The Section IV Athletics Hall of Fame is inducting 16 new members, and that new class will have a heavy infusion of Chenango County athletes, coaches, and contributors.

In a news release earlier this week, the Section IV Athletic Council announced the 2021 induction class, which will be inducted Saturday, October 23, at 11 a.m. at the Holiday Inn in downtown Binghamton.

Chenango County-based inductees in the athlete category are Robert “Bob” Branham, Thad Rice, and Eric Finch.

Inducted in the coaching category is Vern Wallace, and contributor honorees are Thomas “Tom” Rowe, Jody Hughes, and Dean Veenhof.

Additional information on the induction ceremony may be obtained by contacting Janet Mcweeney at the Section IV office at phone number 607-561-2347, extension 1001.

The Section IV Hall of Fame provided biographies of each inductee’s accomplishments.  Below are the summaries of each local honoree:

 

Robert “Bob” Branham

Bob Branham was the quintessential high school athlete who excelled in all four sports he participated in at Oxford Academy and Central School.

Branham was the quarterback for Tony Abbott’s Blackhawks and garnered several honors at that position - MVP of the team, Susquenango League Division All-Star at both signal caller and cornerback and All-County QB by The Evening Sun.

In basketball, Bob played point guard for Coach Don Cooper, and scored 30 points or more several times. He also had a lofty 50 percent shooting accuracy as the backcourt leader of the hardwood five.

As a baseball player, Bob pitched and manned the shortstop position, receiving numerous accolades. But, his best sport was golf, where he finished runner-up in the NYSPHSAA championships during his senior campaign.

All of these accomplishments resulted in Bob being named the co-Male Athlete of the Year after his senior spring season.

Following his graduation from Oxford, Branham majored in physical education and played golf at Cortland State. He won two SUNYAC golf championships and several other collegiate tournaments, while receiving the Cortland Red Letter Award all four years. In addition, he qualified for the Division Ill NCAA championships three times and was honored as an All-American twice. For his many collegiate accomplishments, Bob was inducted into the Cortland State Hall of Fame in 2020.

Furthermore, Branham has coached 37 years, the majority of his years at Norwich. During this time, he has mentored both boys’ and girls’ basketball, baseball, football, golf and softball. He is most proud of the fact that he has led three different sports - boys’ and girls’ basketball and golf- to multiple division, sectional and STAC titles. Besides coaching, he has been an esteemed baseball, basketball, and softball official in Section IV.

Bob has done it all, but perhaps the best thing about him is that he is a wonderful, caring person whether on or off the field. He epitomizes what all athletes and coaches should be, and for these reasons we salute and recognize Robert F. Branham and welcome him into the Section IV Athletic Hall of Fame.

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Tom Rowe

Tom Rowe served the area high school sports scene for many years as the sports editor of The Evening Sun in Norwich. During his tenure at the “Sun,” Tom was revered and respected by all the people that were involved and interested in sports.

It should be noted that Tom was the only full-time sports reporter for the newspaper, save for a few stringers. That workload, though, never deterred his handling of area athletics.

He wrote interesting and colorful stories that often used a theme or words of a current song to convey the essence of the particular event he was covering. Adults and the student-athletes could easily relate to what he was attempting to communicate in his articles. Those articles contained more than the facts and endeavored to bring a human insight into the game. The first news that many of us checked on was the sports section of The Evening Sun.

Moreover, Rowe understood the importance of a sporting contest for the student-athletes and the communities that they represented. One of the mottos of Section IV is, “Education through sports.” Tom comprehended this and realized what an impact sports had on the athlete and the school.

His reporting was done in an upbeat manner and always tried to include the positive and good of the student-athlete and coach. Coaches spoke freely to Tom, because they trusted him to do a fair and honest job. He was not only a reporter, but an advocate for sports and its role in human development.

Additionally, Tom strove to encourage the spread and reporting of all sports. The student-athletes in Chenango County wanted to become an all-county selection in their respective sports. There was a great deal of pride in being picked for this honor. Furthermore, he led the way in the development of girls’ sports in the area way before it was considered in vogue. Chenango County was fortunate to have had Tom Rowe reporting sports for our athletes.

