By NICK BEDWAY

Special to the News-Register

WHEELING — Wheeling Central Catholic High School will induct its inaugural Hall of Fame Class during a 10 a.m. brunch on Saturday, Oct. 22 at the Great Hall in the school.

The festivities will kick off a Hall of Fame Day football game with the Maroon Knights hosting Beallsville High School on the Wheeling Jesuit University campus.

The meeting of Ohio Valley Athletic Conference opponents starts at 1 p.m. The inductees attending the game will be introduced to the crowd at halftime.

Twelve past Central Catholic coaches and athletic standouts make up this year’s HOF Class. Coaches to be honored are Jim Foti, Jim Thomas, George ”Skip” Prosser and Earl Haberfield. The list of Maroon Knights’ athletic greats includes Bill Gompers, Lenny Pavlic, Dick Miller, Neil Habig, Rick Nau, John ”Butch” Erb, Suzie Dailer and Jackie Ernst-Reinbeau.

Foti, Prosser, Thomas, Pavlic, Miller, Habig and Haberfield will be inducted posthumously.

HOF Committee Chairman Robert “Bo” McConnaughy, a 1966 Central graduate voiced his pleasure about the school’s decision to start a Hall of Fame. “I’m very excited that Central Catholic High School will now have a way of honoring former athletes, coaches and possibly teams,” he said. The Hall of Fame event will be one our alumns can look forward to celebrating every year.”

McConnaughy also explained that his committee had a difficult time in narrowing the initial list of nominees to 12.

”The Hall of Fame committee had an arduous task of choosing the first class of honorees considering the number of quality athletes (and coaches)  that have had outstanding careers not only at Central but following their high school careers,” McConnaughy said.

Following is a list of brief bios from this year’s Hall of Fame Class:

Coach Jim Thomas (Class of 1963) – Head coach for 35 years at three different high schools, compiling a record of 235-134-2. Thomas-coached Central Catholic teams won seven OVAC titles and four West Virginia state titles (1979 in Class AA, 2000, 2002 and 2004 in Class A). He also had an undefeated team at Yorkville. He entered the OVAC Hall of Fame in 2013.

Coach George “Skip” Prosser – During his six seasons coaching basketball at Central Catholic, Prosser left behind a legacy that will live forever among the students, athletes and fans. His teams posted a 104-48 record, winning the West Virginia Class AA crown in 1982. Under his direction, the Maroon Knights earned five straight Region One crowns, three OVAC titles and one state runner-up finish. He had a Hall of Fame collegiate coaching career at Loyola (Md.) University, Xavier and Wake Forest, leading all three teams to NCAA Tournament berths.

Coach Jim Foti–Jim Foti coached high school basketball for 38 years at three different schools–Erie (Pa.) Prep, Bellaire, Warwood and Wheeling Central Catholic, amassing 466 victories. He had two tenures at Central Catholic, leading his teams to five West Virginia Catholic Tournament championships and three OVAC titles. Also in the fall of 1943, Foti’s WCHS football team went 9-1 and gained a Steel Bowl Berth where it lost a 20-19 thriller to Rochester, Pa. He directed Warwood High to the W.Va. Class AA basketball crown in 1967.

Neil Habig (Class of 1954)–One of Central Catholic’s all-time best football players. As a senior, the two-way lineman earned All-City, All-Valley Big School and All-OVAC laurels. He helped the Maroons to their first-ever OVAC crown in football. Habig went on to star at Purdue University and played seven seasons with the Sasketchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League. He was inducted into the OVAC Hall of Fame earlier this year.

Coach Earl Haberfield (Class of 1953)–In nine seasons as the head coach at his alma mater, Earl Haberfield led the Maroon Knights to 150 victories, five West Virginia Catholic championships, and one OVAC title. His 1963 team finished 23-0 and was ranked No. 1 overall in the all-division West Virginia state rankings. Haberfield coached for 32 seasons at eight different high schools and collected 382 victories. Recipient of numerous coaching awards, Haberfield was the founder of the Ohio District 5 All-Star Game and helped originate the OVAC Ohio-West Virginia All-Star Game. He was the first recipient of the OVAC Coaches Award now named in his honor.

