2019 CurbstonE Coaches Hall of Fame inductees
The 52nd Curbstone Coaches Hall of Fame Banquet is scheduled for May with 12 new members set for enshrinement during ceremonies at Mr. Anthony’s Banquet Center, Boardman. Former Major League Baseball umpire and Mahoning Valley resident John Hirschbeck will serve as guest speaker.For more information,330-506-6774, or visit the organization’s website at www.curbstonecoaches.org.
The Class of 2019 is:
Kirk Baker Football
Arguably one of the finest all-around athletes ever to come out of Jackson-Milton High School, he earned letters in both football and basketball for the Blue Jays during a stellar scholastic career.
In football he was an all-Inter-Tri County League selection his sophomore and senior seasons, earning all-state and northeastern Ohio laurels as a senior and sophomore.
He earned the team’s Offensive Lineman Award his sophomore campaign and as a senior, was honored with the team’s top “Defensive Back Award.”
Upon graduation he had established new standards for most career receptions and most career receiving yards offensively. Defensively, his records included most career interceptions and tackles for loss.
In basketball, he was a four-year letterwinner and an all-ITCL selection during both his junior and senior seasons. He also earned second-team laurels as a sophomore.
An all-Northeastern Ohio pick as senior, he earned second-team NEO honors as a junior and overall established Blue Jays records for career points and rebounds.
TERI HAEFKE BOWLING
Long considered one of the area’s finest bowlers, she is a 1998 graduate of Austintown Fitch High School and a member of the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
Her bowling career began at age six when she was a junior bowler at Wedgewood Lanes and her career has been going strong ever since.
Her first adult league in the Youngstown-Salem Women’s Bowling Association was in 1998-99 where she carried a 205 average, the seventh-best average overall.
She followed that with a 210 average in 1999-2000 and had been first in the high average category for 12 consecutive years.
Her highest average, 242, came in 2010-11.
The architect of 65 300 games, she has rolled back-to-back “perfect games” on two occasions, has 24, 800-plus series to her credit and nearly 400 700-plus series.
She has won multiple Youngstown City team actual and handicap events and City Tournament Doubles Actual and Handicap, Singles Actual and All Events Actual titles.
She served as head coach of the Austintown Fitch Falcons’ girl’s bowling team in 2001-02, leading them to the state crown that season.
She was inducted into the Ohio State USBC Women’s Bowling Association Hall of Fame in February of 2016 and in October of 2018, was honored with her induction into the Youngstown-Salem USBC Women’s Bowling Association Hall of Fame.
LEO HAWKINS
FOOTBALL
A standout high scholastic and collegiate gridder, he is a 1987 graduate of Austintown Fitch High School.
He earned nine letters during a stellar high school career for the Falcons, three of which came in football and track and field with the other four awarded for his exploits as a member of the school’s basketball and wrestling squads.
So respected was he as a leader, he served as captain of the Falcons’ football, track and wrestling teams.
In football, he broke the sophomore season rushing record and during his senior campaign (1986) broke the program’s existing record for yards in a game and season.
At the time of his graduation he became the AFHS all-time rushing leader.
He was selected all-state in both football and wrestling and as a junior, was named “Most Valuable Player” of the track team.
He was the MVP of the prestigious North-South All-Star football game, earning MVP laurels of the Mahoning County All-Star Football Classic as well.
Upon graduation he earned a scholarship to Youngstown State University where he played for legendary Penguins head coach Jim Tressel, earning three letters (1988-89, 1991) for the Penguins. He helped them to a 12-3 overall mark as a senior in 1991, their first of four Division I-AA championships in the decade of the ‘90s.
He rushed for 2,279 career yards (currently ranks 17th all-time) while his 1,125 yards rushing in 1991 is 20th on the all-time single season rushing list.
His 22 career rushing touchdowns is 19th all-time while his 474 career rushing attempts is 15th all-time.
