HURLEY -- The Hurley High School Athletic Hall of Fame will add four individuals and one team during 2009's induction ceremony on July 25 at noon at the Hurley K-12 School. The event is sponsored by the Hurley Quarterback Club.
The 1981 baseball team appeared in the state tournament and will be inducted. Edward Kinney (class of 1975), Wayland "Mop" Baron (1949), Darin Saari (1985) and Justine Skoviera (1993) have also been selected.
The Athletic Hall of Fame wall is located in the school commons and the names can also be viewed at the school Web site at hurley.k12.wi.us. A nomination form is also available online.
1981 Baseball Team
The 1981 baseball team finished at 26-5 and appeared at the state finals in West Bend. Along the way they were champions of the Western U.P. League as well as the WIAA regional and sectional tournaments.
The 1981 team included Jeff Aijala, John Aijala, Larry Barnabo, Jim Blise, Dom Ciatti, Jim Durkee, Steve Innes, Jerry Levra, Jerry Machesky, Ralph Morello, Jeff Nevala, Ray Oman, Joe Ramuta, Mark Reinerio, Troy Sawicki, Bob Stephani, and coach Ralph Johnson.
Hurley began the season with a record 17 straight wins before losing to Bessemer 4-0. They had played 18 games in 22 days at that point of the season.
Hurley captured the Western U.P.'s Western Division title at 9-1 and defeated eastern champion West Iron County 6-1 to win the overall title. Despite that one loss to Bessemer, Hurley prevailed with two wins over Ironwood to reach the championship game. Barnabo and Levra were unanimous selections to the all-conference team. Sawicki and Morello were also selected to the team.
In the WIAA regional, Hurley avenged doubleheader regular season losses to Ashland by shutting them out 8-0 at Montreal Field.
In the sectional at Tomahawk, Hurley pounded out 23 hits in victories over Park Falls 8-6 and Osseo-Fairchild 17-8. Hurley led early in the opener and hung on for the win. They had to come from behind in the championship game.
Hurley lost to a hard-hitting Hamilton-Sussex team 14-4 in the opening game of the WIAA summer tournament in West Bend. Hamilton-Sussex, with a school enrollment of 1,400, went on to capture the 1981 state championship.
Edward Kinney
Ed Kinney graduated from Hurley 34 years ago, yet his accomplishments in track and field are evident today with three school records still standing on the wall of the gymnasium.
His leap of 21-9 1/2 in the long jump and his time of 51.79 in the 400-meter dash are still tops along with his 1,600 relay team record of 3:34.8 with Jay Butterbrodt, Bob Smee, and Kirt Grasso.
Kinney qualified for the WIAA state track meet twice and competed in the 800 relay, 1,600 relay, 200 dash, and the long jump. He finished third in 1975's state long-jump finals, just 1 3/4 behind the winner.
As a member of the cross country team, Kinney participated in two state finals (1972 and 1973). He was a three-year letter winner in wrestling and also lettered in football. He was given the Wisconsin Club Award for Outstanding Senior Scholar-Athlete and the Roderick Backlund Memorial Track Award.
Kinney was a member of the National Honor Society and was a true student-athlete. His educational pursuits after high school led him to the University of Wisconsin, where he initially worked toward an electrical engineering degree before graduating from the UW School of Medicine in 1984.
He did his internship and residency at the University of Louisville in General Surgery. Kinney completed fellowships in vascular surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. He was in private practice as a vascular surgeon in Louisville, Ky., from 1991 through 2001.
In 2001, Kinney almost died from a strept infection. He has not worked since then but has continued his education. He attended Bellarmine University and the University of Louisville for accounting and tax and then received his J.D. degree in May 2006 from the University of Kentucky College of Law. He is currently a registered patent attorney.
He resides in Louisville with his children Matt and Eleana and his interests include his farm, flying, golfing and running.
Wayland "Mop" Baron
Wayland Baron will forever be associated with Hurley athletics as a member of the 1949 state champion basketball team. Their accomplishments have long been a source of pride for Hurley alumni around the country. It's a story that people never get tired of reliving.
