2008 Hall of Fame Bios

Bob Arner -  Bob graduated from Penn State in 1960 and played three years of varsity baseball and freshman basketball.  He was the Pennridge High School varsity baseball coach from 1965-1980, winning seven league championships which attaining a 77% winning record.  Bob had signed a professional baseball contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1956 and spent a month at the Class D Dublin, Georgia minor league team before deciding to attend Penn State.  He has been a long-time area basketball official and baseball umpire.  He was a 1955 graduate of Lehighton High School, an All-League basketball player and honorable mention footballer his senior season.  Bob is a member of the Perkiomen Valley Twilight League and Carbon County Sports Halls of Fame.

Ray Fox -  Ray started his athletic career early, playing in the first ever baseball game of the Quakertown Little League and I the first Quakertown Midget Football game.  In high school he was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball and baseball) playing on two Bux-Mont championship teams, in football, as a senior co-captain, and in baseball as a junior infielder.  He earned six letters in three years of high school.  Ray was All Bux-Mont in football and baseball his senior year.  In the summertime, he played on the Connie Mack and Legion championship baseball squads during the early to mid 60’s.  At Kutztown University he played a year of baseball.  He coached football, basketball and baseball on year at Strayer Junior High and then did the same at Milford Junior High, assuming head coaching responsibilities for most of his 11 years there, recording two championships and having just one losing season in 17 terms as a head coach.  Ray then moved to the High School, assisting four different head coaches including Doug Shobert for the 1986 league championship football season.  Ray was the head varsity football coach for two seasons and also assisted for the girls’ softball team for four.  He coached Little League, Connie Mack and Legion baseball in the Quakertown area and is presently coaching in the Richland Area Softball Association.

Thomas Petko -  Tom was a four-sport athlete at QHS from 1970-1973.  He excelled in football and wrestling.  In football, Tom was a three-year starter and letter winner, achieving All Bux-Mont 1st Team honors in his junior year as an offensive lineman and 2nd Team as a defensive lineman.  He was chosen MVP his junior year.  As a senior Tom made 1st Team All Bux-Mont as a lineman on offense and defense.  He was again chosen MVP as well as team captain for his senior year.  He represented QHS in the Bux-Mont All-Star Game as a two-way starter.  In wrestling, Tom was a three-year letter winner, an All Bux-Mont selection in his junior and senior years.  Tom was also a two-year letter winner in baseball and a one-year letter winner in track.  After graduation, Tom went to Fork Union Military Academy where he was a two-year starter on both the offensive and defensive lines including a 1st Team selection on offense to the Virginia Military League Championship teams.  Tom was a four-year head coach in Quakertown Midget Football.  He has served as president of the Football, Wrestling and Field Hockey Booster Clubs.  The QHS School Board awarded him a meritorious service award for his dedicated work in improving Alumni Field, the Hockey Field and the Panther weight room.

Bill Rush -  Bill was a fierce center and linebacker on the Sell-Perk/Pennridge football teams in the early 50’s, earning a full scholarship to the College of William and Mary.  He was a two-year all-league player and, with Hall of Fame inductee Ken Hager, the co-captain on the Ray Whispell-coached Rams’ 1953 squad.  His senior year the team was undefeated and earned the Bux-Mont championship.  “Rushie” also was awarded a (player and coaches’) signed football for selling the most tickets for championship jackets to be purchased.  At William and Mary, Bill played both ways his junior and senior seasons.  He was co-captain (along with future NFL coach for the three-time Super Bowl Washington Redskin’s Larry Peccatiello) in ’57 and was selected by the Navy squad as the most outstanding opponent player.  Bill also gained All-League football and scholastic recognition his senior year and was awarded Distinguished Military Student (ROTC) that year.  He has also been nominated for the William and Mary Football Hall of Fame.

Vivian Gerhart Sorrelle – Vivian graduated from Quakertown in 1940.  She was an outstanding all around athlete throughout high school.  She honed these skills during summer camps at Lake Keuka in New York.  In 1938, she was awarded the outstanding athlete trophy at the camp.  A three-year Quakertown High School letter-winner in basketball and softball, Vivian also lettered in hockey for two years and track for one year.   She was captain of the 1939-40 basketball team.  Vivian was a member of student government and the class executive committees during her junior and senior years.  She graduated third in her class.  Vivian attended the University of Wisconsin for one year and played every intramural sport.  She graduated from Columbia University and served as an Ensign in the WAVES during World War II.

Tom Wuerstle -  Tom received six varsity letters (two each in football, basketball and baseball) at Pennridge, graduating in 1963.  He co-captained the basketball and baseball squads his senior year and also received All Bux-Mont recognition in baseball and football that year.  The Ram pigskin team was league champion his junior and senior seasons.  Tom received a football scholarship to Gettysburg College and was a three-year starter and letter-winner after playing both ways on the unbeaten freshman team.  The Bullets were MAC university champs in ’64 and ended up fourth nationally in ’66, winning the Lambert Trophy for the Easter U.S. Best University Football Team.  After college Tom has coached in every decade since, beginning with the 1970’s.  He coached football, basketball and softball at William Tennent and 10 years as head varsity coach for Lansdale Catholic’s girl’s softball squad, qualifying eight of those years for district play.  Wuerstle was also women’s softball head softball coach at Delaware Valley College from 2000-2004.  In addition Tom coached youth baseball and basketball in the Doylestown Athletic Youth Sports Programs, was a defensive backfield coach for the Warminster Colts men’s football team in 1997 and played 20 years in fast pitch softball.

Dave Yoder -  Dave graduated in 1965, gaining six letters – two each in football, basketball and track.  In his senior year he was All Bux-Mont first team as a defensive back and honorable mention as an offensive back, playing both ways on the undefeated squad.  He was a guard and captain on the basketball team and was outstanding in the challenging 440-yard dash on the old cinder track in Perkasie .  He set a record for the quarter mile, which stood for almost 20 years while also participating in the hurdles and relay events.  Dave played both ways and ran back punts and kickoffs on the Muhlenberg gridiron, captaining the team his senior year.  He also ran track in college, specializing in the 440 and relays and he played lacrosse for one year.  Dave was named Scholar-Athlete in the Lehigh Valley chapter of the National Football Federation.

Doug Young – Doug was an outstanding athlete at Quakertown High School from 1972-1974 earning nine letters in football, basketball and baseball.  He made 2nd Team All Bux-Mont as a running back as a junior and 2nd Team as a quarterback his senior year.  Doug was a point guard on the basketball team.  He also played baseball for three years achieving All League honorable mention in the ’75 season and played Legion baseball each summer.  Doug received the Quakertown High School Outstanding Athlete Award in 1975.  After graduation, Doug played Tri-County baseball from 1975-1980 and fast pitch softball from ’76-’78.  Doug was an outstanding running back at Slippery Rock University (’75-’79).  He set the single game rushing record (292 yards) in 1976 and was honored with the football coach’s award in 1979.  Doug was an assistant football coach for 20 years at different Pennsylvania and Maryland schools and served as head baseball coach at Perkiomen School in 1982.  Doug has become an excellent official in basketball, baseball, field hockey, softball and football in Maryland.  He has been chosen to referee various state tournaments and championship games in each of these sports.  This includes working four ASA National Tournaments and two NCAA Division III regional playoff games in softball.  He has also worked the NABF College World Series in 1999 and 19 Maryland Legion State Tournaments.