Tom, who earned B.A. and M.A. degrees while studying diplomatic history at Villanova University and the University of Pennsylvania, remains active in the local sports arena as a researcher and writer for the Section IV Athletic Hall of Fame as well as the Norwich High School Sports Hall of Fame. He and his wife, Lora, reside in Norwich.

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Eric Finch

To dominate one sport is a great achievement, but to master three is a testament to just how special Eric Finch’s abilities were while earning 10 varsity letters as an athlete for Bainbridge­Guilford/ Afton.

During his senior season, Finch established a new Section IV single-game rushing record in football and laid claim to back-to-back sectional crowns in wrestling and track en route to each sport’s respective state championships.

A two-way starter on the gridiron at fullback and linebacker, his low-to-the-ground, punishing style of running made him one of the most respected backs in all of Section IV. On Sept. 19, 1998, he established that aforementioned rushing record when he ran 22 times for 381 yards and four touchdowns as the Bears defeated Deposit 27-20. In breaking the previous mark of 352 yards, set by Joel Stephens of Elmira Notre Dame in 1994, Finch scored on gallops of 59, 80, 64 and 38 yards. Eric wound up his BGA career as its all­time leading rusher with 2,579 yards.

What transpired that fall carried over into the winter months when Finch went 38-2 as a wrestler. Perfect during the regular season at 36-0, he was 2-2 at the state championships after claiming the overall sectional title at 215 pounds. He also won out in Class C and MAC competition with 30 of his 38 wins coming via a pin.

As a four-year member of a dominant BGA wrestling program in the late 1990s, Eric helped the Bears capture Class C crowns in each of his seasons and the MAC championship his freshman, junior and senior years. All told, Finch produced a record of 107-40.

To complete his stellar senior season, Finch, who competed on the track and field team for three years, established a school-record discus heave of 151-feet; 6-inches, a record that still stands. He went on to win the Class B championship and finished seventh overall in the state.

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Thad Rice

Speak softly and carry a big stick was the diplomatic strategy of former United States president Theodore Roosevelt. And, Thad Rice, who enjoys the same TR monogram as the two-term American leader, was mirror-like in his approach as a wrestler.

Never one to strut his stuff or to call unduly attention to himself, Rice went about his five-year career as an Oxford Academy grappler with not only superior ability but a quiet touch of sportsmanship, as well.

At a mere 5-foot-4 and 105 pounds during his physical heyday, Rice proved how important inner strength is as he finished his Oxford career with a record of 139-26-1 (.842). That win total was second-best ever in Section IV at the time of his graduation in 1986, 147 being the hallmark.

During his junior and senior seasons, he captured Section IV crowns at that aforementioned 105 pounds, with respective records of 34-4 and 29-4-1. He also laid claim to three Class D titles, three more Susquenango Association championships and a pair of Clyde Cole firsts. Besides those first-place finishes, Rice also garnered a runner-up spot and third-place result in each of the Section IV, Class D and Clyde Cole tournaments.

His overall records for those previously mentioned events are 14-2 during Section IV action, 12-2 in

Class D competition, 12-3 as a Susquenango participant and 14-4 while competing in the Clyde Cole affair.

Twice chosen as The Evening Sun Wrestler of the Year, following his junior and senior seasons, Thad was also a three-time recipient of the Oxford Wrestling Boosters Most Valuable Wrestler Award.

Following his graduation from Oxford, Rice wrestled at SUNY Morrisville for two seasons. Later, he assisted the Oxford wrestling program for 14 years in all aspects from pee wee to varsity. During the final nine years (2010-19) of his assistance, the Blackhawks crowned six Section IV champions, besides earning three wild card spots in the state tournament.

Both of Rice’s sons - Cole and Cooper - were part of that Blackhawk wrestling contingent during that time. Cooper, the youngest sibling, became his family’s sixth sectional title winner when he recorded that feat in 2018. Thad owns two more of those crowns {1985 and 1986) as does his grandfather, Carl Winner {1946 and 1947), while his uncle Tab Winner {1978) completes the half dozen.