Len Holman Special Award
A 1971 graduate of East Palestine High School, this year’s special award inductee served as sole valedictorian of his graduating class. While at EPHS he was a three-year letter winner for the Bulldogs in football and a three-year, two-way starter for Coach Bill Offenbecher at middle linebacker and guard.
Upon graduation he attended Ohio Northern University where as a freshman he played both linebacker and defensive back for the Polar Bears. Focusing on academics, he took classes in football and basketball officiating from ONU and the Theory of Basketball Coaching from the university’s then-head basketball coach, Gale Daugherty.
Thus, his career as an Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) official in football and basketball began and to date has spent 46 years in stripes as a football and basketball official, spending another eight seasons on the softball diamond.
In 2018, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected him as one of 18 members to serve on the Steelers’ Season Ticket Holder Advisory Council for a two-year term. Meetings are held three times yearly at Heinz Field.
JOE JESWALD FOOTBALL
A 1972 graduate of Ursuline High School, he was an all-Steel Valley Conference First-Team selection his senior season, earning Second-Team SVC laurels his junior campaign as well.
A member of the Fighting Irish wrestling squad from 1971-72, he was inducted into the UHS Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996.
Upon graduation he attended Hiram College, starring for the Terriers at center from 1972-75. As a freshman in 1972 he was an all-Presidents’ Athletic Conference honorable mention selection, earning first-team laurels his final three seasons from 1973-75.
For his exploits on the gridiron he was inducted into the Hiram Athletics Hall of Fame, also in 1996. A noted area educator, teacher, principal and superintendent, he served as football coach at both Girard High School and Niles McKinley High School from 1976-94.
In 1987 while with Niles McKinley, he was part of the staff that earned the Trumbull County Coaches Association “Assistant Coach of the Year” award as the Red Dragons won the AAAC (All-American Athletic Conference) championship.
From 1989-94 he was head coach of the Indians, earning Mahoning Valley Coaches Association “Coach of the Year” honors his initial campaign. He repeated as MVCA “Coach of the Year” in 1992.
In 1991, while leading the Indians to their first ever play-off appearance in program history (they were regional runners-up), he was named both Trumbull County Coaches Association and Mahoning Valley Coaches Association “Coach of the Year,” earned Mahoning Valley Conference “Coach of the Year” laurels, was the Valley Playbook’s Division III “Coach of the Year” while earning NE Inland District Division “Coach of the Year” and Ohio Division III “Coach of the Year” honors.
Rick King Contribution to Sports
He is a 1972 graduate of Newton Falls High School where he was a multi-sport athlete, earning seven overall letters for the Tigers
A four-year letterwinner in track and field (1969-72), he was a regional qualifier in the 220-yard dash.
He played three years and earned two more letters (junior and senior seasons) as a member of head coach Andy Pike’s grid team, earning his final letter as a member of head coach Gene Zorn’s cage squad.
Upon graduation he attended Miami (OH) University in Oxford and was a member of the RedHawks’ track team from 1973-74 where he participated in the 220-yard dash and mile relay.
Upon graduation from MU he started his professional career in the Howland Schools, a career that spanned five decades before his retirement in 2012.
He served as athletic director from 2008-12 where under his direction, Tigers’ varsity teams performed among the very best in the Mahoning Valley.
His football team won four straight league titles and earned four consecutive play-off appearances with other boy’s and girls’ sports teams accounting for over 20 AAC championships.
He became commissioner of the All-American Conference in 2012, guiding his membership through growth and the many challenges the league faces with its many boy’s and girls’ sports teams at both the varsity and Jr. High levels.
ROGER KREPS TRACK AND FIELD
CROSS COUNTRY
You might just say that this year’s track and field/cross country honoree simply “ran his way into the Curbstone Coaches Hall of Fame.”
A 1968 graduate of Boardman High School, he was a multi-sports athlete and earned 11 overall letters.
On the hardwood he earned three letters under the tutelage of Alan Burns, leading the Spartans in rebounds during his junior and senior seasons where he earned Steel Valley Conference second-team laurels both years.
