Two Clearview coaching legends lead Lorain Hall of Fame inductions

VERMILION — Two Clearview coaching legends highlighted the Lorain Sports Hall of Fame's 52nd induction banquet Saturday night at German's Villa. Doyt Perry and Wayne Ross left their marks in the area football and track circles. Perry was credited with founding the Clearview football program in 1937 and coached the Clippers in three other sports, while Ross gained his fame by leading Clearview to the state track championship in 1973 and a runner-up spot in football and track in 1972. They were inducted along with Southview's Eve Sexstella-Alberti (softball, volleyball, basketball) and Mike Darmos (basketball, soccer, baseball). Dan Matos (wrestling), a student at Lorain High until his senior year when he went to Southview, was inducted along with three Lorain Catholic greats — Stephanie Busch-Warren (volleyball), Bill Waters (soccer, basketball, tennis, track, football) and James Jenkins (football, basketball, track). Lorain Catholic's 1971 football team was also inducted. An honorary special category inductee, Perry, who was born in 1910 and died in 1992, coached football, basketball, cross country and track at Clearview from 1933 to 1943. Perry's football teams compiled a record of 32-9-4 and his basketball teams were 161-35. His track teams won seven Lorain County Championships. After leaving Clearview, Perry coached at several other high schools before joining Woody Hayes' staff at Ohio State. Later, Perry became the head football coach at Bowling Green, where the stadium is named in his honor. During his career with the Falcons, Perry was 77-11-5 and his teams won five Mid-American Conference championships and one small school national championship in 1959. His son David gave the acceptance speech. Ross spent 23 years in the Clearview school system, including becoming principal in 1976 and superintendent in 1983. He left Clearview to take over the Lorain County Schools in 1990. At the time, the county superintendent was responsible for the six small county districts consisting of Avon, Clearview, Columbia, Firelands, Keystone and Midview. Ross' 1972 football team suffered one of the most heartbreaking playoff losses in the first Class A championship game. Clearview lost to Marion Pleasant 20-14 on a last-second fumble return by Pleasant. The Clippers finished 10-2, with its only regular-season loss 19-18 to Lorain Catholic early in the year. Clearview, the smallest school in the Lakeland Conference, won the league title and its first playoff game, 18-0 over Middletown Fenwick. It was the first year for the football playoffs in the state. Ross' teams compiled a record of 47-23-2. Behind the pitching of Sexstella, Southview finished 17-3 in 1997, the Saints' best season in history. Sexstella went on to have success at Fairmont State, where she became the first softball player inducted into the school's athletic Hall of Fame. She was called the "best softball player Southview ever had" by Principal Ray Pagan. Darmos was a prolific scorer for Southview's basketball team under Larry Stark in the early 1990s, leading the Saints to a district championship in 1991. Darmos holds the school record for points in a game, scoring 46 against Elyria High. He led the team in scoring, assists and rebounding. He was also an outstanding soccer and baseball player. Darmos played collegiately at Wooster. Matos, a 1982 Southview grad, began his high school wrestling career at Lorain but when his family moved to South Lorain, he joined the Saints. He was a stalwart at 98 pounds and finished his senior year 20-0 during the regular season. He achieved All-American status at Cuyahoga Community College and represented the U.S. in the Pan-Am games in Mexico in 1984. Lorain Catholic's 1971 team was special. The Spartans, coached by Tim Rose, had six shutouts, including a 15-0 win over their biggest rival, Elyria Catholic, in front of an estimated 6,000 fans at George Daniel Field on a Sunday afternoon. LC won the North Central Conference championship. Linebacker Mike Weber was the league's MVP. Other standouts included Jim Jenkins, John Gilles, Jim Brooks, Kurt Stitak, Tom Knipp, Dennis DeFillipo, Mike Lubinecky, Dan McBride and Greg Argenti. The team was ranked in the top 10 in Ohio in Class A most of the year. Weber introduced and spoke on behalf of the team. Jenkins, a 1972 graduate of Lorain Catholic, also had the pleasure of also being inducted individually. He later played at Purdue and was a three-sport star for the Spartans. As early as her freshman year, Busch-Warren (LC class of 1996) made an impact on the volleyball floor for the Spartans, who were 92-9 during her four years with the varsity. She also played basketball and went to Tennessee Tech on a volleyball scholarship. She holds several volleyball records at Tech. Waters (2003), who was on the track team and played basketball, tennis and football for the Spartans, made his mark on the soccer field. He scored at least one goal in 72 of his 76 games and was named to the All-Ohio team three years. He continued his soccer career at Findlay. Scholarships were awarded to Lorain High's Jacob Addis and Danielle Bowyer and Clearview's Jason Buscher and Phoenix Navarro. Tom Bauer, the chairman, noted Lorain's Hall of Fame has honored 398 individuals, 40 teams and two Hall of Fame honorees — Perry and the late Joe Tait. Joe Bock, who has been on hand to video many of the Lorain banquets, was awarded the Distinguished Service Award. Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7235 or timothygeb@msn.com.