Oberlin to announce inaugural Hall of Fame class during viewing of 1986 state title game

The Oberlin High School Athletics Hall of Fame knew it wanted to do something special when it announced its inaugural class this summer. The organization came up with a blockbuster idea — it will screen the 1986 OHSAA Class AA boys basketball state championship game between Oberlin High and Springfield Greenon at 3:30 p.m. on Friday in the Oberlin High School auditorium. "They've taken my call and they've matched it up to the television broadcast," said Tim Alcorn, who was a 22-year-old rookie radio personality with WOBL when he did the play-by-play for the game. Alcorn then spent decades at WEOL before becoming the radio voice of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019. "This thing has really caught fire … it's unbelievable," Alcorn said. "I'll be there and there's going to be a panel discussion and it's a whole thing. I know they have a boatload of players coming back (for the event) so it's going to be incredible." The squad is one of four Oberlin High teams that have won OHSAA state championships, and the school has a solid list of individuals who've also won state titles. Add in the plethora of athletes who've been state placers, earned All-Ohio status or gone on to compete in college and professional sports, and Oberlin, which has been around since 1860, has a solid pool for the Hall of Fame committee to select its classes for years to come. "A year or so ago we saw an announcement that there was going to be trophies and some things auctioned off," founder and board member Randy Smith said of how the Hall of Fame came into existence. "So I immediately got on the phone and called the high school and ironically the principal answered and it was Brent Betts, who was my baseball coach. Then I talked to the superintendent, then got in touch with the athletic director and we got the ball rolling. "My family has been connected to Oberlin High School since the Class of 1926. Jim Barnes, who was a member of that (1926 boys basketball state championship) team is my uncle, so it's something that's been ingrained in me all of my life. A member of my family has lived in Oberlin for the past 120 years. So I know this community has a shared pride specifically around academics and athletics." It was that community pride that led Ryan Aroney to join the organization. "It was probably about a year ago Randy mentioned it to me and right away I was like, 'I have to be a part of that,'" Aroney said. "The second thing I thought was why has it taken us so long to do this? We just felt like there was so much rich history in many different eras and different sports and we didn't want to see it lost forever. So the focus has been on honoring those who deserve it and preserving the history of Oberlin High School." It was Aroney who got the ball rolling per Alcorn's involvement. "He got a hold of me and said he'd heard me talk about (the 1986 Oberlin) team being one of the greatest I ever saw," Alcorn said. "He asked if I had anything and I'm like, 'Do I have anything … I still have all the cassette tapes.'" "When he said that, I was like, 'We have to have that. There's no other way to do this event,'" Aroney said. "So I met up with Tim, he gave me his tapes and we tracked down a copy of the TV broadcast of the game and we worked with Tony Melendez at Melendez Video to put them together for us. And the really kind of full-circle cool thing about it is Tony played for Coach Bob Walsh (the 1986 Oberlin boys basketball coach) at Clearview. "I'm super impressed with how it came out and it's pretty cool because only three people in the world have seen it — Tony, Tim and me. So to be able to premier this to everybody and bring this game, which is pretty obscure and kind of one of those legend tales in Oberlin — you know, one of those things that everyone talks about but very few people have seen unless they were actually there — it's just a very cool thing on how it's all come together." The Hall of Fame will announce its inaugural class at the screening, and it's a safe bet the 1986 boys basketball team will be one of the seven inductees. The other three OHSAA state championship teams are the 1926 Oberlin boys basketball team, the 1936 boys track team and the 1932 boys track team. Oberlin has excelled in track and field over the last 100-plus years, with many individuals and relays capturing state titles. The first was Art Engle, who won the 220-yard dash in 1924, and the most recent were the girls 400 and 800 relays last month. Those who have won multiple track state titles include Jehu Anderson — three events including back-to-back 100 titles in 1997-98 — Clarence Bowman — 880 yards in 1938 and '39 — LeRoy Fields — 120 and 220 hurdles in 1932 — and Marnele Jackson — 100 and 200 in 1985. The other sport Oberlin has had the highest level of success has been boys wrestling, where Erik Burnett was a four-time state champion between 1984-87, Bruce Campbell won a state title in 1976 and Jim Clark was the program's first state champ in 1973. The Friday screening will coincide with the 40th class reunion of the seniors on that 1986 state championship team. "That's actually why we planned the event for this date," Aroney said. "(The reunion) starts that day and it's kind of a full-circle moment. We have the annual outdoor basketball festival in Oberlin — we call it the park tournament — and it's always the third weekend in July. These guys grew up playing basketball at the park and they've talked about how those games prepared them for varsity basketball. So it was their 40th reunion, the park tournament weekend … so we started planning for this event." The group put an online link out for people to reserve seats for the screening and over 100 people signed up the first 24 hours. The full auditorium capacity — estimated at about 300 seats — has already been filled and the group has been working on putting together an overflow area so others can still take part. The screening time was set as to not interfere with the city's planned festivities in the town square later in the afternoon, then the group will be holding a special event at Haven Brewing on Main Street. The brewery will be unveiling a special limited run beer to commemorate the 1986 team and the tapping will take place at 8 p.m. "It's going to be called the 'Rim-Wreckin' Kolsch,'" said Aroney, making a reference to the 1986 team's "Rim-Wreckin' Crew" nickname. "It's going to be like a crisp summer beer. They're going to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Hall of Fame." The panel discussion of the game will include Alcorn as well as members of the team, which Aroney said eight or nine of the 12 are expected to attend. "Our goal is simple — make July 17 feel like the kind of moment people talk about 40 years from now," Smith said. "We want to celebrate this 1986 state championship team that has meant so much to our community and has provided a 40-year legacy that has shaped our identity in Oberlin. This inaugural class that we're going to announce will set the tone for the next 50 years and we're trying to establish a tradition worthy of Oberlin's history." Contact Shaun Bennett at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @ShaunBennettct on X.