Anybody can join. Whether you love sports, are trying to help one of the nominees get into the Hall, or just want to support a local non-profit organization, all it takes is a $10 membership fee and you will be able to vote on the upcoming Warren County Sports Hall of Fame induction class. The small fee helps fund the ceremony, the awards, as well as any other expenses such as newspaper ads or other ways of advertisement.

Our membership drive starts today and will go on until Friday, May 31. This ballot has a variety of athletes and coaches. Similar to last time, we will be inducting eight living nominees and two deceased nominees. Two organizations will be inducted — the Warren County Special Olympics and the American Legion Post 135. To even be considered for the WCSHOF is an accomplishment. It shows that other people have noticed an individual’s successes and want them to be recognized.

A voting membership into the 2024 Hall of Fame organization costs $10 (an amount that has not changed since 1993), is good for one year, and includes full voting rights.

For anyone interested in becoming a voting member of the WCSHOF, either fill out the form provided, visit the “Warren County Sports Hall of Fame” Facebook page, or contact Nate Sandberg at: natesandy31@gmail.com. The Warren County Sports Hall of Fame does not select who is inducted into the hall; it is determined solely upon the number of votes received by the voting members.

Donnie Beals

For questions, either email WCSHOF President Nate Sandberg at natesandy31@gmail.com, or contact the Facebook page. Mail all membership forms, completed ballot, and $10 to WCSHOF, P.O. Box 61, Warren, Pennsylvania. Make any checks payable to WCSHOF. Once again congratulations to every person nominated for the 2024 WCSHOF class. We would like to thank the Warren Times Observer, The Post-Journal, the Warren Public Library, the Cornerstone Lounge, and all of the board members and people who have made nominations to make this possible.

Following are the first group of nominees. The rest of them will appear in the Times Observer over the next two publication days.

ANDY HORN, WRESTLING

Andy Horn was a standout heavyweight wrestler for the Youngsville Eagles from 1980-1983, qualifying for states in 1983, while compiling an overall record of 92-33 over his four-year career. In the early 1980s, Horn was a devastating heavyweight on the mat, finding success within the county as well as prestigious tournaments throughout Northwestern Pennsylvania and Southwestern New York.

Among his other accomplishments were: first- and second- place finishes in District X Section IV AA in 1983 and 1982; second- and fourth-place finishes in District X in 1982 and 1983; fourth-place in Northwest Regional in 1983; first place in the Falconer, New York Tournament in both 1982 and 1983; second place, third place and fourth place in Tool City Tourney in 1981, 1982 and 1983; first place, first place and second place in the Franklin Tournament in 1981, 1982 and 1983; second place, second place and first place in Warren County Tournament in 1981, 1982 and 1983; Most Pins Award and second-place finish in the Grove City Tournament in 1982; and first place in the Olean Tournament in 1983.

Elisha Jones-Kushner

Horn was also a two-time Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling Champ, while placing in four different seasons overall. He continued his wrestling career at Alfred Tech (now Alfred State), compiling a stellar 42-16 record overall. After his college career, Andy helped coach the Youngsville Eagles and was the assistant coach during Dave Fehlman’s (WCSHOF Class of 2003) as well as Jim Hoffner’s (WCSHOF Class of 2006) PIAA state titles. Horn was also on the Pennsylvania Greco team for U.S. kids.

CHARLES MULLEN, COACHING

Charles F. Mullen’s love of football kickstarted in the eighth grade when his team won the Youth Football Eighth Grade Championship. He played football for McKeesport High School all four years before graduating in 1954. After high school, he enrolled at Grove City College, where Mullen was a student coach for the 1955, 1956 and 1957 football seasons.

Following service in the United States Army and earning his master’s degree from Duke University, he arrived in Warren and served as the first assistant head coach for Warren County Sports Hall of Fame and Pennsylvania Football Hall of Fame inductee John W. “Toby” Shea. During his tenure, Mullen was in charge of the offensive and defensive lines. While first assistant to Shea, Mullen and the Dragons compiled a record of 117-52-3, which included the legendary undefeated 1976 team that won the Section II title, the District 10 championship, and was ranked fourth in the state among all AAA schools.

