The Oswego State Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the seven-member Hall of Fame Class of 2017. On Saturday, October 14, the following individuals will be inducted into the hallowed hall at a banquet in Sheldon Hall during Homecoming Weekend: Ed Nicholson '59, Ron Benwell '60, Tom Lynch '73, Dennis Luzon '74, Steve Serling '77, Tracey Donovan Fanning '92 and Brian DeFeo '98.
Nicholson was a wrestler in the late 1950s that spent just two years at Oswego after transferring from The Ohio State University. In his first year with the Lakers, Nicholson was elected a co-captain and posted a 15-1 record on the mat. Of those 15 victories, the Watertown, N.Y. native had nine dual wins, eight of which came by way of pin. Nicholson helped guide Oswego to a 7-1-2 mark as a junior with a team-high 45 points. At Ohio State, Nicholson captured an AAU title at 147-pounds as a freshman and then wrestled at 167-pounds on the varsity squad. In high school, Nicholson collected two sectional titles and on inter-sectional championship.
Benwell enters the Hall of Fame posthumously with stellar careers in both men's soccer and baseball. The 1960 graduate still holds several of the soccer program's single-season and single-game records. On the career-list, more than 50 years later, Benwell is second all-time with 39 goals and third with 81 career points. For single-season marks, the two-sport athletes maintains the top spot for points (55 – 1959) and goals (26 – 1959). He is tied for the most points in a single-game, totaling 13 against Le Moyne College on Sept. 26, 1959). Benwell's five goals in that game is the second-most in a single-game in Oswego's history while his three assists in the outing is tied for third. For his efforts as a senior, Benwell was named All-New York State Second Team and All-SUNYAC First Team. On the diamond his final year, Benwell batted .317 with 12 runs, 10 walks and 7 RBI to cap his outstanding collegiate athletic career.
A pair of golfers enter the Hall of Fame together in 2017 after helping Oswego to the greatest period of the program's history. First is Tom Lynch, a member of four-straight NCAA Championship qualifying Laker teams. Of those four appearances, Oswego's best finish came in 1971 (17th) with Lynch earning Honorable Mention All-America status. During the 1971 campaign, Lynch shot the best score (74) in a 9-0 win over Oneonta, clinching the Lakers' 34th-consecutive dual match victory. The following season, Lynch posted a 73 in the SUNYAC Championship and won a one-hole playoff to achieve Oswego's fifth title in six years and a berth into the ECAC Regional Championship.
Continuing the golf excellence in the mid-1970s was Steve Serling. Serling opened the 1975 NCAA Championship with a first round 73 – Oswego's low score – en route to a rain-shortened, 54-hole tournament total of 232. The Lakers finished 12th in the nation that year while Serling collected Honorable Mention All-America accolades. In 1976, it was the program's best-ever finish at the NCAA Championship, taking seventh place behind Serling and John DeForest's leadership. Serling was part of three-straight SUNYAC golf titles, capping a five-year run at the top of the conference for Oswego. Following his time at Oswego, Serling has stayed heavily involved in the local golf scene. He became a USGTF Certified Golf Teaching Professional and eventually helped launch the women's golf program at Le Moyne College in 2010 as the Dolphins' first head coach. In 2015 – his final season at Le Moyne before retiring – Serling was named Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year.
The Oswego wrestling program also gets a second inductee in 2017. Luzon was the first-ever NCAA Division III All-American for the Lakers as all prior All-Americans were part of the College Division. Luzon claimed sixth place at the 1974 NCAA Championship at 190-pounds to capture the All-America status. The 1974 graduate was runner-up at the SUNYAC Championships in both 1973 and 1974. At the New York State Championships, Luzon finished fourth in his junior year and moved up to third as a senior. Nicholson and Luzon will make it 18 members in the Oswego State Athletics Hall of Fame with connections to the storied wrestling program.
Fanning becomes the second women's cross country inductee in the Hall of Fame, joining classmate Jeannine Muoio Salamone, a 2008 inductee. Over her four-year career, Fanning qualified for the NCAA Championship twice. She finished similarly in both appearances, taking 64th in 1989 and 65th in 1991, both races featuring 135 runners. At the 1991 NYSWCAA Championship, Fanning helped guide the Lakers to a runner-up showing with a third-place outing of her own. In 1989 at the same event, Fanning placed seventh on the 3.1 mile course. She helped Oswego win its own invitational in 1988 and 1990, clocking the fastest times at both races. In 1990, Fanning was the medalist and set a course record at the Hobart Invitational. She is Oswego's first-ever member of the SUNYAC Cross Country Hall of Fame, which is earned by finishing in the top-five once, the top-10 twice or the top-15 three times at the conference championship.
The youngest member of the 2017 Hall of Fame Class is men's ice hockey standout Brian DeFeo. At the time of voting, DeFeo still ranked sixth all-time with 124 career assists and eighth in points with 179 in Laker history. His senior season was his best in terms of accolades, garnering Second Team All-American status, SUNYAC Player of the Year honors and a First Team All-Conference citation. It was DeFeo's second time on an all-conference team, earning Second Team All-SUNYAC as a junior as well. DeFeo appeared in 110 games as a Laker, recording 55 goals to go along with the aforementioned assists and points.
Congratulations to each of the inductees on their well-deserved place in the Oswego State Athletics Hall of Fame. For those interested in attending the banquet, registration will not be available until late summer or early fall, but that information will be posted at the following link: Oswego State Hall of Fame Banquet.
