Two local individuals, teams chosen for WPIAL Hall of Fame
It might sound cliche when athletes and coaches say they never played or coached with aspirations of being inducted into a hall of fame, but according to former Washington boys basketball coach Ron Faust, it never crept into his mind.
“Those kinds of things are not even in the picture when you are coaching,” Faust said. “To be included in a group with guys that I looked up to like Abe Everhart and Ed McLuskey is great.”
Faust, Charleroi’s Jim Chacko, the 1989 Peters Township boys soccer team and the 2011-12 Canon-McMillan boys wrestling team make up four of the 14 inductees into the WPIAL Hall of Fame Class of 2024 that was announced Wednesday.
Faust, a 1969 Wash High graduate, coached his alma mater for 36 seasons and compiled a record of 653-241 with two Class 2A state championships in 1984 and 1986 and four WPIAL titles in 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1990. The Prexies were 6-0 in WPIAL and PIAA championship games.
Washington won 22 section titles under Faust and had a 52-game winning streak from 1984 to 1985. Faust was twice named the Dapper Dan Basketball Coach of the Year and was the Pennsylvania Class 2A Coach of the Year in 1984.
“You really need to have the perfect storm when it comes to being successful as a coach,” Faust said. “I had great people around me and my family made a lot of sacrifices. We had the athletes, and I was very fortunate to coach some great players.
“I also want to thank some of my mentors, including John Unice and Doug Masciola, who really helped me when I was getting started. I played for John my senior year in high school, but I really didn’t think about coaching at that time. I was an assistant coach with Doug at Wash High before coaching with John at Washington & Jefferson before I got the head coaching job at Wash High.”
Faust graduated from California State College in 1973, where he was a four-year letterwinner in baseball. He continues his love of baseball by serving as the official scorer of the Pony League World Series.
Former Canon-McMillan wrestling coach Chris Mary believes the 2011-2012 version of the Big Macs will go down as one of the greatest teams in Pennsylvania history after finishing 26-0 and winning WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A titles, and scoring the most points in the WPIAL and PIAA individual championships with eight placewinners.
“Those were special moments and times, and we were blessed to have a special group of kids,” Mary said. “We worked those kids hard and had them programmed like machines. We were working like a Division-I program, and it showed when these kids got on the mat. We were a family and the chemistry was there. We also had depth and stayed injury free. We had multiple heroes on that team.”
Canon-McMillan’s 28-25 victory in the semifinals of the Class 3A dual-meet state tournament over Central Dauphin was one of the highlest of the season.
“They were on a streak of like 80 or 90 wins in a row and we beat them in the semifinals,” Mary said. “It was such a special moment to win that match, and then we were able to win the title after that match.”
The Big Macs continued their success in the individual portion of the season.
“We had eight guys wrestle in the WPIAL finals and we had eight placewinners, with one guy placing from first through eighth at states,” Mary said. “That has never been done before, and I don’t think it will ever be done again.”
This will be Mary’s third induction into the WPIAL Hall of Fame, as he was inducted as a member of his alma mater, Chartiers-Houston, and was honored as a coach.
Chacko worked as a WPIAL official for football, basketball and baseball, and umpired pro baseball in the Gulf Coast League and MLB spring training. He officiated for ABC’s “Superstars” television show.
Prior to becoming an official and a girls basketball coach, Chacko was a four-sport athlete at Charleroi. He lettered in baseball, basketball, football and track & field. Charleroi won a WPIAL title in basketball when Chacko was a junior.
Chacko was named to the All-State and All-America First Team as a senior in 1959. He scored 1,188 career points. He played college baseball at Long Beach State..
The Peters Township boys soccer team was 23-2-2 in 1989 and defended its Class 2A WPIAL and PIAA championships while allowing 19 goals in 27 games with 15 shutouts.
The Indians outscored their postseason opponents 23-0 with a 1-0 victory over Quaker Valley in the WPIAL title game. Peters Township played Great Valley to a scoreless draw in the state final.
The induction ceremony is scheduled for May 31 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Green Tree.