LYNDORA — 399 and counting.

The 55th annual Butler County Sports Hall of Fame Banquet — postponed twice in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — took place Saturday night at the Lyndora American Legion Hall.

Ten people were inducted — bringing the HOF's membership to 399 — and the state runner-up 1972 Karns City boys basketball squad became the 10th team to be enshrined.

“This whole thing got started in 1966 when a group of Butler area businessmen decided to get together to honor Eddie Vargo,” BCSHOF president Dan Cunningham said. “He became a very successful major league umpire and our charter inductee.”

So many have joined him since.

Gaining enshrinement Saturday were Butler distance running legend Don Hinchberger, four-sport Mars standout Dave Crummy, Butler basketball greats Jack Hartung, Shawn Bellis and Olivia Bresnahan, Butler three-sport standout and former Penn State linebacker Tyrell Sales, Golden Tornado track and football standout Bill McElroy, track, golf and bowling standout Joe Heitzer, wrestling legend Fred Powell and legendary umpire John “Jack” Benton.

Denny Barger, an assistant coach for the 1972 KC boys basketball team, accepted the induction on behalf of the squad, Wayne Grazier was head coach of the team that finished 26-2 and took second in PIAA Class C that season.

“We should have won that (state championship) game,” Barger recalled. “We traveled all the way across the state, played a 9 p.m. game that night, then had to get up and play the (title) game that next morning.

“We had no legs left. We had our worst shooting percentage all year in that game. To this day, I wish we could have played that team again.”

Regardless, the team was greeted by fire trucks from the Chicora Fire Department at the base of the hill leading up to Chicora. A procession guided the team bus back to the high school.

“As we got off that bus, every one of us was hoisted on somebody's shoulders,” Barger said. “That's how much our community appreciated that team.

“We didn't get one complaint, not one negative comment, from any parent that whole year. What coach wouldn't appreciate that today? Great parents make great kids and great kids make great people.”

Players were Bill Kusick, Bob McElroy, Kevin Callihan, Dave Schrecongost, Don Black, Ed Price, Mike Smith, Kirk DuBois, Dave Miller, Joel Bell, Bill Hipple, Dennis Ellis, Jeff Baker, Ernie Molchany, Duane Fair, Ken Knox and Tom Kusick.

Comments concerning the 10 individual inductees follow:

Dave Crummy

His brother, 1990 BCSHOF inductee Bill Crummy, accepted on his behalf.

“We lived up on top of a hill in West Middlesex,” Crummy said. “For years, we got our strength training in from walking up that hill after getting off the school bus every day.

“We didn't have neighbors close by, so our parents played sports with us in the yard. Dave tackled our mother once and broke her ribs. She didn't know it at the time, so she got back up and got back into it.

“Dave got hurt (early in Penn State football career), but was able to stay on as a graduate assistant on that 1982 national championship team. He was very proud of that,” Crummy added.

Don Hinchberger

Dave McKinnis, a BCSHOF member who serves on the HOF Board of Directors, accepted on Hinchberger's behalf.

“Ed Hepe formed Butler's first cross country team (1962) to get his basketball players in shape for the upcoming season,” McKinnis said. “Don was joined by Howard Hammonds, Dave Eichenlaub, Dave Huff and Larry Young (from the track team).”

Butler's first cross country team finished third in the state. Hinchberger later ran for an undefeated cross country team at the University of Pittsburgh.

“During the winter months, Don and his four teammates took to the streets, the roads, the paths, in search of long distances and tough hills to conquer,” McKinnis said. “They ran together in all kinds of weather, mornings, evenings and weekends.

“Today, this is not an exceptional story. Distance running is commonplace and filled with high achievers. Back in 1961, it was brand new and devoted distance runners were viewed as odd fellows.”

Jack Hartung

Unable to attend, his brother, BCSHOF member Dick Hartung, accepted on his behalf.

