Six inducted into SBA Hall of Fame
By Jim Dresbach
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sports@bcrnews.com
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| Brother George Matsuoka slips into his Hall of Fame jacket during Saturday afternoon’s St. Bede Academy Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony at Abbot Vincent Gymnasium. The Bruin varsity football squad presented Matsuoka with his jacket, plaque, flowers and some candy bars. (BCR photo/Jim Dresbach) |
PERU — Decades of athletic excellence and organizational insight were celebrated at the ninth St. Bede Academy Athletic Hall of Fame Induction held early Saturday afternoon inside Abbot Vincent Gymnasium.
The decade of the 1970s was represented well as Col. John F. Gaughan (retired), Joe Liesse and Walt Manijak earned accolades and praise for excellent play during multi-sport careers at SBA. Lauren Gidcumb Mingus of the class of ‘99, Illinois Valley sports-organizing pioneer William Pelkey and longtime Academy mainstay Brother George Matsuoka were also presented for induction among the Bruin elite.
The ceremony produced a highlight moment for Brother Matsuoka and the St. Bede Bruin football team two hours before the varsity kickoff. Introduced first, Matsuoka was met by the Bruins who collectively presented him with his plaque and HOF coat and offered flowers and candy.
“It was the kids’ (idea); we knew about it,” SBA coach John Bellino said about the Bruins’ appearance for Brother George’s induction. “We planned for them (to be there) because that’s our prep time, and we decided to let them go up there.
“Brother George is a great guy. He’s been here since I was here (as a student).”
Gaughan, who graduated in 1970, was quick to recognize his mentors at St. Bede as one of those mentors – legendary coach John Gaughan and young John’s father – witnessed the ceremony.
“I was fortunate to play for my dad, coach (Harold) Gaffney and coach (Don) Wyzgowski,” Gaughan said of his SBA coaches. “But I was most fortunate of the training that went into the classrooms.”
Gaughan, now an Air Force Junior ROTC instructor and a retired Air Force Colonel, threw 26 touchdown passes as a Bruin signal caller.
Calling his HOF induction an “unexpected honor”, Liesse, a tough, spirited member of mid to late 1970’s SBA football teams, told a story about moving on to play college football at Winona State, but the Bruins were never far away.
“When you were new at Winona State, you had to sing a fight song,” Liesse started to unveil his yarn. “When it was my turn, frankly (the St. Bede Fight Song) was the best I heard in my two years there. I had 100 players doing the B. . . B . . .B-R-U. . .”
Manijak, the ace of the Bruin pitching staff in the spring of 1978, a John Gaughan-trained quarterback and a Bruin basketball star, remembered his coaches who put him in the position to succeed and his rivalry tussles with the LaSalle-Peru Cavaliers.
“Those were games I personally looked forward to,” Manijak said after the ceremony. “Growing up, the guys at L-P were my friends; every year I circled those dates on the schedule.”
The induction of Lady Bruin multi-sports star Lauren Gidcumb Mingus concluded the ceremony, and her speech included the mention of two of her coaches - Father Philip Davey and Tom McGunnigal – both who were present at the ceremony.
“I was a little nervous (knowing I was going into the Hall of Fame),” Gidcumb Mingus confessed. “When we got here, going down the lane brought back a lot of memories; it was a real good feeling to be back. To be in with such a great group of people is amazing.”
Gidcumb Mingus, from the Class of 1999, was the youngest inductee Saturday while the late William Pelkey, the SBA Class of 1933, was among the oldest. Pelkey was responsible for organizing many local sporting leagues including LaSalle Little League and the forerunner of Illinois Valley Vouth Football – the Ptak TNT’s.
Pelkey also contributed to the SBA athletic department as a videographer and scoreboard operator. The Pelkey family, on hand for the ceremony noted William’s “love of kids and Illinois Valley organized sports.”
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