Selections include former Bandys star Chappell,
St. Stephens’ wrestling coach, ex-Hickory standout Willis
HobbsDailyReport.com
HICKORY – The Hickory Metro Sports Commission’s Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame has made five selections for its Class of 2020 but won’t induct the picks until May of 2021.
The induction ceremony is delayed because of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) regulations at the local, state and national level.
An induction ceremony is scheduled for May 10, 2021 at the Highland Recreation Center in Hickory.
The 20th anniversary class — selected by a committee led by chairman JuJu Phillips – includes Tiffany Chappell Freeman, Billy Baker, James (Pud) Mosteller, Jo Anne McCaslin Potts and Daniel Willis.
This year’s Team of Distinction is the 1964 Ridgeview High football team.
Freeman was a girls’ basketball star at Bandys High, leading the Trojans to a state title, and she then played basketball at Appalachian State.
Baker — head wrestling coach and athletic director at St. Stephens and a former multi-sport star at West Lincoln — has 600 coaching wins, 10 conference titles and three dual-team second-place finishes in the state tournament.
Mosteller played defensive line at Georgia. In high school, he played in the Shrine Bowl and was a four-sport letterman. He was a football official in the Southeastern Conference for 25 years.
Potts scored 2,100 points in girls’ basketball for Maiden, where the Blue Devils were conference and conference tournament champions in 1960.
Wills was a top athlete at Hickory and Lenoir-Rhyne University who currently works as associate head basketball coach at The Citadel. He is second on the all-time men’s basketball scoring list at LRU and is in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Hall of Fame.
Ridgeview’s football team in 1964 earned the nickname “The Untouchables” by winning a state title, going unbeaten and outscoring opponents 446-0.
“These are some of the finest individuals and one of the most successful teams to represent not only Catawba County but their respective sports as well,” Phillips said of the Class of 2020 in a press release. “This year’s class once again has brought pride, honor and esteem to Catawba County sports history.”
The Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame was established in 2000, recognizing extraordinary efforts and achievements of athletes, coaches, teams and contributors. There are now 94 members and a permanent display of the Hall of Famers is at the Highland Recreation Center.
For more information on the Hall of Fame, visit www.hickorymetrosports.com.
Comments 2
Would like to know names of all members of the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame, plan to nominate Gene Sigmon who played HS football in CC and was a 4-year starter at UNC, Co-captain his Senior Year.
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For more information on the Hall of Fame, visit http://www.hickorymetrosports.com.