Cambria Heights' Yahner among seven Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame inductees

Feb. 14—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Cambria Heights High School wrestling state champion and Pitt-Johnstown All-American Dave Yahner had plenty of role models, as well as workout partners on the family farm in Patton.

His four brothers, including older sibling Rob, also an All-American at Pitt-Johnstown, provided motivation and life lessons.

Dave Yahner wrestled on a Pitt-Johnstown team with Carlton Haselrig, a six-time NCAA heavyweight champion.

He was part of a Mountain Cats program on the rise. Those teams from 1987 to 1992 helped build the foundation to Pitt-Johnstown's current status as one of the top NCAA Division II programs in the country.

His Pitt-Johnstown support network impacted Yahner's career and life. When he officially is inducted into the Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame in April, Yahner will share the moment with his coach, Pat Pecora, the Mountain Cats icon with the most wins in college wrestling history and fellow member in the hall.

"I would not be in the hall of fame if not for Pat Pecora," Dave Yahner said. "That's the simplest way I can put it. From the beginning of my wrestling career, when I was going to wrestling camps at UPJ when I was in grade school, all the way through college and beyond, while I was his assistant coach, he's been a mentor to me.

"In every way that you could consider, he is responsible for my success."

The Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame will induct its 15th class on April 20 at the Wellness Center on campus. A reception will be held at the Sports Center at 5:45 p.m., with the banquet to follow at 7 p.m.

Joining Yahner in the class of 2024 are Lindsay Baker (2002 graduate), women's basketball; Michael Black (1978), men's basketball; John Fasola (1982), baseball; Chris Gilliam (2008), men's basketball; Michelle Kropelak-Brownback (2002), women's track and field; and Jared Kuleck (1995), wrestling.

"A lot of people are familiar with my brother Rob wrestling at UPJ," Dave Yahner said. "I have three other brothers who were really good wrestlers in their own right. We all followed suit at Cambria Heights.

"Marty paved the way first. Rob was next and followed in his footsteps. My brothers Rick and Bill were good wrestlers who wrestled in states in high school. By the time I got into wrestling, they laid a lot of groundwork for me."

Dave Yahner went 33-0 and became Cambria Heights' first PIAA wrestling champion as a junior in 1986. A knee injury kept him off the mat during his senior season, but Pecora still came calling.

At Pitt-Johnstown, Yahner was a three-time NCAA Division II All-American and three-time National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) all-academic team selection at 167 pounds.

Yahner had a career 113-23-1 record and .828 winning percentage.

"I was there to get an education," said Yahner, an engineering major and a career civil engineer. "Wrestling was such a huge part of my life, it was often hard to put academics ahead of athletics, but I was there to get a degree. My passion was wrestling. It was easy to work out and wrestle. The hard part was going to school."

After graduating in 1992, Yahner served as an assistant coach to Pecora from 1992-96 and was part of the 1996 NCAA Division II national championship team.

"It's truly humbling," Yahner said of the hall of fame honor. "I used to think it was odd when people received an award and would say they were humbled. I totally get what that means now.

"I look at the success that Pat Pecora built with his program over so many years and the quality of the people I wrestled with, and the people who came after me and did things much greater than what I did.

"I was on the same team with Carlton Haselrig. To be even mentioned in the same breath and in the same hall of fame as Carlton is just incredible to me."

The remainder of the class of 2024 includes:

—Baker played on four Pitt-Johnstown women's basketball teams that went a combined 82-29, including seasons with 25 and 22 victories.

Baker scored 973 career points for coach Jodi Gault, and her single-season 3-point field goal percentage record (47.9%, 68 of 142, 2001-02) still stands.

As a redshirt freshman from Saxton, Baker helped the Mountain Cats go 22-6, earn the top spot in the NCAA Division II East Region and secure a berth in the national tournament.

During her junior season as the point guard, Pitt-Johnstown went 25-4 and reached the regional semifinals.

"Playing for the Lady Cat women's basketball program was a dream come true," Baker said. "More importantly, the experiences gained, and lessons learned helped prepare me for life after basketball and shape me into the person I am today.

"For that, I am forever grateful to the university, my coaches and my teammates."

—One of the program's all-time great playmakers, Black helped the Mountain Cats men's basketball team win 59 games and produce three winning seasons from 1974-78.

