WHEELING — Four highly successful coaches, two of whom are still active, head the list of inductees for the 2018 Wheeling Central Catholic High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

The third annual induction ceremonies will be held Saturday, Sept. 29 at Wheeling Jesuit University’s Benedum Room.

Voted to be inducted include Mike Young, Stanley Kaniecki, Margaret ”Peggy” Dailer and Earl ”Mickey” Duffy.

Overall, this year’s class will be comprised of 14 men and women whose fingerprints are forever etched on the walls of Wheeling Central Catholic High School.

Lawrence Bandi , the school president and member of the Hall of Fame committee, hailed the contributions of Young, Kaniecki, Dailer and Duffy.

”The legacy of success synonymous with CCHS athletics begins with these outstanding coaches, several of whom dedicated decades to our school, its mission and its athletic program.

”Central Catholic High School has long been respected for its outstanding athletic program. We are so proud of the contributions of the Hall of Fame Class of 2018 and the many ways that they have bolstered this fine tradition.”

Hall of Fame Day will begin with a brunch starting at 9:30 a.m.

After the induction festivities, the honorees and their guests are invited to attend the Maroon Knights’ football game against city rival The Linsly School, which kicks off at 1:30 p.m. on the WJU campus.

This year’s Hall of Fame Class will also be introduced at halftime of the game.

The public is invited to attend the brunch with the cost of tickets priced at $25.

Tickets can be purchased by contacting the school office.

The Hall of Fame committee also is accepting nominations from the public for future HOF classes. Nomination forms are available at the school web site, cchsknights.org

Listed below are brief capsules of the first four members selected to the 2018 Hall of Fame class:

Michael W. (Mike) Young

(Class of 1967)

After assuming the position of head football coach at his alma mater in 2005, Young embarked on a mission that would see an already successful program reach even greater heights.

During his first 13 years at the helm the accomplishments of his Maroon Knights players and assistant coaches resulted in a record of 138 wins and just 38 losses; six West Virginia Class A state championships; two Ohio Valley Athletic Conference titles and a record-tying Mountain State winning streak of 36 consecutive victories. For those achievements, Young received a Dapper Dan Man of the Year Award in 2007 along with being named the OVAC Coach of the Year in 2012 and The Intelligencer/News-Register Coach of the Year after the 2017 squad rebounded from a 2-4 start to rack up seven wins in a row and finish with his sixth state crown. On four occasions during his Central Catholic career, Young received Nike Coach of the Year Recognition Awards.

Young’s contributions to the school have provided many more achievements in his role as athletics director and Dean of Students. In 2006 and 2007, Sports Illustrated recognized Central Catholic as the No. 1 athletic program in West Virginia. During his role as the athletics director, the Maroon Knights won state titles in eight different sports. He relinquished his AD duties after the 2016-20017 school year to concentrate on his role as football coach.

Before launching a teaching and coaching career that spanned five decades, Young earned a Bachelor’s Degree from West Liberty University and he later gained his Master’s Degree from Marshall University (1975). The West Liberty Hall of Famer was a special education teacher at Wheeling High School (1971-72) where he served as the athletics trainer and an assistant coach in football, basketball and track.

He then moved on to St. Clairsville High School where he was again a coaching jack of all trades. In addition to his teaching and athletic training duties, Young was an assistant football coach under the legendary George Strager and he directed the Red Devils boys and girls’ tennis teams to OVAC titles (1983, 1984). He also coached the basketball team for two years. Upon Strager’s retirement, Young took over as the football coach and in nine years at the helm, his teams posted a 52-41 record, earning two OVAC titles, six East Central Ohio League crowns and his Red Devils made one OHSAA playoff appearance, advancing to the second round on that occasion.

Young returned to Central Catholic in 1997 and was an assistant football coach under fellow CCHS Hall of Famer Jim Thomas. Three of Thomas’s teams won state championships, resulting in Young being part of nine state title-winning teams overall.

Margaret ”Peggy” Dailer

(Class of 1960)

Peggy Dailer, nearing three decades as head coach of the boys and girls’ tennis teams at Wheeling Central, has directed the Maroon Knights to numerous championships and entered the 2018 season with an overall match record of 300 wins against just 85 losses. Her boys’ tennis squads have won five Ohio Valley Athletic Conference titles (1983, 2008, 2009, 2013 and 2014). Individually, the boys and girls teams brought home several OVAC, regional and state championships. In girls’ tennis, her players won an overall West Virginia state title in 2005. Both squads also captured numerous Region One crowns. Dailer was honored to be selected as the West Virginia State Tennis Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2017.

