Hall of Fame Highlights
Dan Witmer |October 25, 2021
Last week I went to the 2021 induction of the Upstate Lacrosse Foundation, formerly the Upstate Chapter of US Lacrosse, Hall of Fame inductions at Traditions, the banquet hall at The Links at Erie Village golf course in East Syracuse. And let me tell you – it was great to see the band getting back together again.

Richie Moran. Walt Munze. Alf Jacques. Roy Simmons III. Tom Abbott. Mike Messere. Tom Hall. Oren Lyons. Pete Fiorini. Tom Acee. Matt Palumb. Bob Deegan. Chris Kenneally. Clark Mercer.

Seriously – as usual, a literal Who’s Who of Upstate lacrosse icons and legends were on hand to help recognize the Hall of Fame Class of 2021.

My “date” for the evening was JustLacrosse Upstate owner/operator/editor Dennis Pettit, who I hadn’t seen since before COVID. We had plenty to talk about, but once all the festivities started, we spent the majority of the night listening instead.

We were welcomed by the president of the Upstate Lacrosse Foundation, David Alexander. He thanked the Hall of Fame committee members and recognized the many previously-inducted members of the Upstate Hall of Fame who were present (including, but not limited to, all the names listed in Paragraph 2).

Matt Park, the Voice of the Orange, was once again the emcee for the night, and he kept things moving throughout the night. Unfortunately, the sound system wasn’t working well, so, for someone like me who struggles with situations like this, I had a tough time hearing everyone’s speeches. Most managed to speak up and make themselves heard, but a couple were difficult for me to hear. Matt joked, “Now if this room was full of basketball coaches, they would have quit and gone home, and if this was a group of football coaches, they would have formed a few committees and studied the situation for a few months. But you’re lacrosse people, so we move forward!”

The surprise inclusion of John Tillman – inducted at the 2019 HOF event, but not present two years ago due to a schedule conflict – got things off to a quick start. A Corning West HS graduate, Tillman played at Cornell for the legendary Richie Moran, who fittingly sat right behind Tills as he accepted his HOF plaque in person. The Maryland head coach and 2017 national champion also thanked Ithaca College coach Jeff Long for giving him his first taste of coaching, and then went on to thank the high school coaches he’d had in his early days, and all the assistant coaches he’s worked with over the years.

Next, Matt introduced the 1971 Cornell men’s lacrosse team – the first, I believe, college team inducted into the Upstate HOF. The ’71 Big Red won its first national championship that year, in the NCAA’s first tournament that determined a champion (Cornell had gone undefeated in 1966, 1968, and 1970, but never received enough votes to claim a title). Coach Moran spoke of his team’s accomplishments, and then members of the team lined up and introduced themselves. Fittingly, this was the 50th anniversary of that season, and you could see the pride in each man’s face as he introduced himself, named his hometown and the position that he played. Very cool; very cool indeed!

Then the alphabetical list of seven 2021 HOF inductees began, starting with Matt Abbott, one of the more familiar names in the CNY lacrosse world. In his high school years, Matt played at Nottingham and starred for the Central team in the Empire State Games. Then he played at Syracuse and helped win national championships in both 2008 and 2009. His best line was as he started his speech, looking over his shoulder at all the Big Red players behind him, saying he was a little nervous being surrounded by so many Cornell guys. Matt went on to thank all his teammates, his coaches – even referees – and his family for helping him along the way. I mean, who else besides Matt Abbott would mention refs in his HOF acceptance speech? Brett Bucktooth was next, and he also thanked his teammates, his entire community (quoting the “it takes a village” phrase that is so much more than a cliché), and his family; he made it clear that his wife was in fact the MVP in their house. The former high school and USILA All-American, NLL pro, Iroquois National team member and, more recently, coach, also reminisced about playing lacrosse in his backyard, where he competed against his brothers and learned to love the game in its purest form.

Perhaps the most interesting resume in the evening’s program belonged to inductee Josh Dennis, who graduated from Ithaca High School in 1986 and went on to play at Duke, where he was a team captain and earned three-time All-ACC and All-American honors. But the items that leapt off the program’s page included his seeing the Ramones in 1982, amassing a 5321-1 W/L record in ping-pong in his Ithaca basement spanning the years 1982-1990, wrecking his dad’s Chrysler Cordoba in 1986, and taking care of Grandma for a year (1997). He thanked his brothers, his wife and daughters, and his father.

