|
Fred Meyer was a wizard of
an athlete in football, basketball, and baseball, thus the
nickname. Known for his outstanding quickness and
ballhandling ability as a guard on the basketball team, but
also excelled as a tailback on the football team. He was one
of the leading scorers on the 1936 team that won the
school's first district championship. The Wiz was offered a
major league baseball contract with the Reds while he was
still in high school, but chose to attend Xavier University
on a football scholarship.
|
|
Fred "Wiz" Meyer '38
(Inducted 1976)
|
|
Walter "Babe" Bartlett, a
St. Xavier High School and Xavier University graduate, was
Elder's head football and basketball coach from 1927 to 1953
and the head baseball coach from 1928 to 1948. He coached
985 games at Elder--505 in basketball, 221 in football, and
259 in baseball--and won 577 of them, for a .586 winning
percentage. He won six GCL championships in football, five
GCL titles and three district championships in basketball,
and in 1943 coached the baseball team to the first state
championship in the school's history. His baseball teams
were also state runner-up in 1946 and won eight GCL and two
district championships. In 1935, under Bartlett, Elder won
the GCL championship in all three major sports--football,
basketball, and baseball.
|
|
|
Coach Walter "Babe" Bartlett
(Inducted 1979)
|
|
A clever, knowledgeable
quarterback, Dick Selcer led the 1954 Panthers to the first
unbeaten, untied season in school history. Threw six
touchdown passes and scored 11 touchdowns that season. A
first-team All-State selection who played at Notre Dame.
Later became the head coach at Xavier University and coached
in the NFL.
|
|
Dick Selcer '55
(Inducted 1980)
|
|
In basketball, Dick Holmes
was a 6-foot 3 center who led Elder to its third district
championship in 1945 with his scoring, rebounding, and
shot-blocking ability. A great all-around athlete who was an
outstanding pitcher in baseball. Pitched on the Bentley Post
team that won the American Legion national championship in
1944.
|
|
|
Dick Holmes '45
(Inducted 1983)
|
|
Steve Grote was first-team
All-GCL, All-City, and All-State at outside linebacker, and
was named a Scholastic Magazine All-American in football. A
third-team All-State selection and starting forward on the
1973 state championship basketball team, Grote is the fourth
leading scorer in Elder history with 882 points. Played
basketball at Michigan, where the school named the Steve
Grote Hustle Award after him.
|
|
Steve Grote '73
(Inducted 1989)
|
|
Gordon Massa played center
and linebacker for the Panthers, and was named first-team
All-State by the Associated Press. Played at Holy Cross. A
star baseball player who played briefly as a catcher for the
Chicago Cubs.
|
|
|
Gordy Massa '53
(Inducted 1990)
|
|
Elder's most successful
swimmer, Jim Trefzger won the 1948 state championship in the
breaststroke, and is to this day Elder's only state swimming
champion. Jim was also quarterback on the 1948 Panther
football team, throwing 10 TD passes, rushing for two TD's,
and kicked 12 extra points.
|
|
Jim Trefzger '49
(Inducted 1991)
|
|
Bob Hoernschemeyer is
perhaps the greatest football player in Elder history. In
three years on the varsity, the talented halfback scored 20
touchdowns and a total of 131 points. He also intercepted
seven passes and recovered two fumbles. In 1942, he scored
75 points on six rushing touchdowns, four touchdowns on
interception returns, a 65-yard punt return, and nine kicked
extra points. He also passed for five touchdowns. Became a
star at Indiana University and the Naval Academy and was the
first Elder graduate to play in the NFL. He was a star for
the Detroit Lions from 1950-55.
|
|
|
Bob Hoernschemeyer '43
(Inducted 1998)
|
|
Former Head Basketball
Coach Paul "Hans" Frey's basketball teams compiled a 383-118
record over 22 years, including back-to-back state
championships in 1973 and 1974. Frey graduated from Elder in
1957 and went on to play college basketball at Regis College
in Denver. His accolades include: GCL Coach of the Year 10
times, Ohio Coach of the Year twice, McDonald's All America
Coach of the Year twice and Kellogg's National Coach of the
Year once. He has been previously inducted into the Ohio
Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Greater
Cincinnati Basketball Coaches Hall of
Fame.
|
|
Paul "Hans" Frey
'57
(Inducted
2001)
|
|
An all-city star in
basketball and baseball, Don Ruberg averaged more than 10
points per game in basketball when scoring was at a premium.
