Buehner part of a long line of standout athletes
Submitted photo
Bill Buehner before officiating a WPIAL basketball championship game.
Submitted photo
Laurel Highlands Bill Buehner (44) goes up strong to the rim during a game against Uniontown.
Former Laurel Highlands football and basketball standout Bill Buehner came from a family of athletes.
His father Bill played at South Union and Laurel Highlands, and uncles Jack and Bob were Mustang standouts. His mom Diane was a cheerleader.
Buehner无毛视频檚 course in athletics was set at an early age.
无毛视频淢y family background was a big help, but it also put some pressure on me,无毛视频� stated Buehner. 无毛视频淚 just wanted to be like them and I think it lit a fire in me to just want to go to the next level. When I saw the lights at Penn State when I went up there to watch Uncle Jack play in the spring game, something in me said that I wanted to try and make it to Division I. It was a big goal of mine.
无毛视频淢y family was encouraging and very helpful.无毛视频�
无毛视频淭hey were my biggest fans and biggest support system,无毛视频� added Buehner. 无毛视频淢y mother, to my father, to my Uncle Bob and Uncle Jack, they were my biggest, biggest support system.无毛视频�
As you would expect Buehner got an early start in athletics.
无毛视频淎s soon as we could get the pads on and a basketball or baseball in the hands, I was playing,无毛视频� recalled Buehner. 无毛视频淢y dad was coaching. It was fun and it was pressure in the house.无毛视频�
When Buehner got to the high school level at Laurel Highlands he played on Mustang squads that went 4-6 in 1984, 6-4-1 in 1985 and 3-8 in 1986.
无毛视频淢y sophomore year I played a little bit,无毛视频� said Buehner. 无毛视频淚 broke my thumb in the first scrimmage at West Mifflin, and I probably didn无毛视频檛 comeback to play after going to Dr. Bradley and getting a soft cast. It was probably one of the first times anyone played in a soft cast. I played cornerback, probably the last five or six games of that season.
无毛视频淢y junior year we were very, very competitive. We missed the playoffs on a missed extra point at our place against Southmoreland and that was terrible, but all in all, we had a really good team.
无毛视频淢y best friend Paul Kovell ended up playing at IUP and made the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad. Eric Hamm was a really good running back. Jody Shelby was the quarterback. There were a bunch of athletes on that team.
无毛视频淲e were hit by graduation losses in 1985 and slipped a little bit.无毛视频�
Buehner played offense and defense as a junior and senior. He played running back both years and was at cornerback as a junior and linebacker as a senior. Buehner scored nine touchdowns as a junior and 12 touchdowns as a senior, playing for Bill Elias.
无毛视频淐oach Elias was great,无毛视频� Buehner stated. 无毛视频淗e was good to play for and fair. He treated me very well.无毛视频�
Buehner was 1-1 in his high school football career against archrival Uniontown.
无毛视频淲e were the first Laurel Highlands football team to beat Uniontown,无毛视频� Buehner said. 无毛视频淭hat was my junior year and we won 27-7, and I had two touchdowns in that game. That was a great night for us.无毛视频�
Buehner played basketball for LH, finishing 13-7 in 1984-85 with a 82-72 loss to Latrobe in the WPIAL playoffs.
The Mustangs were 14-7 in 1985-86, and downed Penn Trafford (83-74) and Baldwin (82-70) in the WPIAL playoffs before falling to Kiski Area, 78-65. The Mustangs beat Brashear in the PIAA playoffs, 64-58, and lost to Farrell in tight game, 64-62.
LH posted a record of 11-11 in Buehner无毛视频檚 senior campaign in 1986-87.
无毛视频淲e were pretty good my junior year,无毛视频� recalled Buehner. 无毛视频淲e had some good players like Greg Beckwith, Kovell, Kent Brookings and Shelby.无毛视频�
Buehner scored 478 points in his LH basketball career playing for head coach Mark John.
无毛视频淢y senior year I had 22 points in a 85-84 loss to Uniontown,无毛视频� remembered Buehner. 无毛视频淭hat was a heck of a game.无毛视频�
Buehner had good feeling about coach John.
无毛视频淗e is a great guy,无毛视频� offered Buehner. 无毛视频淚 had a great experience with all of my high school coaches, including Tom Landman in baseball. They all treated me very well. I played baseball my senior year and had a decent season.无毛视频�
Looking back, Buehner has fond memories of his high school days.
无毛视频淵ep, wouldn无毛视频檛 change it for the world,无毛视频� Buehner said.
When Buehner graduated from LH in 1987 he had quite a few Division II football offers, but was hoping to go Division I.
无毛视频淚 had a ton of D-II offers, and I visited West Virginia and they wanted me to walk on,无毛视频� explained Buehner. 无毛视频淭hen Coach Mark Thomas from Tulsa, who played with my Uncle Jack at Penn State, came to watch me play baseball. I had a good game and did some athletic things, and he said why doesn无毛视频檛 he come to Tulsa. I got on a plane about two weeks later, took a visit and I never looked back.无毛视频�
Buehner redshirted in 1988 and then was on Tulsa teams that went 6-6 in 1989, 3-8 in 1990, 10-2 with a Freedom Bowl win over San Diego State in 1991 and 4-7 in 1992.
无毛视频淢y junior year was unbelievable,无毛视频� Buehner gushed. 无毛视频淏eating Texas A&M, 35-34, when they were No. 15 was a great win and then beating Marshall Faulk and San Diego State in the bowl game. We had a miracle season, they call it the miracle on 11th street.无毛视频�
Buehner played offense for Tulsa.
无毛视频淚t was called an H-back and I lined up in the backfield and did a lot of motion,无毛视频� said Buehner. 无毛视频淚 was a running back/slash blocker in our high-powered offense.无毛视频�
Buehner had 35 career pass receptions for 330 yards and five touchdowns. He also had to kickoff returns for a total of 22 yards.
He played for coach Dave Radar at Tulsa.
无毛视频淚 played for Coach Radar and at that time he was the youngest head coach in college football,无毛视频� Buehner offered. 无毛视频淗e just related to all of us and it was an incredible atmosphere. Going to Tulsa was one of the best decisions of my life.无毛视频�
Buehner got a degree in education and stayed in Tulsa for two years and taught school.
无毛视频淚 had a baby and came back to Uniontown. I got a job with Anheuser-Busch, first with Mark Thompson and now Frank Fuhrer Wholesale. He无毛视频檚 been in the beer business for going on 24 years,无毛视频� said Buehner. 无毛视频淲hen I first got back I did some substitute teaching and was on my Uncle Jack无毛视频檚 staff at Laurel Highlands, and really enjoyed it.无毛视频�
Buehner, 54, resides in Uniontown with his wife Amy, his wife of 10 years. He has a son Colt, who is 29 and lives in San Diego. He has three step-children, Hannah, Cain and Conner.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 still involved with sports,无毛视频� said Buehner. 无毛视频淢y side job is officiating. The last couple of years in basketball I无毛视频檝e worked six WPIAL championships. I无毛视频檝e worked two WPIAL football championships and one PIAA state final in football.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檝e had a great career so far.无毛视频