Jul 15, 2022 4 min read

Did you know that C.B. Stryker was the Greene County Country Club golf champion in 1925 and that no award was given in 1929?

Or that the Jacktown High School football team defeated Rogersville, 12-0, in 1928, despite having only 13 players on the team.

Or that Raymond (Bucky) Murdock, when he wasn’t fighting in two wars and becoming one of the first helicopter pilots in United States history, lost only one dual meet wrestling match in his scholastic career?

Or that Reed Huffman was the first WPIAL wrestling champion from Waynesburg, winning the 105-pound title in 1940?

How did I come upon these little nuggets?

Those tidbits, and thousands more are contained in two books written by Bret Moore that detail a part of the sports history of Greene County: Rough & Ungentlemanly Tactics, A History of Sports in Greene County, Pennsylvania Volume 1 (1860-1960) and Volume 2 (1960-2020).

The first book, which stretches just more than 100 pages, is filled with black and white photos but, more important, goes into great detail on the sports heroes of that time.

The second book has crisp, clear color photos sprinkled through its 180 pages.

“I’ve always had an interest in it,” said Moore. “I ran into some excerpts from the past, whether it was from (former O-R correspondent) John O’Hara and people like that and it would be an excerpt here, a story there. So I thought it would be great to gather everything in one source and put it together,”

The books are an easy read and give concise information. The bio for Greg Hopkins, for example, who had a massive amount of accomplishments while at West Greene High School, Waynesburg High School, Slippery Rock University and in the Arena Football League, are as tightly written as the bio of Carlos Gibbs, a record-setting runner for Waynesburg and beyond.

In other areas, it breathes new life in old accomplishments.

Such as Jerry Yost of West Greene, who became West Virginia’s first All-America quarterback.

Or Steve Korcheck of Carmichaels, who spent five seasons with the Washington Senators and was a third-round selection by the San Francisco 49ers in 1954.

Or Waynesburg teacher and coach Homer Shaffer, who served as scoreboard operator at West Virginia University basketball and football games for 47 years. He was a three-year letterwinner in baseball for the Mountaineers.

Besides the accumulation of statistics, the hardest part about writing the book was getting the first name of the players correct. For some reason, the further back you go, the more either a single letter stood for the first name or there was nothing at all.

“Usually, I’d have to look in the yearbooks,” Moore said. “Normally, they would be listed in the class section.”

Easy as A, B, C.

A for Alex Pearson of Greensboro, who was a major leaguer in 1902.

B for Bill George of Waynesburg, who is credited with creating the standup middle linebacker position.

C for Cary Kolat, one of the greatest wrestlers at Jefferson-Morgan High School, the WPIAL, the PIAA and later the world.

Moore got his writing chops from his father, Jim, who worked for a number of publications, including the Observer-Reporter.

Dave Cressey, president of the Cornerstone Genealogical Society, the Greene County Historical Society as well as the area schools were of great help in gathering information.

Hours were spent going over microfilm.

“It was tough getting approval to use the photographs,” Moore said. “It was just fun going back and looking over them.”

One of the many surprises that came about from his research was the popularity of women’s sports at the turn of the 20th century.

“Women’s basketball and girls basketball at the turn of the century were pretty popular,” Moore said. “It wasn’t until the 1920s that women’s sports began to fade away.”

The 63-year-old Moore, a graduate of Waynesburg High School and Waynesburg University, is contemplating a third book, one that emphasizes the photographs.

That would be just fine with fans of the first two books.

That included Charlie (Piano Legs) Hickman, who played for three major league baseball teams including the Cleveland Naps.