He hit better than .300 for his career in baseball. He later
starred in both sports at Xavier University, then played
minor-league baseball in the Cleveland Indians' organization
before returning to Elder to teach and coach basketball and
baseball. As Elder baseball coach from 1954-56, Ruberg's
teams went 67-9 and won two state titles. His 1956
basketball team won the GCL title. In 1956, Ruberg became an
assistant basketball and head baseball coach at Xavier. He
was XU head coach from 1963-67.
|
|
|
Don Ruberg '47
(Inducted
2003)
|
|
Ron Krechting earned eight varsity letters in
football, basketball, and baseball during his career with the
Panthers. He threw for 30 touchdowns and 3,543 yards and was
named first-team all-district, all-city and all-GCL in 1967.
In basketball, he scored 625 points in his career, good for 16th on
the Panthers' all-time scorers list. He led the team with 342
points during the 1967-68 season, and is 19th on the Panthers'
Career Free-Throw Percentage list with 73.2%. In baseball, Ron
was Team Captain, first-team all-GCL, and team MVP in 1968,
recording a team-leading 0.42 Earned Run Average. He also
tallied 68 Strikeouts in both 1967 and 1968, pitching 117 innings
and recording records of 7-1 and 5-2.
|
|
Ron Krechting
'68
(Inducted
2011)
|
|
A two-way starter at center on offense and linebacker on
defense, he was a three-year starter. His prep career culminated in
Elder's 1954 undefeated season - a team
regarded by many local historians as one of Cincinnati's greatest
football squads. The Cincinnati city champions and Greater
Cincinnati League champs allowed only 65 points the entire season.
He was named a prep All-Catholic All-American, a consensus
first-team all-state selection by UPI and the Ohio Sports Writers
Association. Heavily recruited, James went on to Ohio State where he
was a three-year starter at guard and center. He
started on Woody Hayes' 1957 National Championship team. James was
the first round pick of the San Francisco 49ers (eighth overall) in
1959 and went on to play almost eight seasons with San Francisco,
Pittsburgh and the Chicago Bears.
|
 |
|
Dan James '55
(Inducted
2014)
|
|
Rob was quarterback of the 2002 and 2003 Elder football
teams which went 28-2 and won back-to-back state championships. He was
the Division I Player of the Year. He then went to the University of
Dayton and led the Flyers to the Division I-AA title. |
Rob Florian '04
(Inducted
2018)
|
|
Kyle Rudolph was a dominating athlete both in football and
basketball during his high school career. He earned seven varsity
letters for the Panthers - three in football, four in basketball. In
football, Rudolph was named to four different high school
All-America teams, went on to enjoy a stellar career as tight end at
the University of Notre Dame and was selected as the 43rd pick in
the NFL Draft. He has become a two-time Pro Bowl selection with the
Minnesota Vikings. Rudolph was named Maxwell Award winner as the
nation's No. 1 high school tight end and was named first team
All-America by USA TODAY, Gatorade, Rise Magazine and U.S. Army
All-America. In his career at Elder, he had 37 receptions for 623
yards, 11 touchdowns and even had a 37-yard punt average. As a high
school basketball star, Rudolph was only the second player in
Greater Cincinnati League history to be named Basketball Player of
the Year three times. He set the Panthers' school record in
rebounding and ranks No. 2 all-time in scoring.
|
 |
Kyle Rudolph '08
(Inducted 2019) |