Greenwave Hall of Fame announces 3rd induction class

Three years since establishing a Hall of Fame to honor the greatest in Churchill County sports, the Greenwave Hall of Fame has announced its third class, which consists of seven teams, two contributors, two coaches and 12 athletes.

The Class of 2019 will be honored on Oct. 11 prior to Fallon’s football game and then during the ceremony and dinner on Oct. 12 at the Elmo Dericco Gymnasium in Fallon. Nancy Sanders Stewart is this year’s guest speaker. Two years ago, Stewart helped lead a research committee gather decades’ worth of information, mainly from the pre-1950s era.

Players from teams being inducted in this year’s class need to contact the Greenwave Hall of Fame at greenwavehalloffame@gmail.com. Tickets for this year’s dinner will go on sale in August.

Information on this year’s inductees is included below.

Team

1928, 1929, 1931 and 1932 girls basketball: Fallon continued to dominate girls basketball during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Players from the 1928, 1929, 1931 and 1932 teams included Mary-K Morris, Daisy Ernst, Vena Marke, Doris Buerer, Dorothy Ernst, Annabelle Buckner, Glenna Buerer, Dorothy Mackedon, Laura Marke, Dorothy Kallenbach, E. Pirtle, Ida Rice, Katherine Morehouse, Eva Ginn, Nina Kirn, Olga Pirtle, Melba Rogers, L. Cunningham, L. Kirn, May Shepard, E. Williams, Georgie Harriman, Lura Gamble, Isabelle Tannehill, Heln Chester, E. Underhill, Unadell Stuart, Ellen Ernst, Glenna Buerer, Mabel Bafford, Alice Kirn, Elizabeth Best, Berth Handford, Dorothy Growth, Fernley Rechel, Stachia Ludwick, Claribelle Herrell, Marlea Dodge and Hazel Fallon.

1974 baseball: Under head coach Dave Lumos, the Greenwave won its first state baseball championship in 1974 in the AA division. The Greenwave swept White Pine, 14-2 and 8-7, to win the title but Boulder City won enough games to qualify for a series against the North’s best team. The Greenwave swept, 3-1 and 3-2, in Boulder City. Five players were selected to the all-state first team, including the MVP. Along with assistant coaches David Erquiaga and Matt Bugg, the players included Kevin Baldwin, Tom Brown, Nate Bugg, Dale Catlett, Dan Clifford, Rick Cornu Sr., Tim Dericco, Charlie Driver, Commie Gonzalez, Randy Kirby, Mike Lawrence, Jim Martin, Rick Shalansky, Willie Steve, David Talbot and Doug Van Meter.

1977 football: Coached by Tony Klenakis, a 2017 Greenwave Hall of Famer, the Greenwave won its second state title during the Triple Crown in 1977. The team finished with an 8-1 record with the lone loss (14-13) coming to North Tahoe in a non-conference game, snapping a 21-game winning streak. Fallon knocked off Yerington, 21-12, to win the state title. Fallon nabbed eight all-state first-team selections (four on offense and four on defense) and Klenakis was named Coach of the Year. Assistant coaches included Jack Beach and Bobby Dudley. Players included Doug Montgomery, Sonny Zamora, Ken Fritz, Karl Mitchell, Bill Trigero, Scott Payne, Matt Thurston, Pat Wilson, Robbie Whitney, Mike Chappell, Mark Fitzgerald, Ross Aguiar, Art Daniels, Bert Johnson, Tom Elledge, Ted Cheney, Tom Bos, Lyle Hagen, Lester de Braga, Vern Austin, Robert White, Tom MacDiarmid, Pat Cunningham, Matt Bonde, Mitch Taylor, Bruce Corkill, Bob Ford, Ray Mendonca, Paul Gignilliat, Arne Martin, Pat Wilmoth, Roger Pritchard, Bart Yost, Mike Rice, Je Smith, Russell Nolan, Ken McIntire, Tim Kinkade, Sheldon Quinn, Mark Sallee, Sam Alles, Jay Heying and Mike Regan.

1987 softball: The Lady Wave won its first state softball title in 1987 in the AA division, taking two games from defending state champs Boulder City, 5-3 and 4-0. The softball team won more state titles (two) in the 1980s than any other boys or girls team. Fallon was 24-3 overall and 10-0 in league. Head coached by Steve Richards and assisted by Elaine Adams, the team included players Tammie Shemenski, Angela Beeghly, Tiany Shemenski, Tami Peel, Teresa Hancock, Titi Soo, Carey Behimer, Amy Wickizer, Debbie Wickizer, Nikki Bartel, Wendy Beeghly, Lynn Ma and Tammy Pirkle, and manager Sharon Novak.

1999 volleyball: The first 4A state title for the Greenwave came 20 years ago when the Lady Wave captured the volleyball crown after finishing 23-1. Fallon, which returned most of its lineup the following season, won the state title again in 2000. Coached by Caryn Marshall and Atsuko Perkins, the 1999 team included Amanda Camacho, Karin Christiansen, Tristin Adams, Halie Ellifrtiz, Tiana Accorda, Monica Meihack, Shayna Jensen, Jennifer Hucke and Samantha Schieble.

Contributor

Mike McGinness: McGinness began play-by-play work at KVLV for the Greenwave football and basketball teams in 1973 in addition to conducting pregame interviews, hiring on-air talent and selling advertising and handling technical logistics.

Jack Olson: A longtime high school official, Olson was a football and basketball referee, and umpired baseball in all levels (A, AA and AAA). Olson, who was a teacher and vice principal in Fallon, also coached the boys golf team in the 1970s.

