East Boros Sports Hall of Fame Inducts Plum's Matt Cassidy on Oct. 13

Plum High School graduate Matt Cassidy will be among those honored when the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame East Boros Chapter holds its 34th annual Sports Induction Banquet on Thursday, Oct. 13, at Edgewood Country Club, Churchill Road, in Churchill Borough.

The annual event honors standout athletes and athletic staff through the years from the , Riverview, Woodland Hills, Wilkinsburg, Penn Hills, Gateway, East Allegheny, Penn-Trafford and Franklin Regional school districts. Bob Ford of Plum is the chapter president.

The festivities start with a cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased individually or in tables of 10 at a cost of $40 a ticket. Tickets can also be obtained by calling 412-551-0227.

No tickets will be sold at the door. Print and fill out the attached PDF order form, make checks payable to the “East Boros Sports Hall of Fame” and mail to: East Boros Sports Hall of Fame, P.O. Box 931, Monroeville, PA 15146. Please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

Those attending in honor of a particular inductee should indicate his or her name on the form. Orders are filled on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the postmark on the envelope.

Cassidy, a 2002 graduate of Plum High School, attended Lehigh University, where he earned a degree in business finance. He now lives in Arlington, VA, where he is employed as an account manager for National Financial Partners.  

While a student at Plum, he was a four-year letterman in wrestling, where he held a 109-23 record. He was the Section 4 champion in and a state qualifier in 2000; a Section 4, Southwest Regional and WPIAL District VII champion in 2001 who placed fourth at states; and, in 2001, was also a member of the PIAA Class AAA All PA Wrestling Team.

In 2002, Cassidy was Section 4 champion, Southwest Regional Champion, WPIAL District VII Champion, 189-pounds state champion, on the PIAA Class AAA All PA wresting team and participated in the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic.

Cassidy was also a three-year letterman for the Plum Mustangs football team as running back, safety and special teams member. In 1999, he received honorable mention as All Conference Defensive Back second team; and in 2000 and 2001, was WPIAL Quad A Section 3 All Conference first team defensive back, serving as captain. He set school records with 326 rushing yards in a game, 24 kicked extra points in a season and 15 career interceptions. In his senior year, he rushed for 1,158 yards, scored 15 touchdowns and played in the Foothills Football Classic.

Cassidy was also a three-year letterman in baseball and was an outfielder on the All Section Team in 2001 and 2002. In 2002, he won the WPIAL Scholar/Athlete Award and was the only athlete to make the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review East All Stars in all three sports.

He earned an athletic scholarship to Lehigh University and was a four-year letterman in wrestling. In 2003, Cassidy was a FILA Freestyle All American, earned sixth place in the EIWA in 2004, and was an EIWA champion and national qualifier in 2006. In 2007, he won fourth place in the EIWA and was a national qualifier and team captain.

Other Class of 2011 inductees are:

Donald Dudley

The 1966 graduate of Rankin High School excelled on both the football field and basketball court. Dudley was a three-year starter on the gridiron, playing wide receiver as a sophomore and quarterback as a junior and a senior. He earned honorable mention all-state honors three times.

Dudley was a force on the basketball court, as he was a first-team all-section player his junior and senior seasons. He was the first player from Rankin to be selected for the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic. He was one of four local seniors to be named all-scholastic by the Tri Borough Dapper Dans, which recognizes excellence in academics and athletics.

Dudley chose to play basketball and football in college,and he signed originally with Parsons College in Iowa. He transferred to Point Park, where he played from 1968 to 1971. 

The ordained minister is an elder at Abba Father Ministry in Braddock, where he also donates much of his time working with men who are homeless. He resides in Duquesne.

Demond Gibson

Gibson’s high school football career at Penn Hills Senior High School began in 1993 under head coach Neil Gordon. As a senior, Demond was a captain on the 1995, 15-0 State Championship team and he was named Street & Smith’s Top 10 Players in the country, the Lions Club Player of the Year, and was team captain in Big 33 Football Classic.  