To say that Wayland Baron saved his best for last is an understatement. He led the Midgets in scoring at the state finals, totaling 11 points against Reedsburg, 18 against Wauwatosa and its 39-game winning streak, and 18 against LaCrosse Logan in the championship game.
His total of 47 points was tops for the tournament. He was named to the Wisconsin State Journal All-State tournament team and the Wisconsin High School Coaches Association All-State tournament team.
A newspaper account in 1949 described Baron best: "All of the Midgets played heroically in the Logan contest, but the special hero was skinny Wayland Baron. This elongated beanpole was a whirling dervish as he faked and shot his way to 18 points. His free throw with only about 30 seconds to go salted the game when the Midgets were able to put on their most effective, if not the only effective, stall of the season."
Hurley was the best free-throw shooting team in the finals and Baron converted 15 to lead all players.
Baron was also a very good baseball player for four years at Hurley. He went on to play basketball at Gogebic Community College for 1 1/2 years and at Northland College for 2 years. He held the free-throw shooting record at Northland with 15 made in one game.
Baron settled in Pulaski and had a very successful career as a teacher and coach. He was varsity baseball coach for nine years and varsity basketball coach for eight years. He started an elementary basketball program and ran it for eight years using the techniques taught to him by Carl Vergamini.
Baron has been married to his classmate, Nancy Foster, for over 50 years and they have four children. He resides at Pine Lake in the summer.
Darin Saari
Darin Saari earned 14 varsity letters at Hurley in football, basketball, baseball, golf, and track. In 1985, he was named the Outstanding Senior Athlete.
He was a three-year letter winner for the University of Wisconsin-Superior football team as punter and was accorded player of the game honors in that position.
Saari's interest in golf began in high school and ended up becoming his chosen career. For over 10 years, he has been a golf professional. In 1996, he received a degree in Golf Course Management and then worked for several golf courses in Arizona before moving back to Wisconsin as a golf professional at Whistling Straits.
Saari has managed up to 60 staff members during the season while going through the PGA of America's golf professional training program. He graduated in July 2004 and is now a full member of the PGA of America as a Class A Golf Professional.
At 2004's PGA Championship hosted at Whistling Straits, Saari was named chairman of the Maps and Pairings Distribution Committee. He served as chairman of the Evacuation Committee at the 2007 Senior U.S. Open and will assume those duties again at the 2010 PGA Championship. Whistling Straits has consistently been rated as one of the top 100 courses in the world.
As a member of the Kohler Golf Academy, he teaches junior golf, Ladies Academy and group clinics to guests from all over the world. He also finds time to play in many Wisconsin PGA events as well as the PGA Tour Monday qualifiers.
Saari resides in Sheboygan with his wife Becky, a surgical technician, and his three children, sons Ryan and Evan and daughter Paytan. His daughter participated in the 2008 WIAA state golf tournament as a member of Sheboygan North's golf team.
Justine Skoviera
Justine Skoviera was a natural athlete who excelled in varsity softball for four years, varsity basketball and volleyball for three years, and varsity cross country for two years. She becomes the youngest member of the Hurley Athletic Hall of Fame.
Skoviera was voted Hurley's Most Valuable Player in volleyball, softball, and basketball. She also was named Outstanding Senior Female Athlete in 1993. Justine was all-conference for three years in softball and was one of coach Jim Kivisto's best in a long line of fine shortstops. She managed to participate in both volleyball and cross country at the same time and was accorded all-conference honors in both.
Her 1991 cross country team was second at the sectionals and qualified for the state finals. That team was also conference champion.
Skoviera's teams won conference championships in softball in 1991 and 1993 and were regional champions in 1991.
She attended Gogebic Community College where she played volleyball and received an associate degree as a medical secretary.
Skoviera is married to Jim Bobula and resides in Ontonagon along with their three daughters. She is employed at Aspirus Ontonagon Family Practice Clinic and is still active in softball and volleyball.
For more information or to make a donation, write to Hurley Quarterback Club, P.O. Box 51, Hurley, WI 54534.
