PMHS to induct eight into its Athletic Hall of Fame Thursday who have strong ties to the community in addition to their sports success
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – It’s Hall of Fame season in South Jersey and, appropriately given what he does for a living, Mike Wariwanchik has his plate full.
Wariwanchik, a chef and culinary professional by trade, is in line for induction into a couple Halls of Fame in the region in the next five weeks.
The first course on his menu comes Thursday when he joins seven other luminaries from his high school as part of the fifth induction class of the Pennsville Memorial High School Athletic Hall of Fame. In November, he’ll be enshrined in the South Jersey Wrestling Hall of Fame.
That’s a lot of thank you’s and chicken dinners.
“It’s definitely a huge honor, “ Wariwanchik said. “For all of it happening at one time is a lot, but it is kind of neat. There’s a lot going on, so I’m trying to make sure I’m prepared for all of them because we have to give a couple speeches, not necessarily my strong point.
“To be inducted into those is a huge honor. I’m excited about all of them, but the one I’m probably most excited for is the Pennsville one just because it’s a small town and you know everybody in town so it’s a kind of a little more personal.”
Community connection is a big element of this year’s induction class. The group includes fellow wrestler John Doran Jr. (Class of ’88), Lou Berge Jr. (Class of ’82), Judy Cafaro Bradford (’74), Dawn Curry (’08), coaches Horace Carl and John Maniglia, and the 1993 softball team, considered one of the state’s greatest teams.
They bring the roster of Hall of Fame members to 40 players, coaches and teams.
“It’s a great group and it happens to be a great group with lots and lots of roots generationally to Pennsville,” Eagles athletics director Jamy Thomas said. “That’s the one thing that resonates to me, how attached to Pennsville this group is. This is a group that spans generations of Pennsville athletics … and all of them live or lived or worked here in the community.”
Wariwanchik personafies that. He may work in Delaware these days, but he still lives in Pennsville and has a daughter in the high school and a nephew playing for the football team (wearing his uncle’s number).
A bear of a man, Big Mike starred in football and wrestling for the Eagles. He also threw the shot and discus in track until his senior year.
On the football field he was an all-conference offensive tackle in 1993 and an all-conference offensive and defensive tackle and an all-South Jersey defensive tackle in 1994.
He was just as dominating on the mat. As a heavyweight you wouldn’t think this would be an issue, but he often found himself having to shed pounds to go from 300-pound lineman to making the weight limit.
No problem. As a junior he was the district runner-up and third-place finisher at regionals. He was a state champion as a senior, going 28-0 (with 21 pins) to move his career record to 68-18, and was the South Jersey Wrestler of the Year.
“The wrestling (speech) will be a little different; I’ll probably gear it more towards wrestling and how wrestling has molded me,” he said. “I believe wrestling just makes you mentally tough. Any individual sport where you go out there and you get beat in front of everybody and you don’t have anybody else to blame … is kind of unique.
“When you have success in them it makes you tough mentally because you’ve been through it. But when you get beat it makes you even tougher because you’ve got to deal with everybody staring at you when you get whupped up on in front of everybody.”
Admission to the induction ceremony is free. Donations will be accepted at the door.
Here are the other Pennsville Athletic Hall of Fame inductees:
Lou Berge Jr. (Class of 1982)
Whether it was on the football field, as a manager for the boys basketball team or on the baseball field, Berge gave his all to his teammates and coaches. During his four years in high school he earned nine varsity letters.
He was an all-county, all-conference and all-South Jersey Group II offensive tackle as a junior on an 8-1 football team. His senior year the football team was undefeated, conference champs and SJ Group II champs and he was all-county, all-SJ and all-state. He also was named the Brooks-Irvine Club’s SJ Offensive Lineman of the Year and at that time his No. 72 jersey was retired at PMHS.
His 1980 baseball team went 20-3 and was conference champs and he was named to the All-Delaware Valley Team by the Philadelphia Inquirer after batting .419 as the team’s catcher. The next year the team went 25-0 and swept all the titles.
Baseball went 20-3 again in 1982. Louie batted .614 and he made all the “all” teams. He also was named the Salem County Player of the Year.
Judy Cafaro Bradford (Class of ’74)
While many would consider her to be a “natural-born athlete” Judy used her time in school to develop many skills. She played tennis as well as lettering in three sports.
