Greenwave Hall of Fame welcomes 3rd class this weekend

Another year, another class of outstanding accomplishments to be honored.

The third annual Greenwave Hall of Fame induction ceremony is this weekend when more than 20 athletes, coaches, contributors and teams will be honored. Tickets are no longer available but the inductees will be announced prior to Fallon’s football game against Elko on Friday at the Edward Arciniega Athletic Complex. The pregame ceremony is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.

Teams being inducted include the remainder of the girls basketball squads that dominated the landscape in the late 1920s and early 1930s, along with the 1974 baseball team coached by Dave Lumos, 1977 football team coached by Tony Klenakis, 1987 softball team coached by Steve Richards and 1999 volleyball team coached by Caryn Marshal. The volleyball team won Fallon’s first 4A state title.

Contributors include Mike McGinness, who began play-by-play at KVLV for the Greenwave during the 1970s, and Jack Olson, a longtime high school official who was a football, basketball and baseball official. Marjorie and Curtis Tuck are also being inducted for their involvement with the Lahontan Valley News in covering the Greenwave.

“During this era of tremendous growth, the Tucks improved and expanded the LVN’s local news coverage, especially interscholastic activities such as Greenwave sports, rodeo, music, and academic competitions,” said their son, Alan Tuck. “The Tucks took every opportunity to improve community cohesion, identity, awareness, and participation in Greenwave sports, booster and other activities through the LVN’s extensive coverage.”

Coaches being inducted include Steve Richards and Phil Pinder. Richards coached the Lady Wave softball team for 12 years, including a pair of state titles in the 1980s. Pinder coached nearly every sport in Fallon, including basketball, golf and tennis. He coached boys basketball in the 1980s, his boys tennis team in 2001 was the first and only to qualify for the 4A regional team tournament, and then led Fallon to state softball titles in Fallon’s first two years in the 3A (2011 and 2012).

Pinder credits his first head coach he assisted, Phil DelaPorte, at Ceres High School in California and former Fallon coaches and Greenwave Hall of Fame members Bert Serrano and Ed Arciniega for his success.

“(Phil) has stayed in touch and has always been there for me with things off and on the court,” Pinder said. “Bert Serrano helped and supported no matter what sport I was coaching. Ed was like a father to me when I first got to Fallon. He believed in what we were trying to do for Greenwave basketball and had a lot to do with me staying in Fallon for most of my teaching and coaching career.”

In the athlete category, Ross Aguiar competed on the track team, and played on the state championship football team in 1978 and won a state wrestling title. Harry Bradley Sr. was a 1931 graduate who played football for four years and basketball for three. Rick Cornu shined on the football field and baseball diamond before landing at Utah to play baseball for the Utes.

Trent deBraga was one of the best three-sport athletes last decade when he won two state wrestling titles in the 4A before playing college football at Division II Colorado Mesa. Vernon Dixon was a three-sport athlete in the 1960s and shined on the diamond, playing at shortstop for four seasons before playing one year at Boise State.

“I’ll never forget the level of support the community provided,” said deBraga, who returned to Fallon after finishing school at UNLV. “Regardless of what our record was, the community was always supportive. I will also remember all the memories created with teammates.”

A strong force on the 1976 football team, which began a string of three-straight state titles, Jeff 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.

A three-sport athlete in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Brooke Hill, 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.

One of the school’s best wrestlers, Guy 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. Fallon captured only one boys state championship in the 4A and it came on the golf course where Scott 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.

A terror on the 1976 state football championship team, Brett 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.

A dominant basketball player in the 1960s, Pete 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.

A talented rebounder and pitcher in the 1960s, Mark Winans’ passion was on the hardwood when he later attended Nevada on a basketball scholarship before transferring to the University of Montana Western. Winans, 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.