Hardin County Sports HOF to induct six

A class of six will be inducted into the Hardin County Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday.
The banquet, which starts at 6 p.m., will be held in Upper Scioto Valley High School cafetorium.
Included among the inductees are professional baseball hall of famer Ray Brown, six-time state champion football coach Alan Hetrick, Kenton High School football record-setting quarterback Ben Mauk, Upper Scioto Valley basketball and track standout Gwen (Hurley) Schwemley, Ridgemont multi-sport athlete Tim Whetsel and Wilson Football.
The 2001 Kenton football team will be inducted in the team category.

Ray Brown

Ray Brown, who was born in Alger in 1908, was a pitcher in the Negro Leagues for nearly 20 years, most notably for the Homestead Grays, whom he played for parts of 16 seasons.
In 1944 he went 9-3 for the champion Grays and threw a one-hit shutout to help them win the Negro League World Series. The next season, he threw a seven-inning perfect game.
Records kept from the time show Brown had a career record of 109-30, which put him fifth on the league’s all-time win list. He was the starter in the 1935 Negro League version of the All-Star game.
He was one of five players mentioned as being major league caliber in a wire sent to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1938. The others were Hall of Famers Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Cool Papa Bell and Satchel Paige.
Brown, who died in Dayton in 1965 at the age of 56, was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 2006.

Alan Hetrick

Alan Hetrick, a 1957 graduate of Ada High School, compiled a record of 334-95-4 in 38 years as the head coach at Versailles High School. During that time, Hetrick’s teams had a playoff record of 43-9 and won six state championships in Divisions IV and V and were state runner-up three times.
His Versailles teams had a 54-game winning streak from 1992 to 1995. He coached 21 All-Ohio players.
A member of the Ohio Football Hall of Fame, he was the Ohio Division IV coach of the year in 1995.
Hetrick resides in Versailles.

Ben Mauk

Ben Mauk was one of the most prolific prep quarterbacks in national high school history
Mauk established numerous state and national prep passing records during his four years at Kenton High School, leading the Wildcats to Division IV state championships in 2001 and 02.
At the end of his prep career, Mauk held national records for career passing yards (17,534), passing yards in a season (6,540), pass attempts in a career (1,931) and season (674), pass completions in a career (1,105) and season (369) and total offense in a career (19,725) and a season (7,925).
He also had the state records for most passing touchdowns in a career (179) and passing yards in a game (567). He still holds the Ohio record for touchdown passes in a season with 76.
The All-Ohio first-team quarterback received Ohio’s Mr. Football award as a senior when he was also named the Division IV player of the year.
After his high school career was over, Mauk went to Wake Forest for three years before transferring to Cincinnati for his senior season, where he led the Bearcats to a 10-3 record and a win in the PapaJohn’s.com Bowl.
While at Cincinnati, Mauk controlled an offense that set then single-season school records for points (441), touchdowns (59) and passing scores (32). He also set a UC single-season record with 31 passing touchdowns. He became only the third UC signal caller to have a 3,000-yard passing season and threw for 334 yards and four touchdowns in the Papajohns.com Bowl to earn MVP honors.
Mauk played professionally for the Cincinnati Commandos of the Continental Indoor Football League, leading them to an 11-1 record and a league championship in 2010.
Mauk currently resides in Kenton where he is a teacher and helps coach the Wildcat football team.

Gwen Hurley

Gwen Hurley graduated from Upper Scioto valley as one of the more accomplished athletes in school history.
A four-year basketball starter for the Lady Rams, she scored more than 1,700 career points, had more than 700 rebounds and 495 assists as she helped lead the Lady Rams basketball teams to Division IV state championships in 1993 and 1994.
Hurley was a four-time All-Northwest Conference selection and in her 1994 senior season, she earned first-team All-Ohio honors, was named both the Associated Press and Coaches Association’s state player of the year and was a USA Today honorable mention All-American.
She was first-team All-Northwest District in 1993 and 1994 and earned second-team All-Ohio honors in 1993.
She was also a standout on the track, winning state championships in the 300 meter hurdles in 1993 and 1994 and the 100 meter hurdles in 1994.
She set USV school records in the 100 hurdles (14.9 seconds), 300 hurdles (44.9 seconds) and the long jump (17-1 3/4).
After her high school days, she went on to play basketball at Kent State, where she was named to the Mid-American Conference All-freshman team.
Gwen is married to Troy Schwemley, head basketball coach at Shelby High School and they have three children.

Tim Whetsel

Tim Whetsel was a four-year starter at Ridgemont in both football and basketball, leading the Gophers to three West Central Ohio Conference championships in both sports.
He was All-WCOC for four years in basketball and three years in football, being named first-team All-Ohio as a senior at cornerback.
Whetsel scored 1,579 points and had 995 rebounds during his four years as a Gopher and was a second-team All-Ohioan his senior season.
Whetsel also was a baseball and track standout. He led the Gophers to a WCOC title and earning all-league honors as a pitcher his senior year, while qualifying for the state track meet three state years in the high jump and both hurdle events.
He finished his prep career with 16 athletic letters.
After high school, he went on to play tight end for Miami of Ohio and was a member of the Redskins 1977 Mid-American Conference championship team.
Currently a guidance counselor at Kettering Fairmont High School, Whetsel resides in Yellow Springs.
The Wilson Football moved to its facility in Ada in 1955 and it is the only dedicated football factory in the world, employing more than 120 people.
Since 1941, every NFL game ball and all Super Bowl balls have been made by Wilson.
Also the official ball of the Canadian Football League, Wilson makes footballs in Ada for the NCAA, 27 high school associations, American Youth football and countless other organizations.
Wilson donates football and athletic equipment to many Hardin County schools and organizations.
The 2001 Kenton High School football team captured the hearts and imagination of local football fans going went 15-0 and capping its season with a 40-13 rout of Newark Licking Valley in the Division IV state championship.
The Wildcats averaged 38.3 points per game, including 48.6 points per contest in five playoff games, while allowing just 19.8 points per game.

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Posted by Kenton Times on May 15, 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry