BRIDGEPORT — Another group of outstanding athletes will be inducted into the Bridgeport High School Hall/Wall of Fame next weekend.

The honorees will be recognized during halftime ceremonies of the Bulldogs vs. Toronto football game on Friday at Bill Jobko Stadium. Prior to the game a reception will be held at the Brookside Fire Hall, adjacent to the stadium, for inductees and their families.

The induction dinner will be held at the Bridgeport High School cafetorium on Saturday. A social begins at 4 p.m., with dinner served at 5. The induction ceremony will conclude the evening.

Hall of Fame Inductees

Rob Munn 1966

Munn graduated from BHS in 1966. He was a three-year letterman in football, basketball, and baseball at BHS. He was named first team all-Ohio in basketball.

In football, the team captain and quarterback/defensive back led the first perfect season (9-0) in school history. Coached by Joe Ault, the Bulldogs captured the OVAC Class AA title and were ranked No. 5 in the final Ohio Class A poll by United Press International. Bridgeport capped the perfect season with a 22-11 win at rival Martins Ferry for only the third win in 45 series games vs. the Purple Riders.

In basketball, the two-year team captain anchored the school’s first-ever unbeaten regular season (18-0) which captured an OVAC AA title and was ranked No. 1 in the Ohio Class A poll by UPI. Coached by OVAC Hall of Famer Frank Baxter, the Bulldogs scored over 100 points in five games and won sectional and district crowns before losing to Dalton, 71-70 in the Canton Regional to finish at 24-1. The 6-foot-1, 175 pound forward averaged 24.1 points and rebounds a game as a senior after sporting a 20-point norm as a junior, The senior was runner-up for Ohio UPI Class A Player of the Year to Kerry Myers of Celina and earned first team All-Ohio from UPI and third team by the Associated Press. He was twice an All-OVAC selection and All-District honoree in Eastern Ohio,

Following graduation he earned a basketball scholarship to attend Marshal University where he received his degree in 1971. At Marshall, he was a three-year varsity player averaging 9.4 points and was shooting 46.8% from the floor on the freshman team. Rob began his teaching and coaching career at Union-Scioto Schools in Chillicothe. He was the boys’ varsity basketball coach and was named the Scioto Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 1971/72.

In 1973, Munn became affiliated with McDonald’s Restaurants and became an owner/operator in 1985. He attended McDonald’s Hamburger University in 1975 & 1984. He was named the Jackson Chamber of Commerce Businessman of the Year in 1988 and was selected as the Grand Marshall of the Jackson Apple Festival in 2009. Rob is a Past Director of the YMCA, and has been involved with the Board of Health, United Way, National City Bank, Fairgreens Country Club, and the Jackson Chamber of Commerce.

He and his wife Georgina (also a member of the Class of 1966) have two children; Brad and Brandi. Brad is also a McDonald’s owner and Brandi is an NCAA Women’s Basketball Official. Two granddaughters complete the Munn family.

Randy Massey 1967

Massey is a 1967 graduate of Bridgeport High School where he was a stellar athlete participating in football, basketball, baseball, track and wrestling.

His high school football career began in the fall of 1963 when he was a freshman. He played reserves at the start of the season but his big break came at the varsity game against Tiltonsville High School. Coach put him in the varsity game for one play; he ran 70 yards for a touchdown.

Massey’s football accomplishments continued his sophomore year when Bridgeport beat Martins Ferry, the school’s biggest rival, for the first time since 1957. During his junior year, Bridgeport had an undefeated year and beat Martins Ferry at Martins Ferry for the first time in the history of the BHS/MFHS rivalry. Actually, Bridgeport beat Martins Ferry three years in a row. This great accomplishment, which had never occurred in the school’s history, resulted during his sophomore, junior and senior years.

Massey’s accomplishments resulted in him being named to the Class A All-Ohio football first team in 1965. He was also second in voting for Back of the Year honors. He made the OVAC AA All-Star squad and the All-Eastern Ohio squad. He received more votes than any other player on these squads. He was also named the Ohio Valley Back of the Week on five different occasions. Statistically, he rushed for 1,532 yards during 1965 for a 9.7 yards average. He also scored 116 points.

His best night rushing was against Barnesville when he gained 335 yards. Against Martins Ferry, he gained 252 yards, which was more than the entire Ferry team gained. As a result of all his hard work and dedication, he had many scholarship choices and selected to attend Tennessee A&I University.

