Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Wrestling Hall of Fame

The Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame held its 29th Annual Honors Day Banquet on April 30, 2023 at the Hershey Lodge, in Hershey, PA.  This year actually marked the 30thyear since the Pennsylvania Chapter was established as the first and oldest State Chapter by the NWHOF Museum in Stillwater, OK.  Ten outstanding individuals were inducted on April 30, and all will be enshrined in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Stillwater, OK.  Approximately 390 attendees attended the Honors Day Banquet.  The inductees were:

Lifetime Service to Wrestling. Frank Ferrandinoreturned to his alma mater and began coaching wrestling and football in 1991-92.  The year before Frank became the wrestling coach, Wyomissing participated in NO DUAL MEETS, and the program was in danger of being eliminated.  Frank took the helm and reenergized the program.  Through the next 31 years, Frank guided the Spartans to 331 wins, entering the 22-23 season.

Frank coached 17 District, 8 Regional & 3 State Champs.  His teams won 7 Sectional/League Team Titles, and reached the D-3Team Duals Finals 3 times.  In 2022, Frank started one of the first girls wrestling teams in Berks County.  

Frank is an assistant football coach for the Spartan team, and also was an assistant Baseball Coach for 18 years.  He continues as the Athletic Director, head wrestling coach & head offensive football coach at Wyomissing. Since 1994 he’s been President of the Berks County Wrestling Coaches Association, the AD Sports Chair of Berks County Wrestling. And he serves on the District III Wrestling Steering Committee.

Lifetime Service to Wrestling. Todd Herzog is ateacher at Northern Lehigh Middle School and retired from Coaching in 2013. Todd was a 4-year letterman at Northern Lehigh High School, then attended East Stroudsburg University and graduated in 1990.  Todd started coaching in 1991 as an assistant, then in 1996 he became the Varsity Head Coach.   He was a 4X Colonial Coach of the year, 5X District XI Coach of the year, NE Regional Coach of the Year in 2000, in the 2005 PIAA AA Coach of the Year.  Todd was inducted in the District XI Hall of Fame in 2011.

Todd coached 49 League, 35 District and 20 Regional Champions and has 4 PIAA State Champions, 65 PIAA State Qualifiers and 43 State Medalists.

He has twice won the District XI Officials Sportsman Award, 4 times the Morning Call Team of the Year, 5 times Colonial League Champion, 5 times District XI Tournament Champions, 5 timesDistrict XI Dual Meet Champions and twice were the Southeast Regional Champions.

Lifetime Service to Wrestling. Charlie Jacobs was a graduate of Dover High School and West Chester State.  

Charlie started his wrestling coaching career in 1969 as Assistant Varsity Coach and Head Jr High Coach at Tussey Mountain School District.  In 1972 he was Head Elementary Wrestling Coach at Dover Area School District, then in 1976 he became the Head Varsity Coach at Dover and continued there until 1992.

His overall Varsity coaching record is 194 wins, 56 loses, 2 ties. Charlie coached 16 seasons as a head wrestling coach, and each year his team had a winning record. His Team earned the PIAA District Ill Sectional Team Championships four times.  In 1982-83, Dover was District Ill AAA Team Champs and South Central Regional Champions.  In 1983-84, Regional Runners-up, and 3rd in 1983-84.  His Eagles won two YCIAA League Championships, and one tough Manheim Central Christmas Tournament. He coached 9 District Ill Champs, 36 Sectional Champs, and 11 Manheim Holiday Champs

In 1991, he was inducted into the District Ill Wrestling Coaches HOF.  In 2005, Charlie was Inducted into the York Area Sports HOF, and in 2015 he was inducted into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches HOF.

Lifetime Service to Wrestling. Fred Kavelak has distinguished himself as a devoted professional writer and sports editor for the Clearfield Progress and later a sports reporter for Gant News.

