Pride of the Pioneers: West Greene grad Wilson to be inducted into WPIAL Hall of Fame
You can无毛视频檛 always go by what you see on paper.
West Greene无毛视频檚 1993 football team wasn无毛视频檛 all that impressive when one glanced at the roster, according to Rodney Wilson.
无毛视频淲hen you looked at us on paper it probably didn无毛视频檛 look that impressive,无毛视频� said Wilson who was a senior that season. 无毛视频淏ut each of those guys battled individually to do their job the best they could.无毛视频�
What they did was win a conference championship and advance to the WPIAL final for the first and only time in program history, led by Wilson who broke the WPIAL career rushing record along the way.
Wilson was one of 15 inductees introduced by the WPIAL as its Hall of Fame Class of 2025 on Wednesday at the Senator John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania 无毛视频 Museum.
Wilson was more than a football player at West Grene, although he无毛视频檚 most noted for racking up 6,304 rushing yards and 75 touchdowns for the Pioneers. He also excelled as a wrestler, compiling a record of 106-25-1 while helping West Greene win the WPIAL Class AA team title in 1994 and won two individual WPIAL championships and a PIAA regional title in 1992.
Wilson, who also participated in track and field and won a total of 12 letters at West Greene, wasn无毛视频檛 expecting to get the call to the Hall.
无毛视频淭he WPIAL reached out to me some time ago and informed me that I would be part of it,无毛视频� Wilson said. 无毛视频淚 was certainly shocked and surprised to tell you the truth. That无毛视频檚 some elite company there.
无毛视频淚 feel honored and all those other emotions you get with something like that. I无毛视频檓 excited for it for sure.无毛视频�
The induction ceremony will take place on Friday, June 6 at the DoubleTree hotel in Green Tree.
Wilson preferred to discuss his team无毛视频檚 success in football rather than his record-setting rushing accomplishment.
无毛视频淎ll the individual goals are kind of personal agendas in many ways but, not to be cliche, but it really is true they无毛视频檙e not achievable unless you have a good team around you,无毛视频� Wilson said. 无毛视频淭he one thing that always stands out in my mind was the group of guys we had. Everybody really understood their roles. Looking back on it, when some of us guys get together, we say how did we ever accomplish that?
无毛视频淏ut it was great coaches, great mindset, competitive edge, playing with those type of people and players. We kept working and pushing each and every week, trying to get better, and good things come to people who put in the extra effort like we did.无毛视频�
The Pioneers defeated Avonworth and Farrell in the playoffs before falling to Duquesne in the WPIAL final at Three Rivers Stadium.
The year before, West Greene won a memorable WPIAL playoff game against Serra Catholic in overtime with Wilson running in the winning two-point conversion to end it.
无毛视频淭hat was certainly one of those moments that stands out for sure,无毛视频� Wilson said. 无毛视频淚 think it was the second overtime they had scored and kicked the extra point, then we scored. Our head coach Larry Piper came into the huddle and asked us what we were going to run because he said we无毛视频檙e ending this game right now. He put it on the team, said you guys do what you want to do.
无毛视频淚 can无毛视频檛 remember the exact play but it was something off-tackle to the right and I bounced it outside and ended up getting into the end zone.无毛视频�
Wilson commended his coaches at the time.
无毛视频淟arry Piper, Allen Hughes and Brian Jackson, Curt Hughes, Jay Jones, a handful of other guys that were around the program for several years there, great coaches,无毛视频� Wilson said. 无毛视频淭hey instilled a lot of confidence in us.无毛视频�
Wilson pointed out his 1993 team was like a blast from the past with its family tree connections.
无毛视频淵ou get into these small communities 无毛视频� my dad was a tailback back in the early 无毛视频�70s and his fullback was a guy who had a boy that was my fullback, Chet Tedrow, and Gary Whyte, his dad was Larry Whyte. Some of the linemen were sons of the guys that played with my dad,无毛视频� Wilson said. 无毛视频淪o you could see this sort of reinvention of success.
无毛视频淵ou start to put the pieces together, you start to see some of that tough, grittiness. A lot of those guys were very competitive. I think that无毛视频檚 what made us as good as we were.无毛视频�
The group provided Pioneers fans with plenty of excitement in sports.
无毛视频淲e felt like we had a good group of guys there for a few years that could do some things,无毛视频� Wilson said, 无毛视频渁nd we无毛视频檙e glad we were able to provide the community and ourselves with some enjoyment during that period.无毛视频�
Wilson garnered a lot of football honors during his time at West Greene. He was named to the PIAA All-State team twice, was named the Greene County Messenger Player of the Year twice and was named the 1993 Dapper Dan Class A Football Player of the Year.
Wrestling was actually Wilson无毛视频檚 first love but his preference gradually shifted to football.
无毛视频淚 had started wrestling at an early age. I won several Junior Olympics, 15-and-under type state wrestling tournaments,无毛视频� Wison said. 无毛视频淲e were in that era where we traveled far and wide each weekend trying to find the best competition. We had to rely on the international style wrestling clubs in Waynesburg.
无毛视频淐ary Kolat and Justin Tracanna and guys like that were part of that group. Wrestling with those guys and following Cary around and seeing his success was a motivating factor for me at a young age.
无毛视频淢y sophomore year in high school was probably my best year of wrestling. I won regionals, won WPIALs and went into the state tournament ranked pretty high. I won my first match there but lost my second match. Right around then my mind sort of shifted to some of the success I was having in football and that became more of my passion from that point on.无毛视频�
Wilson, the son of Arnold and Vickie Wilson, went on to be a four-year starter in football at Slippery Rock.
无毛视频淚 had a great career at Slippery Rock,无毛视频� Wilson recalled. 无毛视频淧eople thought I was going to be a running back and I went through this recruiting process at various levels from D-1 interest to ultimately landing in D-2. I think a lot of schools looking at me were unsure if I could be a successful running back at the next level so I tried to make everyone aware I just want to play football and I无毛视频檒l play wherever you want.无毛视频�
Wilson went on to play defense at Slippery Rock and was twice named to the All-PSAC team, at linebacker in 1996 and defensive back in 1997.
无毛视频淪lippery Rock gave me that opportunity to switch to defense,无毛视频� Wilson said. 无毛视频淚 started my freshman year and I think made an impact. We had a good run, a really good team and good coaches. We built up to where my senior year was the first year Slippery Rock qualified for the national playoffs and we made it into the quarterfinal round.
无毛视频淚t was one of the pinnacles of my career, my last season there. Overall, I felt I had a complete career there, got an education and met some good people and figured out how I was going to grow up.无毛视频�
Wilson then harkened back to his West Greene days, where it all started.
无毛视频淚t was always great being around good people who were all like-minded in the sense, hey, let无毛视频檚 not worry about limitations, let无毛视频檚 go persevere and do the best we can,无毛视频� Wilson said.
无毛视频淭hat was the highlight of all of it.无毛视频