Louis M. Bonacorsi, NorthWood High School (Coach) Coach Bonacorsi started teaching at NorthWood HS in 1969, served as head wrestling coach from 1972-1984, and his record was 78 (W), 53 (L), 3 (T). In 1974, he coached the school’s first athlete to compete in the IHSAA State Finals (any sport) and in 1975 the wrestling […]

Dennis Tepe, Elkhart High School (1956) The 1955-56 Elkhart Blue Blazers advanced to the IHSAA Basketball Final Four and when the competition was finished, Dennis was announced as the winner of the Trester Award, the first ever for anyone from Elkhart County. Dennis earned a total of 8 letters at EHS in four sports: basketball […]

Gene C. Skirvin, Jimtown High School (Coach)/p> Gene was at Madison-Grant (Fairmont) High School as assistant football coach for four years before coming to Jimtown where he served as assistant football coach for seven years. His tenure as Jimtown’s head football coach only lasted nine years, but in those years the Jimmies won 76 games, […]

Dave Schnell, Elkhart Central High School (1985) As a senior at Elkhart Central HS, Dave earned All-State and Parade All-American honors in football. Seen as a pure drop back quarterback, some rated him the #1 high school quarterback. At Central he completed 55.4% of his passes for 3,858 yards and 41 touchdowns (22 as a […]

Peter Sarantos, Elkhart High School (1965) Peter was an All-Conference and All-State linebacker, playing for Elkhart, and was the team MVP his junior year. He lettered in wrestling and was a sectional champ in 1964. He also tossed the shot put in track for three years. After high school, Peter played football for the University […]

Matt Ronzone, Elkhart Memorial High School (1987) Following a great running career at Elkhart Memorial HS, one of Matt’s coaches cited his ambition and perseverance and said, “He’s a leader by example.” He was co-captain of both the cross-country and track teams his senior year; lettered three years in cross-country and four years in track. […]

Joe Phillips, Millersburg High School (1963) At Millersburg, Joe starred as a baseball pitcher and scored 570 points in his varsity basketball career (high game, 30). After high school, Joe played both baseball (pitcher) and basketball (forward and guard) at Manchester College. During three years on the varsity at Manchester, he scored 1225 points (high […]

Dan Kratzer, Elkhart and Elkhart Memorial High Schools (1973) In 1979 Dan and brothers David, Gary and Ron were inducted into the Indiana Wrestling Hall of Fame as the very first family to receive the honor as a family (Harold Kratzer family). In high school wrestling, he was three-time sectional and regional champion and 1973 […]

Brooke Doriot, Goshen High School (1975) Brooke is remembered as one of Goshen HS’ all-time great athletes and as a pioneer among female athletes. Before girls were allowed to compete in IHSAA sponsored contests, she placed second in the state 100-yard dash as a sophomore after winning district and regional titles in the 50 and […]

Mel Dean, Nappanee High School (1966) Mel once scored 25 points in the second half of a sectional basketball game against Goshen. He lettered in basketball (3), baseball (2) and cross-country (1). In basketball, he led all county scorers as a junior with a 21.5 scoring average, scored 1,118 career points and was named Nappanee […]