BEAVER FALLS, PA. Geneva to honor its top 100 players

Among those to be remembered will be Dom Rosselli and John Knapick.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. -- At least 13 Youngstown-area men are included on the list of Geneva College's all-time top 100 football players. The players will be honored Saturday before and during the Golden Tornadoes' home game against St. Xavier (Ill.) at 7 p.m. at Reeves Stadium.
Five of the area selections are from the early era of Geneva football. They are: Dom Rosselli (1939), John Knapick (1931), Chester Delon (1939), Byron Morgan (1940) and Anthony Ciolli (1940).
Geneva football history spans from 1890 to 2001.
Rosselli, a Youngstown native, played three seasons at Geneva (1936, 1937 and 1939). His first season was under Coach Dwight "Dike" Beede, while his other two seasons were under Edgar P. Weltner.
Beede coached at Geneva from 1934-36 and later became Youngstown College's first coach in 1938. He retained that job for 32 years until 1972.
Great college memories
"I have very fond memories of Geneva," said Rosselli, referring also to the many intramural awards he won playing badminton and table tennis. "I had a lot of fun at Geneva. It was a small school and when you come out you are just as big as the other guy [who went to a big school]."
Rosselli rejoined Beede on the Youngstown coaching staff, and then went on to coach basketball at Youngstown from 1940-42 and 1946-82. Rosselli's career at Youngstown was divided by his service in the U.S. Air Force during World War II.
John Knapick
Knapick, who was born in Fairport Harbor but grew up in Youngstown and lived most of his life in Campbell, played four years for Geneva from 1927-30 and served as a team captain.
His first coach was Bo McMillan, who coached at Geneva from 1925-27. McMillan later coached at Indiana from 1934-47.
Knapick, who went on to coach 33 years at Campbell Memorial High from 1931-64, previously was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from Geneva based on his service to the college over the years.
Byron Morgan
Morgan, also a native of Youngstown and a graduate of South High, played two seasons at Geneva in 1939 and 1942, and was a teammate of Rosselli's in 1939.
Morgan later coached at Geneva from 1953-62.
Anthony Ciolli
Ciolli, a Campbell Memorial High graduate, played four years at Geneva from 1936-39 before graduating in 1940. He was a teammate and roommate of Rosselli's.
Ciolli went on to become a Campbell schoolteacher.
Ciolli's brother, Frank Ciolli of Campbell, was an All-Big Ten player at Indiana University.
Chester Delon
Delon was a graduate of McDonald High, and played four years at Geneva from 1934-37.
He also was a teammate of Rosselli's.
The other selections
Geneva's other top-100 football picks from later years are Michael Hink (1970, New Castle), Bill Hartman (1972, Lisbon), Jack Dugan (1974, Girard), Thomas Tommelleo (1980, New Castle), Robert Perotta (1982, New Castle), Robert Razzano (1984, New Castle), Dave DiRenzo (1992, Springfield Local) and Jeff Mihok (2001, Boardman).
"The [top-100] team was selected by a committee of coaches and others with special knowledge of Geneva's football program," said Gene DeMarco, director of athletics and football coach at Geneva. "Personal statistics and honors received played a key role in determining who was chosen from each of the three groups previously honored [1890-1949, 1950-1975 and 1976-2002]."
Rey Dempsey speaker
Guest speaker will be Rev. Rey Dempsey, a 1958 Geneva graduate and former football player there who went on to coach for 28 years at the high school, college and professional levels before being called to the ministry. He is now a pastor at a church in Columbus.
Dempsey, who played three seasons at Geneva from 1955-57, coached the Youngstown State football team for two years (1973 and 1974) as a successor to Beede.
kovach@vindy.com