We asked for your favorite moments of Steubenville sports, and Baron basketball came up the winner. But there are fond memories of other sports as well.
This is not a specific event, but I was a student there during the very best athletic era. We were Small College National Champions. Jim Smith was named All-American. Bob Kloska was a personal friend and fraternity brother in Delta Sigma Fraternity. Rahuba and Duffy, members of the basketball team, were Delta Sigma brothers.
—Al Zamberlan ’60
The best experience was going to the basketball games at the arena. I met new friends and screamed for the team. It was a relief from the pressures of college.
—Rich Marsich ’74
During my freshman year (’73-’74) the basketball team received national recognition by having a defense that only allowed single digit outcomes. I recall the CBS Evening News featured the Barons. We were nationally ranked.
—Thomas D. Orlando ’77
I played on the 1969-70 Barons. We played away at Gannon College, a school that was favored to win. That night, the Barons were on fire and upset Gannon. When we got back to campus (the game had been on the radio), we found out there had been a raucous and spontaneous victory celebration that ended up in a “panty raid” in Trinity Hall!
—Jerome Madden ’72
My favorite memories are playing spring and fall baseball from 1972-76 and being team captain in 1976. Even though we did not win many games and have the nice facility the school has now, it was a great experience. I would do it all over again.
—Bob Furka ’76
My playing career at the College of Steubenville from 1964-68 was filled with many memorable events: Victory over Gannon my senior year, 1968, in Erie over my former coach, Denny Bayer, who had recruited me to the College of Steubenville. We had endured a hard year with a very young team. The post-game handshake with Coach Bayer was special.
Loss to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinios, 1966. Very tough night trying to guard All-American Walt “Clyde” Frasier who weeks later was named MVP of the NIT tournament in Madison Square Garden and then selected as Number 1 draft choice of the Knicks.
The battles with St. Francis under Coach John Clark, former Baron, and especially playing against Norman Van Lier who later enjoyed a long career in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls.
—Bob Straface ’68
I was a senior, it was December 1966, and the Baron basketball team was playing Central State at home. Central State was undefeated and top-ranked. But on this particular night the Barons were victorious. Students attending the game screamed and hollered throughout the contest. We almost couldn’t believe we had won!
Arriving back on campus we were way too excited to go to our dorms. Instead, we congregated between Marian and Trinity Hall. The cheerleaders and the players were there, and we students just yelled and screamed to show our joy and our pride in the College of Steubenville. This ad hoc pep rally must have lasted an hour before the adrenalin wore off and we went to our rooms, exhausted.
The lesson they gave to us that night was no matter the odds, no matter what others think, if you strive for excellence, you will be a winner. What a night! Go Barons!
—Ray Challis ’67
My favorite athletic memories during the years 1964 through 1967 at the College of Steubenville was the domination of the intramural football league by the members of Lambda Chi Alpha. Year after year, no one could hold a candle to the athletes of LXA!
—Jack Skoviak ’67
Originally published in the Spring 2009 Baronette newsletter.