William G. “Bill” Gompers (Class of 1944)–Stellar running halfback in football and starter on Central’s West Virginia Catholic state championship basketball team. He went on to play football on two national championship football teams at Notre Dame University (1946 and 1947). Gompers played in the College All-Star Game and one year of professional football with the Buffalo Bills.

Lenny Pavlic (Class of 1959) — Lauded as the most versatile male athletes in Central Catholic history. Lettered in four sports, football, basketball, baseball and golf. Played on back-to-back OVAC and state Catholic championship teams in basketball. He earned first-team All-State laurels in both sports. Pavlic as offered a football scholarship to the University of Florida but signed a baseball contract with the Milwaukee Braves.

Suzie Dailer (Class of 1991) -This stellar athlete excelled in three sports at Wheeling Central Catholic High School. Suzie Dailer was a four-year starter in girls’ basketball, scoring 1,381 points. During her senior year she led the OVAC with a 22.1 average. The two-time All-WV Class AA standout was a first-team All-OVAC and All-Valley selection. In tennis, she lettered all four years, winning a state doubles crown with Pam Butch as her partner and helped the Lady Maroon Knights to three OVAC team titles. Dailer was a two-year volleyball standout, earning OVAC laurels that posted a 37-5 record. Winning the conference and Region One championships while placing second in the state. She had an incredible career in women’s basketball at St. Bonaventure University, where she started all four years scoring 1,422 points, the school’s best single season mark of 524 points and the three-point shooting whiz set numerous school single season and career marks for shooting outside the arc. In 1995, Dailer won the NCAA Division I women’s basketball national 3-Point Shooting Championship held in Seattle.

Dick Miller (Class of 1952), Still regarded by many old-timers as Central’s greatest basketball player. He led the Maroons to three consecutive OVAC and state Catholic crowns. His three-year scoring average was 21.4 points per game His career total of 1,591 points stood as the school record for 51 years. Miller was a two-year starting guard at the University of Wisconsin, averaging 19 points a game in Big Ten play. He later played AAU basketball and, after retiring, became a national champion in handball. He entered the OVAC Hall of Fame in 2005.

Jackie Ernst-Reinbeau (Class of 1985) – One of the first of the 1,000-points plus scorers in girls basketball at Central Catholic, Jackie-Ernst Reinbeau earned first team berths on the All-West Virginia Class AA and OVAC honor squads. She went on to become a Wheeling Jesuit University Hall of Famer after a spectacular college career which saw her score 1,681 points, still the third best total in Cardinals history. In 1989, her senior year, Ernst-Reinbeau was the team MVP and a member of the All-WVIAC squad.

Rick Nau (1969), Another prolific scorer in basketball, Rick averaged 25.3 ppg., as a senior, breaking Dick Miller’s record for scoring average in a single season. Nau also was a terrific foul shooter in high school (83.7 percent).  Named to the West Virginia Big All State team and was a two-time All-OVAC, All-OVAC and All-City honoree. He played college basketball for Ohio Valley native Sonny Allen at Old Dominion University where he was a three-year starter and member of an NCAA Division II runner-up squad as a junior.  Nau scored 1,028 points and dished out 423 assists in college. He joined the OVAC Hall of Fame list in 2015.

John “Butch” Erb (Class of 1963) – One of the leading players on Central Catholic’s only undefeated squad in school history, John ”Butch” Erb was an all-state, All-OVAC, first unit honoree and he was a third team selection on the National Catholic High School All-America squad. In 1963. Erb sparked the Maroon Knights to a perfect 23-0 record, still the only undefeated boys’ basketball team in school history. He earned MVP laurels on back-to-back Central teams that won the West Virginia Catholic Tournament. Erb went on to become a three-year varsity starter and key contributor at Loyola of the South in New Orleans. He also was named as the Wolfpack team MVP and the school’s outstanding senior athlete.