Illustrious class enters Tri-County Hall of Fame
Spaid, Moatz represent Boyertown in 2016 group; Eddinger also honored
POTTSTOWN >> The Tri-County Area Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame held its 39th annual awards dinner Saturday night at the Sunnybrook Ballroom with an illustrious 2016 induction class that included Mike Spaid, Shannon Witzel, Tracey Wright, Grant Wiley, Greg Glenn, Jr., Barry Flicker, Rick Keeley, Rick Moatz and Andre “Thunder” Thornton.
From the official welcome by organization president Dave Reidenouer on through the list of inductees and honorees, the theme for the entire evening was ‘consistent’ and ‘proper’.
These were all people who succeeded in the world of athletics as athletes, coaches, officials and contributors by committing themselves to doing things the right way. These were all people who dedicated and committed themselves to their particular sport or multiple sports by exhibiting their extensive skills while conducting themselves in a proper fashion at the same time on and off the sports venue while they were competing and then continuing on in
their adult lives when most of them also became husbands, wives and parents of their own student-athletes.
Among the honorees, only Thornton was unable to attend the event. The former Cleveland Indians slugger, who is originally from Phoenixville and now lives in Ohio, was attending the World Series in Chicago, where this year’s edition of the Indians are facing the Chicago Cubs in the annual Fall Classic. Thornton also delivers inspirational speeches and had a speaking engagement in Chicago at the same time. Reidenouer announced that Thornton will automatically be part of next year’s class with its own program.
Also honored was longtime Boyertown Bears American Legion baseball assistant coach Craig Eddinger. Eddinger received the Pollock Award, which was presented in memory of Elmer ‘Chump’ Pollock, one of the founders of the area Tri-County Sports Hall of Fame back in 1978.
Glenn was the first inductee to speak to the crowd. Glenn starred in football and basketball at Pottstown High School. He played defensive back and quarterback for the Trojans. Glenn also played point guard on the hoops team, leading the Trojans to a 19-4 record his senior season. He was honored as the Outstanding Athlete his senior year at PHS.
Glenn went to Kutztown University for football after graduation. He played defensive back, returned kickoffs and some running back while playing all four years of college ball for the Golden Bears. He earned three ECAC weekly honor roll awards and ranked second in tackles his senior year and led the team in interceptions. Following graduation, he played six years for the Bux-Mont Bulldogs, guiding them to a 14-0 championship season in 1995. Glenn is currently a PIAA varsity official in football and basketball.
“I loved football more,” Glenn said prior to the banquet. “It was competitive every game. I had great teammates and great coaches. We were fundamentally sound. I followed Tracey (Wright) at Kutztown. He graduated when I was coming up. For four years, he showed me everything on defense. He made the defenses simple for me, and he taught me how to block punts.”
In his ceremony speech, Glenn said he will always remember fellow 2016 inductee Wright for the “courage that he gave me to never give up and the lessons he taught me.”
Glenn said he wants his legacy to be that he cared about his teammates and did things the right way.
Flicker was a track & field standout at the former St. Pius X High School, graduating in 1997. He specialized in the javelin throw while starting out as a raw sophomore. He quickly matured and broke the Winged Lions’ school record while becoming a two-time Pioneer Athletic Conference champion, throwing 218 feet, 5 inches during his senior year. He broke the District 1 record at 208-5 and won two district gold medals. Flicker became the state champion as a senior, throwing 212 feet in the competition at Shippensburg University, winning the event by more than 20 feet. He merited High School All-American honors in the javelin. Flicker accepted a full scholarship to Villanova University and became a two-time Big East champion. He broke the Villanova school record, which he still holds at 219. Flicker threw for the Penn Relays Olympic development squad. Flicker is currently employed as a principal in the Kutztown Area School District.
“My father, Dr. Flicker, took me to see Dr. (Ray) Feick (former Pottstown superintendent of schools), who was a Masters champion,” said Barry Flicker. “He said no distance was too far. There was the challenge of expectations.”
Flicker also spoke about all the positives before the dinner.
“I put my athletic skills together to be the best,” said Flicker. “I had a lot of competitions that always gave me more things in life and lessons that I can give back in life when I walk down memory lane with who was along for the ride.”
Kelley played football at St. Pius X, lettering his junior and senior years. He was elected team captain his senior year and won the Outstanding Lineman Award and the Pottstown Optimist Outstanding Player Award before graduating in 1971. He went to Kutztown State College and played defensive line while lettering three years. He was named first team allconference two times as a defensive lineman and received the John Davis Award his senior season.
Keeley began his long coaching career at St. Pius X in 1976, then moved to Holy Name High School in 1978. He served as an assistant for eight years before becoming head coach in 1986. He has been the head coach at Berks Catholic since 2011, covering 40 total seasons (30 as head coach). He has recorded 215 victories during his career as well as three District 3 championships, two league titles, six section titles and has been made Coach of the Year six times. He is currently in the Holy Name Hall of Fame, the Berks County Football Coaches Hall of Fame and Kutztown Team of the Decade (1970s).
Kelley played football at St. Pius X under coach Jim Mich and then at Kutztown under coach George Baldwin.
“I played football four years as a nose guard (at Pius X) and weighed 178 pounds soaking wet,” Keeley said. “We played an angle defense, which was hectic.”
Keeley set the school record in blocking punts with four despite going right up the middle of the line toward the kicker. He started teaching at St. Gabriel’s in Stowe. He has been employed full-time as a social studies teacher.
Keeley said Baldwin told him it was more important to have “good citizens” on a team than “good athletes.” He also remembers how it gathered teams together beforehand after every practice. Many of Mich’s methods also remain engrained in his ways. Mich, the longtime Winged Lions’ mentor, was inducted into this Hall of Fame in 1985. Mich also offered the invocation prior to the meal. Keley said Mich remains a substitute teacher and helps out at Berks Catholic to this day.
