventh in the 2004 NCAA Championships after going 37-10 and went 25-4 his sophomore year. He took fifth in 2007 and finished 116-20 with the Nittany Lions.

• Fisk graduated from Wyalusing in 2005 and Lehigh in 2010. He was a two-time state champion and four-time state medalist with the Rams and won four sectional titles, four District 4 titles and three Northeast Regional championships. He finished an impressive 175-9 for his career.

At Lehigh, he competed for Hall of Fame coach Pat Santoro and was a four-time NCAA qualifier for the Mountain Hawks, becoming the first true freshman for Lehigh to qualify for the NCAA Championships since 1992. he went 88-37 in college.

• Henrich graduated from Germantown Academy in 2007 and graduated from the University of Virginia in 2011. He was a four-time Pennsylvania Independent School state champion, a two-time National Prep School finalist (2006, 2007) and won a National Prep Champion title at 174 pounds in 2017. His senior year he was named Germantown Academy Outstanding Wrestler and went a perfect 30-0.

At Virginia, he was a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion, winning titles in 2010 and 2011, both at 174.

• Hnath is a 1982 graduate of Mount LEbanon and 1987 University of Pittsburgh graduate. Hnath was a WPIAL Class AAA runner-up in 1981 as a junior and had his senior year cut shy due to an injury. In college, he was a four-year starter at Pitt and a two-time team captain. His most notable accomplishment as a Division 1 wrestler was qualifying for the NCAA Championships in 1985.

• Kemmerer graduated from Upper Perkiomen in 2007 and the University of Pennsylvania in 2012. He competed for Hall of Fame coach Tom Hontz and became a four-time sectional champion, three-time District 1 North champion and a three-time Southeast Regional champion. He medaled four times at the state tournament, finishing fifth in 2004 and 2005 before capturing gold in 2006 and 2007.

He holds the state record for most wins with 199 and just 18 losses. He also won titles at the BEast of the East, Ironman and Reno Tournaments.

• McMullan graduated from Wyoming Seminary in 2010 and Northestern in 2015. At Wyoming Seminary, he was a two-time National Prep heavyweight champion, pinning all but one opponent in the 2010 championships. McMullan earned first-team ASICS Tiger All-America first team. He won a Big Ten championship in 2015 and earned his fourth All-American honor in the process.

• Peppelman graduated from Central Dauphin in 2010 and graduated from Cornell and Lehigh. In high school he was a four-time Class AAA PIAA finalist and the only three-time state champion for Hall of Fame coach Jeff Sweigard. In 2007, as a freshman he was pinned in the finals in 5:00 and won his first state title the next year in 2008 by dominating Belle Vernon’s Don Tasser, 9-1.