Thad is currently employed by Vacri Construction Corporation of Binghamton

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Vernon “Vern” Wallace

Vern Wallace’s legacy at Bainbridge-Guilford Central School is etched on the success his wrestlers achieved while he manned the controls of the Bobcats’ mat program for 11 seasons. Wrestling, however, wasn’t the only sport headed by Vern as he oversaw the baseball and football programs, too.

Wallace began his tenure at B-G in 1966, after graduating from SUNY Cortland with a degree in physical education. He immediately stepped into coaching as junior high football coach and took over the varsity reins the following fall. By 1969, he was coaching all three sports previously alluded to, and during that spring the Bobcats captured the Pioneer League baseball crown.

His real passion, though, was wrestling. From 1969 until 1980, B-G never had a losing season while compiling a 117-36 (.750) record. After the Pioneer League became the Susquenango Association, the Bobcats earned one overall league championship in 1979 with a 14-1 log and four Sus East titles, the 1974 squad going undefeated at 14-0-1.

B-G also won the team title at the 1979 Clyde Cole Tournament in Oxford, and the following year the Bobcats defeated a powerful Peru High School team 34-21, a squad that had won 196 of its previous 200 duals.

Over the course of those 11 seasons, Wallace guided 10 different wrestlers to 12 Sus crowns, while two others gained Section IV championships.

Besides presiding over the B-G varsity program, Vern’s love of wrestling prompted him to start a pee wee tournament in 1973, and by 1974 the tourney, which was held Memorial Day weekend at the Canoe Regatta, drew over 800 entries. It was at this event in 1978 that Coach Ray Charboneau from Brother Martin High School in New Orleans reached out to him with an invitation for Wallace’s team to visit the Crescent City. Through Vern’s efforts, the community raised funds for the trip, and the Bobcats not only enjoyed a week of sightseeing, but prevailed in a dual meet versus their hosts.

After leaving coaching behind, Vern felt a void left by the lack of mentoring athletes. He returned to coaching at the modified level, overseeing the seventh and eighth grade girls’ basketball program for over five years. His role in teaching fundamentals contributed to the success the B-G girls have been able to sustain for so long.

Throughout his coaching career, Vern has worked hard to instill respect, hard work and self­discipline in his athletes. The reward was not only in the won-loss columns, but in the pride the young athletes felt.

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Jody Hughes

Jody Hughes was employed in the Bainbridge-Guilford Central School district for 36 years as both teacher and coach. His main areas of expertise were badminton, table tennis, girls’ tennis and junior varsity wrestling.

Through his efforts, the Section IV badminton and table tennis tournament has been held at B-G for many years. And, with Hughes at the coaching forefront, the Bobcats enjoyed remarkable success, winning seven consecutive team titles from 1987-93. He was also at the helm of six teams that wound up runners­up. Between the two sports, Jody had 33 singles/doubles champions, as well.

Prior to his time at B-G, Hughes was a standout athlete at Gilbertsville Central School, where he earned 15 varsity letters in baseball (4), volleyball (4), basketball (3), football (2) and track (2). Hughes later wrestled at East Stroudsburg University, where he earned a fourth-place finish in the state tournament, despite never wrestling in high school.

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Dean Veenhof

Dean Veenhof taught physical education, coached and was an athletic director for 28 years, 24 of which came at Gilbertsville Central School and Gilbertsville-Mount Upton Central School.

Veenhof was well known in the basketball coaching ranks, retiring with 199 career victories. Standing at 6-foot-5, he can be remembered for his imposing presence with his signature towel draped over his shoulder. Patrolling his bench up on the old Gilbertsville stage, he was an intimidating sight for many officials.

Dean served on several Section IV and NYSPHSAA committees, including three years as NYSPHSAA president and four years as Section IV president. He was also the Tri-Valley League’s representative to Section IV for over 20 years.

Of particular note, though, is his high school basketball career in Minnesota. As in the movie,

“Hoosiers,” his small school of Edgerton achieved the state championship, beating all comers in 1960 en route to an unblemished 27-0 record. That Cinderella run is chronicled in the book “Edgerton: A Basketball Legend” by Tom Tomashek and Ken Kielty.