The Berks County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame will induct eight new members at its 47th banquet on Sunday, April 28 at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Reading.
Jack Causa, Barbara Bergstresser Dietrich, James Fehling, the late John (Jack) Kuhn, Matt Lytle, Peter Mullenberg, Tony Zonca and Mike Zuber have been selected by the chapter’s voting members from this year’s list of nominees.
The inductions will bring the Berks chapter to 412 members, including 34 who have been inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
In addition, the 1981 Holy Name field hockey team, which won the Berks and PIAA Class 2A championships, and the 1970 Holy Name boys basketball team, which won the PCIAA Class B title, will be honored as Teams of Distinction.
Oley Valley field hockey coach Tiffany Cappellano, who guided the Lynx to the PIAA Class 1A championship last year while battling breast cancer, will receive the chapter’s Inspiration Award.
Cappellano coached Oley Valley to a 27-1-1 record, the Berks title and the District 3 Class 1A championship. She was named the USA Field Hockey High School Coach of the Year.
The banquet, which is open to the public, will begin at 5 p.m.
Reservations will be accepted until April 12. For more information or to download a banquet form, go to berkscosportshof.org and click on “Induction Banquet.”
Jack Causa
Causa, a 1972 graduate of Holy Name, won 10 varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball for the Blue Jays. He was named the team MVP in football and basketball, received All-Berks honors from 1969-72 and Holy Name’s Athlete’s Athlete Award. Causa attended Mount St. Mary’s on a baseball scholarship and received All-Mason-Dixon Conference honors twice. He served as head baseball coach at Holy Name from 1977-86 and as assistant and head football coach from 1977-2016. He has been inducted into the Holy Name Hall of Fame and the Berks County Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Barb Bergstresser Dietrich
Bergstresser Dietrich, a 1982 graduate of Exeter, won 12 letters in field hockey (4), basketball (4), softball (2) and track (2) and received All-Berks honors for the Eagles. She was inducted into the Kutztown University Hall of Fame for field hockey. She was a two-time All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference first-team selection (1984-85), finished as the Golden Bears’ second all-time leading scorer and held the school record for goals in a game (4) and in a career (51). She was named the Pennsylvania AIAW Player of the Year as a junior.
James Fehling
Fehling, a 1972 graduate of Wilson, was a three-sport athlete, earned nine letters and was named the Outstanding Male Athlete. He has been inducted into the Wilson High School Hall of Fame and the Berks County Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Fehling was selected to play in the Big 33 Football Classic and was named the outstanding lineman and player in Berks County. He was the first Wilson player named to an All-State first team and was an All-Berks and All-Tri-County first-team pick. He received a scholarship to play at Duke, where he was a starting offensive lineman for three seasons. At Wilson, Fehling also competed in wrestling, where he was a sectional champ and a District 3 runner-up, and in track, where he qualified for states in the discus. He continues to serve as a high school offensive line coach in Illinois.
John (Jack) Kuhn
Kuhn, a 1970 graduate of Conrad Weiser, was an outstanding basketball player and track and field athlete. He was named to the All-Berks basketball team three times and was voted to the all-state fourth team. Kuhn was the first Conrad Weiser player to score 1,000 points, finished his career with 1,406 and helped lead the Scouts to the Berks title in 1970. He attended Rider College on a full athletic scholarship. In track and field, he won the Berks championship in the shot put and placed third in District 3. He went on to coach basketball and softball at Weiser for nine seasons, helping guide the softball team to the PIAA playoffs several times as an assistant. He was inducted into the Conrad Weiser Hall of Fame and the Reading Basketball Hall of Fame.
Matt Lytle
Lytle, a 1994 graduate of Wyomissing, was a standout in football and baseball. He was a three-year starter at quarterback and helped lead the Spartans to 30 wins and two District 3 championships. He threw for more than 3,500 yards and holds the school single-season record with 1,228 passing yards. Lytle was named to the All-State second team as a senior. He went on to play in college at Pittsburgh, where he started for two seasons and threw for 3,738 yards and 26 touchdowns. He also played in the NFL for Carolina and Seattle, in NFL Europe and the Canadian Football League. He was inducted into the Wyomissing High School Hall of Fame and the Berks County Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Peter Mullenberg
Mullenberg, a 1977 graduate of Reading High, helped lead the basketball team to the District 3 Class 3A championship and a third-place finish in the PIAA Tournament as a senior. His short jumper lifted the Red Knights to a 65-63 win over Steel-High in the district final. Mullenberg earned a full scholarship to Delaware, where he scored 1,085 career points, averaged 10.2 per game and was a team captain twice. He once scored 17 points in a half against Virginia and Ralph Sampson. He was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers and played in the Philadelphia Baker League. He’s been inducted into the Berks County Basketball Hall of Fame and the Reading High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Tony Zonca
Zonca, a longtime sports writer, columnist and editor for the Reading Eagle, mainly covered the Reading Phillies, Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Eagles. He also covered heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali when Ali trained at Deer Lake in Schuylkill County. Zonca played football, basketball and baseball at Lansford High School from 1953-57 and played football, basketball and volleyball as a Marine while stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He served as an assistant basketball coach at Reading High, Muhlenberg and Alvernia and once served as assistant general manager and public relations director for the Hamburg Bullets of the Eastern Basketball League. He recently wrote a book on the history of Reading High basketball. He has been inducted into the Berks County Tennis Hall of Fame and the Carbon County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
Mike Zuber
Zuber, a 1970 graduate of Holy Name, was a basketball standout who helped lead the Blue Jays to the PCIAA Class B championship as a senior. He was team captain, the school’s first 1,000-point scorer and MVP of the state final. After a playing career at Bloomsburg State College, Zuber returned to Holy Name and coached the freshman team to 10 straight winning seasons. He went on to become head coach at Mount Penn for four years and at Gov. Mifflin for 13 years. He was voted the Berks Coach of the Year twice and finished his career with a .680 winning percentage. He was inducted into the Berks County Basketball Hall of Fame.
Source: Berkshire mont