Athletics were springboard for Wydo’s success
Like many athletes of his era, South Union无毛视频檚 Bill Wydo used athletics as a springboard to success.
无毛视频淚t helped me get a degree,无毛视频� Wydo explained. 无毛视频淔ootball was such a big influence on my life, because it opened doors for me.无毛视频�
Wydo, a standout football player at South Union High School, was a key cog on some competitive Blue Devil squads in the late 1950无毛视频檚. South Union posted records of 4-4-1 in 1955, 6-3 in 1956 and 7-1 in 1957.
无毛视频淚 didn无毛视频檛 play at all as a freshman,无毛视频� Wydo recalled. 无毛视频淚 played some as a sophomore, and then I lettered as a starter as a junior and senior.
无毛视频淚n 1957, we were 7-1 and on the verge of WPIAL playoff consideration when German beat us, 33-0, in the final game. Rich Novak and Allen Bierer were both injured in the first quarter of the German game and that cost us dearly. That was also the season when the Asiatic Flu forced postponement of the Waynesburg game and a delay in playing German. We had a nice team a really nice team. A lot of guys got scholarships, it was a good football team.无毛视频�
The 190-pound Wydo played offensive guard and linebacker for the Blue Devils.
The game with North Union was the big game on the schedule.
无毛视频淲e beat them my senior year,无毛视频� Wydo stated. 无毛视频淲e were happy campers, we marched through the streets and the band would play and we had a grand time. We knew most of the North Union guys, we had a thing called the NUSU, which was more of a social kind of thing and we had events together. Obviously, it was a rivalry, and when we played it was no holds barred.无毛视频�
Park Glass was Wydo无毛视频檚 football coach at South Union and Wydo holds him in high regard.
无毛视频淗e was a grand coach,无毛视频� Wydo opined. 无毛视频淗e was a former naval officer and he had that kind of training. He was a good football coach and had a good football mind, but he was a role model, the guy was just somebody that you looked up to. He and assistant Ringy Stefancin were both role models.无毛视频�
Wydo was on the All-Fayette County Class A team and was honorable mention All-Fayette County as a senior.
无毛视频淭hat was a nice thing to have,无毛视频� Wydo said. 无毛视频淚 was very lucky, we had some great players in the county back then.无毛视频�
When Wydo graduated from South Union in 1958, he got some help in going on to college at Saint Vincent.
无毛视频淚 didn无毛视频檛 have a real stellar high school record,无毛视频� Wydo stated. 无毛视频淚 was having difficulty getting into school. My uncle Frank went to Cornell and Duquesne and I was interested in going to the Ivy League, but I didn无毛视频檛 have the grades. I had a couple of small schools offer scholarships. Joe Loncaric was assistant principal at South Union and he was a Saint Vincent College graduate. He was a football player and captain of the football team. He took me up to Saint Vincent and he walked into the registrars office and he told them why I should be accepted. The registrar said no, Loncaric wouldn无毛视频檛 leaveuntil I was accepted, then Al DeLuca knew I played a little football and was a friend of my uncle Frank got involved. Between those two I got into Saint Vincent College.无毛视频�
Wydo played four years at offensive guard for the Bearcats and was a three-time All West Penn Conference selection on teams that went 4-2-1 in 1958, 3-4 in 1959, 4-3-1 in 1960 and 3-3-1 in 1961.
无毛视频淲e had small college teams,无毛视频� Wydo remembered. 无毛视频淲e had some good ballplayers on our teams. I played four years there. I played left guard and middle linebacker. I was again very fortunate. I like football and I had good time at Saint Vincent.无毛视频�
Wydo played for Al Deluca at Saint Vincent.
无毛视频淗e was a great coach,无毛视频� Wydo said. 无毛视频淗e was a good guy and he was a tremendous after dinner speaker. He was a very sought after speaker.无毛视频�
Wydo received a BS degree in Business Administration from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Upon graduation he entered the U. S. Marine Corps and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in December 1962. He served in various command and staff billets in the Marine Corps and retired in the grade of Colonel in February 1990. Highlights of his military career include service as an infantry officer in the Vietnam War, command of an Infantry Battalion and Marine Barracks, Director of Drill Instructor School, Chief of Current Operations U. S. Central Command, and Deputy Inspector General of the Marine Corps. While in the Marine Corps, Bill spent more than 10 years in training and education positions of increasing responsibility. He was director of two schools, and was head of Instructional Systems Development for the Marine Corps.
While at Quantico, he played some more football.
无毛视频淭hey called us out one day and asked everybody that played college football to step forward,无毛视频� Wydo explained. 无毛视频淭hey asked where you played and guys said Ohio State and Penn State, I said Saint Vincent and they told me to step back. I said I know how to play this game. They gave me an opportunity to play on the intramural Quantico base team and then I played on the Quantico Marine team. In 1963 we went 10-1 and won the Missile Bowl for the national service title. I played a total of 11 years of service football at other bases on intramural teams.无毛视频�
He is a graduate of the Amphibious Warfare School, Naval War College, and The Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Wydo received a Masters of Public Administration Degree from George Washington University in 1982. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Wydo was a Law Firm Administrator. In 1993, he began working on U.S. Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy manpower, readiness, and training matters for Acton Burnell, Inc. of Alexandria, Virginia where he was Director Manpower, Readiness, & Training Division.
Wydo, 74, retired from the private sector in 2006, he and his wife of 50 years, Jean, reside in Burke, Virginia, and they have one daughter, Wendy, and one grandson, Sam Malone.
Wydo was inducted into the Saint Vincent Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.
无毛视频淭hat was a surprise when they called,无毛视频� Wydo stated. 无毛视频淚 was very surprised and honored, that was a nice deal and it was great to go back.无毛视频�
George Von Benko无毛视频檚 无毛视频淢emory Lane无毛视频� column appears in the Monday editions of the 无毛视频-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.