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VIENNA -- The 28th annual Mid-Ohio Valley Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet held Saturday evening inside the Grand Pointe Conference and Reception Center wasn’t lacking for star power.
There were 10 area selections this year for the HOF that represented a wide range of characters from Larry “Mad Max” Maxwell to former Parkersburg High School tennis stalwart Jeff Kefalos, both of whom represented Wood County along with former Big Red Connor Louden.
Also enshrined were Mark Martin and Jennifer (Jones) Palagi from Jackson County, Mark Barnhart from Pleasants County, Scott Cozzens from Washington County, Shannon Leasure from Noble County, Ritchie County’s John Peters and Wirt County’s Gary Watson.
Maxwell, a Vietnam veteran who graduated from Marshall University, brought spirit and enthusiasm to the southside – the likes of which hadn’t been seen before.
Credited with starting the “Rat Pack” which eventually morphed into the “Psychos”, “Mad Max” brought his rubber chicken and the horned helmet wherever he went.
What started out being known as the “Tuta Man” brought hope and inspiration to countless Patriot faithful and the student-athletes themselves.
“That’s what I do,” admitted Maxwell, who squeezed the chicken and did an iconic “M-O-V Hall of Fame welcomes you, woooo,” before his speech where he said the 2003 Class AAA state championship 26-20 come-from-behind win against Martinsburg was one of his fondest memories when Mike DeVol was the head coach. “What a feeling that was to be a part of that.
“I guess you can call me an athletic supporter. To my friends tonight, who saw me in a coat and tie for the first time. They said ‘we thought we’d never see you Mad Max until we visited you down at Leavitt’s in a coat and tie.’ The kids accepted me. That’s what I was looking for. I’ve been surrounded by quality people. I couldn’t have been Mad Max unless I had some people who supported and believed in me.”
Kefalos is still overseeing the tennis programs in South Carolina at the Columbia Tennis Center.
“My parents were avid recreational tennis players and tennis became my sport and the road to the University of South Carolina and the coaching career,” admitted Kefalos, who said his father spent countless hours working with him from the age of 8 while his mom handled the driving duties.
As a Big Red, Kefalos was a three-time state singles champion (1970-72) as the red and white brought home the state crown each year.
At the University of South Carolina, Kefalos was a four-year team MVP and finished his career with a record of 104-14 in singles play and had a 74-15 doubles mark.
Kefalos, who was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame in 2011 and the United States Tennis Association South Carolina HOF in 2014, also served as the head coach of the Gamecocks tennis program for the women (1978-83) and was an assistant coach for the men (1994-2009).
The ex-Big Red, who also gave a lot of credit to Bill Warner, stressed he was “surrounded by good athletes and exceptional coaches. They taught us skill, discipline, dedication, but most of all they taught us all how to win. Attitude became a habit.”
Louden, who has a neuroradiology practice in Atlanta, was unable to make the event due to prior commitments and had father Dr. Barry Louden accept on his behalf.
A 2005 graduate of Parkersburg High, Louden now joins his father in the MOV HOF.
As a Big Red, Louden finished his career on the basketball court as the second leading scorer with 1,279 points.
Although a tennis player growing up, Louden was approached by former PHS head football coach Don Reeves in the seventh grade and he asked him to come try football.
During his senior year, Louden had 39 catches and nine touchdowns but was selected to the Class AAA all-state first team at kicker. He previously held the school record with a 47-yard field goal, which was broken two years later by Tyler Warner’s 50-yard boot. Louden and Warner are tied for the most field goals in a single season with nine and Louden’s 17 career field goals ranks second behind Casey Stanley’s 19.
“First, I want to apologize for not being able to be there with you in person. This is a moment I wish I could share in that room with all of you,” said Louden, who went on to kick at Princeton where he converted 56 straight extra points and was third all-time in percentage before heading to the West Virginia School of Medicine, in a recorded video. “I’m truly grateful to the organizers for accommodating me.
“The reason I can’t be there tonight tells you a lot about the family I get to come home to. My wife, a former college field hockey player at Colegate University is having her own hall of fame week. She’s being inducted into her high school academy’s Hall of Distinction, and on top of that she’s presenting on the state of the art congenital urinary oncology at a medical conference, so I’m especially thankful for my induction today so I can start to make some of my own contributions to the family trophy case.”
Martin, a 1979 graduate of Ripley High School who has been with the Marshall University radio network since 2010, lettered four years in track and three in football for the Vikings before spending one season on the gridiron at Salem College.