He earned a full scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, where he was a four-year letterman. Demond played in 48 straight games as a Panther and led the Panther D-Line his junior and senior year with 70+ tackles. As a senior, he was a Dapper Dan honorary, named to the 1999 All Big East team, and the Defensive Lineman of the Year.

Gibson, who lives in Clermont, FL, enjoyed a five-year professional career with three major leagues: NFL (New Orleans Saints), CFL (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Toronto Argonauts) and AFL (Orlando Predators, Buffalo Destroyers, Columbus Destroyers, Peoria Pirates).

Ed Guminski           

Guminski, now an Edgewood resident, was captain of the 1966 Class A undefeated North Braddock Scott High Purple Raiders. He received the John Reed “Outstanding Lineman” award, was named Athlete of the Year and was a recipient of the Dapper Dan Outstanding Student Athlete award.

He continued his education and football career at Princeton University where he was defensive captain of an undefeated freshman team. After competing against four future NFL first-round picks, his playing days were cut short by an injury.

Guminski currently officiates at the NCAA level in men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, volleyball and field hockey. This is his 41st season of high school football. His games have included over 100 future NFL players.

He has officiated WPIAL playoff games in five football, swimming, men’s lacrosse, volleyball and swimming. He has worked numerous PIAA playoff games with state finals in football and men’s lacrosse. He served as a volunteer at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and was director of registration for the 2005 Senior Olympics in Pittsburgh.

Jodi Eyles Horvath

During Horvath’s three years at Franklin Regional, she was a four-time WPIAL champion and a three-time PIAA state champion. She swam for the Fort Lauderdale Swim Team her senior year and was ranked eighth in the world in the 100 butterfly and ninth in the world in the 50 freestyle. 

Horvath received a full swimming scholarship to the University of Texas, where she was a member of the four-time NCAA Division 1 National Championship team and earned All-American honors 22 times. She now lives in Murrysville and coaches for FAST and Meadowink Swim Club.

Nancy Kunkel           

Now a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, Kunkel is a 1977 graduate of Penn Hills High School, where she excelled in volleyball, softball and basketball and earned 11 varsity letters. She attended Slippery Rock State College and earned a degree in physical education/health, while playing intercollegiate volleyball and softball. She received numerous accolades at the high school and college levels.

Kunkel was a member of the Air Force/Armed Forces softball team in 1982 and 1983, Air Force/Armed Forces volleyball team in 1983 and a member of the Council International Sports Military Volleyball Team in China in 1985.

Tom Nee

Nee, a Dormont resident, spent his whole teaching career in the East Allegheny School District, where he coached football and track from 1960-1975. He was an assistant football coach at Carnegie Mellon University from 1979-2004. His teams were often WPIAL and NCAA conference champions.

In 1960, he coached St. Bernard Grade School's team and won the Pittsburgh Diocesan Championship. He also served as defensive coordinator at Seton-La Salle High School from 1978-79.

Nee’s own playing career in football and boxing was from 1950-51 at Mt. Lebanon High School, 1952-54 for the Pittsburgh Southside Merchants, 1956-57 at Clarion University, 1956 for the Pittsburgh Golden Gloves and 1959 as a runnerup for the 8th Infantry Division in West Germany.

Gay Eyles Stock

Stock is a graduate of Franklin Regional High School and Clarion University, where she earned her degree in elementary education/athletic coaching. A competitive swimmer, she was Franklin Regional’s first state champion, a WPIAL champion, a PIAA State Champion (and she set a PIAA state record), held WPIAL top two finishes between 1973-1977, and was a five-time All-American Senior National Qualifier.

At Clarion, Stock was a four-year NCAA Division II National Qualifier, NCAA Division II All-American, three-time NCAA Division II National Team champion and a national champion in the 400 medley relay.

An Export resident, Stock won numerous ESA Championships in her 12 years as the head coach of Meadowink Swim Team and had five successful seasons with the Franklin Regional Junior High Swim team.