Massey has spent much of his working career at Conalco (currently, Ormet II) where he has since retired. He is currently employed at East Ohio Regional Hospital as a transport driver serving the needs of others.

His athleticism of years past continues today through his avid love for tennis. He has participated and excelled in many tournaments around the valley. He has won the David Slaysman Memorial Tournament and the Ohio Valley Tennis Classic numerous times and has participated in the West Virginia Open Tennis Tournament.

Willie McCrary

A 2001 grad, McCray was a D-IV, first-team All-Ohio selection. He scored 20.5 points a game. He is employed at Tri-Seal Products. Has one son.

Wall of Fame

Joseph D. Blaha

Blaha is a 1954 graduate of Bridgeport High School. He graduated from West Liberty State College and received his master’s from West Virginia University. While at BHS, he was All-OVAC in baseball, football and basketball.

He was named Athlete of the Year in 1954 at WLSC and was All-Conference in basketball in 1957-58 at West Lib. He was inducted to the West Liberty State College Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986.

Richard Neitzelt

Neitzelt graduated from BHS in 1963. He attended Kent State University receiving his BS degree in 1968 and his MS degree in 1972. Rick was employed by Jackson Local Schools from 1971 – 2005 teaching students with developmental disabilities. He retired in 2005 but went back to the classroom as a teacher’s aide in a classroom for students with multiple handicaps.

He made a name for himself as a track and cross country coach at Jackson High School coaching the girls teams. He was named Coach of the Year for the Federal League, Stark League and Ohio District 4 on 22 occasions. He received the Clemens J. Caraboolad Memorial Award from the Akron Beacon Journal as the 1999 Coach of the Year and the Northeast Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Meritorious Service Award in 2006. The Jackson track stadium was named Rick Neitzelt Stadium on April 21, 2009. Rick is a member of the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association, East Ohio Track Officials Association, Ohio Association of Track & Cross Country Coaches, Stark County Coaches Association, ETTOA, OATA, OATCCC and Sigma Phi Epsilon.

He served as a manager of the Bridgeport High School 1963 basketball team and was inducted to the BHS Wall of Fame in 2015 along with the team. Rick was inducted into the Jackson High School Wall of Fame for dedication and service to the athletes and students on February 13, 2016.

Rick and his wife Barbara have 4 children; David, Rick, Jr., Jennifer Erbes and Jacqueline Smith. Granddaughter Emily Erbes completes the family. Rick enjoys coin collecting and reading.

1970 Undefeated Football Team

Head Coach – Joe Ault; Assistant Coaches: Joe Bobek, Ed Bondzleske, Jim Day, Ab Mazur, Jack Rosenberry, Bob Wilson and Gary Zelinski; Players: Bud Alexander, Jeff Barritt, Mike Bilica, Harry Brado, Sonny Brown, Dick Burn, Jim Cook, Jess Cordery, Jim Delman, Don Donaldson, Mike Edmundson, Bruce Futey, Norman Harding, John Hibett, Ron Hinton, Pete Hores, Dave Kinnison, Roy Kinnison, Bill Marsh, Jim Murad, Bruce Reline, Gary Rogers, Doug Selman, John Shafer, John Taflan, Joe Tarter, Chuck Taylor, Tony Tyler, Rick Vavrock, Roger Weaver and Greg Wright; Managers: Bob Novak, Nick Paglia, Ted Fisher and Sam Bachi.

Rachel Benda “10

Rachel was a 3 sport standout for the Lady Dogs playing volleyball, basketball and softball. She is being inducted to the Wall of Fame for her outstanding career in basketball. She finished her career with over 1,460 points.

Other accolades include: 2007-2010 All-Conference Basketball Team; 2007-2010 Bridgeport High School Player of the Year Award; 2007-2010 varsity highest team free throw percentage, rebound leader, and 3-point field goal leader; 2009-2010 District 12 Pepsi All-Star Classic Division IV Co-Player of the Year Award; District 12 Basketball Coaches Association 1st Team All-OVAC; Played in the Samuel A. Mumley OVAC All-Star game; 2009 set a girls single-game scoring mark with 50 points in a 77-73 sectional tournament overtime loss against Frontier; the next night she scored 27 points to surpass the 1,000 mark for her career; she averaged 38.5 points in two games had 18 rebounds, 11 assists, 10 steals and three blocked shots.

She graduated from Ohio University Eastern with a degree in Criminal Justice. She works as a Case Manager at Fox Run