Fred was meticulous in media tasks, going far beyond the ordinary in his wrestling coverage. He had exceptional insight into wrestling issues, consistently providing enough coverage to satisfy the appetites the avid wrestling community. His coverage included pre-match lineups and key matches, detailed post-match reports and insightful weekly opinion columns. Fred would include was a margined section of weekly box scores from local teams, and even rivals located outside the area of Progress coverage. His post season tournament coverage was extensive, featuring brackets, predictions, reporting and interviews.

Fred spearheaded the Clearfield County Region Chapter of the PA Sports Hall of Fame. Fred has been a well-respected pillar of the Clearfield County wrestling community for decades.  He’s been inducted into the District 9 Wrestling Coaches, the Clearfield County, and PA Wrestling Coaches Halls of Fame.

Lifetime Service to Wrestling. Jerry Maurey was a 1950 graduate of Clearfield High School, wrestling for legendary Hall of Fame Coach, Art Weiss.  Jerry was a 4X PIAA State Champion, compiling a career 67-0 record!  

He was a 1954 graduate of Penn State, with a career record of 34-5-1.  He was a 2X All-American, and EIWA Champ in 1953 and 1954, after taking second in 1952.  He then was at a very high level on the national/Olympic scene while serving time in the USAF. He began coaching in 1958 at Central Cove HS and coached at Clearfield from 1959-64 with a record of 52-7. In 1964 he moved into college coaching as an assistant at Bloomsburg.  Jerry moved to Florida A&M University in 1967 and started the wrestling program there, and remained until 1972. He completed his coaching career Lincoln High School starting in 1991 until 1993.

Jerry has numerous awards during and after his career: PWCA HOF, Clearfield Sports HOF, District 9 Wrestling HOF, National AAU HOF, EIWA HOF and also Penn State Outstanding Alumnus Award.

Lifetime Service to Wrestling. Dan Muthler graduated from Jersey Shore High School in 1971, where he won the Sectional, District 4, NE Regional and the PIAA State Championships in both his Jr. and Sr. Years.

He graduated and earned his commission from theUS Naval Academy in 1975.  At Navy, he was a 2X Wilkes Open Champ (and the OW in one of the years).  Dan was an EIWA Champ in 1974. In 1973, he won the 142 lb. NCAA Championship.

He was a US World Freestyle team alternate behind Dan Gable, a 4X Inter-Service Champ, winning 2 Freestyle and 2 Greco titles.  He also was a 3X AAU National Freestyle place winner and a Greco place winner.

Dan started coaching in 1977 as an assistant at Pensacola High School in Florida, then was an assistant at Jersey Shore in 1988, and again from 2004 to 2020. Dan moved on to Lycoming College as an assistant coach in 1989 to 2000. He was also a PIAA wrestling official from 1989 to 1994.

Dan has been inducted into the PWCA, the West Branch Sports, and the US Naval Academy Halls of Fame.  He was honored by the City of Williamsport’s “Walk of Fame” in 2016.  

Lifetime Service to Wrestling. Tom Muir was a 1969 graduate from Lehigh University, competed from 1965 to 1969.  He was an EIWA runner-up, and 2X 3rd place.  Tom was the 1965 Wilkes Open Champ.  He wrestled at Philipsburg-Osceola High School and earned District 6 and NW Regional Championships.

Tom was PIAA Wrestling Official and worked at PIAA states for two years.  He was a District 5 Committee member, then was the PIAA State Wrestling Tournament Director from 1985 to 1988, and served as Supervisor of Officials.

Tom was inducted into the West Branch Sports Hall of Fame 2017 and received Juniata Valley High School Medal for service to wrestling.  As a high school administrator and principal, Tom oversaw the consolidation of Bald Eagle-Nittany, Sugar Valley and Lock Haven into Central Mountain School District, and a combined high school.

Tom is a Charter Member of the Central PA Retired Wrestling Coaches bi-annual breakfasts which draw about 200 former wrestling people from all over the state and beyond.