Black made the 1977-78 all-region team. When his career at Pitt-Johnstown concluded, he had set Mountain Cats assist records in a game (18), season (221), career (423) and career average (4.7). His 423 career assists still rank seventh all-time in the Pitt-Johnstown men's program.

Black played one season for coach Dave Campbell and three years under Jim Basista.

"This honor means a lot to me," said Black, who played on Mountain Cats teams with fellow hall of famers Rich Ragan (2010), Don Elzer (2011) and Chuck Bradford (2016). "This is the ultimate acknowledgment for my many days and nights at 1 a.m. in the dark, by myself, practicing and developing my skills."

—A four-year player and two-time NCAA Division II all-South Atlantic Region selection, Fasola held nearly every single-season Mountain Cats offensive record when he ended his career in 1982.

Both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds made offers to Fasola to play in their organizations. He signed with the Pirates and played one season with Bradenton in the Gulf Coast Rookie League.

Fasola played catcher, first baseman and designated hitter for Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame coach Ken Keiper. Despite being hampered by an injury as a senior, Fasola set program single-season records with 32 games played, 105 at-bats, a .425 batting average, 25 runs scored, 40 hits, nine home runs, 34 RBIs, seven doubles and five triples.

"Candidly, achieving this recognition now that I'm older is probably something I have a deeper appreciation for than maybe I would have when I was a younger man," said Fasola, who resides in Cleveland.

—Gilliam earned player of the year honors in both the Daktronics East Region and West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association Conference (WVIAC) during the 2007-08 men's basketball season.

His career started just as impressively, as Gilliam was named independent basketball freshman and co-player of the year after averaging 18.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

As a senior, he averaged 19.6 points and 8.6 rebounds to help the Mountain Cats win the WVIAC title and earn a berth in the NCAA Division II regional tournament.

Gilliam concluded his time at Pitt-Johnstown as the program's all-time leader in field goal percentage (65.7%, 688 of 1,047), a career mark that still stands.

His 1,762 career points and 699 rebounds still rank second and third, respectively, on the all-time Pitt-Johnstown lists. He then played professionally in Denmark, Luxembourg and Germany.

"After attending the inaugural Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame (as a student), it was always a dream of mine to be inducted along some of the best athletes, coaches and administration at Pitt-Johnstown," Gilliam said.

—Kropelak-Brownback competed in as many as seven events in a single women's track and field meet throughout her four-year career under Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame coach Clyde Horner from 1998-2002.

Kropelak-Brownback had 50 first-place finishes in four years, and set stadium records in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, 100-meter hurdles, long jump, triple jump and as part of two relay squads.

She broke the Mountain Cats single-season record with 124 3/4 points in 1999 and finished with a career-record 313 3/4 points, shattering the previous mark by more than 100 points.

Kropelak-Brownback set records for points in an outdoor meet (47) at Juniata College in April 2002 and in an indoor meet (43) at Albright College in March 1999.

She set a Pitt-Johnstown mark in the long jump (17.6 meters) and posted the program's second-best time in the 100-meter dash (12.7) and 100 hurdles (15.7) and the fourth-best time in the 200 (27.2).

Also a four-year member of the Pitt-Johnstown women's soccer club team, Kropelak-Brownback married former three-time Pitt-Johnstown All-American wrestler Ethan Brownback.

"I am incredibly humbled and honored to join the extremely talented group of women that have paved the way at Pitt-Johnstown," Kropelak-Brownback said. "Their strength and commitment passed on a tradition of excellence that challenged me and fueled a passion to succeed."

—Kuleck qualified for the NCAA Division II national tournament four times and earned All-American honors three years from 1991-95.

A PIAA Class 2A state champion at Ridgway High School, Kuleck fit in well on Pecora's Mountain Cat squad, placing seventh nationally as a freshman.

At 190 pounds as a sophomore, he won an East Regional championship and placed eighth at the national event. He followed with another top-10 finish as a junior and went 18-0 in dual meets as a senior, claiming a fourth straight East Regional crown and fourth-place national finish.

Kuleck went 98-29-2 overall with 48 pins at Pitt-Johnstown. He served as an assistant coach to Pecora in 1995-96.

"When Coach Pecora called and told me that I would be inducted into the Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame, my reply was, 'I'm speechless,' " Kuleck said. "The idea of my induction has made me feel both humbled and honored. I am ecstatic to know that I have been considered one of Pitt-Johnstown's elite athletes."