INDUCTEE In 1958 when he was over age to play football, he took over the job of being trainer for Kulpmont High School and was the trainer until the jointure with Mount Carmel. He was the founder of the Kulpmont Athletic Club which sponsored Junior Football, Baseball, Basketball, and Track and started to coach Junior Football, Baseball, Basketball and Track. His reasons for getting interested were that the little boys of the community didn’t have anything to do, so he started coaching them. He started by coaching the Kulpmont Dragons back in the late 30’s and this was his first football team, after this he started having meetings with boys from St. Mary’s 6-7-8, Wilson 6-7-8 to start a baseball league. He canvassed the community along with other members of the Kulpmont Anthracite Club to get baseball suits for each team. The people of Kulpmont were very generous and co-operative in helping. He also coached basketball in the same category and also coached softball and some baseball teams and basketball in Kulpmont. He coached Jr. Varsity basketball for Kulpmont High School. His teams went to the Junior Olympics in Philadelphia for a few years and one year in the Olympics they came home with 14 gold medals and 13 silver medals. Ralph spent 32 years coaching baseball, basketball, and football. To help some boys make good when he went to high school Ralph made sure he knew the fundamentals of the sport he participated in.

INDUCTEE 1951 graduate of Mount Carmel High. Participated in football, baseball and track for three years. Played football and baseball for three years at University of Pennsylvania. Led Ivy League in punting his senior year with 41.3 yd. average. Named to All Pennsylvania football squad and honorable mention on All-East. He was recognized as the most outstanding opponent by Notre Dame in 1954. Ranked fifth in nation in punting his senior year. Later played football with Air Force teams and was named to several All Service teams.

INDUCTEE Born in Mount Carmel, March 12, 1906, Harold Maxwell Grossman, was a son of the late Henry Joseph and Rose (Lowly) Grossman. He was a graduate of Mount Carmel High School in 1923 and Pierce Business College, Philadelphia. In high school, Mr. Grossman was active in sports and participated in football, basketball, and track. Mr. Grossman’s interest in sporting activities continued after his graduation from school. He was a staunch supporter of all Mount Carmel Area High School sports programs and in 1932 was a member of the Committee of 14 that built the football stadium on West Third Street. An avid golfer, he was twice Class A finalist at the Fountain Springs Country Club and was a member of the former Maysville Tennis Club. He played semi-pro basketball with the Centralia KK’s and Locust Gap Celtics, and at one time sponsored a semi-pro football team, the Green Wave. Mr. Grossman organized the Tornado Club Boosters of Mount Carmel High and helped to form the Mount Carmel Playground Association.

INDUCTEE The “Giant Killer” and brother of Hall of Famer Stanley Coveleskie. His greatest achievement came when he was called up from the minors, and never before in the big league, proceeded to beat John McGraw’s Giants in five days, 7-0, 6-3 and 3-2 and dashing all hopes of the Giants winning the pennant. Adding to the luster of his triumphs, the “Giant Killer”, not only limited them to five hits per game, but he also beat immortal Christy Mathewson in the third and deciding game. However it was with the Detroit Tigers that Harry racked up the wins with a 22-12 season in 1914, 23-13 in 1915. His peak performance came in 1916 with a 23 win and 10 loss record and an errand run average of 1.97. Upon retirement from baseball Harry came back to Shamokin to become a city policeman and later a tavern owner.

INDUCTEE Graduate of Franklin D. Roosevelt High School in 1939 where he quarterbacked the Blue and White Wildcats to an undefeated season and the Eastern Conference Championship in 1938. He played an important role when Kulpmont soundly trounced the Ferndale Yellow Jackets by a score of 50 to 19 to win the Pennsylvania State Championship on December 3, 1938. He attended Temple and Penn State and received a Masters Degree in Safety Education New York University. He was a player-coach for the Anthracite Maroons, Shenandoah Presidents and the Tri-Boro Eagles in coach at Kulpmont High in 1950-52, and became assistant coach at Delhaas High School, George School and Woodrow Wilson School. Presently he is a member of Lower Bicks County YMCA Runners training to run a marathon.

INDUCTEE Playing days were rich in success. Ed became an outstanding outside runner for Coal Township after a strategic switch from quarterback by Coach Walt (Babe) Marshall, leading area schools during the 1949 season by scoring 16 touchdowns. He later quarterbacked and punted for the University of Pennsylvania, under Coach George Munger. The school, at that time, was nationally ranked and played suck teams as: Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, etc. During Binkoski’s junior year, the school was listed in the Top 10 in the country for most of the season. It was in the 1952 game against Notre Dame (top ranked in the country at the time) that Ed had an exceptional day of quarterbacking and “coffin corner” kicking which enabled the Quakers to tie the Irish 7-7. First year as head football coach at Coal Township, Binkoski’s Purple Demons lost only one regular season game and went on to win the Southern Division Championship. The team also won the Keystone League Title, which included teams as Shamokin, Mount Carmel, Sunbury, Hazleton, Pottsville, Berwick, etc. He took over the reigns at Shamokin Area High School after the jointure of Coal Township and Shamokin High Schools. The first year, in 1965, the Indians posted a 10-1 record, their only loss was to Shikellamy 20-12. In 1966 the Shamokin record was 8 and 3. Ed’s 10 year stint as head coach of Coal Township and Shamokin Area Schools resulted in 74 wins, 31 losses and one tie for a percentage of .703 percentage.