The 1983 Marietta College graduated competed for three seasons for the Pioneers and starting his writing (1979) and broadcasting (1982) career there.
“I was here for the very first one in 1998,” said Martin, who was been the sports director at WCHS-TV since 2000. “My dear friend Paul Lanham was the very first inductee to this Hall of Fame from Jackson County.
“Never in a million years I figured I’d be standing up here 28 years later. It’s an honor to be here in this Hall of Fame with some of my former coaches.”
Martin, who has received numerous state and national awards for his work, said he moved from the country into the city of Ripley when he was 8 and that “it was just a great place to be.”
The ex-Viking said his father was to blame for getting him into this business and sparking a fire under him when he spoke 10 words to him on Sept. 6, 1968.
“Do you guys want to go to the football game,” recalled Martin, who said he was a big believer in fellowship while adding “when I think about sports and what it means to me, one word can sum it up, friendships. I’ve been able to make a truck load.
“Once, someone said ‘a friend is a present you give yourself.’ Down through the years I’ve given myself a lot of presents. Everybody in this room means so much to me. They are my brothers and my family. I’m proud to be a part of the Mid-Ohio Valley Sports Hall of Fame. All we have to do is look around and we know how blessed we’ve been.”
Palagi, known as ‘JJ’ while in school, came from Boise, Idaho, to attend the induction ceremony.
She was the Ravenswood High School valedictorian in 1991 and still holds six school records in track and field.
Palagi was part of four consecutive Class AA/A state championships track teams and was a two-time high-point winner at the state meet.
During her senior year, she became the first RHS thinclad to win the state cross country meet, which was just one classification at the time. The Red Devils under then head coach Tim Rector also won their first state cross country title.
“I’m so grateful to be standing here today to accept this incredible honor,” said Palagi, who went on to compete at West Virginia Wesleyan where she was named the 1991 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Freshman Cross Country Runner of the Year. “This moment is so important to me and I’m sharing it today with some very special people.
“My core family couldn’t be here today. My father. My siblings. My husband. My kids. Today they were all arriving in Destin, Florida, where we are having a family reunion, and I’m not there, but I wanted to be here and I’m going to fly out early tomorrow and hardly miss a beat. I was lucky to grow up in Ravenswood and be afforded the opportunity to grow as a scholar and an athlete.”
Palagi, who gave numerous thanks to friends and former coaches, said her main message was that she “couldn’t be who I am today without the commitment and caring of coaches and teachers in my life. From Butch Varney, and he’s a Hall-of-Famer, he was my PE teacher my whole life, and also this amazing coach I got to work under as a basketball player.
“Jim Frashier, who is now the president of the Jackson County Board of Education, he goated me to running on his middle school track team. If it wasn’t for Jim I wouldn’t have ever run. He badgered me and badgered me.”
She also gave kudos to her former coaches – Bryan Canterbury, Jim Mahan and Rector – in cross country and track and field.
“We won over and over under them,” added Palagi, who admitted the critical difference was the coaches caring about the spirit and minds of their athletes.
“Not just because of excellent training, and it was hard, but because of the little things they did to make the mental difference.”
Cozzens, a 1980 Belpre graduate, guided the Parkersburg girls to consecutive Class AAA state hoops championships in 2018-19.
Prior to arriving at PHS, Cozzens started his coaching career at Warren before going on to coach the girls at Marietta. The Tigers reached the Sweet 16 twice under his tutelage and won three conference championships.
“Why me?” asked Cozzens, who was a two-time Mountain State Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and had a career record of 153-41. “What an honor to be going into the Hall with you guys.”
Cozzens added “a lot of people went into making this possible,” and credited a great support system. “There are no shortcuts to this.
“It’s nothing but hard work. I was fortunate enough two of my daughters played for me. I had great staffs.”
The former head coach also said he couldn’t have done it without the help of a lot of folks, which included Joe Carrico and Phil Schramm.
“I considered him my director of operations. I can’t say enough,” Cozzens said of Carrico, while adding of his decision to make Schramm the scorekeeper where he thought that would be the safest place for him, “he reminded me all the timeouts I had and that I couldn’t sell them on EBAY.”
Cozzens stressed the key to the success was “every little detail matters. They all bought in and they all understood it.
“We were able to have a lot of success, more than I deserved. It’s what everybody else did. It all had to come together.”
Barnhart, a 1977 graduate at St. Marys who went on to earn his degree at Glenville State, led his alma mater as the head boys basketball coach from 2003-2023 where he amassed 277 career wins, which are the second most in school history.