Marjorie Ann Heinrich Tuck and Curtis Wayne Tuck: The newspaper duo oversaw the Lahontan Valley News during the 1970s and 1980s, and covered the Greenwave extensively during this time.

Coach

Steve Richards: In 12 years at the helm of the Lady Wave softball team, Richards finished with a 281-100 record, including a 111-39 mark at home, as Fallon won back-to-back state titles in the 1980s. His 1994 team was ranked No. 1 in the Silver State according to Softball West Magazine.

Phil Pinder: A coach of a majority of sports, ranging from basketball to golf and tennis, Pinder started his career in the 1980s before retiring recently from the girls golf team. Pinder coached the boys basketball team to a state appearance in 1989, Fallon’s last until the 2019 team advanced and won it all in Las Vegas. After guiding the boys tennis team to its only 4A regional team playoff appearance, Pinder took over the softball team when Fallon switched to the 3A as it won back-to-back state titles in 2011 and 2012.

Athlete

Ross Wade Aguiar: A 1980 graduate, Aguiar competed on the track team for four years and finished second in the state at high jump. He also played on the state championship football team in 1978 and won a state wrestling title. In 1996, Aguiar co-founded the USA Wrestling Reno Tournament of Champions, one of the toughest tournaments in the nation before being inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011.

Harry Bradley Sr.: The 1931 graduate played football for four years and was an all-state fullback on the 1930 state championship team. He followed with another all-state selection in the 1931 season and played on the basketball team for three seasons. Bradley was also the Block F president for four years before attending the University of Nevada, Reno.

Rick Cornu: A two-sport athlete, Cornu shined on the gridiron alongside Josh Mauga, who played in the NFL, and his senior class helped lay the foundation for the Greenwave’s future. For Cornu, though, his passion was on the diamond as he starred in the outfield and eventually landed in Utah where he played for the Division I Utes. Cornu was the only player named to the High Desert League’s first team as an outfielder.

Trent de Braga: One of the school’s best three-sport athletes in the 2000s and in the state’s largest division, no less, de Braga shined on the football field, wrestling mat and diamond before playing football at Colorado Mesa University, a Division II school. After placing third in his first two years, de Braga won the state wrestling title the next two years in the 4A and was also a four-time Northern 4A regional champion. On the gridiron, de Braga finished his career as an all-league and all-state defensive back during his junior year and in his final year.

Vernon Dixon: A three-sport student-athlete in the 1960s, Dixon shined on the diamond, playing at shortstop for four seasons before playing one year at Boise State. Dixon also played two years on the basketball and football teams, becoming an all-state linebacker and halfback. But his biggest accolade came in his senior year when he was named the AA Player of the Year and an All-American. Dixon was called out for his “golden toe” when he kicked the winning extra point for the state championship.

Jeff Goings: A strong force on the 1976 football team, which began a string of three-straight state titles, Goings was the best lineman in the state. Goings, who also wrestled, was on the rodeo team for four seasons before switching gears to play football at the University of Montana Western.

Brooke Hill: A three-sport athlete in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the current football coach of the Greenwave collected eight varsity letters as a player. Hill, who played football at Carroll College for one year and baseball at Ricks College for two years, led Fallon to the 4A state championship game in 1990 and the football team to the state quarterfinals. A two-time all-league and all-state selection in football, Hill returned to Fallon to coach the baseball team in the 4A before taking over the football team in its final year in the state’s largest class.

Guy Reilly: One of the school’s best wrestlers, Reilly was the Greenwave’s first three-time state champion and finished undefeated in his last two seasons. He recorded 23-straight wins (and 17-straight pins) and was named outstanding wrestling of the state meet. He pursued a wrestling career at Lassen College when he placed fourth and fifth in the state tournaments, earning an induction into the Lassen College Hall of Fame in 2016. Reilly also won a state pole vault title in Fallon and played football.

Scott Smith: Fallon captured only one boys state championship in the 4A and it came on the golf course. Smith led the Greenwave to its first-ever boys golf state title in 2006 and he finished as the tournament’s low medalist in his senior season. After Fallon, Smith played at Nevada for four years, finishing as a four-time all-conference selection both academics and golf, and qualifying twice for the NCAA regional tournament. Smith also qualified for the Barracuda Championship (Reno-Tahoe Open) three times and the U.S. Open in San Francisco in 2010.

Brett Sorensen: A terror on the 1976 state football championship team, Sorensen became an All-American and all-state linebacker, and was named to the “Who’s Who” in the National High School Athletics publication during his senior year. Sorensen also lettered twice on the basketball teams and ran track in the spring, finishing second in the 4x100-meter relay and third in the triple jump.

Pete Summerbell: A dominant basketball player in the 1960s, Summerbell started in his junior and senior seasons when Fallon recorded one of the biggest upsets in state history by knocking off Wooster in the zone championship. During his senior year, he helped Fallon win the state title and finished in the top three in scoring. On the diamond, Summerbell started at second during his sophomore and junior seasons but an injury forced him off the field during his senior year. Instead, he was able to play golf and finished as a state runner-up. He played one year for the Wolf Pack baseball team but opted to purse a professional golf career.

Mark Winan: A talented rebounder and pitcher in the 1960s, Winan’s passion was on the hardwood when he later attended Nevada on a basketball scholarship before transferring to the University of Montana Western. Winan, who was inducted into the Montana school’s Hall of Fame, helped the Greenwave to an undefeated league season in 1967 after it won the AA zone sportsmanship trophy. The following season saw Fallon finish first in the conference but third in the zone. Winan was also an all-state pitcher in 1968. Winan, who died in 1994, also coached at Lowry High School.