Local sports: North Country legends recall special memories at latest Hall of Fame induction ceremony

Oct. 9—LOWVILLE — The latest North Country Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony held Saturday night essentially had one central theme, it's all about family.

Seven new members were inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Lowville Elks Lodge, headlined by former Carthage and Syracuse University lacrosse standout Mike Powell.

Powell follows his older brothers, Casey and Ryan, both lacrosse stars in their own right, who were selected for the honor back in 2017, the first year of inductions, and in 2019, respectively.

Powell was enshrined in this year's Hall of Fame along with former Lowville and St. Lawrence University baseball player Mike Aubel, former Watertown High School baseball player Don Fazio, Beaver River wrestling coach Wayne Ferguson, Sandy Creek girls basketball player Terri Haynes, Ogdensburg native Elizabeth Luckie, who was a longtime softball coach at Sacred Heart University, and former Belleville and Hamilton College basketball coach Tom Murphy.

Former longtime Carthage lacrosse coach Kirk Ventiquattro was present to accept the honor for Powell, who was unable to attend.

"This jersey No. 22 was worn by Casey Powell in the national championship game, which they won in 1993 the year after he left Carthage," Ventiquattro said, referring to an encased lacrosse jersey set up behind the podium. "I was fortunate enough to coach the Powells for like 10 straight years and so was (former Syracuse coach) Roy Simmons and John Desko coached Mike in that last championship."

After starring at Carthage, Powell followed his older brothers and went on to attend Syracuse, where he helped lead the Orange to a pair of national titles.

"All three guys were unbelievable," Ventiquattro said of the Powells. "But they weren't the only guys who were unbelievable at Carthage. Wayne Ferguson's two nephews, Jason and Josh Coffman, had just as many accolades as the Powell brothers. So I had five of the world's best lacrosse players at the same time in a short window, so I was blessed."

Mike Powell, who first attended Syracuse the year after Ryan graduated, went on to surpass both of his older brothers by totaling 307 career points with the Orange — the only player in school history to join the 300-point club.

Mike Powell's freshman season at Syracuse was in 2001 — the year after Ryan graduated — and he went on to pace the Orange to national titles in 2002 and 2004 — the same years he garnered the prestigious Tewaaraton Award — the first awarded to the most outstanding American college lacrosse player the year before in 2001.

Powell, a professional musician, finished with 150 goals and 157 assists in 66 career games with Syracuse. He also played Major League Lacrosse with Boston and Baltimore.

"He was always the best player on the field or on the court or in the pool," Ventiquattro said of Mike Powell, also a four-time All-American. "He's an accomplished skateboarder, but never went through all the prerequisites, he just went right to the challenging part of any sport. He would watch something and the master it and that's basically how he got into music and he's an accomplished musician.

"And something else you may not know about him is he is a fine-crafted woodworker and he can make just about anything."

Scholastically, Mike Powell closed out his time with the Comets, leading them to the Class B state title game in 2000.

He graduated owning state records for points in a season (194 in 2000), points in a game (15 in 2000), and most assists in a season (120 in 1999) — and the assist record still stands. He is third in career assists with 299.

"Someone would ask, 'Well who is the best lacrosse player out of the three brothers?" Ventiquattro said. "And I'd never choose between the three, they all have great attributes. But if were to rank them athletically, Mike would be No. 1 and that's saying something."

Aubel was bestowed with the honor this year after his dad, Neal, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in its first year.

"From where I sit, and I have a unique perspective because of my dad, he coached and taught here for 37 years," Mike Aubel said. "So I grew up on the fields and in the gymnasiums of the Frontier League. A Hall of Fame is something that's been talked about long before (Hall of Fame president) Ed (Murphy), there's been lots of conversations about the great athletes and coaches who have come through this area. It's a really nice thing."

Aubel spent 1992 playing in the New York-Penn League, playing for the Houston Astros affiliate in Auburn. In 62 games he hit .242 with four home runs and drove in 24 runs. Aubel rushed for 4,534 yards playing football for Lowville and won 143 matches as a prep wrestler.

"And the committee and the vision is nice," Mike Aubel said. "Because the majority of the schools that are in northern New York are in Section 3, and Section 3 unfortunately doesn't really recognize us maybe the way that we would like to be recognized. And I think tying this is with Section 10 and St. Lawrence County, it makes sense. I think it's so nice to be recognized."

Ferguson, a member of the Section 3 Wrestling Hall of Fame, led Beaver River to 26 division titles and 18 Frontier League titles.

"It's really an honor, it's a great thing," Ferguson said, "And the North Country Sports Hall of Fame is a great thing for the area."

His teams won 22 Section 3 titles and produced a 73-match win streak in dual meets from 1982-88. He finished with 510 career wins.

"I'm a north country person through and through," Ferguson said, "I coached for 35 years, so this is quite an honor. Wrestling has really grown in the United States. So it's a lot of fun."

Ferguson has fond memories of Beaver River taking part in wrestling matches with rival Lowville back in the day, an event which many members of each neighboring communities attended.

"I always respected Lowville wrestlers and of course I respected Beaver River wrestlers," he recalled. "And when the two teams came together for bragging rights, it was a lot of fun, it was a great thing."

Ferguson's son, Jacob, is also a successful high school wrestling coach near Houston.

Ferguson's nephews, Jason and Josh Coffman, are former standout Carthage lacrosse players who went on to star collegiately, Jason with Division 2 Salisbury and Josh with Syracuse University.

Jason Coffman is currently Carthage's head coach in lacrosse and football, and Josh coaches Lowville's football team,

Fazio spend nine years in pro baseball, highlighted by four years in Class AAA. Fazio was with Louisville in 1969 and 1970, and spent 1971 and 1972 in Rochester. He played in 1,007 minor-league games and hit .254 with 41 career home runs.

He also played on three minor-league title teams — with Pittsfield in Class A, Louisville in AAA and with Rochester in AAA — and won a Gold Glove award as a top fielder in the minor leagues in 1969.

Haynes, who graduated in 1984, finished with 2,087 career points for the Comets, ranking among the top 10 scorers in Section 3 history.

She was also one of the first girls basketball players to reach 2,000 points in the state.

She was the all-time leading Section 3 scorer when her high school career ended. She passed away in 1990 following a car accident.

Luckie spent 30 seasons as the softball coach at Sacred Heart and finished with 616 victories before retiring in 2019. She was a conference Coach of the Year six times and led Sacred Heart to a win over Cornell in an NCAA regional, which was the program's first victory in the tournament.

She also played at Sacred Heart from 1983-85 and finished with a .357 career batting average and a single-season school record of 71 hits.

Luckie, who was absent, said in an email to Murphy that sportswriters Dave Shea of the Ogdensburg Journal and former longtime Times sports editor John O'Donnell, who passed away in April, were both instrumental in promoting female sports in the area.

After high school coaching stops in Belleville and Chateaugay, Murphy spent 34 years coaching the Hamilton College men's basketball team. He was one of only four NCAA Division III coaches with more than 600 career wins when he retired. He won six Frontier League boys basketball titles at Belleville's Union-Academy and coached 83 of the program's 104 straight wins.

Murphy couldn't attend the festivities because of an illness.

This latest North Country Sports Hall of Fame class is essentially the group that was selected in 2020, but ceremonies haven't been held because of the pandemic.

"With everything that's going on in the world today, it's nice to reflect back on some of the best times, some of the neat things, and the north country offers so much," Mike Aubel added. "There's so much pride in these small communities and in athletics."