Warsaw Athletic Hall Of Fame Welcomes Inaugural Class
February 25, 2022 at 3:49 a.m.
Warsaw Athletic Hall Of Fame Welcomes Inaugural Class
By Connor McCann-
The idea for the new establishment to honor and remember WCS alumni came from Warsaw Athletic Director Matt Binkerd, who says having the idea for the hall was part of the reason he was offered the AD position.
“I had some experience in Eugene (OR) in putting together auction dinners and hall of fame events. When I got to Warsaw I saw that there was a rich history, one definitely deserving of a hall of fame. Now after being here for a little while, it’s even more deserving than I thought,” Binkerd said.
A committee made up of nine members with the purpose of “recognizing and honoring WCS athletes, coaches, teams and supporters who excelled in their respective sports, coaching profession or supporting roles”, chose the eleven members selected to the class. The committee met in the fall to look over all nominations and make decisions. Some qualifications, such as an individual or team state championship, are good for automatic entry.
“We wanted to start with a first class that honors the past, from a historical perspective,” Binkerd said. “We went back to the first individual state champion, Donald Stamats in 1921, to the first team champion, the 1976 girls basketball team.”
Stamats was the state champion in the 1921 440-yard dash as a three-sport athlete at Warsaw. He went on to teach in Caro, Ill. for 54 years. He passed away in 1989 at age 85. The 1976 girls basketball team, the first in school history, went undefeated and won the first ever state championship.
Joining Stamats and the ’76 team are as follows:
- Robert Chambers (1937 mile state champion, WWII veteran, passed away in 2003 at 85)
- Dave Burke (1951 high jump state champion, four-year athlete at Purdue)
- Max Truex (1954 mile state champion, 4:20.4 time still an IHSAA state record, 1956 & 1960 Olympian, passed away in 1991 at 55)
- Larry Ruch (1959 pole vault state champion, member of Indiana Cross country & Track Coaches Hall of Fame)
- Richard Fancil (1961 pole vault state champion, second-degree black belt in Karate)
- Ted Pinnick (1974 wrestling state champion, created the wrestling program at Collegiate High School in Virginia)
- Henry Ford (1979 wrestling state champion, winner of three B Class Championships in motocross racing)
- Scott Hutcherson (1981 wrestling state champion, All-American wrestler at Northern Iowa, 12-time recipient of the Outstanding Educator award while at Goshen High School)
- Troy Furnivall (1982 400M state champion, still holds five school track & field records at Warsaw.
“It was really enjoyable getting a hold of the nominees, they seem so honored and blessed,” Binkerd said.
With more individual and team champions to honor in the future, WCS will have no problem filling its hall.
“As someone from the outside looking in, this is a special place,” Binkerd said. “I see our attendance and our following and I can’t tell you how much we appreciate it. The grass isn’t greener anywhere else.”
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The idea for the new establishment to honor and remember WCS alumni came from Warsaw Athletic Director Matt Binkerd, who says having the idea for the hall was part of the reason he was offered the AD position.
“I had some experience in Eugene (OR) in putting together auction dinners and hall of fame events. When I got to Warsaw I saw that there was a rich history, one definitely deserving of a hall of fame. Now after being here for a little while, it’s even more deserving than I thought,” Binkerd said.
A committee made up of nine members with the purpose of “recognizing and honoring WCS athletes, coaches, teams and supporters who excelled in their respective sports, coaching profession or supporting roles”, chose the eleven members selected to the class. The committee met in the fall to look over all nominations and make decisions. Some qualifications, such as an individual or team state championship, are good for automatic entry.
“We wanted to start with a first class that honors the past, from a historical perspective,” Binkerd said. “We went back to the first individual state champion, Donald Stamats in 1921, to the first team champion, the 1976 girls basketball team.”
Stamats was the state champion in the 1921 440-yard dash as a three-sport athlete at Warsaw. He went on to teach in Caro, Ill. for 54 years. He passed away in 1989 at age 85. The 1976 girls basketball team, the first in school history, went undefeated and won the first ever state championship.
Joining Stamats and the ’76 team are as follows:
- Robert Chambers (1937 mile state champion, WWII veteran, passed away in 2003 at 85)
- Dave Burke (1951 high jump state champion, four-year athlete at Purdue)
- Max Truex (1954 mile state champion, 4:20.4 time still an IHSAA state record, 1956 & 1960 Olympian, passed away in 1991 at 55)
- Larry Ruch (1959 pole vault state champion, member of Indiana Cross country & Track Coaches Hall of Fame)
- Richard Fancil (1961 pole vault state champion, second-degree black belt in Karate)
- Ted Pinnick (1974 wrestling state champion, created the wrestling program at Collegiate High School in Virginia)
- Henry Ford (1979 wrestling state champion, winner of three B Class Championships in motocross racing)
- Scott Hutcherson (1981 wrestling state champion, All-American wrestler at Northern Iowa, 12-time recipient of the Outstanding Educator award while at Goshen High School)
- Troy Furnivall (1982 400M state champion, still holds five school track & field records at Warsaw.
“It was really enjoyable getting a hold of the nominees, they seem so honored and blessed,” Binkerd said.
With more individual and team champions to honor in the future, WCS will have no problem filling its hall.
“As someone from the outside looking in, this is a special place,” Binkerd said. “I see our attendance and our following and I can’t tell you how much we appreciate it. The grass isn’t greener anywhere else.”
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