Other noteworthy seasons included 1972 (8-2-0), 1973 (9-1-0), 1974 (8-2-0), 1975 (7-2-1), and 1977 (9-1-0). On top of his work with the varsity Dragons, Mullen served as head coach of the Beaty Dragons, claiming multiple undefeated seasons and achieving three New York/Penn League Championships as the junior varsity line coach. Upon retirement from the Warren County School District, Charlie retired to Salvo, North Carolina with his wife Elizabeth Boone Mullen.

Dean Spiridon

DEAN SPIRIDON, TRAP SHOOTING

The list of achievements and accomplishments of Dean Spiridon Jr. is extensive. Dean is a world-class trap shooter who has had success not only at the state level, but also at the national level as well. In fact, Dean is now a 2023 member of the Virginia Trapshooting Hall of Fame. Spiridon is a four-time Amateur Trapshooting Association All-American selection (1997, 1999, 2000, and 2001. He is also a five-time All-Pennsylvania State Trapshooting Team Junior Selection (1997-2001), as well as a six-time All-Virginia State Trapshooting Team Men’s selection (2006, 2007, 2009, 2013-2015).

Dean’s trapshooting major tournament victories include the following: Grand American World Trap-Shooting Championships: two championship event wins, two preliminary event wins and one team championship; Eastern Zone (U.S.) Championships, including five championship event wins, as well as eight other event wins. He has also won the Pennsylvania State Championships, including 17 championship event wins; and has won the Virginia State Championships, including five championship event wins, as well as 10 other event wins since moving to Virginia in 2005.

Spiridon also captured eight wins from the Northeast Satellite Grand American championships and went on to set the sub-Junior record in the Doubles Championship and High All-Around which stood for almost 20 years. He also has state championship titles in Ohio, New York, Maryland, West Virginia, and Ontario, Canada including Southern (U.S.) Zone, Keystone Open, PA Grand, Colonial Classic; collected 15-18 championship event wins and 10-plus other event wins. In addition, he has won numerous Bradford Case Knife and Zippo Shoots, as well as PA Western Zone, including eight-plus championship event wins, the Dixie Satellite Grand American, two other event wins and dozens of wins throughout the years shooting at local clubs.

Spiridon has also been involved in the Warren County Summer Trap League, Chautauqua County Summer League, a Penn York Winter Trap League participant for Pine Grove Sportsmen’s Club and Busti Trap Club, as well as top 10 in the league and several high sub-Junior and high-Junior awards throughout the years. He is the founder and current director of the Virginia Youth Trap-Shooting League since 2015.

Andy Horn

Spiridon is a member of the Virginia Trap-shooting Hall of Fame (board member since 2017), the founder of the Trap App (Trapshooting’s first mobile phone app) and was even the President and Assistant Coach (2001-04) of the Penn State Baseball Club.

Dean has been selected to four Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) All-American teams and eleven all-state (PA and VA) teams, competing both at the youth and adult levels since 1993. He has shot over 112,000 ATA-registered competition targets, winning events at the local, state, regional, and national levels. Not only are his skill and personal shooting accomplishments fantastic, but he has also taken an active role in giving back to the sport that he loves. In 2014, he started a youth shooting team at his local club and then grew that into a state-wide youth trap-shooting league the following year. Dean has also been a board member of the Virginia Trap-Shooting Hall of Fame, which both recognizes successful trap shooters in Virginia as well as promotes youth trapshooting.

DONNIE BEALS, BMX

Donnie Beals went from riding his bike like many kids do at a young age to a BMX legend.

Beals grew up in Warren County, attending Beaty, as well as Warren Area High School and Youngsville High School. Raised by a single mom, Beals started BMX racing at the age of 14 in 1979. From humble beginnings, Beals grew into a young boy who enjoyed the sport to a top-notch professional.