Keeley’s current Berks Catholic team is 8-1 and will play for a league championship at Wyomissing next week in a matchup of unbeaten teams. BC is also the number one seed in District 3 under the new 4A classifications, despite being the smallest 4A school.
Spaid definitely opened some eyes during his outstanding career as a heavyweight wrestler at Boyertown High School and then Bloomsbury University. Said finished his career with the Bears with a record of 116-14. He was a three-time champion at the prestigious Governor Mifflin Tournament, three-time sectional champion, twotime District 1 champion and placed at states two times before winning the gold medal at 275 pounds in 2004, which was the first in school history.
“It is a tribute to my coaches and family,” said Spaid. “Now I have the honor to coach with them.”
During his remarkable state title run, Spaid pinned every wrestler he faced from the sectionals through the state finals, finishing his unbelievable senior season at 43-11. He then went to Bloomsburg, where he qualified for the NCAA Division I championships four times. He was named All-American while at Bloomsburg and finished his college career with a record of 120-43.
Moatz has been the Boyertown Legion baseball coach since 1988. That time span covers 28 years and counting. Moatz has coached more than 350 boys and has amassed an overall record of 1,222 victories and 322 losses. His accomplishments as the head coach include 14 Berks County championships two Pennsylvania regional titles, 13 Pa. state championships, three Mid-Atlantic regional titles with four runner-up teams, one World Series runner-up and one World Series title as assistant coach.
“I have had a tremendous supporting cast,” said Moatz. “My assistant coaches are past Legion players. I thank my extended family and family of wife and kids.”
Wiley enjoyed an incredible high school football career at Perkiomen Valley High School as a linebacker and running back and later at Division I West Virginia University as a linebacker.
Wiley was selected to numerous all-star teams. He was named first team All-PAC-10 in 1997-98 as well as an all-area player by several newspapers. Wiley was named league Defensive Plyer of the Year during his junior year and Offensive Player of the Year his senior year. He set a single-game PAC record for all-purpose yards with 415. He rushed for 1,600 yards and 24 touchdowns in 1998 and was named PAC MVP. Wiley played in the prestigious Big 33 All-Star Game and was named to the All-State team. He earned a scholarship to play at West Virginia and was named Big East Rookie of the Year, All-Big East linebacker twice in 2002 and 2003, served as team captain and MVP of Big East champion Mountaineers and was named a consensus first team All-American. He was a Bronco Nagurski Award finalist and still holds three WVU defensive records for total tackles, solo tackles and tackles for loss. He is inducted into the West Virginia University Hall of Fame.
Wiley also recognized names like Aaron Beasley, the former Pottstown star who also played football at West Virginia; as well as former Pottstown High basketball stars Howard Brown, who played at Villanova; and Tommy Harvey from the PAC.
“It is kind of surreal,” said Wiley. “Coaches stuck with us. My sister (Brooke, Rutgers lacrosse) was always an inspiration to me.” Brother Brett Wiley was the oldest of the three children and earned All-American status at Clarion University..
He also recalled how PV was considered a football doormat before rising to post a 7-4 record under coach Scott Fuhrman during his senior year.
Witzel was a three-sport standout at Pottstown High School, where she played field hockey, basketball and her best sport, lacrosse. She helped her basketball team win the District 1 championship, helped a downtrodden field hockey team return to respectability and led her lacrosse squad to many wins and accomplishments. She once scored 15 goals in one game and with her team losing, 7-0, scored eight straight goals to win the game, 8-7. She finished with more than 200 career goals before graduating to Towson University to play lacrosse. She was named Rookie of the Year by scoring 44 goals and 53 total points as a freshman. She led the nation with 3.74 goals per game her sophomore season, and set the Towson record with 71 goals She scored seven goals in the CAA championship game against Hofstra. She ranked fourth in scoring per game with 3.59 as a junior and was named first team CAA and third team All-American. After another great year as a senior, Witzel finished her career with 208 goals and was honored as Towson’s Senior Female Athlete of the Year. After graduation, she started a coaching career at Towson and then went to La Salle. Currently, Witzel is an assistant coach at the University of Cincinnati, where the head coaches fellow PHS graduate and Tri-County Hall of Famer Regina Oliver.
“It is truly humbling to be here with such fine gentlemen and as the only woman for 2016, but I am always up for a challenge,” said Witzel. “Winning was my focus. Regina Oliver set the bar for me. I had the competitive edge. I was always pushing to be better.”
Wright was a football and wrestling star at Pottstown High School. He was a dynamic athlete with a distinctive flair.
In football, he was selected All-Ches-Mont League during his junior and senior seasons at defensive end. Wright was chosen to play in the Montgomery County All-Star game and was named honorable mention All-State as a defensive end.
Wright won several tournaments in wrestling his junior and senior seasons and medaled in sectional, district and regional tournaments while being coached by head coach Jim Tsakonas and assistant coach John Armato. Wright said Armato was particularly helpful to him as a high school student-athlete and then helping him move on to Kutztown University.
Wright graduated from Pottstown in 1982 and then really flourished during his college career at Kutztown. He was named All-PSAC three times as a defensive end. In 1985, he was named All-American honorable mention defensive end and was ECAC Honor Roll three times in 1985. Wright earned ECAC Player of the Week honors against Shippensburg and East Stroudsburg, also in 1985.
Wright still rank as KU’s career leader in sacks with 25.5, and in 2015, was named to Kutztown’s 100th season all-time team. Wright will also be inducted into the Kutztown University Hall of Fame next week.
“Football is a game, but life is real,” said Wright. “People care for you. I encourage you fight through down times and to keep moving forward.”