Brennen among Big 30 HOF inductees
Longtime PIAA official and Ridgway resident Bud Brennen is among the new members of the Big 30 Basketball Hall of Fame, who will be inducted at the Big 30 Senior Classic all-star games at Portville Central High School in New York on Sunday.
The contests pit Pennsylvania seniors against their NY counterparts. The girls tip off at 2 p.m. and the boys at 4 p.m.
Other HOF inductees include Bill Howard and Ken Woodruff.
A graduate of St. Marys High School and Lock Haven State College, Brennen began officiating basketball in 1973, volleyball in 1986, and softball in 2000. He has been a member of the District IX Committee since 2010 and currently holds the position of the district's Male Officials Representative.
Brennen and his wife Patricia are the parents of five children. One of the original owners of Advantage
Metal Powders in Ridgway, he retired in 2009.
Brennen has worked numerous district and inter-district playoff contests over his 51year career.
Howard, an Oswayo Valley High School, Jamestown Community College, and St. Bonaventure graduate, began officiating in 1971.
Currently, the athletic director at Oswayo Valley and a District IX Committee member, Howard, and his wife, Mindy, are the parents of two children.
Woodruff has served for 50 years as an IAABO basketball official and New York State official with the Cattaraugus County chapter and worked for five years as a women's basketball Atlantic 10 Conference referee.
A 1972 Houghton College graduate, Woodruff coached girls' basketball, soccer, softball, baseball, and wrestling at Portville Central.
Local players
Ridgway's Jenna Kasmierski teams up with fellow 1,000-point Elk County Catholic scorers Sydney Alexander and Lucy Klawuhn and Lady Crusaders Emily Mourer and Sammi Straub. St. Marys is represented by Maura Caskey and Jayssa Snelick, and Kane is represented by Maya Smith. Others include Warren's Sammie Ruhlman and Halle Kuzminski, Kayleigha Dowell from Port Allegany, and Smethport's Elizbeth Hungiville.
Locals joining Ridgway's Alex Merritt and Johnsonburg's Isaiah Jackson are Elk County Catholic's Colby Nussbaum, Jordan Wasko, and Quin Gavazzi from St. Marys. Cameron County's Josh Smith, Jake Franz from Bradford, Otto-Eldred's Braxton Caldwell, Coudersport's Reilly Strich, and Tommy Nyquist, Braylon Barnes, and Brady Berdine from Warren, round out the roster.