Beals calls Florida home, where he has resided since 1985. He’s been an 18-time state champion in the most competitive state for BMX racing in the country. Early on, he started riding in Jamestown, both indoor and outdoor at Charlie’s BMX Track (formally the Jam-Ell BMX at Ellery Center), and later the circuit of tracks, which included Hamburg, Titusville, Warren, Erie, Bradford, Pittsburgh and other cities. To fuel his new passion, he took on as many jobs after school as he could in order to pay for entry fees and for a “real” BMX machine. His first real BMX bike was a Schwinn Sting that he bought from the “Bike World of Warren.” Steve Krogler and the bike shop became one of his first sponsors. He moved to Florida at 21, and started racing in much bigger events all over the East Coast. BMX racing has taken Beals all over the world, to 14 different countries to be exact. He’s been world-ranked at second, third, fourth and seventh, and won the Pan-Am Games in 2019, the Las Luces South American Races and has competed in the world championships nine times. In addition to his state championships, some of Beals’ other accomplishments state-side include a national championship, a U.S.Open championship, a seven-time Gold Cup champion, a two-time President Cup champion and a two-time Redline Cup Champion, racing in a total of 24 states. Through all of the accolades, Beals’ counts his ability to give back to the sport he loves as perhaps the most rewarding. In 2023, he was back at Charlie’s BMX Track, hosting a BMX clinic for young riders. He also raised money to support Carson Kiser, a Beaty student battling leukemia, donating shirts and auctioning off one of his championship helmets to support Carson. As of 2023, Beals has helped train 99 BMX champions. But as he says, his story is far from complete, both as a competitor and a trainer, with hopes of getting to 200 champions trained. Beals is a world-class athlete, a champion, and most importantly, willing to give back to the sport he loves.

ELISHA JONES-KUSHNER, BASKETBALL/TRACK & FIELD

Now 32, Elisha Jones-Kushner graduated from Eisenhower High School in 2007 as one of the most decorated high school athletes in Warren County history. Jones led the Knights’ girls basketball team to multiple state playoff berths as a multiple-time region player of the year (2006 and 2007) and District-10 and all-state all-star. Along the way, Jones — playing for coach Dave Allenson — became Warren County’s and Eisenhower’s all-time scoring leader with 1,822 career points.

As accomplished as Jones was in basketball, she may have been even more so in track and field. She was a four-time PIAA state medalist in track, including a 2005 state champion in javelin, runner-up in 2006, and third in 2007. She also earned a state medal in the discus for finishing sixth in 2007. Jones was a four-time D-10 track & field champion (three times in javelin, once in long jump), and a three-time region athlete of the year in track and field. Jones holds Eisenhower school records in javelin (146 feet, 4 inches), long jump (16-10 1/4), and triple jump (35-5), and broke Warren County and District-10 records in javelin. She was awarded MVP in the field all four years she competed in the All-County Track Meet. On state and national scales, Jones was Penn Relay champion in javelin in 2005, and runner-up in 2006 at the Nike Outdoor Track & Field Championships. That was winter and spring. In the fall, Jones was a four-time region all-star in volleyball.

After high school, Jones participated in both basketball and track and field at Division III Waynesburg University. In hoops, she was named first-team all-Presidents’ Athletic Conference in 2011, second team in 2009 and 2010, and Honorable Mention in 2008. She finished with 1,372 career points, fourth all-time at Waynesburg, and broke the school record with 150 blocks as a four-year starter.

In 2014, Jones was named to the PAC 60th Anniversary Women’s All-Time Team.

In track and field, Jones was named an NCAA Division III All-American twice in javelin and was a three-time conference champion and NCAA qualifier. She broke Waynesburg University’s javelin record with a throw of 44-40 meters in 2010. Jones was a PAC Academic Honor Roll recipient for all four years. After college, Jones played cornerback for the Pittsburgh Passion women’s professional football team (2013).