Known as a “builder” in the coaching circles, Barnhart was twice named the Little Kanawha Conference Coach of the Year (2012/2022) and led the Blue Devils to a 25-win season and a Class AA state runner-up finish in 2012.
“Humbled to be a part of this,” he said. “It is quite an honor. When I walked in and you see the people you see, it really hits you right between the eyes. It’s just nice to be a part of this and I really appreciate those who made that possible.
“My wife once said I had no idea how much basketball would be played in June. I thought basketball season was in winter.”
Never afraid to be one to lose, Barnhart used former mentors Bill Hanlin and Kenny Wright as inspiration to what would become known as a St. Marys program that were well disciplined squads.
Barnhart gave props to the Crislips at the Elite Sports Center, which he felt greatly helped his teams over the years.
“I hope I can be remembered for that. That’s what they were good about, helping people and making the world a better place,” he said.
Peters made his way from being a 1970 graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School to the gridiron and wrestling programs at Glenville State.
His coaching tenure started at Harrisville High School in 1975 where he helped revive a wrestling program that had been dormant for 20 years. He also started a youth program and later became the head coach at Ritchie County High School in 1986 after the consolidation with Pennsboro.
“As long as it’s short people will love it,” quipped Peters, who had wrestlers win seven state titles while also earning the Class AA/A Dix Manning Coach of the Year Award in 1999. “It’s a true honor. Everybody has got to have a support system. A lot of these people were my support system. I was very lucky to end up in Ritchie County.
“After you graduated high school you either went away to school or you went to the coal mine. Lucky for me I had some high school coaches that came and picked me up on a Saturday and said ‘hey, we’re going to go visit some schools,’ and I ended up attending Glenville State and I did my student teaching in Ritchie County. At that time I had long hair.”
Peters spent more than four decades teaching special education and noted it takes “a community project” to be successful.
“I always enjoyed working with special education students or I wouldn’t have done it for 42 years,” he said. “I saw the worst of kids and I could see the best of kids.
“I tried to get the worst of the kids to be with some of the best kids. My first job was always a teacher. The coaching was my second.”
Leasure, the 2004 valedictorian at Shenandoah High School who is currently the Director of Mathematics for the Ohio Valley Education Service Center, was known as one of the Zeps’ most versatile athletes in school history.
The Zeps’ all-time leading scorer on the basketball court – boy or girl – finished with 1,691 points before going on to compete at Shawnee State for four years.
She was named the Division III Player of the Year in the Buckeye State her senior season. In volleyball, Leasure was the District 12 and Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Player of the Year, while she also qualified for the state track meet and won the OVAC 300 hurdles title.
“Athletics is truly one of the most significant foundations of the culture and communities of our regions,” Leasure said. “Sports have an anchoring way of bringing us all together. As I reflect on my own athletic journey, as a player and coach, honestly I’m just so happy and very blessed doing the things I love, and trying to do the very best I could to inspire others.
“But, also to honor all of those who put so much effort into insuring that I had every opportunity to be successful as an athlete, as a student and as a person, many of which are here this evening.”
Watson, a three-sport standout at Wirt County who graduated in 1976, finished third during his senior campaign of 1975 for the Kennedy Award, given annually to the Mountain State’s best player.
The ex-Tiger, who rushed for 1,000-plus yards in each of his three seasons, amassed 1,695 stripes as a senior and scored a then school record 172 points, which stood for 50 years until it was broken by Brody Ewing.
Defensively, Watson was second in W.Va. with 87 solo tackles as a senior and his 27 touchdowns also were second-best in the state.
An all-state first team selection as a senior on the gridiron at tailback, the Tiger was a second team pick at linebacker as a junior. He helped the orange and black to the 1975 state championship game where they lost to Ridgeley, 20-13, at Parkersburg’s Stadium Field.
Watson, whose brother Rodney was inducted into the MOV HOF in 2018, said he only got knocked out once on the football field and also recalled the time he got into his first game as a freshman.
“The first ballgame I ever played in in my life was down at Wahama,” he said. “Rodney was kind of mouthing the little guards that they had and I thought I’m going to be big stuff, too, and I’m just a freshman.
“So I started mouthing too and the next thing I know I get knocked back about 15 yards back to the safety, which was Dave Dulin. He turns around and sees me back here and he chews on me as bad as he was chewing on those little guards, and I never did get knocked back there again.”
At the end of his speech, which was the last of the evening, Watson added “I want to thank everybody, the Hall and everything for putting me in here, and I appreciate it. Everybody get the keys out and go home. Thank you very much.”
The honorees will have permanent plaques displayed inside the Grand Central Mall.
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com