Conti

FREEPORT — It's fitting that Bill Dillen and Clyde Conti will be inducted into the Armstrong County Hall of Fame's induction class next month.

It seems they were together when it all got started.

Dillen, a science and biology teacher and the track and field coach at Freeport, and Conti, a civics teacher and football coach at Slippery Rock High, have been intertwined since their childhood in Freeport.

"You're going way back," said Conti. "We were at St. Mary's Catholic grade school. ... I took him deep over the right-field fence when I played for the Giants and he played for the Indians.

"There was a group of us in lower Freeport. It started out playing Strat-O-Matic baseball games back in 1964.

"Today, I consider Bill my most trusted friend. If you want it for someone else in life, it's for him,"Conti added.

"He's a nice guy and I get to go in with my buddy," said Dillen. "We grew up together. We played ball, ran track. We still go to games and stay in contact."

Dillen and Conti will be joined by Apollo's John Stankus (football), Apollo-Ridge's Jack Yard (baseball), Ford City's Brian Hobaugh (baseball), Kittanning's Larry Kunselman (football) and Bob Mervis (sports official), Leechburg's Kathy Lookbaugh (basketball) and Bill Daugherty (baseball), and Worthington's Roy E. Bowser (baseball coach).

The induction ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. April 27 at Laube Hall.

Dillen, 58, has been the publicity director for the Hall of Fame the past few years, but his nomination came as a surprise.

"One of my former players, Chad Ravotti, nominated me," said Dillen. "I wasn't there the night they voted. I had someone else tell me."

Dillen, a 1968 graduate, had a stellar track and football career at Freeport and was the first Yellowjackets thrower (javelin) to earn a WPIAL medal and to qualify for the state meet.

He served as an assistant football coach under Don Early and Gary Kepple, and was the head coach from 2004-07. He also coached the secondary at Carnegie Mellon University for three seasons and has been a coach at some level for almost 35 years.

But Dillen has enjoyed phenomenal success as a track coach.Entering his 15th season at the helm, Dillen has a combined 262-61 record and 13 section championships. From 2001-05, the boys team won back-to-back titles, were undefeated three times and won 44 consecutive meets before losing in the team semifinalsThe girls team also enjoyed success, finishing as Class AA runners-up three times and were 46-3 overall. The 2000 girls team was fourth at the PIAAChampionships and the 2004 team was fifth.Dillen was named the Alle-Kiski Track Coach of the Year four times and earned the Pennsylvania Football Coaches Association's Assistant Coaches Service Award in 1998.Conti, who graduated one year after Dillen, was a member of the Yellowjackets' 1967 and 1968 WPIAL runner-up football teams and also excelled in track and basketball.Conti compiled a 136-71-3 record in his time as head football coach at Clarion-Limestone, winning several conference titles despite having one of the smallest enrollments in District 9.At Slippery Rock the past six seasons, Conti is 36-29, including the school's first Mercer County Athletic Conference championship, as well as a trip to the PIAA Western Final in 2003.Conti is relishing the of being honored alongside Dillen."It's a chance to go in, not just with a teammate, but a special friend,"Conti said.Hobaugh, 47, of Valencia, was a three-sport star for the Sabers, especially in his senior year. He was an all-section selection in basketball, threw for 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns in football and led the baseball team in strikeouts that year.He attended the University of Iowa on a baseball scholarship and earned all-Big Ten second-team status. He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins and spent three seasons (1983-85) in their farm system.He became the Mars baseball coach in 1990 and went 121-60 over nine seasons. The 1993 team reached the WPIALsemifinals and earned a berth in the state playoffs.Hobaugh also spent 15 seasons as a Mars varsity assistant football coach up through the 2006 season."Four years into my time at Mars, about 1992, I picked up being a football coach," said Hobaugh, who is in his 20th year as a biology teacher at Mars. "I did both baseball and football from 1992 to 1998.Hobaugh has since returned to the Planets baseball team, this time as an assistant coach.Another inductee with Butler County ties includes Kunselman, who helped guide the Knoch football team to the WPIAL championship game in 1980 and has enjoyed success throughout his football playing and coaching career.After playing four years for the Wildcats, Kunselman was a three-year letterwinner (1961-63) as an offensive guard at Slippery Rock University, where he was all-district, all-state and a co-captain his senior year.He led Knoch and Kiski Area into the WPIAL playoffs a combined six times and has been an assistant coach at four schools, including Knoch, where he currently is under head coach Mike King.<B>Notes:</B> The Armstrong County Hall of Fame also acknowledges student honorees to its eight schools, including those from Freeport and Karns City.Christine Marty and Pete Cline are the Freeport girls and boys representatives, while Audra Buechele and Chris Harmon represent Karns City.

Dillen