Late Ace Heberling focal point of WPIAL Hall of Fame ceremony

By: George Guido
Friday, May 28, 2021 | 9:57 PM

The 14th annual WPIAL Hall of Fame induction banquet was the first since the passing of the league’s first executive director, Chuck “Ace” Heberling.

And Heberling’s strong, forceful personality was a focal point of several inductees’ speeches Friday at the Green Tree Double Tree Hotel ballroom.

Joe Maize, inducted for his success at Peters Township’s baseball coach — 422 victories over 35 years — plus his 34 years as a WPIAL soccer steering committee member, recalled when Heberling told him he was going to serve on the soccer committee.

Maize recalled telling Heberling he didn’t know anything about soccer. Heberling told him, “You’ll do fine,” and hung up the phone abruptly, something Heberling became famous for by anyone who encountered him.

Same with inductee David Hays, a 21-year member of the WPIAL Board of Control.

“I was in Orlando, Fla., with our school band, and I got a call from Mr. Heberling who said I’m going to be on the board, and he needs my resume by 3:00, then click,” Hays said.

Hayes was joined by Amy Caprino, longtime gymnastics coach at Moon, as the first recipients of the Charles “Ace” Heberling contributor award.

The crowd also was treated to a biographical video tribute to Heberling.

Some of Friday’s loudest applause was reserved for Courage Award recipient Anthony Chiccitt of Bethel Park, who overcame a bout with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s disease to excel at football, baseball and basketball for the Black Hawks and just completed his freshman season as Robert Morris’ quarterback.

Soccer also took center stage as Maize recalled the effort to have all the soccer finals at the same venue, a la football and basketball.

Longtime Quaker Valley coach Gene Klein, whose teams won seven WPIAL titles and 505 matches during his tenure, was inducted, along with coach Uwe Schneider and his 2004 Upper St. Clair state title team that went 27-0 and outscored the opposition 111-9.

The 1980 North Hills softball team, the first from the WPIAL to win a state title, was honored via coach Denny Papalia and eight team members.

Individual athletes inducted included: four-time WPIAL cross-country titlewinner Natalie Bower Toman of Latrobe, also the winner of eight track and field titles; Tom Evans, retired Yough athletic director and 35-year baseball umpire; Ron Gagliani of Avella, three-time WPIAL rifle champion; Derry’s James Gulibon, one of only 13, four-time PIAA wrestling champions; Ed Josefoski of back-to-back Penn Hills volleyball titlists who was selected as a Top 50 in a national rankings service; Hempfield’s Katie Miller Gee, who won three PIAA golf titles; and Joe Tranchini, quarterback of Clairton’s 1954 WPIAL football title team who later was a standout at Navy.

Those who could not make the banquet because of scheduling difficulties surrounding the one-year delay of the induction ceremony because of the pandemic spoke via video. They included Aliquippa legend Darrelle Revis, who played 145 NFL games after starring at Pitt; Franklin Regional diver Samantha Pickens, who is at the U.S. Olympic trials in Texas; and Latrobe’s Michaela Kissell Eddins, who won WPIAL and PIAA tennis titles in her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons.

Watch an archived broadcast of the induction ceremony.