She played three years of varsity field hockey. She was a co-captain for two years, team MVP for two years and three times all-conference first team. As a basketball senior she was team MVP, second team all-conference, second team all-county and honorable mention all-state. Then, she was the MVP of the school’s first varsity softball team.
At the 1974 Win or Lose Dinner, she was awarded the Girls PTA Sportsmanship Award in addition to three MVP honors.
She went on to make an immediate impact at Cumberland County College, earning MVP honors in field hockey and basketball and was a starter on the softball team.
In her professional life she devoted more than 40 years to the Pennsville Recreation Department, making sure the department served many children and families in many ways. She also helped take care of Riverview Beach Park to make sure it remained the “Jewel of the Township.”
Dawn Curry (Class of ’08)
Curry was an outstanding athlete in a career that spanned four years in three varsity sports. Among her most impressive feats is joining the unique 100-1000-100 Club, hitting milestone numbers is soccer, basketball and softball.
She scored 113 goals in soccer and assisted on 97 others (almost a 100-100). She scored 1,288 points in basketball. She completed the unique trifecta with 117 hits in softball.
Her 2007 soccer team was declared South Jersey Group I champs. To cap off her senior year she was named Salem County Female Athlete of the Year and was a Wendy’s High School Heisman State Finalist.
John Doran Jr. (Class of ’88)
A wrestler through and through, John used his first year in high school to start making his name. He was undefeated as a freshman on the sub-varsity and that was the springboard to another undefeated year and state title in 1986. In 1988, wrestling at 119, he was runner-up in the district and region tournament and finished sixth at the state. His high school record was 89-6.
He went on to post a 32-3 record at Gloucester County College
Doran cites his successes with the Pennsville Youth Program and Seagull Wrestling Club as highlights of his career and adds that winning the state title in 1986 was his most memorable moment. He went on to coach at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Wrestling Academy for three years.
He was inducted into the South Jersey Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2022.
Coach Horace Carl
Carl came to Pennsville in 1962 from Spring City, Pa. Three years after his arrival he was offered a position as assistant football coach under Lou D’Angelo. At the same time he was an NJSIAA registered high school basketball official and on the IABBO board until 1980.
He was the Eagles’ head football coach from 1979 through 1984. His 1981 team won the South Jersey Group II championship. He was named Coach of the Year by the Philadelphia Inquirer and South Jersey Football Club. Carl retired from teaching in 1992 and now lives near Baltimore.
Coach John Maniglia
Maniglia came to Pennsville in 1979 and influenced a lot of students and athletes in his 35 years teaching and coaching in the district.
He was the head track coach from 1980-2014, then transitioned to assistant coach through 2021. He also coached basketball, cross country and winter track. He helped coach the cross country team when it won the 2006 Group I state title.
The spring track program won a combined three Salem County Championships and five conference crowns. During that time, the program produced 98 individual county champions, 69 conference champions, 33 South Jersey champions and eight state titleists. The school named its track in his honor in 2022.
1993 Softball Team
The team is being inducted on the 30th anniversary of one of the best seasons in state history. It went 26-0 and swept through their division, conference, sectional and, ultimately, the Final Four. Bridgett McCaffery was the state Pitcher of the Year.
The team was a consensus No. 1 by the state softball media and later was voted “Team of the Century” by the Courier Post.
PMHS Athletic HOF Classes
2018: Lou D’Angelo, Ed Rieger, Herb Bacon, David Salberg, Betsey Salberg, 1982 Field Hockey team.
2019: Olaf “Butch” Drozdov, Carrie Foster McIntosh, Irvine Eugene “Gene” Foster, Robert “Bob” Gallagher, Leigh Garrison, Kimberly Griffin Hudson, John “Jack” Harford, John “Jack” Meyers Sr., Howard Wilbraham Sparks, Sophia Stavru, Gregzie L. White, Michael Jon Widger.
2021: Patricia Chance, David Hall, Bill Hyatt, Chris Widger, Bridgett McCaffery-O’Brien, Jeff Litherland (special recognition), Coach Greg Greenzwieg, 1960 Football team.
2022: Donna Martin Duber, Mark Freed, Ron “Boo” Bennet, Mark T. Jones, Kelli Griffith, Katie Kline.
Riverview Sports News 