Greenville announces latest class for Hall of Fame

Aug. 19—The Greenville 2022 Hall of Fame inductees are a little over a week away from getting their moment in the spotlight.

The former Trojans will be honored on Aug. 26 at 6:30 p.m. prior to Greenville's football season opener against Hubbard.

This year's class includes: Andy Blatt, football; Laura (Beatty) Bullock, basketball, track and field and volleyball; Dennis Fell, cross country and track; Glen "Larry" Cooper, cross country and wrestling; Steve Riley, wrestling, football and track; Kenneth A. Scott, football, basketball and track; Colleen (Currie) Taylor, volleyball, basketball and track; Gary Taylor, football, wrestling and track; Norman Walker, wrestling and football; Doug Weaver, wrestling, football and track.

— Blatt was a star running back for the Trojans, and after high school, played for Westminster College.

He amassed 3,677 career rushing yards and 70 touchdowns. In 1990, Blatt helped lead the Trojans to a 7-3-1 record and was named first team All-Northwest Conference.

The following year, the Trojans won the conference title and posted a 10-2 record on their way to becoming the fourth-ranked team in the state. They finished as the District 10 runner-ups, falling to Hickory. In the loss, Blatt ran for 248 years.

That season, Blatt ran for 1,974 yards and 44 touchdowns, which was the PIAA record for single season rushing touchdowns. He earned first team All-Northwest Conference honors.

He was also a four-time letter winner in track. He was the anchor of the 4x100 relay team that set the school record and eventually placed third at state. He also was the district runner up in the 110 hurdles and placed fourth at state in the event.

At Westminster, Blatt finished with 4,627 yards rushing and 811 carries — both rank third all time in the Titans' record books. He set the school records with 56 rushing touchdowns and 68 total TDs. He was a two-time NAIA All-American and led the Titans to the 1994 NAIA Division II National Championship.

— Bullock was a two-time Mercer County Athletic Conference first-team selection in 1989 and 1990 while playing hoops.

In track, she participated in the hurdles and javelin, qualifying for districts in the events. She was the Most Valuable Track Athlete in 1989 and won the Reames Memorial Award in 1990.

But she stood out the most in volleyball. She was first team All-MCAC and first team District 10 from 1987-89, the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association All-State 1988-89 and selected to the Great Lakes Region Scholastic Division Girls Volleyball Team in 1989.

She attended Edinboro University of Pennsylvania after high school. She was named All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference first team in 1990 and 1991, was a first team American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Atlantic honoree in 1991 and 1992 and received an All-American nomination in 1990.

— Cooper won the Section 2 and District 10 wrestling titles while leading the Trjoans to a 12-3 team record. He placed fourth at regionals and qualified for state.

He went on to wrestle at Thiel College before transferring to Pittsburgh, where he earned his degree in Health, Physical and Recreation Education and Dance.

Cooper went onto become the first certified athletic trainer for the Arlington, Va., County Public School System. In 1991, he moved to Monroeville to become the head athletic trainer for East Suburban Sports Medicine Center in Monroeville. In 1993, he started the sports medicine curriculum for the Penn-Trafford School District in Harrison City.

Cooper became professionally active at the regional and national level with the National Athletic Trainers Association (chair of the Secondary School Athletic Trainers Committee), the Eastern Athletic Trainers Association (executive council) and the Pennsylvania Athletic Trainers Society (chair of Membership Committee and Secondary School Committee, Southwest Regional Representative, Parliamentarian).

He was inducted into the PA Athletic Trainers' Society Hall of Fame (2014) and the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame (2016).

— Fell was one of the first members of the Greenville cross country team in 1968. He placed fourth that season at districts and 14th at state.

Fell won his first District 10 title in 1969 and placed 12th at state. and as a senior, he repeated as the district champion and won the Class B state title with a time of 12:50.6, becoming the first Mercer County runner to win the state cross country championship.

He won 32 races in his four years with the Trojans. Fell also held or was a part of records set in the 2 1/2 mile, two-mile relay, one-mile relay, one-mile run and the two-mile run.

After high school, Fell ran for Kansas State University, where he participated in cross country and indoor and outdoor track. An injury cut his career short, but he transferred to Penn State University and later founded Mid Ohio Valley Marketing, a food service brokerage company in Parkersburg, W. Va.

— Riley won the 1974 (185-pound weight class) and the 1975 (unlimited) Class B titles in wrestling. He was a three-time regional champion and was named an All-American after his senior season in 1975.

He received All-State honorable mention in football and All-Mercer County in 1974. In track and field, Riley also won a state medal in the shot put and held the school record in the event.

Riley was inducted into the Mercer County Hall of Fame in 2019.

