By MATT PIKE
The St. Joseph Sports Commission has officially announced the 2026 class for the St. Joseph Area Sports Hall of Fame.
The class is comprised of 10 individuals, one team and the Special Olympics Area Athlete of the Year. The areas of sport again range from coaching to legendary area players, to even a first for the Hall of Fame, dipping into the realm of Sports Medicine.
St. Joseph Sports Commission Director Brett Esely says each class for the Hall of Fame thus far has great depth, and this one is no exception.
"I think you have excellence in longevity, you have coaches, you have athletes, you have mentors, you have contributors, but no matter what category they fall in all of these people had great vision and all of these people had great mentorship," Esely tells reporters. "Not only athletically, but outside of that realm as well, and just honored to be able to tell their story and celebrate great careers and in some cases these careers are still going on, more history still being told."
This year's class features legendary area athletes, such as Jesse Barbosa, Lisa Hughes, and Ron Selkirk, coaches, like Tony Dudik, Jim Perry, and Jennifer Trotter, but it also touches the realm of sports medicine for the first time ever.
Esely says when you think about what sports medicine touches, it's always been a big part of a gameday experience, which makes honoring Gary Hazelrigg an honor.
"He was the first athletic trainer here in Missouri Western history, he was always a trailblazer, always out front of the trends in sports medicine before I feel like they took over, and we're honored to recognize that as part of this year," Esely explains.
The class also honors unique ties like Bob Roth, the Hillyard Companies President and Chairman. It also includes ties to past classes, in the case of Jim Perry, who helped assist in recruiting 2024 St. Joseph Area Sports Hall of Famer Brice Garnett.
Inevitably, as the St. Joseph Area Sports Hall of Fame grows, these ties will show more, but Esely says a lot of that shows the commitment coaches such as Perry, as well as Tony Dudik, had to their programs.
"Wanting to build something great, also knowing there's going to be peaks and valleys, things are going to valley out, but then there's that drive to build it back," Esely says. "And when you think of Central Football, Central golf, Missouri Western softball, you name it, what names come to mind? Jim Perry, Tony Dudik, Jennifer Trotter, they may not be the current coaches, but those coaches are always going to be associated with those programs because of what they built, who they brought in, the great players they had, and the great vision they provided."
"So yes, we love history in St. Joe, and it is really cool to see father, son inducted, brothers inducted, and I just think that goes to speak of our great history here and the neat things that are intertwined."
Another connection with Perry is to the team being inducted, with the 1992, 1993, and 1994 Central High School Boys State Golf Champion teams, which Perry helped lead. Also honored this year is Patty Sutton as the Special Olympics Area Athlete of the Year.
All of the inductees will officially be enshrined into the St. Joseph Area Sports Hall of Fame during a ceremony on August 23rd. More information on tickets and the ceremony will be released this summer
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