His star shone brightest on the cinders and area running courses, however, where he earned four letters each in both track and field and cross country.
As a track standout he set new school standards in the mile run, 880 run, mile relay and two-mile events and broke all records previously held by BHS Athletics Hall of Fame honoree Tom Cook, who also participated in both sports for the Spartans.
During his junior and senior campaigns, he was undefeated in dual and triangular meets in the mile and half-mile runs and in most meets of which he participated broke existing school SVC marks.
He beat Olympic champion Dave Wottle in the mile run at the Pittsburgh Tri-State Coaches Meet to win that event and was district champion in the 880 run his senior season.
At the age of 15, he recorded the nation’s best time in the half-mile (1:59.1) and was awarded the “Hardest Worker on the Team” honor.
He won the mile run at the Rayen Invitational and as co-captain of the team his senior year, helped lead the Spartans to Mahoning County, Steel Valley Conference and District championships.
Upon graduation he attended Ashland University on a track-cross country scholarship and participated in multiple events for both squads.
PATRICK LORELLI CONTRIBUTION TO SPORTS
One of two contributors in this year’s class, he is a 1958 graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School and a 1986 graduate of Youngstown State University.
There are those who volunteer and expect recognition for their work and then there are those “under the radar” workers who get things done without much fanfare — that’s this year’s contribution to sports inductee.
Recruited by St. Christine School to serve as their first ever director of athletics, he loved the challenge or organizing and strengthening their athletic department while restructuring its various athletics programs.
Under his direction, he started a fifth and sixth grade football team (he also served as head coach) and led interference for their inclusion into one of the area’s highly competitive leagues at that level.
With no sports offered for girls who wished to participate and compete, he was the driving force behind starting a girls basketball and track and field program, instantly asserting their competitive spirit with several league titles to their credit.
It wasn’t always about athletics as he also stressed education, instituting a program titled “Academic Excellence in Sports” which awarded the boy or girl with the highest cumulative grade point average a plaque for their efforts.
During his many years of dedication to youth sports, he spent 12 years in the Little League and PONY League as a coach or manager and when those seasons ended, coached in then local Midget Football League.
In baseball, he had the unique opportunity to coach all four of his sons and loved coaching and managing area youth.
SAM NAPLES
MARTIAL ARTS
He is the first ever martial arts inductee and a 1975 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School.
A native of the city’s South Side, it was at the age of 12 when he joined the local YMCA with a group of friends from St. Stanislaus School that he became intrigued with its judo and karate programs that were being offered.
He began taking kids classes at the YMCA, eventually gravitating to adult classes with Grandmaster Chun who continually encouraged this year’s honoree to step out of his comfort zone.
At his second tournament (as a brown belt) at the Cleveland Branch of the Ohio Judo and Karate Association, he placed first in forms and second in sparring in the adult division.
He would receive his black belt six months later and over the years has won multiple tournaments both statewide and nationally.
As a junior at CMHS, he placed second in forms at historic Madison Square Garden. He continued to compete at Madison Square Garden and was form champion on three other occasions, 1972-73 and again in 1975.
Owner of several schools over the years and considered one of the very best at developing instructors, he was inducted into the Bruce Lee Legends of Honor in Columbus (2015, as a competitor) and in October of 2015, was promoted to 8th Degree Grandmaster in Taekwondo Jidokwan.
On September 22, 2017, he was inducted into the Taekwondo Hall of Fame.
DIANNE RAPPACH-KOSCO BASKETBALL
A four-year letter-winner in basketball at Mathews High School, she scored 1,000 points in her career and led MHS to three straight 20-win seasons (1985-86 to 1987-88), including a perfect 27-0 mark as a senior when the Mustangs won the Division III state championship.
She was an All-League, All-County, All-District and All-State selection, earning a scholarship to YSU where she played under the watchful eye of legendary head coach and Curbstone Coaches Hall of Fame honoree Ed DiGregorio.
