MHS Hall of Fame 2015 class announced
Submitted to TheDPost.com
MORGANTOWN — Morgantown High has announced its 2015 class of inductees into the MHS Athletic Hall of Fame. The selections for enshrinement Friday, Sept. 4, include a Kennedy Award-winning running back who rushed for more than 4,000 yards, the school’s first championship wrestler, one of the longest-serving basketball coaches in MHS history, a basketball and track and field athlete from the 1990s, and an all-state basketball and football standout from the mid-1950s.
The nominations seek to recognize athletes, coaches, athletic directors, administrators and auxiliary personnel who have brought positive recognition to themselves and to Morgantown High. They were selected from three eras of MHS athletics and from an at-large category for coaches and administrators.
This year’s honorees, and the athletic era or category, from which they come, are Mark N. Wigal, John Laurie, Tom Yester, Dr. Mary Ann Myer Long and Robert S. (Bob) Davis.
Mark N. Wigal Graduating in 2001, Wigal amassed records and high num- bers on both offense and defense in football. The 5-foot-10 speedster’s stats are lofty: over three years his 423 carries amounted to 4,029 rush- ing yards and a stellar 9.52 yards percarry.Finishingwith80career touchdowns, he was a three-time all-conferencehonoree.Atwo-time first team All-State pick, he won the Kennedy Award as state player of the year, was the state Gatorade Player of the Year, and was a High School Heisman Award finalist. One veteran coach called Wigal “the most complete football player” he’d ever seen. The third-best col- lege prospect in West Virginia, he played football for four seasons at Duke University and as a wide receiver and graduate assistant coach at The Citadel.
John Laurie One of the most feared and legendary wrestlers in West Vir- ginia high school history, Laurie won state championships at MHS in 1932 and 1933. Wresting in divisions far above his 120-pound weight, he was a member of the BARACA wrestling club, which combined with his MHS career, had a four-year record of 33-0. He turned down a scholarship to the University of Michigan, to wres- tle for WVU. Along with wrestling, he was a standout in baseball, playing third base for the West Penn American Legion team, a squad that won the city’s first-ever state title and advanced to national play in Washington and Philadelphia. For many years, Laurie was a popular barber, running shops in Star City and at WVU. He died May 9, 2012, at age 99.
Tom Yester Devoting more than 40 years to the field of ed- ucation, Yester’s 32 years at MHS found him coach- ing basketball, soccer, and track. Leading sixteen teams to the state basket- ball tournament, his Mo- higan squads won eleven NCAC Conference cham- pionships, a Big Ten Con- ference title, and an Ohio Valley Athletic Confer- ence championship. He guided six players to first team All-State honors, was himself named the NCAC Basketball Coach of the Year five times, was The Dominion Post Coach of the Year six times, and was selected 2011 WV Bas- ketball Coach of the Year by NFHSCA. His career record was 627-354. He coached one year at Rowlesburg High before moving to University High for twelve seasons. He retired in 2014 after 45 years of coaching.
Dr. Mary Ann Myer Long The 1993 class salutato- rian, Long was a three- sport letter winner (1990- 1993) including two years in basketball, two in track and one in cross country. She was a point guard for the state champion girls’ bas- ketball team (1990) and the state runner-up team (1991). An accomplished distance runner, her acco- lades included all-state per- formances in the two-mile state meets in 1992 and 1993. She earned an invitation to the Kinney Cross Country National Championship re- gional qualifier meet, the U.S. Army Reserve Nation- al Scholar Athlete Award and the WVSSAC McDon- ald’s Academic Achieve- ment Award. A letter win- ner for the WVU cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track teams, she graduated with an MD and is a Family Physician, liv- ing in Morgantown.
Robert S. (Bob) Davis — Considered one of the best big men in high school basketball of his era, Davis was a powerful force for Mohigan basketball, football, and baseball. Noted for being an intense rebounder, the 6-4 center played three years for leg- endary coach Glenn Ellis at Morgantown Junior High — including two un- defeated seasons. Known by his nickname, “Fitch,” he was an intense and ath- letically-knowledgeable competitor. He was named All-State twice in basket- ball and was All-State in football in 1957. A leader on the MHS campus, he served as Vice President of the senior class and was a 2-year member of the Na- tional Honor Society. He went on to play one season for the WVU Moun- taineers, graduating in in- dustrial engineering. Davis died Feb. 1, 2013.There will be a banquet for the inductees, family, friends and interested public at 4 p.m. Sept. 4, at Waterfront Place Hotel. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased in the main office at the school from 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. each day. The inductees will receive personal recognition plaques at the banquet. Inductees will also be recognized at half time of the game with Brooke on Sept. 4.
After the game, the inductees, family and friends will gather in the gym lobby in front of the Hall of Fame wall to be recognized as a wall is uncovered revealing the Class of 2015. During the wall ceremony, the inductees receive a special MHS medallion and a lifetime Morgantown High School Gold Card for admission to all and any Morgantown High School athletic events.