“Jack was 6-foot-8 in 1962, the tallest player to play at Butler High School,” Hartung said. “Yet he sat the bench in eighth grade, sat the bench as a freshman and sophomore, played a little bit his junior year.

“Ed Hepe came in as coach for his senior year, saw the potential in Jack, and he started every game. He went on to start for two years at VMI and became the first basketball player from Butler to play in the NCAA Tournament.

“The name Ed Hepe in our house is sacred, for what he did for my brother,” Hartung added.

Olivia Bresnahan

She scored 1,395 points, ranks fifth all-time in rebounds at Butler with 732 and holds the school's girls basketball record of 419 career assists.

“I felt my passion as a basketball player at a very young age,” Bresnahan said. “Coach (Dorothea)Epps had us play full-court, non-stop, in-your-face defense and I loved it.

“I've been able to go to 10 different countries, play Division 1, all because of basketball. My mother was my biggest fan and biggest cheerleader, my dad my best rebounder.”

Bill McElroy

A Field MVP for Butler's track team, McElroy went on to play football as a lineman at West Virginia University.

“My dad was my hero and still is,” McElroy said. “Bill Tack, Ralph McElhaney, Hank Leyland were great coaches. They say coaches impact kids and (line coach) Mark Farabee impacted me.

“I became a health and physical education teacher, just like him. I became a game manager, just like him. My kids got into sports, just like his. My family is intense about competition, whether it's ping-pong, corn hole, it doesn't matter.

“Life for me is about God, family and sports,” McElroy added.

Tyrell Sales

Still ranked fourth on Butler's boys basketball scoring list with 1,205 points and setting the school discus record at 173 feet, 6 inches, Sales started 23 consecutive games at linebacker at Penn State and played in four bowl games.

“I've always been proud to be a Butler boy,” he said. “My grandmother died in 2018, but I still remember that cow bell ringing from the stands.

“I learned so much from Chris Morrow, He was 5-10, yet went around smacking people on the field. I had the advantage of being 6-3, 240. I ran around all over the place. We loved competing. We played all day long.

“Nothing happens by chance. You have to take the attitude of being the toughest dude in the room,” Sales added.

Shawn Bellis

Bellis held Butler's boys basketball scoring record of 1,466 points for 25 years. He scored 614 points and averaged 29 points per game in a season.

“This Hall of Fame is a wonderful thing,” he said. “I appreciate everybody who supported me and pushed me.

“Mark Maier, the only reason I broke your (scoring) record was because you beat me up when I was younger.”

Joe Heitzer

A standout track and field runner and hurdler from the 1930's, his daughter, Linda Gibala, accepted on his behalf.

“This is bittersweet for me because I wish he could be here to accept this,” Gibala said of her deceased father. “Dad was always a leader. He never gave up. He stumbled during a WPIAL race, got back up and still finished third.

“His nickname was Swifty. He served in World War II and said he could get to the shelter the fastest when the air raid siren went off.

“He loved to run and jump hurdles. He raised four kids who love to run and jump as well,” Gibala added.

John Benton

No one in his family was able to attend Saturday's banquet. Master of ceremonies Bob Cupp spoke on his behalf.

“He umpired baseball and softball for five decades,” Cupp said of the late Benton. “His brother, Chuck, is in this Hall of Fame. John was a pitcher and Chuck was his catcher.

“When John blew his arm out pitching, umpiring called his name. And he was dedicated to it.”

Fred Powell

Receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, Powell won national championships as a collegiate wrestler at Slippery Rock, won 215 dual matches as head wrestling coach at Slippery Rock State College, began the Slippery Rock High School wrestling program and is currently an assistant mat coach at Butler.

“Sports guided me in life,” Powell said. “I competed against world champions, but never beat them. But I learned from them and I enjoy passing that knowledge along.

“I demonstrate what I teach on the mat and I've paid the price for that. I don't pop up off the mat as fast as I used to, but I go down just as hard.

“I appreciate all of these athletes. It's inspirational to me to hear all of the different stories,” Powell added.