Jared Cohen
The Arizona Sports Hall of Fame honored it’s 2014 class on Wednesday from the PERA Club, in the Pavilion. This year’s class makes up a very diverse group of all different sports from all different backgrounds at all different levels.
Those honored inducted were: Art Martori, Emmett “Buddy” Jobe, Jerry Dawson and Scott Hogsett.
Art Martori is a former ASU wrestler from back in 1965 and was named the WAC Wrestler of the year that year. His impact on wrestling from then on is what has him being honored today. He founded one of the best international wrestling clubs in the United States and perhaps the world, Sunkist Kids. As founder and executive director of the Sunkist Kids, he has been a profound contributor to the sport of wrestling in every facet. He went on to serve as the President of USA Wrestling from 1992-94 and made great strides to promote the growth of the organization. While as president, USA Wrestling won its first World team title in freestyle wrestling.
In 1985, Buddy Jobe purchased the twenty-one year old Phoenix International Raceway. At the time it had 10,000 seats. Under his directorship PIR became one of the top race tracks in the country. Seating was increased to 65,000, and attendance would often top 100,000 spectators. In 1997, the Chandler High School Graduate sold the track to International Speedway Corporation, staying on as President until he retired in 2002.
Jerry Dawson served as the head baseball coach at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona for the 37 years. Dawson owns the most high school career victories in the state of Arizona with 774. During his time at Chaparral, the baseball program elevated itself into the upper echelon of Arizona high school athletics and was recognized nationally, claiming eight state championships—four of those teams became nationally-ranked. Coach Dawson was the only Head Coach in the history of the school which has produced over 150 graduates who continued their baseball careers at the college or professional levels.
Scott Hogsett has been playing wheelchair rugby for 18 years. Currently, he plays for the Phoenix Heat and helped lead the team to the U.S. Quad Rugby Association Division I National Championship in 2006. Back in 2004, he was a member of the 2004 U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby Team which went on to win the gold medal. Hogsett was also team Captain of the 2012 Paralympic Rugby team that competed in the London Paralympic games. Team USA went on to win a Bronze medal. Today, he is a full-time athlete, but also spends time as a motivational speaker.
The Arizona Sports Hall of Fame also honored three people for youth sports awards. Those consisted of: Student Athlete of the Year: Jordan Schlueter of Notre Dame Preparatory High School, Coach of the Year: Troy Gerlach of Arcadia High School and Contributor of the Year: The late Mike “Tug” Garcia of Saguaro High School.