Tom Grimaldi was next. The three-time All-American and 1985 National Player of the Year who helped lead the Hobart Statesmen to four consecutive national championships, said one of his most memorable moments was watching – from the GLE – his brother Larry score in overtime in the 1982 national championship game. He thanked coaches including Joe Corcoran, Dave Urick, and Terry Corcoran, and remarked proudly how three of his four sons have played at Towson, Ithaca, and Hobart, and his youngest son is still playing at Corning-Painted Post HS, his alma mater. Tom also thanked his amazingly supportive family.

A former Liverpool HS standout player, Beth (Ames) Hewitt went on to lead the UNC Tar Heels in scoring her junior and senior seasons, earning All-ACC and All- American honors along the way. After graduation, she started her coaching career as an assistant at Oregon before returning to Upstate NY to become head coach of the women’s program at LeMoyne. Her teams went 71-20 during her five years back in CNY. She is currently the head coach at Vanderbilt University, where the Commodores have gone 26-18 in her first three seasons in Nashville. In summing up her list of people to thank, she mentioned her parents, saying, “Everything in life comes back to family.”

Inductee Dick Pepper started his acceptance speech by saying that, at most HOF ceremonies, he usually sits “in the back with the other bad boys” – meaning lacrosse officials. But this time, it was his turn to be front and center. He promised “50 thank-yous in 5 minutes,” but I’m quite certain he exceeded both numbers. Dick thanked his family, his wife and daughter, saying that his wife Suzie had set a record – “for giving me the longest leash ever.” A one-time camper at Walt Munze’s All-American Lacrosse Camp, the former high school coach, long-time referee, and proud board member of the annual John Pepper Memorial Lacrosse Tournament, Dick has officiated international lacrosse in the US, Europe, and Australia, and is currently the Referee-In-Chief for the upcoming World Lacrosse U-21 Championships in Limerick, Ireland, set for August of 2022.

Finally, the last inductee of the evening was Carl “Ket” Weist, the man who started the fabled lacrosse program at Lafayette High School in 1960. Offering the shortest acceptance speech of the night, he remarked enthusiastically that, at age 87, this HOF induction was “the highlight of my life!” He spoke proudly of being the architect of the Lafayette program some 61 years ago. Ket finished his speech by reciting – from memory, without notes – this 1873 poem… Invictus,” by William Ernest Henley:

“Out of the night that covers me; Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be; For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance; I have not winced nor cried aloud,
Under the bludgeonings of chance; My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears; Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years; Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate; How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.”

“Invictus” means “unconquerable” in Latin, and maybe that was a fitting conclusion to a great night of stars and stories. As David Alexander reminded us at the beginning of the night, lacrosse had been shut down; players, coaches, refs, parents, and fans were denied the game we all love. But, in the end, we all proved unconquerable. Since last fall, when there should have been a 2020 Hall of Fame banquet, we got back on the field, back to the sidelines, and back in the stands.

Invictus, indeed.

I wish I could have made it out to Albany for its HOF ceremony on Monday night; I would have liked to be there for fellow Lake Placid “independent contractors” Rich Gross’s and Marty Ruglis’s big night. And I’d love to attend the Greater Rochester Chapter’s HOF ceremony on Friday, November 5, but our whole Witmer family will be at a wedding that evening – and that kind of thing doesn’t happen very often!

Nonetheless, congratulations to one and all, and thanks for reading.

Please, everyone, drive carefully. Donate blood. Get vaccinated. Volunteer. And stay safe, stay smart, and stay kind.

- Dan Witmer daniel.witmer@oswego.edu

Dan Witmer is the author of three books.  The Best of Road Trip Dad – The Laker Lacrosse Collection  is an accumulation of 45 articles written for JustLacrosseUpstate between the years 2012 and 2018, about the history and traditions, the people, and the stories of the Oswego State men’s lacrosse program. The book is available on Amazon.com, and at the river’s end bookstore in Oswego, the SUNY Oswego College Store in the Marano Campus Center, The Sports Outfit on West Genesee Street in Fairmount, and Geared 2 Sports in Cortland.  … and piles to go before I sleep – The Book of Wit is his memoir describing his 33 year career teaching HS English and coaching at Hannibal Central School. It is available on Amazon.com and at the river's end bookstore. His third book, The Best of RTD – A Lacrosse Coach’s Handbook, has just been released at Amazon.com. It contains more than 55 weekly Road Trip Dad blogs spanning 2012-2020, featuring Xs and Os, highs and lows, and even some Dos and Don'ts, and plenty of advice for coaches of all levels.