Lifetime Service to Wrestling. Blair Packer was a District VI champ and Regional Runner-Up at Bald Eagle Area High School, and graduated from Penn State with a BS in 1979 and a Master’s in 1992. Blair started his coaching career in 1979 in the Glendale Area, spent 21 years coaching there before moving in 2000 to Tyrone Area, where he retired after 14 years and accumulated 307 coaching wins. Blair was the 1989-91 District 6 Wrestling Association President and then its Treasurer for 4 years.  In 2004 he was named the District 6 Coach of the Year.

Blair was a 2012 District 6 Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee, and he is ranked 4th in most District 6 Coaching Wins. At Tyrone, his team was the D-6 Runner-up in   2003, District 6 Champions in 2004 and 2005 and was District 6 third in 2006.

Blair coached 22 District Champions and had one 4-time Champion, and one 3-time Champion.  He coached 3 District VI outstanding wrestlers.  He had 9 Southwest Regionals Champions and 2 PIAA State Champions.

Medal of Courage. Hunter Zondory wrestled in high school at Jersey Shore Area, graduating in 2016.  He is a May 2022 Graduate from Messiah College, where he was a student assistant coach following a devastating injury.  Hunter was tragically injured during pre-season practice his freshman year that left him paralyzed from the chest down, ending his competitive career. He suffered a broken neck and for the next year he spent time in intensive care and rehabilitation and out-patient physical therapy.  

Through determination, faith, and God’s grace he relearned to walk. After another year of rehab Hunter was able to rejoin the wrestling team as a student assistant coach. Hunter was at every practice and competition and thus extended his joy and gratitude is truly remarkable way. In addition, Hunter has trained and competed in Cross-Fit events. Hunter is determined to make the most of his situation and is an inspiration to others. Hunter is a May 2019 Giants Steps award recipient for the Middle Atlantic Conference and was a 2X PIAA State qualifier in 2015 and 2016 and is a member of Athlete in Action.

Outstanding American. Keith Masser is Chairman/CEO of Sterman Masser, Inc. a family owned and operated 5000-acre potato growing, packing, processing and shipping operation. Hegraduated in 1973 from Penn State with a B.S. with Distinction in Agricultural Engineering. In 1984, he purchased his parent’s agricultural business, transforming from a small family farm to one of America’s top potato shippers, leading the industry in Food Safety, Sustainabilityand Corporate Responsibility.

In 2004, Keith founded Keystone Potato Products LLC, a potato processing company.  In 2008, he founded Fresh Solution Farms LLC, a produce packing and distribution company in SW Michigan.

Keith served the Pennsylvania State University as a member of the Board of Trustees since 2008. He served as Chairman of the board of trustees from 2013 until 2016, and was chairman of the compensation committee. In 2020, he was named an Emeritus Trustee, recognizing his many years of service.

Keith served on the board of the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and on the Penn State Health System board. He was vice-chair of the Penn State Health board served as chair of the finance committee. He is a member of the Mount Nittany Society, the Penn State Alumni Association, and the ArmsbyAgricultural Honor Society. He has been honored as a Penn State, College of Agricultural Sciences Outstanding Alumni and as a MidAtlantic Master Farmer.

Keith currently chairs the Hubley Township Board of supervisors and the Schuylkill County Farmland Preservation board. He serves on the Schuylkill County Airport Authority board. Keith is a 1969 Tri–Valley High School graduate; he was recognized in the Tri-Valley Hall of Fame for his efforts on the mat. He proudly wrestled all through his high school years, Additionally, Keith was leader on the school football team.

They are: 

Front row: Charlie, Jacobs, Frank Ferrandino, Hunters Zondory, Todd, Herzog, and Keith Masser.

Second row: Tom Muir, Blair Packer, Dan Muthler, for Jerry Maurey, Andrew Maurey, and Fred Kavelak.