The Carbon County Sports Hall of Fame will hold its 28th Annual Induction Ceremony on Sunday, May 28, at the Franklin Township Fire Company hall.

Doors will open at 12:30 p.m. and the banquet will begin at 1:45.

Tickets to the dinner program are $35 for adults and $15 for children under 12 and can be purchased from the following committee members: Danny McGinley, 570-325-3550, Vince Spisak, 570-645-4542, Jake Boyer, 610-751-6634, Trevor Lawrence, 570-645-4722, Bill Gardiner, 570-669-6564, Bob Gelatko, 570-645-7565, and Evan Evans, 570-645-7716.

The 2023 inductees include:

Coaldale: Bob Urban, Jeff Neitz and the late Cathy (Radocha) Gelatko.

Jim Thorpe: A.J. Petrucci Jr., Mike Paulas and Irene Sebelin Serignese.

Lansford: Tony Zonca, Frank Bydlon and Gina Uher-Lee.

Lehighton: Steven Hawk, the late Marvin J. Barry and George Harris.

Nesquehoning: Jack Corby, Matt Maradeo and Joel Hunsicker.

Summit Hill: Jack O’Gurek and Dan Matika.

The Jim Thorpe inductees are:

A.J. Petrucci Jr.

Born and raised in Jim Thorpe to Al Petrucci Sr. and Irene Snisky, Tony attended St. Joseph Catholic Grade School, Jim Thorpe Area High School, Lehigh County Community College and Kutztown University, where he received a degree in criminal justice.

He is married to the former Marjorie Gasker. They have two children, Jason and Suzanne.

Tony lettered in various high school sports and graduated from Jim Thorpe High in 1969. He also played Lehighton Legion Baseball for many years, as well as in many softball programs.

He worked at the Carbon County Prison as a correctional officer and also worked for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.

Tony was the first person from Carbon County to sign a professional wrestling contract with the WWF, with the help of Tom Chapman (from Jim Thorpe). Tom was the referee no one knew.

Tony entertained fans all over the world on television and at international venues (Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Egypt and England) and made several commercials in Hollywood for Toyota and Chevrolet for the WWF.

He trained several pro wrestlers, including Ted Arcidi and Hillbilly Jim, and wrestled with most of the superstars of the era, including Hulk Hogan.

In 1990, with Todd Cordon, he helped to establish the new wrestling company, ECW, from Philadelphia, which became the third largest company in the world. While there, Tony formed the Tag Team ECW Super Destroyers with Doug Stahl, and they became the longest reigning tag team champs in the ECW’s history, as reported in Pro Wrestling Illustrates magazine in April of 2012. Tony was inducted into the Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame.

In 2021, he was inducted into the USWF Pro Wrestling Federation.

After his semi-retirement, he worked as a counselor for the Valley Youth House, with troubled, homeless and run-away youths.

Tony credits mush of his publicity success to his good friend, Times News reporter Ron Gower, who, he said, did all of my press coverage over the years, saying “I thank you.”

Yes, he is still wrestling and working out.

Irene (Sebelin) Serignese

When Irene Sebelin entered East Mauch Chunk High School, she discovered gymnastics. She was always an active girl who enjoyed outdoor activities and walked from her home in Germantown into town daily. Gymnastics became a great outlet for her energy.

In 1949, when Irene began her high school gymnastics career, women were not expected to accomplish much. Popular activities were cheerleading or novelty tap dance. There were no programs for women gymnastics in the district. Irene’s coach, however, recognized her talent and trained her to perform routines on the equipment usually reserved for male gymnasts.

Newspaper clippings from the time document Irene’s expertise on the parallel bars and flying rings. One account called her a “potentially great gymnast” who could do “no less than seven chinning movements in a single execution” when most girls could do only one. In fact, Irene’s exceptional upper body strength enabled her to execute moves that many weaker men could not. Another clipping noted Irene was “one of the few girls in the county qualified enough to perform on the rings.” These articles highlight just how unique Irene’s athletic abilities were.

In 1951, Irene petitioned District 11 of the PIAA to perform an exhibition at the annual meet. Girls were ineligible for completion, with the reason given that “few (women) are interested in the sport.” Today, thanks to Title IX, athletic opportunities for women abound. That was not the case in 1951. Irene’s petition must have piqued their interest, because the District 11 committee decided to grant the petition and Irene became the first woman to perform on parallel bars in a district meet as an exhibitionist.

The exhibition was a huge success with an article stating Irene “thrilled spectators at the District 11 PIAA Gym Exhibition” while also noting that as a woman, Irene was not eligible to compete. Irene continued to perform in the annual East Mauch Chunk High School exhibitions. At a special event, she even displayed her skills on the parallel bars on stage at Indian Trail Park.

In the early 1990s, Morning Call sports columnist Rudy Bednar recalled Irene’s efforts to showcase her talents at the District 11 meet. Bednar used this example to show how times had changed in the 40 years since Irene had to petition to perform her gymnastic routines at an exhibition.

After graduating, Irene chose to follow a traditional path. She married Constanzo “Teen” Serignese of Nesquehoning and they raised three children. Irene encouraged her children to participate in many sports, including swimming, baseball, football, softball and ice skating. She was often found tossing a baseball or football to her sons. Even as a grandmother, she impressed her grandchildren by jumping off the high dive at the pool.

Irene avidly volunteered during her lifetime. She was a Eucharistic minister at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, Nesquehoning, and was often found at Men of Marian events along with Teen. Irene is now enjoying retirement at her home in Nesquehoning.

Michael Paulas

A 1966 graduate of Jim Thorpe Area High School, Michael Paulas was a four-year starter in baseball and a three-year starter in football for the Olympians, playing on its 1965 squad that won the school its first Panther Valley area championship.

In the title campaign, Mike was voted to the All Area Team as a defensive back and drew praises from Evening Record sportswriter Tony Zonca, who called him “pound for pound one of the top backs in the area.”

A 1961 member of the Jim Thorpe Little League’s championship team, Mike went on to play baseball not only through high school but regionally and in the Army. In 1966-67, he was a member of the Lehighton Legion team and was selected to play in the 1966 Lehigh Valley All Star Game.

In 1969, he played for the U.S. Army team in Zeibrucken, Germany, after which he moved to the U.S. Areur Command in 1970, playing for the Tascom Titans, Manheim, Germany, where he competed against professional and college players.

Following his military career, Mike returned home and started in 1972-73 for Lehigh County Community College’s squad, for whom he began the ’72 season with six straight hits. In 1973, he was named to the Eastern Pennsylvania Community College All Conference Team.

His baseball career wasn’t ended, as from 1971-75, Mike played with the Bowmanstown Redskins in the Pocono Mountain Baseball League. The team won the 1975 championship in a season in which Mike batted .369.

But it was later in life that Mike really left his mark in athletics, becoming a top-notch golfer, winning five club championships, including those at Indian Mountain (1982), Blue Ridge (1984 and 1990), and Blue Ridge’s Super Senior Championships (2009 and 2010).

He played in the Golf Association of the Lehigh Valley for 10 years and was a member of the Bethlehem Municipal’s first championship team in 1993, when after three rounds of play he had the league’s lowest scoring average (73).

In 1997, Mike was a member of the winning team in the Good Shepherd Celebrity Classic, playing with Alex Webster of the New York Giants.

A retired mailman, Mike officiated basketball in the PIAA for 10 years.

He has a daughter, Vicki, and a longtime companion, Linda.