FEMALE SCHOLAR ATHLETE Carole Marie DiFrancesco and Ed Diminick have been chosen as winners of the 1980 Scholar-Athlete Awards as presented by the Ed Romance Lower Anthracite Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Carole, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Difrancesco, 109 S. Walnut Street, Mount Carmel played basketball and softball at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional High School. Academically, she ranks 17th in a class 167 with a class average of 90%. In basketball, she played guard and was a three year starter and captain in her senior year when the team advanced to District 4 finals. Carole was also the most valuable player in the Anthracite and Schuylkill leagues. In softball, she was a pitcher and four year starter and senior captain. Carole is presently attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania

MALE SCHOLAR ATHLETE Ed Diminick-son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Diminick, 335 W. avenue, Mount Carmel was an outstanding student-athlete at Mount Carmel Area High School. Academically, he ranked 5th in his class, belonged to the National Honor Society, was president of the National Athletic Honor Society, member of the Spanish Club, participated in the Youth In action Club and belonged to the Letterman Club. He was selected Rotary Student of the Month for October. He was chosen as Mount Carmel Area High Schools Student Athlete. Athletically- Football: was a 3 year letterman. In 1978 and 1979 was selected 1st team All-anthracite defensive back and An Honorable mention defensive back. He was chosen and played in the MS all-star game and was selected to play in the UNICO all-star game but did not play due to an injury. In the Shamokin game was voted the Mike Terry Award and later received the Bobby Pizzoli Award. In Wrestling: was co-captain and a 3 year letterman. His career record was 41-21-2. He was District 4 runner-up 2 years in a row and received the Chef’s Award and was selected the outstanding wrestler on the team. In Baseball he was co-captain and a 3 year letterman and received the Cheddar Award. In Track he lettered as a freshman in the log jump with a jump over 18’. Ed was recruited by Head Coach Walt Nadzak for University of Connecticut where he will play free safety. He will study pharmacy and hopefully go on to sports medicine.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT Each year, the Ed Romance Lower Anthracite Chapter of Pennsylvania Hall of Fame intends to present a special award for a noteworthy accomplishment in the field of athletics. Last year’s recipient was Dan Ficca, upon his induction into the State Hall of Fame. This year’s award goes to Joe Cesari, Jr. of Ashland. Joe was crowned a world champion wrestler in San Diego, Calif., after beating four wrestlers from four countries in the World Schoolboy Wrestling Championship. Joe is an eight grader in the North Schuylkill School District and is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Cesari, Sr., 2428 Spruce St., Ashland. Joe’s father is wrestling coach at North Schuylkill High School. In his first match of the tournament, Joe competed against Angel Noguera of Venezuala and pinned him in a short 23 seconds. His second opponent was Osawa Koichi from Japan. He set up Koichi and took him down to his back and pinned him in a short 23 seconds. His third opponent was Artemio Hernandez of Mexico. Joe piled up 19 points on combinations of take downs, leg wrestling, throws, cradles, and arm bars. The fourth and final match Cesari wrestled was against a wrestler from India. Joe beat Naresh Kumar, 7-2. According to Cesari, the boy from India was strong, quick and a pure freestyle wrestler. In the first period Cesari managed to get two takedowns while giving up one. In the second period, Joe scored two takedowns, worth two points each, because of back exposure and a stalling call for his seven points. The tournament was run by the American Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and the International Amateur Wrestling Federation (FILA). The FILA headquarters is in Switzerland. Next year the championships will be held in Sweden. Joe will be a defending world champion and may set out for a second title. Cesari advanced to the world championship after winning five free style tournaments.

SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes served 28 years as head football coach at The Ohio State University. Only Amos Alonzo Stagg, 41 years at Chicago, and Bob Zuppke, at Illinois for 29 years, coached longer in the Big Ten. Under Hayes, Ohio State was a remarkable 205 wins, 61 losses and 10 ties, a winning percentage of .760. His Big Ten record was 152-37-7. While he coached at Ohio State, the Buckeyes led the nation in attendance per home game twenty-one times in twenty-eight and finished a close second the other seven seasons. Numerous honors were won by Coach Hayes and by his Ohio State teams. He was names “College Coach of the Year” in 1957 and 1975, and was runnerup for this honor on two occasions. He coached three Heisman Award winners and 56 first team All-Americans. He is a past president of the National Football Coaches’ Association. His Ohio State teams won three national championships; 13 big Ten championships; won a record 17 straight Big Ten victories two different times (1954-’56 and 1967-’69); and played in 11 bowl games, eight Rose Bowls, one Orange Bowl, one Sugar Bowl and one Gator Bowl. Ohio State is the only eastern team in the history of the Rose Bowl to make four consecutive appearances. Hayes was born on February 14, 1913, in Clifton, Ohio, although he calls Newcomerstown his home. He is a 1935 graduate of Denison University, where he majored in English and history. He played tackle three years and was n outfielder in baseball. He has an A.M. degree from Ohio State in education administration. His entire coaching career within the state of Ohio. His first coaching job was in 1935 as an assistant at Mingo Junction. His first head coaching job came in 1938 at New Philadelphia High, where in three seasons, his teams won 19, Lost 10 and tied one. A five year stint in the Navy interrupted his coaching career but made a great impact upon his life. After his discharge, Denison University, his alma mater, gave him his first opportunity to be a head coach in college. The year was 1946. Three years at Denison and two at Miami set the stage for his 1951 debut at Ohio State.