A three-year letterwinner in volleyball, she helped lead the team to two league titles as a setter and hitter while in softball, she earned four varsity letters as the Mustangs won two league titles with two runner-up finishes as a stellar second baseman and pitcher (she won 18 overall games).
She played for the Penguins from 1988-89 to 1991-92 and for her play was inducted into the YSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002.
One of the most prolific three-point shooters in Lady Penguins’ hoop history, she was also one of the very best all-around players ever to lace up a pair of sneakers for DiGregorio.
She registered a then-school record 198 3-pointers on a then school-best 525 attempts and at the time of her graduation, ranked as the 11th best overall scorer in school history with 1,198 career points.
She ranked third in career assists with 503 and third in steals with 275, also grabbing 333 total caroms.
One of the most durable players in school history, she played in all 111 games for which she suited up, starting 103 contests while played 3,239 minutes overall.
An excellent shooter, she made 37.7 percent of her 3-point attempts and had a 77.8 free-throw percentage (126 of 152), which ranked seventh in program history.
She made 430 field goals, attempting 1,090 and for her career averaged 10.8 points, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
She helped the program to a 74-37 overall mark, including a 24-4 overall slate in 1990-91.
LOU SCHIAVONI
BOXING
A 1974 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School, he was the 1972 Youngstown Golden Gloves Novice champion, finishing as Youngstown Golden Gloves Open runner-up the following year.
He fought for the Home Club under the tutelage of legendary trainer and Curbstone Coaches Hall of Fame inductee Art Mayorga, taking on notable fighters such as Ron Cummings, Greg Augustine and Leslie Toney, among others, during a well-documented amateur career.
With the opportunity looming to turn professional, he bypassed a pro career and opted to attend college upon graduation where he earned his BA in History degree from The Ohio State University in 1978.
He would go on to earn his law degree from the highly acclaimed Thomas Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, passing the Ohio Bar Exam in 1983.
He has helped many notable area fighters over the course of their careers and managed the boxing careers of Craig Kikta, Michael Clark and Jamie McClendon.
He also managed the day-to-day operation of former unified middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik during his rise to the top of the boxing world, a progression that began in June of 2000 and ended with his last fight on July 7, 2012.
Always one to lend a helping hand when it comes to the ring game, he has promoted multiple professional fights, most notably at the Metro-Plex and Maronite Center.
Long an opponent of preserving the area’s rich boxing tradition, he has thrown his support to all area boxing events for over 30 years and has served as past-President of the Legends of Leather organization, calling it a labor of love and a tireless post that has helped bring to light while accentuating the accomplishments of all Mahoning Valley amateur and professional fighters.
Jim Snowden Football
Considered one of the finest football players and all-around athletes ever to come out of the Mahoning Valley, he graduated from East High School where he was a three-sport star for the Golden Bears.
He played football for head coach Pete Lanzi, was a hardwood standout under legendary head coach and Curbstone Coaches Hall of Famer Ed DiGregorio and was also highly decorated in track and field.
He was All-City Series and All-Northeastern Ohio in both football and basketball for the EHS, earning All-Ohio laurels in both sports for his efforts.
In track, he made it to state in the shot put so in all, he left his mark at the state level in the three sports of which he competed.
Upon graduation he earned a scholarship to Notre Dame University, playing fullback, linebacker and offensive tackle-end for the Fighting Irish.
He earned three letters while with the Fighting Irish, playing under the tutelage of three legendary head coaches during his time in South Bend (Joe Kuharich in 1961, Hugh Devore in 1963 and Ara Parseghian in 1964).
Drafted as a tackle by the Washington Redskins in the 1964 NFL Draft (he was selected in the fifth-round and was the 59th player chosen), he was also selected by the Kansas City Chiefs (he was picked in the 15th round and was the 114th player chosen overall) of the upstart American Football League.
He opted for the NFL where he played with the Redskins from 1965-72, his 1972 team going up against the undefeated Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VII (they lost, 14-7) as the Dolphins the first (and last) team to finish undefeated on the season.
Greg Gulas, The Vindicator