The mother of 2016 Central Catholic Hall of Fame inductee Suzie Dailer, Peggy began her tennis coaching career as an an assistant coach of the girls’ team that collected back-to-back OVAC championships in 1991 and 1992. In the 1991 season, the Maroon Knights finished as the runners-up in the state tournament.

As a student at St. Joseph’s Academy, Peggy was a CCHS cheerleader for two years.

Dailer’s contributions to the athletic and fund-raising programs also have been valuable to Central Catholic. She is a long-time member of the Boosters Association and served on the reverse raffle committee during that span. She is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph Auxiliary and has been the Director of the Warwood Lions Club tennis tournament for 25 years. Her other community contributions include: United Way Day of Caring volunteer; Sisters of St. Joseph Service Day volunteer; Corpus Christi Parish Ladies Guild; Corpus Christi Parish Financial Council; Corpus Christi Hospitality and Eucharistic Minister; Grow Warwood Pride member; Ohio Valley Basketball Classic Tournament committee; OVAC TennisTournament Planning and Rules Committees and a former member of the United States Tennis Association.

Stanley J. Kaniecki

(Class of 1964)

Stanley (Stush) Kaniecki starred on the basketball court and had an impressive resume as a player and coach at Wheeling Central Catholic High School. He was a junior backup player on the 1963 Maroon Knights that rolled to a 23-0 record, turning in the school’s first and still only perfect record season in boys’ basketball. The following season he was one of the standouts on a 20-3 record team that earned a second straight West Virginia Catholic Tournament championship. In the title game against Weirton Madonna, Kaniecki’s free throw in the final seconds provided the margin of victory for the Maroon Knights. Following that season, Kaniecki earned first team all-city and all-W.Va. Catholic laurels. He was one of the captains on both those honor squads.

Kaniecki went on to play four years of basketball at Bethany College where he continued to enjoy success. He started for three years and was the leading rebounder on the 1968 Bison squad while earning team MVP honors and he was a first team selection on the All-Presidents Athletic Conference squad.

He returned to Wheeling Central Catholic as a teacher and also launched his coaching career. In the 1968-69 season, Stan coached the freshman to 14-2 record. The following year he moved up to tutor the junior varsity squad and then took over the boys’ varsity team, a position he held from 1971-76. In 1974, he guided the Maroon Knights to an Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Class AA championship. The following year, Kaniecki coached CCHS to its first West Virginia Region One championship and the school’s initial appearance in the WV Class AAA tournament as a member of the State Secondary School Activities Commission.

In the late 1970s, Kaniecki began a three-year stint as coach of the girls’ basketball team. He returned to coaching in mid-1980s, directing the boys’ hoopsters at St. Michael’s Grade school. His teams captured two Parochial League championships in three seasons. For some 20 years Kaniecki continued to serve the athletics program as the clock operator at both the boys and girls’ basketball games. He also operates the clock at Wheeling Jesuit University’s home games.

Earl ”Mickey” Duffy

(Class of 1955)

Mickey Duffy served for 32 years in various capacities as an administrator, teacher and coach at his alma mater. During his high school days, Duffy was a three-year letterman playing football. He was the fullback on two OVAC championship football teams (1953 and 1954), also serving as a co-captain of the ’54 squad. Duffy was a two-year letterman in golf, a sport he later coached for 30 years at CCHS. During that span the Maroon Knight golfers captured five OVAC titles and one West Virginia state crown.

Duffy also coached cross country, wrestling and was an assistant on the football staff. His later coaching days also included serving in the Catholic Grade School Football League as the head coach at Cathedral Grade School and later as an assistant at St. Vincent de Paul Grade School.

He held down the Central Catholic athletics director position for 15 years and was a teacher and dean of discipline for several years. The OVAC Hall of Fame member also was presented the 2017 Distinguished Service Award for his Athletic Director efforts at CCHS and his volunteer work for many years at the Ron Mauck/OVAC Wrestling Tournament. He was also Central Catholic’s representative on the OVAC Executive Board.

Duffy’s contributions also included serving as president of the CCHS Boosters and he was a member of that group for more than 40 years.