— Scott was named first team All-Mercer County and received All-State honorable mention after scoring 116 points on the gridiron in 1963. The Trojans went 7-2 that season and won the Mercer County Class A title.

He played football for Tennessee after his time in Greenville. After standing out on offense in high school and his first year with the Volunteers, he was moved to defense.

The Tennessee sports information department did not start tracking defensive stats until 1970, so Scott's college information is unavailable.

— Colleen Taylor earned 11 letters in volleyball, basketball and track.

In volleyball, Taylor was a three-time first team All-Mercer County honoree and was named the county MVP her junior and senior seasons. She had a team-high serve rate at 94.4 percent, 86.9 percent kill efficiency and 93.9 percent serve-receive efficiency and a school record 47.5 percent kill rate.

She scored 960 career points in basketball. She finished with 397 points and a 34 percent shooting percentage in her senior season, adding 237 rebounds, 30 assists and 34 steals.

As a thrower in 1986, Taylor competed in shot put, discus and javelin. She earned a trip to state that season and was named the Outstanding Field Athlete and won the Bill Reames Memorial Award.

She played volleyball and basketball at Westminster College. She was a three-time All-NAIA District 18 selection with the Titans in volleyball. She was inducted into the Titan Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.

— Gary Taylor was a member of the Trojans team that won the Mercer County Championship in football in 1966.

In wrestling, Taylor competed for Greenville teams that went 12-2 in 1966 and 14-0 in 1967. He won the Section 3 and D-10 championships, and he was the runner-up at the regional meet.

Taylor went on to wrestle at Clarion, where he placed fourth in the Eastern Wrestling League Championships. After transfering to East Stroudsburg, he decided to get into coaching.

He was named the head coach at Division I Rider University. The Broncs won 14 conference titles during his 39-year stint with the program. He was named the conference Coach of the Year nine times. He coached 15 wrestlers to 17 All-America honors, 110 individual conference championships and 173 NCAA appearances.

Taylor received the Frank N. Elliott Award for Distinguished Service from Rider in 2010, and in 2014, the university presented him the Sesquicentennial Medal of Excellence, Rider's most prestigious award.

He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018, the Rider University Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Mercer County Hall of Fame in 2020.

Taylor retired in 2017 but remains the third winningest coach in NCAA wrestling history with 442 wins.

— Walker won the state wrestling title in 1976 while competing in the 185 division. He was also a runner-up in the heavyweight class in 1974 and placed third at 185 in 1975.

He won the section, district and region titles in 1975 and 1976. He was the first Pennsylvania wrestler to amass 100 victories, finishing with a 104-9-1 record.

Walker led the Trojans in total team points in 1974-1976. In 1975 he was a Junior National runner-up in Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling.

In football, Walker was named all-conference his junior and senior seasons. His senior year, he helped the Trojans win the Northwest Conference title while playing on offense and defense.

After high school, he wrestled at the University of North Carolina, where he was named the Freshman Wrestler of the Year and was the Atlantic Coast Conference runner-up at 190. He was named a co-captain for the Tar Heels his senior season and went 13-14-1 as UNC won its second straight ACC title.

Walker coached youth sports after college. He coached middle school wrestling, football and baseball. Living in Louisville, Ky., he serves on as the board president of Kentuckiana Friends of V, a Louisville affiliate of the National V Foundation established in former North Carolina State men's basketball coach's Jimmy Valvano's name to fund cancer research. Norm has battled cancer himself and is currently in remission.

— Weaver stood out on the wrestling mat, becoming Greenville's first Junior Olympic champion in 1969. He won the Section 3 title as a junior, and won the section, district and region championships as a senior in 1972. He finished as the state runner-up that season.

The Trojans went undefeated during Weaver's senior year. Weaver, a co-captain, finished 24-1 in 1972 and went 55-4 for his career. He went undefeated his junior and senior years. A 30-15 win over the rival Reynolds Raiders highlighted the season for the Trojans. Weaver and teammate Mike McGonigal were named co-recipients of the Rodney K. Wentling Award following the season.

Weaver received a full wrestling scholarship to Penn State (1973-1976). He finished runner-up at the Eastern Regional Wrestling Tournament in 1975, qualifying for the Division I Wrestling Tournament. His junior year Weaver had a dual meet record of 5-5 and went 3-2 in the NCAA tournament. He lettered at PSU in 1973 and 1975.

He was a member of USA Wrestling from 1995-2010 and was inducted into the Mercer County Hall of Fame in 2017.

Weaver coached wrestling at all levels from 1989-2007. He coached two high school state champions from 1989-91 and assisted during his son, Luke, who finished as an Idaho state champ twice and runner-up.